Is Rahm inept or just bad at his job?

[endarkenment]

I mean really, how many bad picks does he make before the only conclusion is that he is not up to the job? Shouldn't the vetting happen before the nomination?

[NMDemDist2]

1. it wasn't a vetting issue, it was a spineless lying Repuke being a turncoat

after he agreed he could support the President

[endarkenment]

16. that would be a vetting issue.

[high density]

23. Yes it is really too bad that Rahm can't see the future

[redstate_democrat]

57. I would suggest that he should be able to see the future.

or at least foresee this kind of wack shit happening. That is what distinguishes an "adviser" from some regular asshole on the street giving his opinion. An adviser's opinion ( especially one for the POTUS), should give INFORMED advisement, meaning, they should be able to foresee things like this happening and advise the POTUS on the possibility of it happening so that the POTUS can make an informed decision based on the facts and reasonably likely outcomes.

This tool Gregg should have been totally ruled out by an "adviser".

[Cha]

61. Yeah, it seems like it wouldn't

take a crystal ball to see gregg was a bad idea but it happened and now we look for the silver lining.

[Raine1967]

39. No, it would be a lying issue.

It would also be a GOP playing games issue.

This one is not on Rham.

[firedupdem]

2. WTF? What does this have to do with Rahm?

After Gregg chased the President around and asked to be in the administration he backed out. He made himself look bad. What are you talking about?

[CatWoman]

6. thank you

as that was my initial reaction.


:wtf:

[endarkenment]

9. As chief of staff

everyone of these failed picks are his fault. Part of the vetting includes determining if the candidate is really going to take the job, as in the Judd case, so as to avoid the embarrassment of making an offer that then gets declined. Gregg didn't exactly have to 'chase the president'. He made himself available and they took him - and took him without correctly determining the risk involved. If this was one pick gone bad, you might have a point. Unfortunately it is one of many.

So inept or just bad at his job?

[firedupdem]

18. Richardson and Daschle had different issues and reasons for

dropping out. Gregg himself said he could follow policy and wanted to be part of the administration. The buck stops with whether or not President Obama wanted to give him the position. He chose to give it to him. I don't know why you make Obama out to be some wimp taking direction from Rahm on everything. Gregg showed himself to be an ass and makes himself and only himself look bad.

[endarkenment]

21. two cases in point

neither of them should have gotten to the publicly announced stage.

[Better Believe It]

60. Did anyone really expect that reactionary to carry out the wishes of Obama

with passion and hard work?

Hell, you may as well pick Ann Coulter for Secretary of HHS.

That makes just as much sense.

[Window]

37. Not a damned thing. Some people just say shit.

[firedupdem]

43. LOL!!

That made me crack up! You sound like me!

:rofl:

[Arkana]

69. Well, you see, according to some folks here, Rahm Emanuel

is responsible for all of the following:

--The fall of Troy
--Defeat of the Spartans at the Pass of Thermopylae
--The fall of the Roman Empire
--The Dark Ages (and the plague!)
--The Stamp Acts, Tea Acts and Intolerable Acts
--The Boston Massacre
--The Whiskey Rebellion
--The War of 1812
--Andrew Jackson and the Trail of Tears
--The Panic of 1837
--The Mexican War
--Slavery in all its forms, anywhere in the world it existed in the last 500 years
--South Carolina's secession from the Union in 1860 and the consequential firing on Fort Sumter
--All the deaths at Gettysburg, Antietam, and Shiloh
--The assassination of President Lincoln (apparently Booth was innocent!) and the attempt on Secretary of State William Seward's life
--The theft of the election of 1876 by the Republican Party (good news, President Hayes! It wasn't the corrupt fucks in your party after all! It was that evil bastard Rahm Emanuel!)
--The assassination of James Garfield (nope, it wasn't Charles Guiteau!)
--The economic panics of the 1880s and 1890s, as well as the Bonus Army
--The assassination of William McKinley (Czolgosz was innocent!)
--World War I (yes, Rahm shot Duke Ferdinand and his wife!)
--The Great Depression (Yup! All of it!)
--Hitler (and yet Rahm is Jewish! How'd he do it????)
--The attack on Pearl Harbor
--The dropping of the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
--The Korean "Conflict"
--The Cuban Missile crisis
--The assassination of John F. Kennedy (Yup! Oswald, Giancana, aliens...none of that! Rahm was the lone gunman, folks!)
--All facets of our involvement in Vietnam
--Richard Nixon
--The long lines for gas during the Ford/Carter years
--Ronnie Raygun, Iran-Contra, and Star Wars
--Monica (yes! He told her to go suck Bill Clinton's dick!)
--The theft of the election in 2000
--Most severe medical conditions, weather patterns, and the reason I CAN'T FIND MY GODDAMN READING GLASSES.

