Rahm Emanuel shows Obama whos boss.

[JackTipper]

WASHINGTON - Early this month, Barack Obama was meeting with the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and other lawmakers when Rahm Emanuel, his chief of staff, began nervously cracking a knuckle.
Mr. Obama then turned to complain to Mr. Emanuel about his noisy habit.

At which point, Mr. Emanuel held the offending knuckle up to Mr. Obama's left ear and, like an annoying little brother, snapped off a few special cracks.

It's official, Obama is madd pussy and Rahm Emanuel, an Israeli duel citizen, is calling the shots. When you read the article you'll see they tried to play it off by saying;

"The episode, confirmed by Mr. Emanuel's office, underscores some essential truths about Mr. Emanuel: He is brash, has a deep comfort level with his new boss, and has been ever-present at Mr. Obama's side of late, in meetings, on podiums and in photographs."

Lawl! He has a deep comfort level with his boss? It's obvious that he is the boss. He's main influence that had Obama silenced about the massacre in Gaza prior to the inauguration. America is deep under the influence of Israel and it's obvious why.

[slowerthenb4]

for fucks sake man.

ok (a) to (b) is logical.

(a) to (denver) is just retarded.

blah blah blah retort retort retort

[Christopherr]

They're downplaying this like a cutesy game Rahm's playing instead of a lack of authority on Obama's part. It's just disrespect.

Also, that article is calling a man who said "Republicans can go fuck themselves" an ambassador to the Republicans.

It must've been written in topsy-turvy world.

[Tancrisism]

Uh oh. I have a bad feeling about this Emmanuel business, all of a sudden.

[JoS]

Rahm is a tough guy, not a manipulator. He is not the Karl Rove of the Democrats, he just speaks his mind and is very candid.

[Tancrisism]

At 2/3/09 10:38 PM, JoS wrote: Rahm is a tough guy, not a manipulator. He is not the Karl Rove of the Democrats, he just speaks his mind and is very candid.

I do hope you're right.

[BrianEtrius]

You know, the next thing I'll expect is someone to yell "LIEK OMG OBAMA'S THE ANTICHRIST"

Because seriously, Emanuel's a jackass, but he's a good jackass who shows people who's boss. Besides, Obama picked him for a this reason, he gets shit done.

So seriously, WTF. This isn't like a terrorist attack.

[Christopherr]

At 2/3/09 10:49 PM, BrianEtrius wrote: So seriously, WTF. This isn't like a terrorist attack.

Appearance is important when you're leading the world's most influential country. If your leader doesn't keep his workers in line, then he presents himself as ineffective.

[BrianEtrius]

At 2/3/09 10:53 PM, Christopherr wrote:

At 2/3/09 10:49 PM, BrianEtrius wrote: So seriously, WTF. This isn't like a terrorist attack.

Appearance is important when you're leading the world's most influential country. If your leader doesn't keep his workers in line, then he presents himself as ineffective.

Again, Emanuel's a jackass. We knew that going in. But he GETS STUFF DONE. That's why he was picked. He's cocky and totally too far in it, but Obama needed it to show some backbone.

This shouldn't come as a surprise. Also in one of the articles I believe Emanuel also said he was trying to calm down to, not to scare the foreign countries.

This isn't a conspiracy.

[D3NTATUS]

Holy fucking shit, the Chief of Staff did something annoying to Obama?

The degeneration of American government as we know it!

[Tancrisism]

At 2/3/09 10:49 PM, BrianEtrius wrote: You know, the next thing I'll expect is someone to yell "LIEK OMG OBAMA'S THE ANTICHRIST"

Because seriously, Emanuel's a jackass, but he's a good jackass who shows people who's boss. Besides, Obama picked him for a this reason, he gets shit done.

So seriously, WTF. This isn't like a terrorist attack.

The problem is, I think, that Obama must keep his cabinet from controlling him in order to succeed as president.

[BrianEtrius]

At 2/3/09 11:26 PM, Tancrisism wrote: The problem is, I think, that Obama must keep his cabinet from controlling him in order to succeed as president.

If Obama REALLY wanted to control his cabinet, Emanuel would certainly not be in it, neither would have Hilary been picked.

