Two reasons I like Rahm Emmanuel as chief of staff.

[WilliamPitt]

1. He's a leg-breaker, and this administration is going to have to be exceptionally disciplined if it is to navigate all the challenges to come while fending off the inevitable bullshit from the far-right reactionaries in Congress, not to mention from a few prize shitheads in our party. Rahm Emmanuel is a brass-bound bastard, but he will keep the trains running on time;

2. His appointment is a necessary olive branch extended to Clinton's faction of the party; a lot of them are still cheesed off, so making peace with them will make things easier on the whole and forestall any potential ideas for a challenge in '12 (and don't tell me that's far-fetched, because I know better, and if you don't, then you should...sorry, but true).

So them's me thinks.

[fascisthunter]

1. Hopefully Rahm is Not an Obstruction for Liberals and Progressives

that's my only concern.

[truedelphi]

2. I share your concern. As they say, we shall see. n/t

[Wilber_Stool]

3. The right doesn't like him.

That's good enough for me.

[PM7nj]

6. From what I've been reading here... neither does the left.

:shrug:

[Swamp Rat]

4. I'm just happy we won the election.

O8) O8) O8)

[solara]

5. Excellent reasoning...

Thanks

:hi:






:kick:

[Ian David]

7. I will defer to your judgment on this matter.

Oh, and Obama's as well, I guess.

Also, he's apparently very Pro-Israel, so it should set some of the rabid-right at ease on THAT matter.

[tavalon]

8. I'm unsure about this but between the knowledge that Obama is actually smarter than me,

and that you see some positives in this appointment makes it a bit easier to take. I'm willing to take a wait and see attitude with this, but damn, I really would like to see the DLC banished to the same purgatory we are sending Lieberman to.

[Ian David]

10. Sure, Obama is smarter than you... but unless he reads DU, he can't possibly know EVERYTHING. n/t

[tavalon]

15. True enough!

But it's weird to have someone as President who isn't a mental midget. It's been almost a decade since we had an engaged, highly intelligent President.

[kentuck]

30. Excellent!

:-)

[WilliamPitt]

28. I don't know how much sway the DLC will have going forward

The Democratic Party moved to Chicago last June, and that's Emmanuel's town. He's got a foot in both worlds, but I think he'll wind up on the Chicago side of things. It's going to be interesting to watch, but I think his talents will be redirected away from catering to his old DC affiliations. We'll see.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

9. Also,

all politics is local and they are from the same state. If Rahm has bigger ambitions, he can help himself immensley by helping Barack, and if he as bigger amibitions, Barack can keep an eye on him...:shrug:

[Gregorian]

11. Obama's got a pit bull.

This is chess in 3D.

[DireStrike]

12. "Necessary olive branch"

I agree wholeheartedly on point 2. That wing of the party probably insisted on as large a slice of power pie as possible in return for their support. The speed with which Obama made this appointment seems to suggest to me that he didn't have to think much about it. Obama has been busy campaigning; I don't know how much time he has devoted to picking out cabinet members before his political chickens hatched, but I expect it's not enough to make a choice like this already.

Either Rahm is unquestionably the best choice for the job.... which many on the left would debate hotly... or his position was a foregone conclusion due to deal-making.

Or maybe Obama just likes him. Who the hell knows.

[Parche]

13. THE FIRST BRIEFING RAHM WILL GET

William Pitt is giving Rahm Emanuel his daily briefing. He concludes by saying: "Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed."

"OH NO!" the Rahm exclaims. "That's terrible!"

Will Pitt sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as Rahm sits, head in hands.

Finally, the Rahm looks up and asks, "How many is a brazillion

[Libertyfirst]

14. Point one, well taken. Point two, give it up already. n/t

[2Design]

16. ok we can wait and see - but right now we are ticked at pelosi and reid

because they didn't do anything in two years - but we have to give him a chance and I already knew he was a centrist and would not always vote or go the way we wanted all the time - there was not any other choice out there and he at least talks a good talk and hope and his family seems to like him - so lets see what happens

[mod mom]

17. but doesn't # 2 make you worried about attempting to undermine in respect to the Clinton

faction?

I'm sorry but I can't just forget not only what was said but also the blatant selling out by the Clintons. This is what really irks me:

After Mining Deal, Financier Donated to Clinton

By JO BECKER and DON VAN NATTA Jr.
Published: January 31, 2008

Late on Sept. 6, 2005, a private plane carrying the Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra touched down in Almaty, a ruggedly picturesque city in southeast Kazakhstan. Several hundred miles to the west a fortune awaited: highly coveted deposits of uranium that could fuel nuclear reactors around the world. And Mr. Giustra was in hot pursuit of an exclusive deal to tap them.

Unlike more established competitors, Mr. Giustra was a newcomer to uranium mining in Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic. But what his fledgling company lacked in experience, it made up for in connections. Accompanying Mr. Giustra on his luxuriously appointed MD-87 jet that day was a former president of the United States, Bill Clinton.

-snip


"Kazakhstan’s president, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, whose 19-year stranglehold on the country has all but quashed political dissent."

"Mr. Nazarbayev walked away from the table with a propaganda coup, after Mr. Clinton expressed enthusiastic support for the Kazakh leader’s bid to head an international organization that monitors elections and supports democracy."

