Barack Delivers? Not!! [Updated]
By Larry Johnson on November 5, 2008 at 9:27 PM in Current Affairs
If you were banking on Barack to shake things up in Washington, forget about it. Less than 24 hours after nailling down his victory, Barack goes for old style politics in Washington. I refer of course to his latest decision to name Congressman Rahm Emmanuel as his Chief of Staff. Way to go Barack. Unlike Barack, who spoke out in opposition to the war in Iraq even before he was elected to the Senate, Rahm Emmanuel embraced the war. Back in 2002 when Barack was “showing” his political courage, Emanuel was running to replace Congressman Rod Blagojevich who was running for Governor in Illinois. According to Wikipedia:
Emanuel won the primary and easily defeated Republican candidate Mark Augusti in the general election. Emanuel supported the October 2002 joint Congressional resolution authorizing the Iraq War, differentiating himself from all nine other Democratic members of the Illinois Congressional delegation (Sen. Richard Durbin, Reps. Bobby Rush, Jesse Jackson, Jr., Bill Lipinski, Luis Gutiérrez, Danny K. Davis, Jan Schakowsky, Jerry Costello and Evans) elected in 2002.[12]
Remember, we could not trust Hillary Clinton to be President because she voted for the 2002 resolution on Iraq but by God, you can trust Rahm Emanuel, who enthusiastically embraced said resolution, to advise the President. You cannot make this shit up.
Let me put my cards on the table. I am still pissed at Emanuel for lying to my friend Jim Marcinkowski. Jim helped me defend Valerie Plame. Jim and I, along with Valerie, served together at the CIA. The New York Times wrote this about Jim in 2006:
He drew national attention in 2003 and 2005 when he testified before Congress about his friend and former C.I.A. classmate Valerie Wilson. The story of Ms. Wilson, the agent whose identity was leaked by Bush administration officials, sealed Mr. Marcinkowski’s divorce from the Republicans. He had been active in the party from the time he organized the Michigan State University campus for Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign in 1980 but had gradually become disenchanted, particularly during the George W. Bush years.
His story — former C.I.A. officer, disaffected Republican — had great appeal to Democratic bigwigs seeking Congressional candidates. He talked to Representatives Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader; Steny Hoyer, the Democratic whip; and Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. All urged him to run, especially Mr. Emanuel, who called several times, and even shipped him a thank-you cheesecake after he had agreed to run.
Mr. Marcinkowski says everyone promised their full support.
That is absolutely true. I sat in Emanuel’s office on Capitol Hill when he pitched Jim in late 2005 to run for Congress in Michigan and promised to support him. Jim ran and Emanuel bailed on him. Did not provide a dime of support. I took a piss next to Emanuel in the offices of the Democratic National Committee. Rahm asked me, “Will he run?” And I said, “If you guys are backing him he will?” Well, Jim ran and Rahm bailed. That is what America has to look forward to.
So, why is Rahm’s inexcusable support for the war in Iraq in 2002 okay but it was disqualifying for Hillary Clinton? I guess it is just more change we are supposed to believe in. A liar who supported the war in Iraq before he was against it is now the new President’s closest advisor. Let’s face it. Barack’s first decision as President-elect is to continue the politics as usual in Washington by appointing a quintessential insider who embraced the very thing that Barack claimed should disqualify anyone to occupy the White House. A practice that he promised us he was going to do away with. He did not. First broken promise.
UPDATE–There is this news from Aaron Klein today about the reaction of Hamas to Barack’s triumph.
JERUSALEM – The Hamas terrorist group believes the election of Sen. Barack Obama is an “historic victory” for the world and an opportunity to change U.S. foreign policy toward engagement with America’s foes, Ahmed Yousef, Hamas’ chief political adviser in the Gaza Strip, told WND in an exclusive interview today.
Yousef, speaking by cell phone from Gaza, said Hamas is drafting a letter of congratulation to be sent tomorrow directly to Obama. He said the current draft of the letter praises the president-elect as “another John F. Kennedy, or great Roosevelt.”
“We want to be one of the first to congratulate him,” Yousef said.
“This is an historic day, a turning point. I think this is the very first time in history that one country’s election concerned everyone everywhere all over [the] world,” said Yousef. “Everybody is looking forward to Obama’s change, for a change in the U.S. policy, particularly in the Israeli-Palestinian equation, which is the mother of all conflicts.”
Yousef told WND he believes an Obama administration will be more willing to engage in dialogue with Hamas. He said Obama’s job will be to “restore America’s dignity in the world and put an end to the wars in the region.”
Read the rest here. I guess Hamas did not get the news that Barack bypassed Rashid Khalidi and named Rahm Emmanuel as his Chief of Staff. Rahm, true to his Washington establishment status, is not about to let Israel get sold down the river. At least that is how it looks at this point.
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