He did it for a reason, to give him backbone. This particular cabinet allows them to do the dirty work, with the mudslinging and so forth without him doing it, allowing him to keep his "clean politics" image.

[rainmaker]

Let's not be overanalytical here folks. The act speaks loads to Emmanuel's character, but not so much to who's "in charge" by any means.

[Korriken]

At 2/3/09 11:41 PM, rainmaker wrote: Let's not be overanalytical here folks. The act speaks loads to Emmanuel's character, but not so much to who's "in charge" by any means.

Considering Obama didn't bitchslap Rahm, or at least twisting his hand into a painful position until he promises to knock it off, does say a lot. He could have at LEAST asserted himself verbally.

Poor Obama. his facade is breaking so early, his veneer is cracking. On the bright side, in later elections, if anyone tries to rockstar, glitz and glamor approach to getting elected, we can compare the poser to Obama, and remind the nation what happens when you elect a personality and not a leader.

[Tancrisism]

At 2/4/09 01:11 AM, Korriken wrote:

At 2/3/09 11:41 PM, rainmaker wrote: Let's not be overanalytical here folks. The act speaks loads to Emmanuel's character, but not so much to who's "in charge" by any means.

Considering Obama didn't bitchslap Rahm, or at least twisting his hand into a painful position until he promises to knock it off, does say a lot. He could have at LEAST asserted himself verbally.

Actually, what I realized is that people are probably reading too much into this. Given what we know about Obama's character, would he really have complained about the noise caused by Emmanuel's knuckle cracking? Chances are he said something like "that's unhealthy", so Emmanuel responded with a metaphorical "fuck you". It seems perfectly friendly.

[aviewaskewed]

At 2/4/09 01:11 AM, Korriken wrote: Considering Obama didn't bitchslap Rahm, or at least twisting his hand into a painful position until he promises to knock it off, does say a lot.

I agree. Says he has some goddamn maturity. Seriously, you want a president that's willing to physically attack members of his cabinet because they do something annoying? WTH?

He could have at LEAST asserted himself verbally.

Well he did say something in the moment, and then probably said something afterwards as well for all we know.

Honestly, I think the Obama-haters are reaching for things now. We just got done with a president that was supposed to be the big tough cowboy decider and look how well that went. A guy that doesn't get all inappropriate in his response to knuckle cracking is a bad thing now? Sorry, just not seeing how so small an incident is pointing out larger issues. Show me where Rahm is covering some shit up with "executive priviledge" or some such (like Cheney) and then we can talk. But this? This just sounds like a really inappropriate move that I agree Obama should try to keep Emanuel from doing again, but I don't see where it's indicative of a massive slip in power.

[Patton3]

Rahm Emmanuel is just a class "A", all around fuck when it comes to social graces, yet one of the best when it comes to his job. Seriously, he's been known to send dead fish via FedEx to political enemies. Expecting a calm head and good manners from this guy is like expecting snappy service at your local BMV.

[slowerthenb4]

Considering Obama didn't bitchslap Rahm,

got a long laugh on that. he totally should have.

[Korriken]

At 2/4/09 02:51 AM, aviewaskewed wrote:

At 2/4/09 01:11 AM, Korriken wrote: Considering Obama didn't bitchslap Rahm, or at least twisting his hand into a painful position until he promises to knock it off, does say a lot.

I agree. Says he has some goddamn maturity. Seriously, you want a president that's willing to physically attack members of his cabinet because they do something annoying? WTH?

He could have at LEAST asserted himself verbally.

Well he did say something in the moment, and then probably said something afterwards as well for all we know.

Honestly, I think the Obama-haters are reaching for things now.

We don't have to reach far at all. Considering how much controversy is already spewing forth from Washington DC, we get a steady feed of material.
Tim Geitner? Tax problems. Obama stands by em. He gets pushed through to run the IRS.

Tom Dashle? Tax problems. Obama stands by em. Daschle withdraws, THEN Obama says, "oops." Obama shoulda just been a man and says, "Daschle has tax problems? he's out!" Of course if he said that he would also have to say, "Tim Geitner is out too!" He doesn't wanna do that. I can imagine the democrats are prescreening to prevent this from recurring.

So far we got 4 democrats with tax problems...
Tim Geitner
Caroline Kennedy
Tom Daschle
Nancy Killefer
3 withdrew, 1 got pushed through. Then you got BIll Richardson who's being investigated for corruption in giving a contract to a donor.
Mix that up with his past and you got a lot of people doing unsavory if not illegal things. It's not a good thing. Combine all that with him using the same tactics bush did to push through the bailout bill, makes it look even worse. This time though it seems the people are paying closer attention to the bill and they don't like it, which is making things EVEN WORSE for Obama.

the ice sculpture is beginning to melt as the heat is being applied to it.

A guy that doesn't get all inappropriate in his response to knuckle cracking is a bad thing now?

you need a 6th sense. its called humor. I don't expect Obama to turn around and lay into Rahm with popping his knuckles (would be funny as hell though), but he DOES need to assert himself OCCASIONALLY. He's letting things flow too freely and not trying to rein in ANYTHING, and its hurting his image, badly. It's like a security guard that stands around watching you do something he KNOWS he shouldn't let you do.

Show me where Rahm is covering some shit up with "executive priviledge" or some such (like Cheney) and then we can talk.

give it time. it'll show up. it hasn't even been 3 weeks yet. At the rate things are going now, I would say give it 6 months, MAYBE a year and a major scandal will break out.

[Memorize]

At 2/4/09 02:51 AM, aviewaskewed wrote:

I agree. Says he has some goddamn maturity. Seriously, you want a president that's willing to physically attack members of his cabinet because they do something annoying? WTH?

I do love the spin.

I would actually agree except that he just sat there and didn't even say anything.

If he attacked him, then he's an overly sensative idiot with a lack of control.

If he would've spoke up, it would've shown maturity.

Since he just sat there and took it from his "employee", he's a wuss.

Honestly, I think the Obama-haters are reaching for things now.

Because it wasn't enough that he appointed a tax cheat to run the IRS, right?

We just got done with a president that was supposed to be the big tough cowboy decider and look how well that went.

And now we have our savior.

A guy that doesn't get all inappropriate in his response to knuckle cracking is a bad thing now?

Considering what's happened in recent months, it only further proves he's a push over.

[aviewaskewed]

At 2/6/09 01:16 AM, Memorize wrote: I do love the spin.

Me too.

I would actually agree except that he just sat there and didn't even say anything.

Which I do believe I in one post said I felt was not the right call, or actually, I believe the article mentions he DID say something about it, and he was ignored.

If he attacked him, then he's an overly sensative idiot with a lack of control.

Absolutely, to me actions should be appropriate to situations. In the end, this is an employer having an issue with an employee, it's not appropriate for an employer to physically attack an employee. Also Korriken, I really didn't read your comment as humorous because you didn't really do anything to my mind to make it sound humorous. That's not to say you're lying, just that for me, the comment was unclear and read as serious.

Because it wasn't enough that he appointed a tax cheat to run the IRS, right?

More valid then write ups about inappropriate knuckle cracking don't you think? Seems like a much more relevant issue for me.

And now we have our savior.

I didn't say that. I'm not one of these "Obama can do no wrong" type people, I just don't have this need to make everything I say in the politics section of this board about ripping him up. I've said over and over that blind hate, or blind love of a political figure is bad. Be critical and watch the fucker absolutely, but part of being critical is the ability to be open to whatever positives they've done, or to actually know what's something to be critical of them about, and what's just pointless gossipy crap.

So yeah, to me how about we stick to the things that we should actually pay attention to (policy and crap) and less about things that are a bit more speculative. Just my opinion

[VigilanteNighthawk]

At 2/6/09 01:00 AM, Korriken wrote:

At 2/4/09 02:51 AM, aviewaskewed wrote:

At 2/4/09 01:11 AM, Korriken wrote: Considering Obama didn't bitchslap Rahm, or at least twisting his hand into a painful position until he promises to knock it off, does say a lot.

This is honestly why I hate 24 hour news. There really is a lot more stuff to be worrying about.

Honestly, I think the Obama-haters are reaching for things now.

As far as this particular issue is concerned. Yes.

We don't have to reach far at all. Considering how much controversy is already spewing forth from Washington DC, we get a steady feed of material.
Tim Geitner? Tax problems. Obama stands by em. He gets pushed through to run the IRS.

Agreed, I'm not feeling very hopey changey anymore. To make matters worse, though, Geitner was a part of developing TARP I, and to make matters worse, he may very well have been involved in creating some of the crackpot derivatives that are responsible for a lot of this mess.

3 withdrew, 1 got pushed through. Then you got BIll Richardson who's being investigated for corruption in giving a contract to a donor.

Agreed. I voted for Obama. I wasn't expecting miracles, but I was expecting better than this shit.

Combine all that with him using the same tactics bush did to push through the bailout bill, makes it look even worse. This time though it seems the people are paying closer attention to the bill and they don't like it, which is making things EVEN WORSE for Obama.

The Bush comparison is apt. Act quickly before the Apocalypse takes place. I seriously doubt another week or two would hurt in the slightest, not that this bill (or any) is going to stimulate the economy. This is definitely not the bullshit I voted for.

At the same time, I genuinely doubt every Republican is opposing this bill on principle. Suddenly, Republicans who under Bush couldn't find a borrow and spend bill they didn't like are completely unified against this bill. While I'm sure some genuinely oppose the whole concept of this bill, I do believe a lot of what is going on here is political posturing. I do not support this bill, but I'm also fed up with this bullshit as well. Now, if the Republicans would start demanding audits of these banks and arrests.....

give it time. it'll show up. it hasn't even been 3 weeks yet. At the rate things are going now, I would say give it 6 months, MAYBE a year and a major scandal will break out.

Rahm was a member of the Clinton administration, and nothing came out then. Either Clinton was very good at hiding it, or Rahm is clean, a jackass, but clean. Considering that Clinton couldn't even get a dress dry cleaned, I'm so far leaning towards the latter.

[bcdemon]

Well, Rahm was born to a Zionist terrorist, how else do you expect him to act, civilized?
While the first colored man is being sworn in as POTUS, Rahm offers a gesture to the outgoing POTUS:

[zoolrule]

At 2/6/09 09:19 AM, bcdemon wrote: Well, Rahm was born to a Zionist terrorist, how else do you expect him to act, civilized?
While the first colored man is being sworn in as POTUS, Rahm offers a gesture to the outgoing POTUS:

Your Muhammad dead brainwashed you.

[aviewaskewed]

Oh let's PLEASE not make this a thread about Jews vs. Muslims. We have pages and pages of that elsewhere.

[Leeloo-Minai]

Emmanual was a Clintonian shoe-polishing bitch back when they were turning the oval office into a brothel. Look how great THAT particular president left the POTUS position. What a joke.

Change? More like, "Change Back to the 90's"

Pshaw.

[Korriken]

At 2/6/09 02:15 PM, Leeloo-Minai wrote: Emmanual was a Clintonian shoe-polishing bitch back when they were turning the oval office into a brothel. Look how great THAT particular president left the POTUS position. What a joke.

Change? More like, "Change Back to the 90's"

Pshaw.

you gotta remember. Change = not bush. Anything that is not Bush related is change. And the people buy it.

[Dawnslayer]

At 2/6/09 02:15 PM, Leeloo-Minai wrote: Emmanual was a Clintonian shoe-polishing bitch back when they were turning the oval office into a brothel. Look how great THAT particular president left the POTUS position. What a joke.

If you can back this up with anything besides Monica Lewinsky, be my guest.

Change? More like, "Change Back to the 90's"

What was wrong with the nineties, exactly? I rather enjoyed that decade in comparison.

At 2/6/09 11:39 PM, Korriken wrote: you gotta remember. Change = not bush. Anything that is not Bush related is change. And the people buy it.

Some people actually pay attention to what kind of change is being proposed before they decide they like it. And truth be told, if change = not Bush, both parties had it covered.

[Achilles2]

So because Rahm Emmanuel didn't listen to Obama, Obama is automatically a pussy and Rahm Emmanuel is tougher than Rambo.

And your logic is more stupid than a YouTuber's.

[Elfer]

At 2/3/09 09:57 PM, JackTipper wrote: Lawl! He has a deep comfort level with his boss? It's obvious that he is the boss.

Here's the logical jump I'm uncomfortable with.