Rahm Emanuel was Obama's Chief of Staff from 2009 to 2010, a job which includes, "directing, managing and overseeing all policy development, daily operations, and staff activities for the President." He was also the Chair of the House Democratic Caucus from 2007-2009.
Pretty important jobs, am I right?
Which is why when Emanuel went on this rant on CNN I simply had to shake my head.
The Iraq War ... people were deceived and lied into a war, and not one person responsible for that deception was held accountable. Six years later, the financial industry lies to the American people, people lose their homes, their livelihood, and the bankers are screaming for their bonuses. Nobody held accountable.
Nobody was held accountable for the financial crisis?
You mean the financial crisis which occurred while you were Democratic Caucus Chair and lasted for another year or so while you were in the White House?
Cuz that sounds like something you, as the Chief of Staff and Democratic Caucus Chair, could've gotten to the bottom of.
Instead, you disregard that and move to talking about Covid, and how Democrats became the establishment during Covid, which is simply untrue. They simply solidified themselves as the establishment during Covid after about a decade of playing the pigs in Animal Farm. So, sure, they've become the establishment, but Emanuel is dodging responsibility for this.
The Democrats were, Emanuel says, the anti-establishment party when he was in the White House. Except, you know, their morphing into the party of war, their weaponizing of the FBI, and their apparent failure to hold anyone accountable for the Iraq War or the financial crisis during their eight years in power following those events.
What's more, if Emanuel wants to be anti-establishment then he's going to have to explain this:
Incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's career as an investment banker was short but, oh, so sweet. Emanuel left the Clinton White House in 1998 as a senior adviser on a government salary. By the time he won election to the House in 2002, he had earned an astonishing $16 million.
How did he do it?
Partly, it was simple luck: Emanuel dipped quickly into the world of investment banking in time to catch the tail end of the 1990s boom economy as a Chicago-based managing director at Wasserstein Perella & Co., where he worked from 1999 to 2002. While he was there, the firm was sold to the German Dresdner Bank for $1.37 billion in stock, netting Emanuel much of his Wall Street windfall.
Returning to Chicago in 1998 after his White House stint, Emanuel soon ran Wasserstein's small Midwestern office, developing a reputation as a deal guy who focused on mergers and acquisitions among companies that were subject to heavy government regulation. There, he deployed his skills as a born negotiator who knew the inner workings of government bureaucracies.
Frequently, Emanuel turned big Democratic donors and others he'd met during his White House years into clients for Wasserstein Perella, a firm that was led by Bruce Wasserstein, a hefty financial supporter of Clinton.
Emanuel would make millions in just a few years using his corporate-government connections.
And then there's this:
In 2000, Emanuel added to his private sector résumé, accepting an appointment by President Bill Clinton to the board of directors of Freddie Mac, a position he held until he began his campaign for Congress.
He served at Freddie Mac at a time when the mortgage giant was later found to have misstated its annual revenue. Freddie Mac and its corporate sibling, Fannie Mae, have been widely blamed for playing key roles in the mortgage market meltdown that triggered the current financial crisis.
Man, I guess those cronies who caused the financial crisis really do need to be held accountable!
Emanuel will continue talking this way, and trying to act like he's not the quintessential establishment Democrat. He is no doubt going to be running for high office in the future, so he needs to brush up his image and take on the persona of one of the "good" Democrats.
If he's somehow able to do that, and trick Democrats into believing that he's legit not a part of the establishment, I will give him extra-credit on his assignment.
Here's more of that CNN segment if you want it:
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