-snip

Just months after the Kazakh pact was finalized, Mr. Clinton’s charitable foundation received its own windfall: a $31.3 million donation from Mr. Giustra that had remained a secret until he acknowledged it last month. The gift, combined with Mr. Giustra’s more recent and public pledge to give the William J. Clinton Foundation an additional $100 million, secured Mr. Giustra a place in Mr. Clinton’s inner circle, an exclusive club of wealthy entrepreneurs in which friendship with the former president has its privileges.

LINK:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/us/politics/31donor.html


HERE"S ANOTHER:

Ask Hillary About This Tonight. I Dare You.
by Zwoof

Thu Jan 31, 2008 at 03:40:46 AM PST

Several days ago I posted a diary about the WTI and Von Roll Toxic Waste Incinerator. Because I posted it the same day as the South Carolina Primary, several Kossacks have asked me to repost.
Instead of duplicating the diary, I have added some new developments, and data.

While I was writing the original piece on the history of this foul project, a new ruling from the Ohio EPAallowed this incinerator, located 1,100 feet from an elementary school, to accept even more hazardous waste (anthrax, radioactive waste, infectious medical waste and mixed hazardous waste from Hurricane Katrina) than the original permit that was shrouded in corruption and approved by the Clinton Administration

Clinton and Al Gore promised the residents of East Liverpool, Ohio that they would not allow this incinerator originally approved by Bush '41 to operate. However, a Clinton EPA appointee, recommended by his classmate Hillary Clinton, approved the permit.
This is a tangled tale of corporatism, broken promises and an environmental disaster waiting to happen.
It's long, so hang with me below the fold.


-snip
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/31/21045/9822/688/446786



Rahm attempted to undermine Howard Dean. If President Obama trusts him then maybe there's something I've missed. Still I'm skeptical of DLC types.

[wilsonbooks]

18. Time will tell if

he functions as an enforcer for An Obama progressive agenda or as a gate keeper to keep progressives out of the inner circle.

I haven't heard of any offers of a job of Chairman Dean in the Administration.

My fear is that Obama will try to govern from the center right rather than the center left and that in the spirit of bipartisanship he will discourage a through investigation of the bush crimes.

[leftofthedial]

19. I'll buy the Clinton olive branch.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was some back-room quid pro quo working in relation to Hillary's campaign support.

As for leg breaking, though, I fear that only left legs will be broken.

[Junkdrawer]

20. And it ends all the false hope around that Change nonsense...

Same old same old...

[ColbertWatcher]

21. Two excellent reasons, thank you! k+r, n/t

[KoKo]

22. and...since Obama is by nature "even tempered and thoughtful"...Rahm can be the Pit Bull!

I thought Obama's first choice was what he said he would do. He'd listen to other sides...he didn't want sycophants like Bush had in his administration. It's good to see him looking for complements to his personality.

I don't like Rahm...I worry about his Israeli Connections, but even those connections could be helpful to Obama. This first pick is sharp...like a fox. We will have to wait and see how the rest go...but it's an interesting start for strategy.

[amandabeech]

27. I worry that he is much too eager to go to war in the Middle East,

and his Israeli connections may be the reason why.

I'd feel much more comfortable if he hadn't spent the First Gulf War as a civilian volunteer in the Israeli Army.

Surely there must have been something he could do to support the U.S. Army during a war that the U.S. was actually fighting?

[EFerrari]

23. He's not a very good legbreaker from his record but I believe the Clinton part.

This is politics, not the Barbie Fan Club. (Thank you, God!)

[Joe Fields]

24. If you like the New Way Democratic Party,

then Rahm Emanuel is right up your alley.

[Uncle Joe]

25. I believe Emmanuel will make a fine Chief of Staff.

Thanks for the thread, WilliamPitt.

[dysfunctional press]

26. it alsogets a dlc'er out of congress- hopefully to be replaced by a genuine democrat.

we shall see.

[kentuck]

29. ".....a few prize shitheads in our party."

That damn Obama ! Before you know it, he will have united the DLC with the left wing of our Party. Now that would be something monumental.

I agree Will. I think this appointment of Emanuel was an excellent first appointment. The Chief of Staff is the gate-keeper. He determines who goes thru the door to see the President.

[mwei924]

31. He and Obama are good friends, their families are close.

Chief of Staff needs to be someone the President knows well and can trust. He will do Obama's bidding, and he'll get it done.

[MissMarple]

32. My thoughts, almost exactly.

I don't think he actually breaks legs. But one might wish he had, afterward. And, he most probably will be loyal to Obama. That counts for a lot.

[bridgit]

33. 3. He's pissing the hell out of RW republicans

:)

[lamp_shade]

34. kick this.

[K Gardner]

35. Rahmbo will do the job Obama needs him to do. People evidently still think

Obama is just "winging it". Thanks for this.

[WilliamPitt]

36. Heh

Yeah.

Defeating the entire Democratic field, including the well-funded front-runner, before demolishing the GOP challenger...he did it totally off the top of his head.

Obama had his administration's first year all planned out before he even entered the race two years ago, I suspect.

:)

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

37. I Think He's The Perfect Choice, And Shows How Capable Obama Is In Making Strategical Decisions.

:thumbsup:

[JohnnyBoots]

38. He has the right skill set for the job. It pisses off the GOP. It works as an olive branch and a

machiavelian move (friends close, enemies closer...ie DLC)within the democratic party. Plus he is a Chicago guy with DC insider experience. I think it was a great pick.

[GalleryGod]

39. As Always, Will...Impeccably Articulated and Diagnosed!

It has been a LONnnnnnnnnnnnng Time since that Philly DU Meet-up @ Dave & Busters !
(with grateful thanks 4ever to Lynnesin & Ramsey)