CapitolFax.com: Much ado about nothing? We shall see *** UPDATE: AP claims Emanuel “not a target” ***
Been There
· 1 year ago
===puzzing==. Kind of gives it a different visual.
The 'Broken Heart' of Rogers P
· 1 year ago
===Emanuel’s totally uncharacteristic silence, though, is puzzing.===
The Feds can only bleep so much.... Patti and Rod used the FBI's week bleep quota.
2ConfusedCrew
· 1 year ago
Has slick willie quinlan turned up for work yet?
Ron Burgundy
· 1 year ago
Giving Rahm the benefit of the doubt on the selling of the Senate seat that he just passed along possible candidates and nothing more, could he perhaps be concerned about what else he might have said on those calls? Even if nothing illegal, given that he is the White House Chief of Staff designee, he could have said some very embarrassing things on other topics that would reflect badly on him and or President-elect Obama. He's never been known as a shrinking violet or afraid to say what's on his mind.
Mgmax
· 1 year ago
You know what I wonder is... if Emanuel did drop the dime on Blago, would he want people knowing it? There is a sort of omerta among Chicago politicians...
Scooby
· 1 year ago
Advisor B's business partner is coming off this huge success and now here's Advisor B in this huge mess. Must be fun in that office.
Cassandra
· 1 year ago
I agree with RB. Emmanuel isn't stupid. But he is widely reputed as being something of, well, an arrogant jerk. Arrogant jerks often get those reputations because of the way they talk about things. And, to be fair, many are excoriating Mrs. B. for sounding like, well, an arrogant jerk.
Maybe Obama ought to rethink how much discretion to give Rahm to talk to folks on his own in these critical early days.
Bill Baar
· 1 year ago
Rahm says he's getting death threats.
Fan of the Game
· 1 year ago
"There ain't much here" in the complaint, but Fitzgerald himself said the complaint is not a complete rendering of whatthe tapes contain. Maybe they implicate Emanuel. Maybe they don't.
Pat collins
· 1 year ago
Rahm says he’s getting death threats
Seriously? With the Secret Service ready to pounce all over that? Who would be so stupid??
Bill Baar
· 1 year ago
Yes, according to ABC, Emanuel appeared "beet-red," according to an ABC News cameraman who was invited inside by Emmanuel to use his bathroom this morning.
"I'm getting regular death threats. You've put my home address on national television. I'm pissed at the networks. You've intruded too much, " Emanuel said, according to the cameraman.
You read Kass today?
The Gov keeps a cooler head than Rahm.
Bill Baar
· 1 year ago
I'm not entirely certain why the Networks need to stake out any of their homes by the way. I guess to see who goes inside for a chat, but these stakeouts seem a little extreme to me.
question
· 1 year ago
Has Rahm resigned his congressional seat?
Andy T.
· 1 year ago
No money raised from McPier????
ivoted4judy
· 1 year ago
That was a good question by 2confused!! Rich get us the scoop just where is the Q Dog been since Tuesday? Chances are he is still singing to Fitz, he is probably just now up to 2005 shenanigans.
2ConfusedCrew
· 1 year ago
"I’m not entirely certain why the Networks need to stake out any of their homes by the way. I guess to see who goes inside for a chat, but these stakeouts seem a little extreme to me."
Because this is what passes for "news" in the visual news media world Don't see the cameras saking out Sam Zell's wondering why he did not run down Michigan Ave to tell the G that Blagoof was shaking him down. Hmmmmmm Any answers Mr. Nils????
Bubba
· 1 year ago
Neil Cavuto just uttered a "teaser"... "Is Rahm GONE"?????
Phineas J. Whoopee
· 1 year ago
I would suspect that Rahm Emanuel is keeping his mouth shut because he has been told to by either the US Attorney's Office or Obama himself. If he is on tape, I'm sure he is telling Blago to bleep himself.
Bill Baar
· 1 year ago
He hasn't resigned. He's shown as NOT VOTING on the auto bill.
Ron Burgundy
· 1 year ago
Again, not being a target, while good for him personally, doesn't necessarily mean he didn't say something politically embarrassing on one of those calls.
NimROD
· 1 year ago
And, I might add - the campaign is over. It is likely the media lovefest with Obama and his staff is also. I suspect the kid gloves are either off or will be coming off pretty quickly.
If you read some of the other sites like Politico, there are a lot of complaints from Democrats that their reporters have recently turned on Obama and Co. like a pack of starving dogs. This should have been anticipated.
Observer
· 1 year ago
A press feed like this leads me to believe the US Attorney is trying to take some heat off Emanuel which leads me to believe he is in cahoots with them.
Sweet Polly Purebred
· 1 year ago
I can honestly say that I never thought I would see the day that Rahm was left speechless! I would have to agree with a number of the other posters that while Rahm may have done nothing illegal, it is entirely possible that he did SAY some things that may well be damaging to the emerging Obama administration - after all he is not always the coolest of heads in a verbal skirmish.
Holdingontomywallet
· 1 year ago
Transparency and change? What's the holdup? I thought the people deserved a "transparent and open government". What was said in the conversations with the gov? We're waiting...
Bill Baar
· 1 year ago
It could be the Gov got the better of Rahm in these calls... It could be Raham and Obama are wondering just what Teheran and Havanna will think of an Administration that bungles negotiations with Rod.
That could be the humiliation here.
Sweet Polly Purebred
· 1 year ago
Bill - It truly could be humiliation in the making! If they could be tripped up by "Poison Ivy" Blagojevich, are they really prepared to deal with the world as it exists today? It will be most interesting to watch the Obama team handle this with true transparency. We shall see...
wordslinger
· 1 year ago
The Obama people need to get their heads out of Illinois.