Phew.

[babylonsister]

3. Rahm isn't the president. I don't know why people forget that.

I'm sure if someone was suggested by Emanuel that Prez Obama didn't like, that would be the end of it.

[endarkenment]

19. Oh snap, you're right, he's Chief of Staff

[Parker CA]

4. You should go work for MSNBC. They are all spouting the same meme.

How is this Rahm's or Obama's fault?? Gregg withdrew HIS OWN nomination. Rahm and Obama had nothing to do with this.

[endarkenment]

15. One of many failed picks.

I blame Rahm. You can blame the weather if you choose. Rahm looks like a more likely root cause to me. Sometimes MSNBC is right.

[catgirl]

41. He caved to the REPUGS

and used the same talking points to back out (the census? oh puleeze)...

Gregg will get clobbered when he's up for re-election. I will make sure of that.

[Divine Discontent]

56. thank you for doing your part to making sure if he runs he loses! and,

I think picking non-Dems is a bad choice anyhow. They don't really believe what Obama believes or they'd be a Democrat.

[certainot]

66. it's a GOP talking point limbaugh and hannity have been barfing

all over the country and after a while the lazy celebrity talking heads jump on the talk radio bandwagon because the sheer volume and repetition make it acceptable,

that GOP-coordinated UNCONTESTED repetition enables astounding and democracy destroying hypocrisy - bush's VP and defence secretary (among other crimes) did business with saddam but so what? the real difference maker (aside from one party being a political party and one being a criminal party) is who owns the media and who has a talk radio monopoly that can repeat whatever it wants from 1000 stations 24/7/365 to decide what molehills become mountains.

dems do have a higher standard- not hard- but if you hear it on GOP talk radio it is bullshit and to repeat it is to reinforce their bullshit.

[Barack_America]

5. Dude, Rahm is the one who wisely took the Census away from Gregg.

Rahm obviously didn't trust Gregg as far as he could throw him.

[endarkenment]

12. Rahm obviously didn't trust Gregg

so Obama's chief of staff ok'd a pick he obviously didn't trust?

Really?

[Barack_America]

14. Rahm is not at the top of the food chain.

Gregg wasn't his decision to make.

[endarkenment]

17. one step down

and yes it is.

[Barack_America]

Okay, then who should Rahm nominate for Commerce Secretary now?

And who should he name for HHS?

[endarkenment]

25. 1. Commerce: a Democrat

2. HHS: a progressive Democrat.

[wyldwolf]

I noticed you didn't give the NAME of who RAHM should nominate.

:rofl:

[endarkenment]

34. yeah - I'm not Chief of Staff

but if I were I would not have blundered this badly.

[wyldwolf]

35. no, and you obviously don't know TWO important things:

1. The NAME of a "progressive" suited for the position
2. The CoS doesn't nominate cabinet posts. :)

[leftynyc]

70. So Rahm is more responsible

than President Obama in your delusional world? Got it.

[Uzybone]

7. Bogeyman Rahm is responsible for everything

Look! Under your bed. Its Rahm Emanuel!!!

[Buzz Clik]

10. Yep! He keyed my car, told the dog crap on the rug, and squeezed the toothpaste from the top.

Bastard.

[firedupdem]

11. That makes me like him even more......

:loveya:

[endarkenment]

13. Er, um what are the responsibilities of Chief of Staff?

you tell me.

