Legal Commentary

The Rahmbo Agenda

By Big Tent Democrat

Dana Milbank's Apologia for Rahm Emanuel demonstrates precisely why he was a terrible choice for Chief of Staff. Leaving aside the questions of his political and policy judgment (which Milbank lauds, I think they are horrid), it is the fact that Rahmbo is interested in his own personal agenda first, that of the President's second. Indeed, the most telling part of Milbank''s piece is this:

No wonder Emanuel has set up his own small press operation and outreach function to circumvent the dysfunctional ones that Jarrett and Gibbs run.

(Emphasis supplied.) Think about it. The President's CoS has set up his own press operation to circumvent the one the serves his President. Its main goal is of course to flack for Rahmbo. What more need be said? Of course Emanuel is a force of the Village, so the Beltway Media will defend him. Sally Quinn famously wrote in her infamous 1998 piece about the Village:

[H]ere was Clinton's trusted adviser Rahm Emanuel, finishing up a speech at a fund-raiser to fight spina bifida before a gathering that could only be described as Establishment Washington.

"There are a lot of people in America who look at what we do here in Washington with nothing but cynicism," said Emanuel. "Heck, there are a lot of people in Washington who look at us with nothing but cynicism." But, he went on, "there are good people here. Decent people on both sides of the political aisle and on both sides of the reporter's notebook."

Emanuel, unlike the president, had become part of the Washington Establishment. "This is one of those extraordinary moments," he said at the fund-raiser, "when we come together as a community here in Washington -- setting aside personal, political and professional differences."

Actually, it wasn't extraordinary. When Establishment Washingtonians of all persuasions gather to support their own, they are not unlike any other small community in the country.

(Emphasis supplied.) Dana Milbank and other Beltway types are stepping up to support one of their own, Rahm Emanuel. If that damages the President, well that's the President's fault. The President should not have put Rahm in a vulnerable position. It's his fault, or so the Village will say and think.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on February 20, 2010 (boomark / email).