Rahm Emanuel - The Absolute Enforcer
Obama's choice of Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff is in some ways mind boggling.
Emanuel is a combative Chicago congressman supremely versed in the ways of the White House and Capitol Hill and he will have one of the biggest voices in the new administration.
He is a bare-knuckled Chicago politician who is not only well known for his ability to say 'no' but also for his often expressed vulgarity and Obama once joked at a charity dinner that when Rahm Emanuel severed his middle finger, "it almost rendered him mute".
In a statement announcing Emanuel's appointment Obama said, "No one I know is better at getting things done than Rahm Emanuel", to which Emanuel replied that he was heeding Obama's call because "I want to do everything I can to help the new administration".
Lots of Republican's have a problem however with how Emanuel gets things done and he has sparked numerous conflicts with many of them causing the House Republican leader John Boehner to comment, "This is an ironic choice for a president-elect who has promised to change Washington, make politics more civil, and govern from the center".
Emanuel, who reportedly once sent a Democratic consultant a dead fish issued a statement saying "I want to say a special word about my Republican colleagues, who serve with dignity, decency and a deep sense of patriotism,'' Emanuel said in a statement.
"We often disagree, but I respect their motives.
Now is a time for unity".
So 'what's mind boggling about this?' you may well ask.
Well a quick look at Rahm Emanuel's roots and history reveal things that may startle many in the middle east and probably all around the world.
Rahm was born in Chicago, Illinois and his name Rahm Emanuel is Hebrew.
The name Rahm means "high or lofty" and Emanuel means "God is with us".
He was named 'Rahm' after a slain Lehi combatant and 'Emanuel' after Rahm's paternal uncle, Emanuel Auerbach, who was killed in a skirmish with Arabs in Jerusalem.
* Lehi -= "Fighters for the Freedom of Israel", was a militant Jewish underground movement during the time of the British mandate.
Rahm's father was born in Jerusalem and is a former member of the 'Irgun' which was a militant Zionist group active in the British Mandate of Palestine between 1931 and 1948.
Emanuel himself was a dance prodigy and was offered a scholarship with the Joffrey Ballet but settled for a liberal arts degree from Sarah Lawrence and a master's in communications from Northwestern.
He was a civilian volunteer in the Israel Defense Forces during the 1991 Persian Gulf War and he served in one of Israel's northern bases.
His wife, Amy Rule who is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, converted to Modern Orthodox Judaism shortly before her wedding and the couple are members of Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel which is a modern Orthodox congregation in Chicago.
When asked what he thought the public expected from an Obama led government Emanuel replied, "I don't think the country is yearning for an ideological answer.
If anything it's the opposite.
They want real solutions to real problems.
And if we do an ideological test, we will fail.
Our challenge is to work to solve the actual problems that the country is facing, not work to satisfy any constituency or ideological wing of the party.
" This site and many others recently pointed out Obama's close connections with militant Islam as reported by NBC just a few weeks ago and just yesterday Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the world how delighted he is that Obama triumphed in the U.
S.
elections.
It now remains to be seen how Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and leaders and members of the various Islamic groups will interpret Rahm Emanuel's selection as Chief of Staff, perhaps especially as his was the first appointment to be made.
Emanuel is a combative Chicago congressman supremely versed in the ways of the White House and Capitol Hill and he will have one of the biggest voices in the new administration.
He is a bare-knuckled Chicago politician who is not only well known for his ability to say 'no' but also for his often expressed vulgarity and Obama once joked at a charity dinner that when Rahm Emanuel severed his middle finger, "it almost rendered him mute".
In a statement announcing Emanuel's appointment Obama said, "No one I know is better at getting things done than Rahm Emanuel", to which Emanuel replied that he was heeding Obama's call because "I want to do everything I can to help the new administration".
Lots of Republican's have a problem however with how Emanuel gets things done and he has sparked numerous conflicts with many of them causing the House Republican leader John Boehner to comment, "This is an ironic choice for a president-elect who has promised to change Washington, make politics more civil, and govern from the center".
Emanuel, who reportedly once sent a Democratic consultant a dead fish issued a statement saying "I want to say a special word about my Republican colleagues, who serve with dignity, decency and a deep sense of patriotism,'' Emanuel said in a statement.
"We often disagree, but I respect their motives.
Now is a time for unity".
So 'what's mind boggling about this?' you may well ask.
Well a quick look at Rahm Emanuel's roots and history reveal things that may startle many in the middle east and probably all around the world.
Rahm was born in Chicago, Illinois and his name Rahm Emanuel is Hebrew.
The name Rahm means "high or lofty" and Emanuel means "God is with us".
He was named 'Rahm' after a slain Lehi combatant and 'Emanuel' after Rahm's paternal uncle, Emanuel Auerbach, who was killed in a skirmish with Arabs in Jerusalem.
* Lehi -= "Fighters for the Freedom of Israel", was a militant Jewish underground movement during the time of the British mandate.
Rahm's father was born in Jerusalem and is a former member of the 'Irgun' which was a militant Zionist group active in the British Mandate of Palestine between 1931 and 1948.
Emanuel himself was a dance prodigy and was offered a scholarship with the Joffrey Ballet but settled for a liberal arts degree from Sarah Lawrence and a master's in communications from Northwestern.
He was a civilian volunteer in the Israel Defense Forces during the 1991 Persian Gulf War and he served in one of Israel's northern bases.
His wife, Amy Rule who is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, converted to Modern Orthodox Judaism shortly before her wedding and the couple are members of Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel which is a modern Orthodox congregation in Chicago.
When asked what he thought the public expected from an Obama led government Emanuel replied, "I don't think the country is yearning for an ideological answer.
If anything it's the opposite.
They want real solutions to real problems.
And if we do an ideological test, we will fail.
Our challenge is to work to solve the actual problems that the country is facing, not work to satisfy any constituency or ideological wing of the party.
" This site and many others recently pointed out Obama's close connections with militant Islam as reported by NBC just a few weeks ago and just yesterday Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the world how delighted he is that Obama triumphed in the U.
S.
elections.
It now remains to be seen how Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and leaders and members of the various Islamic groups will interpret Rahm Emanuel's selection as Chief of Staff, perhaps especially as his was the first appointment to be made.
