Rahm Emanuel accepts Chief of Staff Job

[dougd]

A great choice by President Elect Obama.

 

Rahm Emanuel is a very bright guy, and one tough SOB.

 

A great start...

 

d

[Alpinfox]

Wikipedia link

[billcoe]

A great choice by President Elect Obama.

 

Conspiracy theorists are already starting to come out of the woodwork now: Link

 

From Supertopo:

Obama makes his first payment to AIPAC:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/us/politics/07elect.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

 

Rahm is the son of an Irgun gun runner (terrorist,recall the Irgun blew up the King David Hotel) and has served (in civilian capacity) the Israeli Defense Forces in 1991, never for the US military. Not hard to imagine where his loyalties might lie.

 

When it comes to Israel/ Palestine Rahm Israel Emanuel is to the right of George W Bush. What was this about hope & change?

 

from a 2006 article on Obama's chief of staff pick;

 

"But in some respects, Emanuel is a mysterious fellow, as evidenced by his biography, which is readily available on Wikipedia and in the piece in Fortune (3). But there are a few things missing or not fully explained. First, as is often pointed out, Emanuel's physician father was an Israeli émigré; but, according to Leon Hadar, he also worked during the 1940s with the notorious Irgun, which was labeled as a terrorist organization by the British authorities.(6) Perhaps Rahm's current interest in terrorism was first kindled at his father's Irgun knee.

 

Second, during the 1991 Gulf War, Emanuel was a civilian volunteer in Israel, "rust-proofing brakes on an army base in northern Israel." (Wikipedia, New Republic). This is peculiar on two counts. Here the U.S. goes to war with Iraq, but Emanuel, a U.S. citizen, volunteers not for his country, but for Israel. Moreover, here is a well-connected Illinois political figure with a father who had been in the Irgun, but he is assigned to "rust-proof brakes" on "an army base." Maybe.

 

Third, immediately upon his return from his desert sojourn, Emanuel at once became a major figure in the Clinton campaign "who wowed the team from the start, opening a spigot on needed campaign funds."(3) How did he do that after being isolated overseas, and with no experience in national politics? Fourth, after leaving the Clinton White House, he decided that he needed some accumulated wealth and "security" if he were to stay in politics. So he went to work for Bruce Wasserstein, a major Democratic donor and Wall Street financier.

 

According to Easton, "Over a 2 1/2-year period he helped broker deals-often using political connections-for Wasserstein Perella. According to congressional financial disclosures, he earned more than $18 million during that period. His deals included Unicom's merger with Peco Energy and venture fund GTCR Golder Rauner's purchase of SBC subsidiary SecurityLink. But friends say his compensation also benefited from two sales of the Wasserstein firm itself, first to Dresdner Bank and then to Allianz AG." Again for a newcomer to haul in $18 million in two years is almost miraculous. How did he do it? Next Emanuel won a seat in Congress in 2002, and by 2006 he was chair of the DCCC. Another near miraculous rise.

 

But Emanuel and his fellow hawks may yet fail to get their way. Major figures among the rulers of U.S. empire, and their well-compensated advisors, from James Baker to Jimmy Carter to Zbigniew Brzezinski to Mearsheimer and Walt, see disaster looming unless the neocons of both War Parties with their dual loyalties to the U.S. and Israel are brought to heel. Second and more important, the people are fed up with the war on Iraq and wary of other wars the hawks like Emanuel have planned for us. The politicians who win office, whether Rove's Republicans or Emanuel's Democrats, will have to deal with this rising tide of anger or risk losing their sinecures. That risk is offset by the machinations of Emanuel and others to guarantee that there is no genuine opposition party or movement. And that lack of a real opposition is a problem we must solve." http://www.counterpunch.org/walsh10242006.html

[billcoe]

When it comes to Israel/ Palestine Rahm Israel Emanuel is to the right of George W Bush. What was this about hope & change?

 

There's still hope isn't there? It's only been a day and the man isn't even going to be sworn in yet for a couple of months.

 

Jeeze.

[pc313]

I hear he butcherd a table with a steak knife, and once sent a dead fish to a reporter,sounds like the right guy for the job!!!

[Mtguide]

Your post is really interesting. A week prior to the election, Obama was endorsed by Hamas,(this from truthout.org) evidently because they felt he might be more proactive in restarting the Mideast peace process, and that he'd deal more fairly with the Palestinians.They may be having some second thoughts about just where Obama stands now. In an interview this afternoon on PBS, Palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi said that while the choice of Emanuel was "less than ideal"(!), they remain for the time being,"cautiously optimistic".