[Uzybone]

22. To select, vet and nominate every single one of Obamas appointments

according to you.

[pink-o]

24. Under my bed? Promise???

Cuz I'd let him sleep (?) IN the bed, ya know!


:evilgrin:

[firedupdem]

28. okay.....I wouldn't want to be rude either....

:evilgrin:

[pink-o]

33. So it's agreed...maybe the two of us could take Amy on

I bet she'd be able to knock the shit out of me alone!

[firedupdem]

36. LOL!! I'm skeeered of Amy!

We better just stay here! ;)

[pink-o]

46. That's probably for the best.

She's small but I bet she's fierce!

Back OT: what is the story with all you people? What kind of powers are you assigning to Rahm anyway? First, he's responsible for Howard Dean not getting HHS, now it's his fault Tim Geithner, Tom Daschle and now Judd Gregg all have skeletons. I suppose we should blame Rahm for Richardson's bowing out as well.

I think he'd be pretty surprised about his omnipotence! He's Chief of Staff, not Obama's Golem!

[firedupdem]

54. I'm finding that anything that may be slighly negative is all

Rahm's doing. :eyes:

[The_Casual_Observer]

8. It might be they were testing out that bipartisan stuff gently.

I think they are getting a good idea of how it works.

[endarkenment]

20. Ok - but that makes me even more nuts

how could they possibly think that these asshats were going to do anything except fuck with them? How? Seriously, what does that say about those within the administration who pushed this?

[The_Casual_Observer]

29. They pushed the "we're all americans" thing really hard. They were obliged

to try it on, otherwise they'd have started hearing about it.

[leftynyc]

71. If you think it's Rahm that's pushing

bipartisanship rather than President Obama, your head is in the sand.

[wyldwolf]

73. Rahm is the least bipartisan of the bunch

[leftynyc]

74. You know that, I know that

but some people insist on blaming him for every President Obama mishap. Tiresome.

[K Gardner]

26. WTF ?! When did you stop beating your wife/husband/pets/kids?

[Phx_Dem]

27. Neither. Rahm doesn't have a crystal ball to tell him when someone

is a huge baby and terrified of his own party. And judging by the way Gregg is shaking like a leaf and stammering his way though this press conference, he's a weak little scaredy-cat (or as I call it, a big pussy).

[Numba6]

30. You've gotta be kidding... how can any thinking person make these judgements 1 month into Obama's te

term?

I guess you're ready to impeach Obama over all this, now?

[wyldwolf]

31. Are you a comedian or really uninformed?

[Thrill]

32. How are you blaming Rahm? I don't get it

[camera obscura]

38. for people questioning -- Gregg was Emanuel and Reid's idea

[K Gardner]

50. You're still quoting Politico. Tsk, tsk.

[TeamJordan23]

40. I wouldn't blame him for everything but he has been sloppy no doubt. nm

[amborin]

42. he's right of center

[wyldwolf]

44. no he isn't

http://www.ontheissues.org/IL/Rahm_Emanuel.htm

[amborin]

47. well..

wonder where his true sympathies lie?

"President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to be his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is already widely known in the halls of Washington for serving as an adviser to President Clinton, and most recently as a congressman from Illinois. But in between those two roles, Mr. Emanuel made millions of dollars on Wall Street as an investment banker with Wasserstein Perella, as the boutique firm was known at the time.

Despite having little experience or education in finance, Mr. Emanuel became a managing director at the firm’s Chicago office in 1999, helping to bring in business and seal deals.

According to a 2003 article in The Chicago Tribune, Mr. Emanuel was brought in by one of the firm’s founders, Bruce Wasserstein, who was one of President Clinton’s most active fund-raisers on Wall Street and is now the head of Lazard.

“Rahm did a great job for our firm,” Mr. Wasserstein told DealBook. “When Rahm worked with us at Wasserstein Perella, he showed a great ability to reconcile divergent interests for a constructive outcome.”

In his two-and-a-half-year stint as a banker, Mr. Emanuel — who once trained as a ballet dancer and was briefly a civilian volunteer on an Israeli military base — made $16.2 million, according to Congressional disclosures.

Mr. Emanuel worked on eight deals while at Wasserstein Perella, the two biggest of which involved politically connected utilities, The Tribune reported.

In one deal, he advised Commonwealth Edison, the power producer, in its $8.2 billion acquisition of Pennsylvania-based Peco Energy. In the other, he helped GTCR Golder Rauner, a Chicago-based venture capital and private equity firm, in its purchase of the SecurityLink home security unit from SBC Communications, now AT&T.

Even though he returned to politics in 2002, Mr. Emanuel continues to have fans on Wall Street, judging from his campaign contributions.

The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign finance trends, notes that in the 2008 election cycle, he was the House’s No. 1 recipient of contributions from hedge funds, private equity firms and the broader securities and investment industry — a group that it points out is “not the most popular of industries in the current economy.”

<http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/rahm-emanuel-former-investment-banker/?scp=4&sq=rahm%20emanual%20and%20right%20of%20center&st=cse>

[wyldwolf]

51. well

"President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to be his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is already widely known in the halls of Washington for serving as an adviser to President Clinton, and most recently as a congressman from Illinois. But in between those two roles, Mr. Emanuel made millions of dollars on Wall Street as an investment banker with Wasserstein Perella, as the boutique firm was known at the time.

Umm... so? Making money makes you right of center? Tell that to the Roosevelts and the Kennedys...

I realize far left progressives have a problem with people making money. Fortunately for the Democratic party, "progressives: don't speak for Democrats.

[amborin]

59. spoken like a true

[wyldwolf]

64. Democrat

Care to refute anything?

Didn't think so.

[4lbs]

52. They lie with President Obama since Barack and Rahm have been good friends since Obama's days

in the Illinois State Senate.

Rahm is 100% for President Obama.


Also, from that link you provided:

“When Rahm worked with us at Wasserstein Perella, he showed a great ability to reconcile divergent interests for a constructive outcome.”


So, Rahm Emanuel has the ability to take two divergent viewpoints and bring them together for a good outcome. Think that's why President Obama made him Chief of Staff?

[annabanana]

45. maybe Rahm KNEW he has an Abramoff problem and would have to

leave... "President Obama has tried over and over to include Republicans in the recovery of the economy, but they are unwilling or incapable of being part of our future . . ."

[catgirl]

48. Gregg is DONE. Hear hear Rahm!!

Job well done.

[onenote]

49. so apparently for some here at DU, Rahm is the new Rove

The puppetmaster who pulls all the strings and is responsible for every decision made by the puppet president.

[leftynyc]

72. Excellent comparison

And not very complimentary to the President.

[Generator]

53. I dunno but I bet that Howard Dean pays his taxes

Just saying. And he's even *gasp* a Democrat. LOL.

[RetroLounge]

55. Thank for your concern

now grow up.

RL

[liberalsince1968]

58. I put the blame squarely on Obama for this lousy choice. He believes in bipartisanship. I don't.

[Jennicut]

62. A cos can approve a nomination to go forward but at the end of the day it was Obama's decision

And perhaps he made the wrong one. This blame Rahm for everything because we don't like that he was DLC and a foh (friend of Hillary), etc. is crap. If the sun is not out today and its windy in CT I will blame Rahm, I will blame Rahm for my shitty tires, my credit card bills, my 4 year old talking back to me, my husband's work van breaking down. Really, this is bs.

[Occam Bandage]

63. Neither. This isn't Rahm's territory. nt

[Teaser]

65. So much yapping

sort of like a puppy mill in here...

[sufrommich]

67. I've been negligent in keeping up with the latest DU news,

did Rahm wrestle the strings away from Hillary to become Obama's new puppet master?:sarcasm:

[LaydeeBug]

68. Obama. Picked. Him. FIRST. So....nt

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

75. Then, I guess Joe Biden should accept some of the blame.

He is the last person that Obama consults with before the decision is made.

[William769]

76. If Rahm is "inept or just bad at his job?"

God help us all! What would that say about Obama picking him?

:hide: