The Rahm flypaper strategy
I don’t understand the fascination with Rahm Emanuel, why he’s so evil, why he’s so good, why he’s a genius, why he’s an idiot, why he’s sexual napalm to the DC press corps. He was a decent (but not great) leader of the DCCC, he’s been involved with the HCR bill, which has gone fine (better than I thought it would) but not great. He seems like kind of an asshole and I don’t like his buddies mouthing off to Dana Milbank, but it’s not like he’s waterboarding people and shooting his friends in the face.
The articles about him are coming so fast and furious that I can’t keep track of them. There was one in the Times Sunday magazine today, but I feel like people were talking about it days ago. The article is fine, focusing mostly on substance, but it also has some “Rahm looks worn out when I see him in the gym” type stuff.
I think in a way that’s good, because we could just as easily be reading “Obama looks worn out when I see him in the gym” type stuff. When Clinton was president, we were treated to endless articles about his psychological state, his Hamlet-like indecision, his temper, his betrayal of hippies and so on. I think that hurt his image in the end. If all that stupid armchair psychologizing focuses on Rahm instead of Obama, that probably helps Obama’s image to some extent.
March 14, 2010 3:28 pm
Posted in: Good News For Conservatives, OBAMA IS WORSE THAN BUSH HE SOLD US OUT!!, Show Me On the Doll Where Rahm Touched You
54 Comments
54 Responses
valdivia - March 14, 2010 | 3:33 pm · Link
Schreiber at TNR (I know!) had what I think is the best take on all these articles. You can read it here.
I too find Rahm sexy but for very different reasons than the Village does. I am still enjoying the image of him berating Massa in the shower.
The Grand Panjandrum - March 14, 2010 | 3:36 pm · Link
I think most of the establishment media morons are closet novel writing wannabes. They need the psychological profiling to enhance the dramatic tension of the bullshit they write and wish to label as journalism when in fact they are creating cheesy third rate political thrillers not suited for the paperback section at Walmart.
pillsy - March 14, 2010 | 3:38 pm · Link
Lightning rods are a common feature of presidential administrations, and there is an advantage to having the lightning rod be someone other than the President himself. It’s a tradition to have the VP be your lightning rod, but Joe Biden just doesn’t have what it takes to be a swirling vortex of drama. Besides, VPs are much harder to get rid of than Chiefs of Staff: if Rahm becomes a real liability, it won’t be nearly as difficult to show him the door.
SiubhanDuinne - March 14, 2010 | 3:46 pm · Link
@Valdivia: Rahm was Massaberating.
JackieBinAZ - March 14, 2010 | 3:46 pm · Link
It’s got everything a Village narrative could want – a big, controversial personality, the impression of a divided Democratic administration, something for progressives to bicker over and an excuse to talk about sex. How could they resist?
El Cruzado - March 14, 2010 | 3:47 pm · Link
This just has made me realize that I don’t remember who was (or were) Clinton’s chief(s) of staff. Also, I don’t care.
taylormattd - March 14, 2010 | 3:47 pm · Link
Que comments linking to FDL, purporting to show PROOF (
) that Rahm is an evil mastermind.
SiubhanDuinne - March 14, 2010 | 3:48 pm · Link
@Valdivia: Rahm was Massaberating in the shower?
rob! - March 14, 2010 | 3:51 pm · Link
Remember that scene in The Blues Brothers with Henry Gibson as the head of the Nazis who were parading? Remember the speech he makes to his troops?
“The Jew is using The Black…as muscle.” So…what are you going to do about it, Whitey? Just sit there? No, of course not. You’re going to join the Nazi Party…” etc. etc.
I think that’s why people are so obsessed with Rahm vis-a-vis his power in Obama White House.
Did I break the Godwin Law?
Brian J - March 14, 2010 | 3:51 pm · Link
I haven’t read any of the profiles of him yet. I am a two weeks behind on The New Yorker and haven’t gotten into the piece in today’s Times yet, so I can’t judge the content of the articles.
That said, while it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s at least part, if not mostly, what you suggest about Rahm taking punches for the entire team, I bet it’s also partly based on the fact that it’s easier to write about people than ideas. This is especially true if the ideas that most people are discussing, like health care, have more or less been discussed to death. People’s lives, whether personal or professional, are usually more interesting to begin with, but the fact that there just isn’t that much that’s new to say about the actual policy behind health care reform, at least for the time being, almost certainly contributes.