 

The immense amount of money raised by Obama during the campaign didn't come out of nowhere, though the campaign tried to give the general impression that millions of small online donors were driving the effort. He is most certainly beholden to some extremely powerful players at the corporate and international level, and the lobby in congress for the Jewish Defense League and Israel is a major gatekeeper for any serious contender to the Presidency. This is not anti-Semitic sentiment, this is just fact, the status quo.

 

Obama was known in Chicago as a nice guy who could nontheless throw his grandmother under a bus if that's what it took to win, yet look very gracious, measured and thoughtful in the process, just as he did during the debates. Rahm Emanuel is very well known on Capitol Hill as an enforcer, capable of ruthlessness when necessary. On PBS this afternoon, he was referred to as Obama's choice for "bad cop". It's a rough game, and I doubt that's going to change anytime soon. It would be great if Carter, Brzezinski, etc. could somehow exert a leavening influence, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

 

[dougd]

The President Elect has made a wise choice IMO. He will need a tough guy to keep the staff in line and producing for the country.

 

President Elect Obama is going to need Rahm's toughness to run the crew... It's really that simple.

 

Let's give these guys a chance and see what they will do eh?

 

d

 

 

[billcoe]

Although I was incorrect on my assessment earlier this year that the US would force Iran's hand on the nuclear issue by October...nothing of substance has yet changed with that situation that I'm aware of.

 

Interesting choice of Chief of staff with that backdrop, no?

[kevbone]

The President Elect has made a wise choice

 

Yeah....he keeps doing that....

 

thats what makes him amazing. he is smarter that the entire GOP put together.

[billcoe]

The President Elect has made a wise choice

 

Yeah....he keeps doing that....

 

thats what makes him amazing. he is smarter that the entire GOP put together.

 

Sure thing guys. Dude was a director of Freddy Mac. If he was so Damn smart, why'd he screw this one up? Link

excerpts:

 

"Emanuel Was Director Of Freddie Mac During Scandal

New Obama Chief of Staff, Others on Board, Missed "Red Flags" of Alleged Fraud Scheme

By BRIAN ROSS and RHONDA SCHWARTZ

November 7, 2008

 

President-elect Barack Obama's newly appointed chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, served on the board of directors of the federal mortgage firm Freddie Mac at a time when scandal was brewing at the troubled agency and the board failed to spot "red flags," according to government reports reviewed by ABCNews.com.

 

The actions by Freddie Mac are cited by some economists as the beginning of the country's economic meltdown.

 

The federal government this year was forced to take over Freddie Mac and a sister federal mortgage agency, Fannie Mae, pledging at least $200 billion in public funds. The entire board was later accused by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) of having "failed in its duty to follow up on matters brought to its attention". During the years 2000, 2001 and 2002, according to the SEC, Freddie Mac substantially misrepresented its income to "present investors with the image of a company that would continue to generate predictable and growing earnings."

 

Sounds like the Fox is back in the henhouse. Amazing guy you say?

[STP]

8D

 

Ha, we all know it was Bush's fault. He promoted an ownership society and didn't try to rein things in at Freddie/Fannie once the warning flags went up.

 

Frankly, I don't give a shit if it was Bush, Clinton, Greenspan, or El Diablo .

[Bug]

Sure thing guys. Dude was a director of Freddy Mac. If he was so Damn smart, why'd he screw this one up?

"Emanuel Was Director Of Freddie Mac During Scandal

New Obama Chief of Staff, Others on Board, Missed "Red Flags" of Alleged Fraud Scheme

By BRIAN ROSS and RHONDA SCHWARTZ

November 7, 2008

 

President-elect Barack Obama's newly appointed chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, served on the board of directors of the federal mortgage firm Freddie Mac at a time when scandal was brewing at the troubled agency and the board failed to spot "red flags," according to government reports reviewed by ABCNews.com.

 

The actions by Freddie Mac are cited by some economists as the beginning of the country's economic meltdown.

 

The federal government this year was forced to take over Freddie Mac and a sister federal mortgage agency, Fannie Mae, pledging at least $200 billion in public funds. The entire board was later accused by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) of having "failed in its duty to follow up on matters brought to its attention". During the years 2000, 2001 and 2002, according to the SEC, Freddie Mac substantially misrepresented its income to "present investors with the image of a company that would continue to generate predictable and growing earnings."

 

Sounds like the Fox is back in the henhouse. Amazing guy you say?

Wow this guy is really smart!

He spends less than one year on the board of directors of Freddie Mack and causes the whole economy to collapse.

 

Good catch Bill.

 

Jeeze, and all this time I thought GW had something to do with it.

[billcoe]

You really don't read others stuff do ya?

[Bug]

Oh, did you type something?

Its hard to get excited about your posts when you overtly try to waste time.

 

[Bug]

Did you read the article?

I didn't think so.

[prole]

Just wait to you see who Obama's got lined up for his economic team! Hey Bill, what did you think he was going to do, raise FDR's cabinet from the dead like Aragorn? This country's had its head so far up Milton Friedman's ass for so long you'd have to go back 40 years to find anyone with a clue about what "real change" looks like. For the left prepare to have your expectations lowered, for the right you can wake up from your "socialism" fantasies.

[billcoe]

I'm surprised you see this as a waste of time Bug.

 

_________________________________________________________

 

....you'd have to go back 40 years to find anyone with a clue about what "real change" looks like. For the left prepare to have your expectations lowered, for the right you can wake up from your "socialism" fantasies.

 

So this is what real change looks like then? Ahhhh, it was looking like Bush part 2 or 3 to me. Hire a fox to guard the hen house.

Edited November 7, 2008 by billcoe

[Bug]

You don't track well.

Alzheimers maybe?

 

[dougd]

Some people insist on seeing the glass as half empty...

 

While I don't want to condemn such people, I do think we need a more positive, hopeful outlook while figuratively rolling up our sleeves and actually getting to work on the real issues that we face.

 

I don't agree with everything President Obama proposed during the campaign by far, but I'm willing to give tha man, and yes, his staff a chance to show what they can do in beginning to address said issues. It takes an equal amount of energy to be positive/negative so why not positive right now?

 

d

[dougd]

correction: President "Elect" Obama...

[mattp]

Really, Bill. I think Bug is right: the article you linked said that Emanuel was on the board for just over a year and specifically noted that he expressed concern about Freddie Mac and has NOT been said to have been responsible for or involved in the mess. Was he irrespnsible as a board member? Maybe, but that single article sure doesn't say so. For someone who spent the last several days demanding links to back up "statements of opinion," you aren't showing much critical thought here.

 

Having said that, I agree with your general skepticism. I don't much appreciate the vicious and in my opinion irresponsible attacks from the right who seem to be trying to undermine Obama before he even gets started but on the other hand I believe that those who expect Obama to change the world are going to be disappointed.

 

I'm afraid he is going to maintain most of Washington just as it is and, indeed, we WILL continue to see the fox guarding the hen house when it comes to the economy.

[billcoe]

Well, ,I did post a link and an article. You can choose to read it or not, I wanted to put it out there. I really had rarely heard of the good Rabbi Emanuel so didn't (and don't) know what to expect. I find it disappointing that a guy like Paulson, who was inside the hen house watching this shit go down, is about to be swept out, but in some strange revolving door thing, a guy who looks just like him is coming in. This appears like more of the same shit that got us here to begin with. I really HOPE for CHANGE. But like I said earlier, all of you who have that hope, really have no basis of fact that it is anything other than a "belief" that things would change. To me, this just looks like anther political based appointment with money the underlying basis for the appointment. On the upside, he really sounds smart, and looks like a good guy to have on your side in an argument.

 

I still have hope....

 

[billcoe]

BTW Matt, if McCain had been elected, I know that the name would have been different but my disappointment the same. Obama looked like the better guy then and now.

[Bug]

Really, Bill. I think Bug is right: the article you linked said that Emanuel was on the board for just over a year and specifically noted that he expressed concern about Freddie Mac and has NOT been said to have been responsible for or involved in the mess. Was he irrespnsible as a board member? Maybe, but that single article sure doesn't say so. For someone who spent the last several days demanding links to back up "statements of opinion," you aren't showing much critical thought here.

 

Having said that, I agree with your general skepticism. I don't much appreciate the vicious and in my opinion irresponsible attacks from the right who seem to be trying to undermine Obama before he even gets started but on the other hand I believe that those who expect Obama to change the world are going to be disappointed.

 

I'm afraid he is going to maintain most of Washington just as it is and, indeed, we WILL continue to see the fox guarding the hen house when it comes to the economy.

"It is only the wisest and the stupidest that cannot change."

-- Confucius

The pendulum has to be slowed down. We have turned hard to the right and have changed our fundamental doctrine on human rights. We have racked up record deficits and record debt. We have thrown away international law as it stood through 40 years of development.

To Spring back to the left that far in a single knee jerk would be detrimental to us all.

To throw out everyone who participated in the radical changes we have seen would be catestrophic if not impossible.

I have to admit to trepidation over the Emanuel appointment but what counts is how Obama uses his council going forward.

 

[JosephH]

A primary root of our economic problems was the shift of society's use of debt onto a set of financial engineering models which were inadequate to the task of modeling human behavior, and which were badly misused by people with less then good intentions. Part of the current dilemma is that no one in the 'market' isn't prepared to operate without underlying models of some sort and so it will probably take a year or two for the engineering wonks to retool the modeling such that they might better reflect reality and to set them in a regulatory framework which hasn't existed to date.