It’s not what it sounds like. It’s about Rahm Emanuel’s aggressive tactics to get votes for the White House agenda.
Do we really need two posts today about this tool turning loose cannon on the Dems? Why, yes — because, thanks to Glenn Beck, he’ll have a full hour tomorrow afternoon in front of a national audience to rip on Rahm, Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and ideally the whole sordid culture of Democratic backroom wheelings and dealings. (See, e.g., “kickback, Cornhusker.”) At the very least, the Massa freak show will throw the White House off-message for a valuable few days; at best, his accusations of an ethics frame-up to push him out of Congress before he could vote no on the bill will reenergize public outrage about the O-Care process. Tom Bevan sees the bad moon rising:
It’s useless to debate whether Massa is right or not. We won’t ever know the truth in this he-said, he-said. At the end of the day, what’s most harmful to the White House is that Massa’s claim reinforces a very damaging narrative: that this Administration is run by a bunch of political thugs who do things “The Chicago Way;” that the White House and Democrats in Congress will do “whatever it takes” to pass this particular piece of health care legislation.
To have Massa ripping his party and the administration in such a public way right as they’re in the middle of trying to woo and cajole enough House Democrats to vote “yes” on the the health care bill is at the very least unhelpful and might possibly turn out to be a disaster.
Bingo. Hats off to Beck for recognizing it so quickly and volunteering his loudspeaker. Don’t be surprised if this subject comes up early and often.
Two clips for you here, one of Massa describing passions running high in the locker room and the other from a few years ago of a fully-clothed Emanuel giving him tips on his first congressional run. Skip ahead to around 1:25 for advice on anger management. (From Rahm “F-bomb” Emanuel?) Exit question one: Assuming the Dems have heard the same stuff about Massa’s past as Bob Lonsberry, why isn’t he worried that they’re going to punish him for going on Beck by launching a smear campaign? Arguably he can do more damage to O-Care tomorrow than he can by staying in the House, keeping his mouth shut, and quietly voting no. Exit question two: Hoyer says it’s not true that they deliberately leaked details of the ethics investigation to pressure him into resigning. Who’s lying? I’m with the boss emeritus on this one.
Rep Massa: Rahm Emanuel was Naked and Yelling at Me.
