Friday, February 26, 2010

In Praise of Rahm Emanuel

It’s no surprise that The Washington Post thinks Rahm Emanuel is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Here is a paper so fixated on access that it would praise Jack the Ripper for his feminism if it gained it greater access.

In a fluff piece by Dana Milbank we are told that Emanuel is a realist who mission is to bring the “cult of Obama” down to earth and to introduce them to the realities of Beltway politics, which is to do little other than an occasional exercise in meaningless window dressing. The problem is that the Beltway is a closed system with its own warped view of reality driven by an amorality that cares only about the checks its corporate handlers write.

This is why Emanuel was bitterly opposed to closing the Guantanamo Bay prison because “it wasn’t politically feasible.” He also opposed including a public option in the healthcare reform bill because it was “a needless distraction.”

But then, it seems every president needs a handler who acts as ballast to keep the status quo on an even keel. Cheney was Bush’s handler, Emanuel is Obama’s. And Milbank argues that Obama isn’t in trouble because of Emanuel; he’s in trouble because he ignored Emanuel’s advice.

One of the most hysterically funny statements in the Milbank article tells us that, “Emanuel, schooled by Bill Clinton, knew what the true believers [members of the cult of Obama] didn’t: that bite size proposals add up to big things.”

Such as?

Let’s get real! Bite size proposals add up to diddly-squat! One of Congress’s favorite scams when it passes a watered-down bill is to promise the public that “We’ll revisit the legislation later,” which it never does. So, if Emanuel had had his way, Congress would have passed a bland healthcare reform bill that did little other than increase coverage for children, and that would have been it.

Now some might argue that Emanuel’s approach was necessary given the lunacy that permeates the Beltway, and, all things being equal, that might make sense. But things aren’t equal. The country is in deep shit. We’ve got a crumbling economy, our states are in financial distress and we’re up to our necks in two-plus wars that are bankrupting us. Public money is bailing out the financial retards that tanked the economy and all our leaders can talk about is a “jobless recovery,” surely one of the foulest oxymorons ever uttered by a public official.

This is not a time for “small bites.” Rather it’s the time to tear a big chunk out of the corporate ass.

Good lord, if Emanuel had been FDR’s chief of staff, there never would have been a New Deal. That could be why conservatives love him so; he is keeping the ship of state on an even keel while it is sinking.

6 comments:

David M said...

Yeah: With Rahm at the helm it won't be too long before the the congress is dissolved and the Knesset takes over. That is if they already haven't

Unknown said...

test

Unknown said...

we grow tired of the character assignations coming out of progressives. Yes these Government officials are sleazy no contest, I want to hear more on issues and principles.Remedial actions.I have burn out from the left.You have much more to offer. Lie your piece on
Huxley
Regards.

Unknown said...

like your piece on Huxley

Case Wagenvoord said...

Raymond,

The constant criticism does get tiresome after a while, and it does overshadow the costructive ideas that could help build a decent society. It can get tiresome writing it.

Howver, in the face of a mainstream media that views our multiple crises through rose-colored glasses, the criticism is necessary as a corrective.

Ivan Hentschel said...

Rahm would seem to the unexpected (by the naive) but predictable (by the realistic) evil twin of the hopey-changey guy, i.e., hopeless and changeless, maintainer and defender of the status quo, the black knight of the black night of American class suppression and arrogant, elitish power plays. I am baffled at his presence and influence beyond the fact that he represents all of the testosterone Obama traded in for his MBA?

And being subjected to criticism comes with the job, although Rahm seems good attracting it through his diffidence.

And it is hardly criticism coming from only progressives. Those of us who ahdere to humanism, realsim and clear-thinking are also thoroughly pissed at this little rat, found scurrying around the WH.