Thoughts on Emanuel
Immediately after it was announced that Rahm Emanuel would be the Chief of Staff of president Barack Obama starting January 20, 2009, observers such as myself made clear that the choice sent a clear signal: Emanuel is a streetfighter, not a diplomat. He has ‘enemy lists,’ and he does anything in his power to take down those who dared stand in his way once. To Emanuel, politics are personal.
This criticism is certainly valid: Emanuel is a highly aggressive and polarizing politician, who curses, swears and bullies others into submission. He does not care much about political correctness or civility. He’s a streetfighter who slams you down when you dare stand up to him.
But there is also an other side to the Orthodox Jew that deserves to be highlighted: although there are only two kinds of people to Emanuel, allies and enemies, he is not a radical liberal. He is a Clinton ally, a man from the DLC. He’s a Democrat, but willing to work with Republicans when problems demand a bipartisan solution. He was a key supporter of Bill Clinton, who ran quite a moderate liberal or even centrist White House.
Obama’s decision to choose Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff indicates that he may be more willing to rule like Clinton did than many thought during the campaign season. Clinton made many mistakes, of course, but he was a good president, who remains highly popular.
Furthermore, Emanuel is an observant Orthodox Jew who served in the Israeli Defense Forces. He is a staunch supporter of Israel, meaning that he would be hard pressed to work for an administration he suspects willing to act against Israel’s interests let alone willing to put Israel’s existence at risk.
Many feared that Obama may not be as pro-Israel as he said he was during the last few months of the campaign. This could very well be true, considering his past actions, words, and associations. But his choice for Emanuel indicates he will surround himself with people who are pro-Israel, and who understand that Iran cannot be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, and who oppose negotiating with Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas.
In short, you should not expect a civil White House, but you may expect a reasonably moderate liberal one.
I’m going to suspend judgment on Rahm for now. Two things are stand out to me on every analysis I’ve seen of him: He’s “tough” and he’s competent. By “tough” it’s clear that he’s a utter bastard. I don’t know that I like him for an administration that’s going to have to work across party lines. On the other hand, he does have powerful Republican friends.
I see it as a risky choice. It could come out well, but Rahm is going to need frequent reminders that he’s following his bosses agenda, not his personal power trip.
You described him as having “served in the Israeli Defense Forces.”
This is not true. In 1991, during the Gulf War, he was a civilian volunteer who rust-proofed truck brakes at a military base in Israel.
From Wikipedia:
“Every year thousands of volunteers from overseas serve for some weeks with the IDF. Their job is neither paid nor armed and mainly in the logistical, maintaining, catering, supply and medical services. Having volunteers do these jobs saves the army money and spares reserve soldiers from being called up. Volunteers must be at least 17 years old (if accompanied by parents: 14 years) and healthy.”
Source link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volunteers_for_Israel