Yes or No: Rahm Emanuel Needs to Go.

[Junkdrawer]

Poll question: Yes or No: Rahm Emanuel Needs to Go.

[chimpymustgo]

1. Huh? Like HE's in charge? Where do YOU think the buck stops?

[glitch]

11. If Barack Obama wants to be written into history as anything other than corporate stooge

he needs to lose his corporate stoogemasters. Rahm needs to go.

[Junkdrawer]

12. What glitch said.

:applause:

[glitch]

14. Buds

You and me. :hug: and EFerrari :grouphug:

[tom_paine]

35. That was well said, sir.

:patriot:

[EFerrari]

2. And his little brother, too.

[Thickasabrick]

18. Are we talking the doctor brother who hates medicare?? nt

[EFerrari]

19. Yes but secretly I was thinking of Toto.

[Thickasabrick]

22. LOL.....I actually thought of Toto when I first read your post. Cute pic!! nt

[saltpoint]

3. I voted 'No.'

The Chief of Staff serves at the pleasure of the President and the President appears to me to be someone who wants a strong presence in that position.

When Democrats don't scrape and jostle members of this site bellow and howl. When at last there is a strong presence in a key hinge roll there is bellowing and howling that he is insufficiently progressive.

In the long term Emanuel is likely to be in the catbird seat.

Power talks, and Emanuel is possessed of many skills of its components.

[Junkdrawer]

5. I think he's a corrupting influence. n/t

[saltpoint]

6. Your assumption carries the notion that the President is

not an independent thinker.

I've read his books.

He is.

[ThomCat]

8. His primary skill so far seems to be to attack the left

and help pull this administration to the right. Those are hardly skills we should be valuing. x(

[saltpoint]

10. You would argue, then, that Emanuel is without useful political

skills or clout?

I don't think that's a very sturdy horse to bet on.

[ThomCat]

20. I think his poltical skills are much more useful to conservatives

than they will ever be to liberals or the left wing of the party.

He is openly contemptuous of the left. He openly wants to move the party to the right. He is willing to fracture the party in order to move us to the right. He maintains political feuds and lets his vendettas get in the way of party goals. He is willing to bring anti-abortion politicians into the party just to fill seats, even that undermines our party in other ways and harms our constituents, and he is willing to use women's rights and women's health as bargaining chips.

Do you really value those kinds of political skills? Is that really what you think we should be valuing in our party?

He may have political skills, but they are very over-rated, and he is far too conservative and pro-corporate power.

He is willing to tolerate and even enable bigotry (against LGBT people, women, the poor, Muslims, and Arab-Americans) in order to achieve and hold power. Regardless of his skills, that is a sign that he doesn't have the values, ethics, or compassion we should all require in our party operatives.

[saltpoint]

23. The choice was made by a genuinely impressive mind, one that

likely wished to have a strong presence directing affairs, especially doing point work on key legislation.

Considered politically, Obama is on the verge of a very potent headline. On what grounds, assuming the bill passes, would the president assert displeasure at his Chief of Staff? Biden will be present to cast a vote if need be, or just to preside, which is his Constitutionally-mandated task.

Bernie Sanders is voting for this legislation, and so to suggest that Emanuel's brains and , uh, gumption, serve a Conservative agenda is demonstrably false. Sanders added very significant and historic money for local clinics and physician access which Emanuel could have blocked but didn't.

[Individualist]

25. Emanuel is DLC, and DLC enables neocons,

something I'm sure you're already aware of.

[saltpoint]

26. The legislative imperative eclipses ideological slant

inasmuch as Obama is aiming for the broader landscape.

Emanuel works for the President; the President does not work for Emanuel.

[Individualist]

27. Emanuel is DLC, Obama is a New Democrat; opposite sides of the same coin.

[saltpoint]

30. I don't accept that model.

Emanuel is not dictating ideological allegiance to anyone or from anyone.

That is not his role. He is not the political director.

Were he not an accomplished, hard-bitten, tough-as-nails, coarsely-spoken fighter, one who emerged from the Congress, it's my view that he would not have even been considered for his current job. That consideration is not a distinct consideration in Obama's choosing Emanuel. Politics is about power; Emanuel understands how Power works; Obama chose someone who could not easily be bloodied up on the playground which is the 111th Congress.

The longer view, again, suggests that historic health legislation is about to make headlines. It is an imperfect bill that will emerge from an imperfect institution but it is far more historic than imperfect.

[Individualist]

31. Try selling that nonsense to the gullible and the uninformed.

I'm not buying it.

Your bloviation has reached the point that it's laughable.

:rofl:
:rofl:
:rofl:

[saltpoint]

34. The say laughing is good for circulation.

Again, the bill appears likely to pass, and the President owns the day.

