Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff - a good idea

[MellowDem]

Obama has been saying for a while now that he would emulate Lincoln's cabinet of "opposites". We have just gotten through 8 years of an ineffectual, unthinking, dependent president who was surrounded by yes men who never were willing to challenge Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, you name it. I think we are getting the exact opposite with Obama. He is a deep thinker who will make his own decisions independent of his advisors, but with their input. He wants people around him that will challenge his worldview, who will make him justify his decisions, who will keep him from becoming a lazy thinker or from falling into a false sense of popularity, like Bush did in his bubble. It is not surprising then that he would choose Emanuel as his chief of staff, in fact, it's a good idea.

Emanuel will not be able to convince Obama to make idiotic decisions like Cheney did with Bush. He WILL be able to provide Obama with another viewpoint and make sure Obama doesn't overlook any aspect of an issue before making a decision. That is good decision making. We will find that Obama will pick others to his cabinet in the month to come that will be diametrically opposed to Emanuel (Dean, for example). This is good governance. For some presidents, those without a backbone or their own voice, this could be a disaster, with his advisors always infighting while nothing gets done. Obama is a straight shooter though. He'll let everyone get their say, take their advice into consideration, and then shut everybody the fuck up. No drama Obama.

So far, I am liking his style. Some were worried that Obama's message of hope was too flowery and wondered how he would be able to get things done when it came to the nitty gritty. Well this first move proves Obama is a very practical president, and I am glad to finally have a practical president with lofty goals for America in the White House.

Edited to add paragraphs or readability!

[Ian David]

1. Obama = Good Cop, Rahm = Bad Cop. Works for me. n/t

[no_hypocrisy]

2. A good advisor will not hesitate to disagree with you, will criticize, and

qualify even your best ideas. In other words, your safest critic and guide to reality.

This choice has great potential.

[Motown_Johnny]

3. Competence first.... fuck bipartisanship when it comes to COS.

Rahm is an excellent choice.

Add to that the fact that Biden will be to old to run in 2016 I think grooming Emanuel as the incumbent is perfect.

[sellitman]

4. Biden & Emanual were his first 2 picks.

He is 2 for 2.

Great post! Kicked & Rec'd.