In normal circumstances, like Delaware and New York, talking about a Senate replacement is normal business. But with their past relationships with Blago, and his unique issues, they just should have stayed away. No upside, big downside.
You're going to the Big Show, let the minor leagues take care of themselves.
Bill Baar
· 1 year ago
ditto workslinger... Obama's first mistake was doing the transition from Chicago when this train was obviously headed for Illinois.
He should have said goodbye the day he was elected.
Lynn S
· 1 year ago
But how could he say goodbye? His daughters are in school, and I saw a blurb this morning saying the Obamas' request to stay in Blair House starting in early January so the girls could start school on Jan. 5 was denied by the Bushies. It is possible Rahm said something embarassing on the wire, but isn't it also possible that the whole Obama crew wanted to spend a few months at home after being on the road almost continuously for almost 2 years and before they move in January?
wordslinger
· 1 year ago
The Trib's story today on the Emanuel and Harris conversations reveals more than a little bit of chutzpah.
The story says that Emanuel called Harris the Saturday BEFORE the election with a list of Senate replacements "acceptable" to Obama: Jarrett, Duckworth, Hynes and Schakowsky. After the election, he called and added Lisa Madigan.
Some names conspicuous by their absence, no?
There's nothing inherently inappropriate with a president-elect's chief of staff talking with a governor's chief of staff about a senate vacancy. But there are federalism and separation of power issues that argue for not coming on too strong. Not to mention Rod's peculiar status with the Justice Department.
Emanuel's actions, if the story is right, strike me as arrogant Bossism, and not terribly bright.
Consider:
--Emanuel initiates the conversation, and does so before Obama has even been elected and before he's been named chief of staff. Arrogant.
-- A list of acceptable candidates. Bossism. Obama's the president-elect, not the King of Illinois. It would have been more appropriate for the governor's office to contact Obama with a list to determine if any of the names were objectionable.
And not terribly bright. Emanuel had to know better than anyone how Rod does business. Certainly he knew there could be the possibility of a wholly inappropriate request being made in exchange for an appointment from the "acceptable" list.
And since he knew Blago's administration was under intense Justice Department scrutiny, the thought must have crossed his mind that any phone conversation with Harris or Blago could be recorded, right?
God forbid that an inappropriate request be caught on tape!
Combined with Axelrod's flip-flop on Obama discussing the vacancy with Blago, it doesn't seem like the president-elect's top guys are bringing their A Game right now.
Let's hope that it's not their A Game.
Sweet Polly Purebred
· 1 year ago
Wordslinger - Excellent posting! You hit the proverbial nail on the head. Thank you for expressing it so well.
All Comments
The Feds can only bleep so much.... Patti and Rod used the FBI's week bleep quota.
Maybe Obama ought to rethink how much discretion to give Rahm to talk to folks on his own in these critical early days.
Seriously? With the Secret Service ready to pounce all over that? Who would be so stupid??
Emanuel appeared "beet-red," according to an ABC News cameraman who was invited inside by Emmanuel to use his bathroom this morning.
"I'm getting regular death threats. You've put my home address on national television. I'm pissed at the networks. You've intruded too much, " Emanuel said, according to the cameraman.
You read Kass today?
The Gov keeps a cooler head than Rahm.
Because this is what passes for "news" in the visual news media world Don't see the cameras saking out Sam Zell's wondering why he did not run down Michigan Ave to tell the G that Blagoof was shaking him down. Hmmmmmm Any answers Mr. Nils????
"Is Rahm GONE"?????
If you read some of the other sites like Politico, there are a lot of complaints from Democrats that their reporters have recently turned on Obama and Co. like a pack of starving dogs. This should have been anticipated.
That could be the humiliation here.
In normal circumstances, like Delaware and New York, talking about a Senate replacement is normal business. But with their past relationships with Blago, and his unique issues, they just should have stayed away. No upside, big downside.
You're going to the Big Show, let the minor leagues take care of themselves.
He should have said goodbye the day he was elected.
The story says that Emanuel called Harris the Saturday BEFORE the election with a list of Senate replacements "acceptable" to Obama: Jarrett, Duckworth, Hynes and Schakowsky. After the election, he called and added Lisa Madigan.
Some names conspicuous by their absence, no?
There's nothing inherently inappropriate with a president-elect's chief of staff talking with a governor's chief of staff about a senate vacancy. But there are federalism and separation of power issues that argue for not coming on too strong. Not to mention Rod's peculiar status with the Justice Department.
Emanuel's actions, if the story is right, strike me as arrogant Bossism, and not terribly bright.
Consider:
--Emanuel initiates the conversation, and does so before Obama has even been elected and before he's been named chief of staff. Arrogant.
-- A list of acceptable candidates. Bossism. Obama's the president-elect, not the King of Illinois. It would have been more appropriate for the governor's office to contact Obama with a list to determine if any of the names were objectionable.
And not terribly bright. Emanuel had to know better than anyone how Rod does business. Certainly he knew there could be the possibility of a wholly inappropriate request being made in exchange for an appointment from the "acceptable" list.
And since he knew Blago's administration was under intense Justice Department scrutiny, the thought must have crossed his mind that any phone conversation with Harris or Blago could be recorded, right?
God forbid that an inappropriate request be caught on tape!
Combined with Axelrod's flip-flop on Obama discussing the vacancy with Blago, it doesn't seem like the president-elect's top guys are bringing their A Game right now.
Let's hope that it's not their A Game.