Rahmbo Round-Up: Pageants, Death Threats, and Howard Dean
By Karl Klockars in News on Dec 12, 2008 7:38PM
Do you think you could simultaneously A) attend a Christmas pageant for one of your children and B) answer a question if a reporter from a major Chicago newspaper asked one of you? If you're Rahm Emanuel, the answer is an enthusiastic "no" - but he might have more on his mind than your average pageant-goer at this time of year.
Emanuel was spotted at City Hall last night by a Sun-Times reporter, and when he was asked whether or not he was ever an "emissary" to Blagojevich, he responded,
“You’re wasting your time...I’m not going to say a word to you. I’m going to do this with my children. Don't do that. I’m a father. I have two kids. I’m not going to do it.”
But can't you do both, Mr. Emanuel? “I’m not as capable as you. I’m going to be a father. I’m allowed to be a father,” he said, as he pushed away the reporter's digital recorder. Won't somebody think of the children? Perhaps the lady President-Elect's COS doth protest too much. More Rahm-related reporting after the jump.
What else is going on in the world of Rahm Emanuel?
Is Emanuel in hiding? "I'm getting regular death threats...I'm pissed at the networks. You've intruded too much," Emanuel said to an ABC cameraman, who he'd invited into his house to use their bathroom. ABC News continues to report that Emanuel is not going to work at the offices of the President-Elect due to the crush of reporters asking him about his Blagojevich connections. That isn't as awesome as the one time Michael Jackson stopped at our house and asked to use the bathroom. Okay, it wasn't him. He was about to. But his sister did.
Did Emanuel provide Blagojevich with a list of "acceptable Senate candidates? According to Fox News Chicago, he did. A "reliable source familiar with the investigation" has said that Emanuel and Blagojevich had conversations about possible Senate-seat fillers, and those conversations may have been taped. Also, Blagojevich spoke about the "fifth CD thing" while talking about the Obama advisor in question - and Emanuel represents the Fifth Congressional District. However, no one is saying that any of those conversations had anything to do with pay-to-play or quid pro quo. (Which probably prompted the whole "motherfucker" thing.)
Is Howard Dean cheesed off about not getting the Chief Of Staff position over Emanuel? If things go bad for Rahm in the near future, he still might have a chance at it - but for now, he's sounding off on D.L. Hughely's "Breaking the News" on CNN.
It seemed like he was joking, but when you have to have a DNC spokesperson send out a followup statement confirming the fact that it was a joke, maybe you didn't pull off the humor effectively.
Photo by Nick Wass, AP