It’s also just easier and probably less time consuming to write about Rahm’s personality than it is to research derivatives or something else complex.
licensed to kill time - March 14, 2010 | 3:52 pm · Link
@SiubhanDuinne: I am shaking with laughter here, FTW!
taylormattd - March 14, 2010 | 3:54 pm · Link
@SiubhanDuinne: Likely there was some kind of snorkeling going on.
R-Jud - March 14, 2010 | 3:56 pm · Link
I picture him pouting when you say that.
Nellcote - March 14, 2010 | 3:59 pm · Link
@The Grand Panjandrum:
“But, listen, let’s review the rules. Here’s how it works. The President makes decisions. He’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Just put ‘em through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration? You know, fiction!”
—Steven Colbert@ WH Correspondents Dinner, 2006
SiubhanDuinne - March 14, 2010 | 4:03 pm · Link
@licensed to kill time
@taylormattd
:-D
eemom - March 14, 2010 | 4:07 pm · Link
@valdivia:
Same here. I bet he has some nice…....equipment.
We need us a girls-only Rahm thread.
Cat Lady - March 14, 2010 | 4:12 pm · Link
You gotta admit Rahm’s pretty interesting – great looking, former ballet dancer, missing finger tips, brother’s the model for the Entourage Hollywood agent guy, another brother’s a hot shot policy making doctor, former IDF volunteer, arm twister extraordinaire, well endowed(?!), consigliere, Chicago machine pol and now the shape shifting all powerful or powerless force behind the throne. For the professional DC courtiers, there’s a lot of there there.
Martin - March 14, 2010 | 4:14 pm · Link
Because he says ‘fuck’ and because a teevee character was based on him (one based on Obama as well.)
SiubhanDuinne - March 14, 2010 | 4:15 pm · Link
@eemom
I would send Act Blue some serious coin for that.
arguingwithsignposts - March 14, 2010 | 4:16 pm · Link
@Martin:
I’m assuming this was on West Wing, but which one was Rahm?
Mike in NC - March 14, 2010 | 4:18 pm · Link
When Dubya was president, we were treated to endless articles about his authentic cowboy hat and boots, superior brush clearing skills, decisive leadership, how people wanted to have a beer with him and so on.
mcc - March 14, 2010 | 4:19 pm · Link
I don’t really look at the flypaper thing as a good thing. It seems like part of an ongoing tendency to deny Obama’s agency as an adult that does things like make decisions
cleek - March 14, 2010 | 4:20 pm · Link
Rahm Shmahm.
alls i knows is that i likes me some Sam Adams Noble Pils.
AhabTRuler - March 14, 2010 | 4:21 pm · Link
Yeah, but if that’s yer standard…caveat emptor.
Cat Lady - March 14, 2010 | 4:21 pm · Link
Oh, and DougJ, please describe what sexual napalm is, exactly? Inquiring minds want to know. :-D
AhabTRuler - March 14, 2010 | 4:23 pm · Link
@Cat Lady: It’s like sexual chocolate, but it can’t be extinguished with water.
licensed to kill time - March 14, 2010 | 4:23 pm · Link
4 excellent phrases I gleaned from this thread so far:
Rahm flypaper strategy
Sexual napalm
Swirling vortex of drama
Rahm was Massaberating in the shower?
I really do love this place :)
Brian J - March 14, 2010 | 4:23 pm · Link
@Cat Lady:
How could you possibly know that he’s well endowed? Maybe it’s big enough to be seen through his pants, or he’s been with so many women that have big mouths that word has spread, but it doesn’t seem like an obvious thing to know about someone…unless you’ve been with him. (And if you have slept with him or are sleeping with him, can you ask him why he’s destroying the Obama presidency, and making countless puppies cry?)
And missing fingertips? What the hell?
Cat Lady - March 14, 2010 | 4:25 pm · Link
@AhabTRuler:
Ugh. My guess is that ….thing… is for when he had heart attacks in his knees. Or, maybe he just is a big giant dick.
DougJ - March 14, 2010 | 4:26 pm · Link
@Cat Lady:
There’s an easy way to find out.
rob! - March 14, 2010 | 4:27 pm · Link
@arguing:
I believe Bradley Whitford’s Josh Lyman was based on Rahm. Spooky how close the show got to reality.
@Brian J:
Rahm is missing the tip of his middle finger from an accident with a meat slicer or something as a teen. It just means that he can’t leave a complete set of prints on Vince Foster’s body. Or something.
Cat Lady - March 14, 2010 | 4:33 pm · Link
@Brian J:
Everything you need to know about Rahm. Fingertip accident about 5 minutes in. He lost the tip of his middle finger, “rendering him practically mute”.