[ThomCat]

29. Wow, you're really tapdancing.

Are you on his payroll?

[Individualist]

32. I'm starting to think it's himself.

[saltpoint]

33. If I could dance, ThomCat, I would. Five-point fracture of right leg,

age 16.

[ThomCat]

39. If you're trying for sympathy,

it won't work. I'm in a wheelchair. :eyes:

You're still going grossly overboard playing word games to make excuses for the indefensible. You apparently think that discriminating against women and LBGT people in fine, and abandoning the poor is wonderful, and turning the democratic party into a right-wing party is great strategy because that is what your hero Rahm supports. Don't expect that to go over well no matter how many ways you try to rephrase it. x(

[saltpoint]

40. Sorry, ThomCat. The game is played with the winner taking the prize.

They held a vote last November. Obama won by some 10 million votes.

I don't care if you voted for him or not.

I really don't.

Presidents pick their own chiefs-of-staff; Obama chose Emanuel. Were it my decision -- it is not -- I would find no grounds for dismissal of post and would retain Rahm Emanuel.

If Emanuel stays on for the duration of the first term, a thorough assessment of his job performance will likely be undertaken. I hope it is not too great a disappointment to you if he succeeds on many fronts, which I deeply suspect will be the case.

If you are distressed about Emanuel's role in the Obama administration, I suggest you wheel your ass down to the post office with a letter to the President, voicing your principled objections.

[ThomCat]

41. That really says it all

You blindly accept anyone, regardless of what they do, solely because they are already in office. :eyes:

What a really sad and pathetic position to take.

[saltpoint]

42. Not only that, I like Petula Clark.

So you can readily see I'm unretrievably lost.

[laughingliberal]

4. Oh, about 11 months ago would be soon enough. nt

[ThomCat]

7. Oh Hell Yes. Him and a hell of a lot of other conservative assholes

in this administration. :grr:

[Hawkeye-X]

9. READ THIS AND VOTE!

RAHM EMANUEL IS DLC. HE NEEDS TO GO!

DLC NEEDS TO DIE IN A FIRE. REPEATEDLY.

[Individualist]

13. This should be posted as a separate thread!

:thumbsup: :applause:

[TorchTheWitch]

15. OBAMA IS HIS BOSS!!!

OBAMA HIRED HIM AND HE IS OBAMA'S WATER CARRIER! RAHM IS ONLY A SYMPTOM OF THE PROBLEM!!!

[ThomCat]

21. Absolutely true.

[EFerrari]

28. It can cut both ways, though. Bush 1 worked for Reagan, too

and like Cheney he did more than his share of the damage in the relationship. :shrug:

[TorchTheWitch]

47. Since when was Rahm voted in as VP?

Bush I and Cheney were VP's... Bush I the puppet master of the sock puppet Reagan and Cheney the puppet master of sock puppet Bush II. Rahm was selected by Obama to work for HIM, he didn't campaign, wasn't voted in and his job is to do the bidding of Obama even if that conflicts with what the VP Biden wants. He is exclusively Obama's tool... he's Obama's sock puppet, the opposite of Bush I and Cheney as as Bush I and Cheney, like Obama, are the puppet masters.

Rahm is doing exactly what Obama wants at his exclusive behest, therefore, he is Obama's sock puppet. Obama hired him, he works exclusively at Obama's behest, and can be fired by Obama. If Rahm is so ghastly, it's because he's doing the direct bidding of Obama, therefore, Rahm is a SYMPTOM of the problem that is Obama.

[FarLeftRage]

17. + 1 quintillion!!!!

Repeat and often as needed...

[sam sarrha]

24. start'n to look like he should take Obama with him..

[Odin2005]

16. YES!

[LoZoccolo]

36. Rahm Emanuel's a pretty cool guy. Eh fights Republicans and doesn't afraid of anything.

nt

[mmonk]

37. Yes. He needed to go a long time ago even before his present job.

[IndianaGreen]

38. Rahm Emanuel is doing the President's bidding. He is not a rogue Chief of Staff.

On edit:

AIPAC hates Emanuel, blaming him for Obama's demand that Israel freezes settlements.

I voted "No" on the poll.

[Vidar]

43. Rahm and all his DLC compatriots need to be tossed out.

[Junkdrawer]

44. Agreed. The Democratic party is WAY past due for a house cleaning. n/t

[cali]

45. Not through a right wing witch hunt designed by the far right with fucking

moron tools of the left mindlessly joining forces.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

46. Yes. Along with Gates, Geithner, McCrystal, Summers and a flock of others.

But, I ain't holding my breath.

[Junkdrawer]

48. Kick

:kick: