Tag Archives: rahm emanuel

Hi Hater: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Told Teacher’s Union Prez That 25% Of Chicago Kids Ain’t Isht And Won’t Be Isht

His office says she’s lying, but something tells us she ain’t. Karen Lewis, the Chicago Teacher’s Union President, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel have a testy relationship at best. But it wasn’t always that way. The two leaders met privately last year ahead of Emanuel’s inauguration. They went for dinner and to attend a dance — both are fans of the art form — and to develop a working relationship. “We were both seeing who the other person was,” she said. Lewis said she got her answer about Emanuel’s character rather quickly. “In that conversation, he did say to me that 25 percent of the students in this city are never going to be anything, never going to amount to anything and he was never going to throw money at them.” She said the comment took her aback, and she looked at him askance. “Even if you feel that way, you can’t say that to me,” she said. “And he sort of poo-pooed it and we moved on.” The Mayor’s Office said Lewis made up the anecdote. “That’s simply false,” said Emanuel Press Secretary Sarah Hamilton. “The Mayor is committed to making sure that every single child in Chicago has access to an excellent education, which is why he is fighting so hard to transform the Chicago public schools that have failed our children year after year.” Lewis says the mayor says one thing in public and another in private. “I’ve only been in office a year and a half — I’m a classroom teacher — and nobody told me that when you say crazy stuff you’re not supposed to discuss it. And we talk about transparency and opening things up and having a real conversation about things… If you say one thing privately and another thing publicly, then how do we negotiate that?” During the interview, which will play in full on Friday’s edition of Ward Room the Television Show, Lewis said what really rubbed her the wrong way about the comment, and what prompted her to speak out, was that the mayor is often seen walking and talking with students who could be the very same ones she says he said he would never help. You can tell this chick ain’t been in politics but for a minute cuz she threw ol’ Rahm RIGHT UNDER THE BUS! Might be bad news for her, cuz that guy is super well connected and has been doing his line of work for a long time. Poor kids of Chicago though, riiiight? Source More On Bossip! Stand By Your Man: Rihanna Is In Full Support Of Chris “Gimme Dat” Brown While He Awaits Word On Cell-Phone-Stealing Charges, Sends Lyrical Sub-Tweets About Getting Him Back! Exhibitionists Pt. 1: The Most Revealing Celebrity Twitpics Of All Time Matrimony-dom: Evelyn Lozada Spills The Beans About Her Wedding Plans With Chad Ochocinco! Jesus Take The Men’s Wearhouse Card: The Funniest Photoshop Pictures Of Jaheim’s Blue Suit [Photos]

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Hi Hater: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Told Teacher’s Union Prez That 25% Of Chicago Kids Ain’t Isht And Won’t Be Isht

WaPo’s Cohen: Obama Needs To Fire Key People Or Americans Will Fire Him

This really is the summer of media’s discontent. As Barack Obama’s poll numbers collapse along with the fate of Democrats in November, more of the President’s fans are calling for heads to roll at the White House. Just four days after Chris “Tingle Up The Leg” Matthews called for both Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to be given their walking papers, the Washington Post’s Richard Cohen warned that if Obama doesn’t fire some key people, Americans are going to fire him. Readers are advised to strap themselves in tightly, for ” Obama’s Shrinking Presidency ” provides some dangerous changes in cabin pressure: One of the unintended results of the redecoration of the Oval Office was the downsizing of Barack Obama. In last week’s prime-time address to the nation, the president sat behind a massive and capaciously empty desk, looking somehow smaller than he ever has — a man physically reduced by sinking polls, a lousy economy and the prospect that his party might lose control of Congress. Behold something we never thought we’d see with Obama: The Incredible Shrinking Presidency. This is an amazing and, to me, somewhat frightening, turn of events. The folks who ran a very smart presidential campaign in 2008 have left the defining of the Obama presidency to others, in this case people on the edge of insanity. After running through some of the poll numbers, and discussing the Birther issue, Cohen drilled home the point that must really be making September feel like the dead of winter for liberal media members across the fruited plain: Obama is not all that liked and not very much known. He has become a polarizing figure — irrationally hated by Republicans and lacking much of his original support. Among whites, for instance, if the election were held now, Obama would get just an alarming 28 percent of the vote. We are once again two nations. Cohen next addressed how some of Obama’s unpopularity is caused by the lousy economy, which, of course, was all blamed on George W. Bush despite Democrats controlling Congress since January 2007. But the Post columnist employed what conservatives would call “tough love”: His stutter-step approach to certain issues — his wimpy statements regarding the planned Islamic center in Manhattan, for instance — erodes not just his standing but his profile. What we thought we knew, we do not. Like a picture hung in the sun, he fades over time. Then came the recommendations: But what Obama can do — what he must do — is get some new people. His staff ill-serves him so that he presents a persona at odds with his performance. The president needs better speechwriters. The president needs a staff to tell him not to give an Oval Office address unless he has something worthy of the Oval Office to say. The president needs someone to look into the camera so that, when the light goes on and he says, “Good evening,” he looks commander in chiefish: big. In other words, the president needs to fire some key people. Either that, or the way things are going, the American people are going to fire him. Indeed, but first they’re going to fire Obama’s accomplices in Congress, a fact that likely bothers Cohen greatly despite him ignoring it in this piece. But there’s another issue at play here: the junior senator from Illinois was sold to the American people during the campaign as being one of the most intelligent presidential candidates ever. Fawning media members gushed over his Ivy League education and his intellectual prowess.  Now, after approaching 20 months in office, his problems are all his staff’s fault. This seems hypocritical of liberals that always want to blame problems in the society on America’s CEOs. I guess even as they criticize the object of their affection, so-called journalists need to assign the real responsibility for this adminstration’s failure to others. Unlike their normal modus operandi, media members are now dutifully protecting the captain as this ship sinks. It really is amazing the number of rationalizations necessary to be a liberal these days. 

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WaPo’s Cohen: Obama Needs To Fire Key People Or Americans Will Fire Him

The Eric Massa Story Is About Every Single Political Story of Our Time [Salty Tales]

“He wakes up to Massa undoing his pants trying to snorkel him.” Eric Massa ‘s Navy shipmates are speaking out. Add them to the list of people Massa’s touched, from Rahm Emanuel to David Paterson. This story has everything. In the course of his meltdown, this former New York congressman has managed to inject himself into every single major political/media story of the last year. It is uncanny. Just take a look at the list. Sex Scandals Viewed in the right light, politics is just an endless succession of sex scandals of varying magnitude. When the initial reports of “sexual harassment” surfaced, devoid of details, it was easy to place Representative Eric Massa alongside Eliot Spitzer, John Edwards, Mark Sanford, and the rest of the losers who let their unchecked passions ruin their political careers. But it was not some boring consensual heterosexual affair that Massa was guilty of! Closeted Politicians The harassment allegations were apparently made by a male staffer. Massa, of course, is married to a woman—and so was Larry Craig. The news that a congressman was making unwelcome sexual advances toward male staffers immediately brought to mind the glory days of the Mark Foley affair. (The Democratic leadership, though, seemed to be handling it a little better. ) But is Massa a closet case, or is he just a guy who really, really enjoys roughhousing? He says that back in his day, the Navy was run like an English boarding school. It looks like his shipmates did not find his games to be as harmless, though. The Operatic, Paranoid Madness of Glenn Beck We are living in a world where Bill O’Reilly is practically Fox News’ voice of reason. And we have Glenn Beck to thank for it. The repulsive morning shock jock and formerly drug-addled Mormon weirdo uses his Fox platform to make conspiracy theories mainstream and to inculcate a sense of apocalyptic dread in his audiences. Chief among his tactics: constantly announcing his fear for his own safety. Glenn Beck wants you to know that shadowy, powerful forces will someday destroy Glenn Beck. And his Massa interview was one of the weirdest hours in the history of television. Glenn wanted to sit down with a guy who’d affirm, for his audience, the crazy things Glenn says about the fantastic power of the fascistic progressive movement. Instead he got tickle fights and a campaign finance reform lecture. So on his radio show today, Glenn suggests that a person or persons “got to” Massa before Beck did. What’s Wrong with New York Politicians? Spitzer! Monserrate! Paterson! Rangel! Add Massa to the list. LA is mocking us, guys. (Hey, have you met your mayor? Or your governor? ) But there’s no denying that New York politicians are publicly melting down at an alarming rate. Some of them are melting down before they even get around to running for office! The Gradual Self-Destruction of David Paterson Yes, even our beloved incompetent blind semi-corrupt accidental governor who probably abused his power and intimidated a domestic violence victim is tangentially involved in this Eric Massa mess. Because now New York has a vacant congressional seat. And it is up to David Paterson to figure out how to fill it. As of yesterday, he couldn’t decide when or if to hold a special election. But, you know, he probably will. Whatever. Who knows with this guy? Republican Internecine Warfare Before Massa went on Beck yesterday, there was some spirited debate between Glenn and fellow crazy person Michelle Malkin about the appearance of welcoming Massa into the conservative fold. Incompetent Democratic Governance Massa is also one of those incredibly incoherent Democrats who can’t figure out why they’re Democrats or what they stand for. The Progressive Caucus co-founder insisted to Glenn Beck that he’s a fiscal conservative. He voted against the House health care bill because it wasn’t liberal enough, and he complains that unions are trying to intimidate him. He was formerly a Republican until he decided to support Wesley Clark. The party has such a huge tent now that it’s just made up of people who don’t actively want to destroy the nation as hard as Republicans do. And this is one of the reasons Democrats can’t do anything with control of both houses of Congress. Health Care And, yes, this health care bill! It was passed by both houses of Congress. But now they both need to pass it again, sort of. Right now, the most incredibly nerdy sorts of political wonks are obsessively going over the House vote count . The sudden resignation of a former Democratic Nay vote is huge to these sad people. Rahm Emanuel Has Been In the News Lately How absolutely, wonderfully perfect that this should all happen during the month of never-ending Rahm Emanuel profiles. Within days of the allegations surfacing, Massa was telling wild stories about a naked Emanuel cornering him in a curtain-less shower. That’s the image that caught everyone’s attention—Letterman devoted his Top Ten List to it last night even. Even though it’s probably a fantasy, it’ll end up a part of the Rmythology, along with the fish and the knife and all that shit. Rush Limbaugh Said Something Racist! Oh, didn’t you hear? Rush Limbaugh said something racist about this whole thing. Yes, that’s right: you thought there was no way in hell this story could somehow also expand to include the Hot New Trend of constant right-wing racism, but you were wrong.

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The Eric Massa Story Is About Every Single Political Story of Our Time [Salty Tales]

Obama Hotties 2010 Update: Who Is Still Standing, and Hot?

Last year, the incoming Barack Obama administration promised to be… a whole bunch of “hotties” who would impress us with their stylish dress as they solved all our problems. Many of these hotties just had a bad year.

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Obama Hotties 2010 Update: Who Is Still Standing, and Hot?