Brian J - March 14, 2010 | 4:33 pm · Link
@arguingwithsignposts:
They were all composite characters, but it had to be either Josh or Toby.
Ailuridae - March 14, 2010 | 4:36 pm · Link
@Brian J:
Its Josh
Cat Lady - March 14, 2010 | 4:37 pm · Link
@DougJ:
Burning hot and sticky? I don’t really want to know that much about John Mayer to find out. okey dokey.
MTiffany - March 14, 2010 | 4:39 pm · Link
But it’s not like he’s lifting a fucking finger to bring the people who did to justice, either.
Just Some Fuckhead - March 14, 2010 | 4:41 pm · Link
It’s all about Rahm because Rahm is a self-aggrandizing little bitch.
Brian J - March 14, 2010 | 4:43 pm · Link
@Cat Lady:
What a funny video. Makes me think that Obama character might have a bright future in American politics.
silentbeep - March 14, 2010 | 4:44 pm · Link
@MTiffany: he’s not the attorney general. If you have a problem with Eric Holder regarding the torture issues, and even Obama, then you have a point. But that’s not what Rahm is there for.
Brian J - March 14, 2010 | 4:45 pm · Link
@Ailuridae:
So then Josh was a hybrid of George S. and Rahmbo?
Fern - March 14, 2010 | 4:45 pm · Link
@MTiffany: Actually, it’s not like that is his job.
bago - March 14, 2010 | 4:48 pm · Link
It might be because Rahm is a creature of DC, whereas Obama is some alien from Chicago.
gizmo - March 14, 2010 | 4:48 pm · Link
Doug,
You think the healthcare bill has “gone fine?”
WTF????
DougJ - March 14, 2010 | 4:50 pm · Link
@gizmo:
Better than it went last time we tried. A lot better.
bago - March 14, 2010 | 4:50 pm · Link
Oh. Massaberating in the shower for the motherfucking win!
Omnes Omnibus - March 14, 2010 | 4:51 pm · Link
@gizmo: Comparatively speaking, yes.
Martin - March 14, 2010 | 4:59 pm · Link
@arguingwithsignposts: Josh Marshall was Rahm, from when Rahm was in the Clinton White House. Santos in the final season was based on Obama, who had barely hit the scene at that time.
kdaug - March 14, 2010 | 5:04 pm · Link
Rahm is the administration’s “drama sink”. He pulls the fire while the president sits back and looks for weaknesses.
Linkmeister - March 14, 2010 | 5:05 pm · Link
You forgot Clinton’s baggy shorts and trips to McDonalds.
valdivia - March 14, 2010 | 5:12 pm · Link
@SiubhanDuinne:
LOL. Sorry i missed that. Too funny.
SiubhanDuinne - March 14, 2010 | 5:32 pm · Link
Interesting that last season of West Wing. IIRC, Prersident-elect Santos chose his rival, Sen Vinnick, as His Secy of State. I think most of us would agree that Hillary Clinton was a more formidable rival than Grampy McPOW—and danged if Obama didn’t name her his SoS.
Also, the first Hispanic SCOTUUS justice goes back to Season One of The West Wing. Life imitates art in quite astonishing ways.
SiubhanDuinne - March 14, 2010 | 5:33 pm · Link
Sorry all the typos :-)
jl - March 14, 2010 | 6:53 pm · Link
Because the national affairs press are stupid snot-nosed punks and all-round corporate lackeys, gutless wonders and headless nothings who worship any jackass whose job is to wield power, to discipline, punish, and reward.
So Karl Rove was worshipped as the center of the universe, Bush’s Brain, and was deemed a pudgy powerhouse sexpot. That Karl Rove has the aspect of Jabba the Hut carved out of melting butter made no difference.
Rahm is now the brutal ward heeler to runs the discipline and punish shop, and he is one lean mean sexy machine.
You could put Daffy Duck in that position and you would get the same reaction from the DC press retards.
Sui Generis - March 15, 2010 | 4:00 pm · Link
The attacks on Rahm, and make no mistake, Millbank’s licking was a clever attack, if you think 8th graders are clever, on Rahm. Can you think of anyone who thinks better of Rahm from that article?
One thing job seekers all learn: don’t diss your last boss when talking to the person you want to be your next boss.
Besides Millbank sez it ain’t so:
February 22, 2010
It Wasn’t Rahm
Dana Millbank on his Sunday column that portrayed White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel in a very favorable light:
Well Millbank is not going to say he made it up out of wishful thinking.
Rahm is effective. That’s why he is the target.