2012 Presidential Election

Amnesia. In case you missed it (and it was designed to miss), the White House on Friday released e-mails that suggested former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was approving of the $535 million Department of Energy loan to Solyndra and personally pushed for the president to appear at the solar panel factory in May 2010. That’s Read this post

Continuing his cozy relationship with powerful Democrats, George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday interviewed his good friend, and newly elected mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel. The Good Morning America host hyped Emanuel, going so far as to seriously tout him as a successor to President Obama. [See video below. MP 3 audio here .] Stephanopoulos enthused, ” But, you know, if you do a good job here, a lot of Democrats are going to be talking about you to run for President in 2016 .” At no time in the interview did the GMA host mention what Politico revealed in February of 2009: While serving as Barack Obama's chief of staff, Emanuel and Stephanopoulos engaged in daily phone conversations with

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NewsBusted: Why Did Kathleen Parker Leave ‘Parker/Spitzer’?

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NewsBusted: Is President Obama ‘Reaganesque’?

Thursday night, the Illinois Supreme Court reinstated Oswald Cobblepot’s name on the ballot to be Mayor of Chicago in time for the February 22nd election. You may be familiar with him by his other name: Rahm Emanuel. You may remember Oswald Cobblepot, A.K.A. “The Penguin,” from the “Batman” films of Tim Burton. He was a wretched little man who was beloved by the City of Gotham and well on his way to being elected Mayor – that is until the heroic Batman played a looped recording of Oswald saying “You gotta admit, I’ve played this stinking city like a harp from Hell.” That is what I’ve envisioned Emanuel saying in my head over and over again since he began his campaign for Mayor of Chicago. Except that Rahm Emanuel isn’t the only one who has played Chicago. The MSM have too. Since the legal petition challenge against Rahm Emanuel on the basis of residency began, the MSM have been systematically building a case for him as a sympathetic character. Crude, vindictive Rahm Emanuel, a sympathetic character? You’ve gotta be f***ing kidding, right? When the Illinois Appellate Court issued its verdict Monday booting Rahm off the ballot, the MSM held hands and joined together in helping Rahm launch his “Let Rahm Run” campaign.  Oswald – I mean Emanuel – even cited the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times in his internet ad campaign. The Chicago Sun-Times stated : The truest words issued by an Illinois Appellate Court Justice on Monday were these:  Striking Rahm Emanuel’s name from the ballot for mayor of Chicago unfairly “disenfranchises … every voter in Chicago who would consider voting for him.” The Chicago Tribune called out the Illinois Appellate Court decision for its “twisted reasoning.” The Los Angeles Times’ editorial, “ Let Rahm Run ” even picked up Rahm’s campaign slogan for its headline. So did the Philadelphia Inquirer : “ Let Rahm Run .” The MSM media can be so helpful as long as you are their candidate. After decades of the Chicago Board of Elections throwing candidates off the ballot for every silly reason, now, finally, the media questioned whether the  process was fair.  In Rahm Emanuel’s case, the media cried out for justice, calling out the potential abuse of Emanuel’s First Amendment rights and the disenfranchisement of Chicago voters. But how about the other candidates that have been thrown off the ballot? What about their First Amendment rights? What about that voter disenfranchisement? The Chicago Sun-Times ’ Mary Mitchell cites the case of Victor Rowans, who filed nominating petitions to run for alderman of the 27th ward I Chicago. Rowans co-signed a car loan for a friend and the car incurred a $60 parking ticket. Because the parking ticket wasn’t paid at the time Rowans filed his petitions, he was booted off the ballot. Yet, there were no MSM cries of voter disenfranchisement or the First Amendment for Mr. Rowan. GOP mayoral candidate Tom Hanson filed 14,000 signatures with the Chicago Board of Elections. He filed his Statement of Economic Interest and was issued a receipt. His petitions were not challenged within the legal period required. Yet, the Chicago Board of Elections booted him off the ballot. Why? Because they lost HIS Statement of Economic Interest. The Chicago Board of Elections employee who issued the receipt admits she lost the filings. Again, no cries of voter disenfranchisement for the MSM. Why? In 2002, when Rahm Emanuel attempted to knock his congressional opponent, Mark A. Fredrickson, off the ballot because he started circulating is petitions too early, did the Chicago media cry “foul?” Emanuel lost this challenge to Fredrickson. Where were the MSM voices wailing for justice? Or is the MSM’s First Amendment only triggered by the desire to increase a favored candidate’s poll numbers to 50% so that he can avoid a run-off and be elected mayor outright? So now poor sympathetic Oswald – I mean Rahm – has got the Chicago Mayor’s race locked up. The only hope is that Emanuel will lose his artificially boosted majority in the polls buying the #2 candidate, probably Gery Chico, more time to advance his candidacy. Nationally, many people say that a Mayor Rahm Emanuel is just what the cesspool that is Chicago deserves.  But there are many more political conservatives here than you’d think. We’re just outnumbered.  However, Emanuel’s ambitions are much bigger than Chicago. No one in America should think they are safe from Rahm Emanuel yet. Where is the Batman when you need him?

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Rahm “Oswald” Emanuel Benefits From MSM’s Phony First Amendment Campaign

Ah so, every day, in every way, it becomes ever clearer that Rahm Emanuel's campaign for mayor of Chicago and mine have striking similarities. Rahm went off to Washington two years ago to pursue politics on the national stage. I left Chicago about 40 years ago to pursue politicians on the national stage, particularly huckster politicians. Two of my targets were Rahm's old boss Bill Clinton and the president's boss, Hillary. This fall, we returned rather recklessly, both to run for mayor. I immediately had major newspapers supporting me and at least one national figure, Sean Hannity, on his estimable TV show. Rahm flummoxed around in the city. His ill-considered campaign was attacked as that of a “carpetbagger” after it became clear that he had not lived in his home for the past two years. His house was in possession of one Rob Halpin, who refused to leave. It was the gesture of a patriot. Critics have hardly questioned my Chicago residency. His friendship with Rod Blagojevich, the disgraced former governor, has been raised. Anyone who has looked into the matter knows I am clean as a hound's tooth. Yet Rahm and I do have the nagging question of our residency. Two judicial panels have taken it up, and this week the second, an appeals court, rejected him. Now his fate is with the Illinois Supreme Court. The courts have not dealt with me yet. About the time that The New York Sun endorsed me — “(Tyrrell's candidacy will) be the freshest breeze out of the Windy City since Lincoln … Tyrrell is right in the Chicago tradition … Tyrrell is of the more literary turn, but he can talk with the windiest of the Chicago wise men … He was born in Chicago of a family with deep roots in the best tradition of Illinois politics” — I offered to enter into a joint legal action with Rahm, challenging the one-year residency requirement for running for mayor. But I have heard nothing from his crack legal team. Shortly thereafter The Washington Times added, “Tyrrell vows to pursue policies informed by the most energetic minds of the modern age, such as former American Spectator contributors Milton Friedman and Edward C. Banfield.” I was willing even then to pool my resources with Rahm and see whether we could not get this irksome residency requirement waived, but to no avail. Last week, Rahm raised more than $10 million for his campaign. Now he may have to return it, for it is apparent that he is in the same mess as I am. I have suffered no such embarrassment. As the Illinois Appellate Court ruled Monday, “a candidate … must have actually resided within the municipality for one year prior to the election, a qualification that the candidate unquestionably does not satisfy.” Well, we could have challenged this officious law together in a show of bipartisan comity, but Rahm was apparently too proud. Now he will just have to go it alone. Harsh winter has set in, and I am unlikely to go back to Chicago until spring. As I wrote in an earlier column, Rahm gave little thought to running for mayor this time around until Sept. 7, when Mayor Richard M. Daley abruptly announced his retirement. Then Rahm kissed his wife goodbye and headed for Chicago, that little residence requirement be damned. Well, in Chicago no one is above the law — or at least only a few thousand are above the law, but Rahm apparently is not one of them. Indigenous Chicago fixers are out to sidetrack his candidacy. He has taken his shabby case to the Supreme Court of Illinois. Whatever is decided, Chicago is now a laughingstock. Had he agreed to allow me to join his side of the case, it would have been done at least with dignity and possibly a better outcome. Not only is he subject to derision but also it appears that if he does not actually win the right to run for mayor, the mayor's office will be inhabited by Carol Moseley Braun, who is runner-up in the polls. She is an amusing creature who has not filed income tax returns for two years. Moreover, she has $2 million in mortgages on her home and God knows how many other skeletons in the closet. Frankly, she is running because she needs a job. Surely there were better-qualified candidates for the position, and one would have stepped forward had not the insufferable yuppie Rahm Emanuel hogged the show. But like the Tammany pol George Washington Plunkitt, Rahm “seen his opportunities, and he took 'em.” The problem is that Chicago is going to have to pay for his recklessness. I love the city of my birth and wish it a better fate. R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. is the founder and editor-in-chief of The American Spectator and an adjunct scholar at the Hudson Institute. His new book is “After the Hangover: The Conservatives' Road to Recovery.” To find out more about R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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Rahm Seen His Opportunities, and He Took ‘Em

Come on…it’s Chicago! When Rahm Emanuel resigned as President Obama’s Chief of Staff, everyone and his brother assumed he did so to assume the Mayoralty of Chicago. However, if a certain Chicago lawyer has his way, Emanuel’s climb into the driver’s seat of the Chicago political machine will end before it even begins. Former White House chief of Read this post

Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel made it official on Saturday: He is running for Mayor of Chicago. Emanuel staged his media event at Coonley Elementary School, a public school in his old congressional district. It wasn’t a press conference since Emanuel did not answer any questions and the Chicago media was actually content not to ask any. Kelly/Rahm from Breitbart on Vimeo . Emanuel’s announcement reminded me of the old Soviet Union-style speeches where people used to afraid to be the first ones to stop clapping. Along with the shouts of joy and bursts of over-enthusiastic applause, there was something menacing in that room. What were the Chicago media so afraid of? Or were they just being Rahm’s good little apparatchiks? I asked a Rahm staffer if the media were going to be allowed to ask Emanuel any questions. She said “no.” I knew that meant one thing: I had to ask a question. After his announcement, I knew Emanuel was probably hiding in the building waiting for everyone to leave. I waited until his staffers had cleared the last reporters from the room. As I was leaving, I noticed Emanuel was, in fact, waiting in one of the outside exits for the “all clear” sign from his staffer. That was as good of an opportunity as I was going to get. I walked to the door camera rolling, gave it a knock, and Emanuel’s staffer opened the door. Rahm was right behind the door so I asked him the question I came to ask: “When did you know about the accounting irregularities at Freddie Mac?” Rahm heard the question but turned his back without answering it. I am sure his lawyer is probably happy to read that. All the while, Rahm’s Deputy Press Secretary was talking over my questions, pushing me, and blocking my camera – all things she wouldn’t have been doing had I been asking “nice” questions. Afterwards, a senior Rahm staffer led her away saying from me, “You don’t need to talk with him, trust me.” Based on past experience, my media detractors in the Chicago media will say that I was “rude” or “illegitimate” because a Rahm staffer stuck her left nostril in my camera while I was asking a question. That doesn’t surprise me. The Chicago media have been saying I was rude and illegitimate ever since CBS anchor Jay Levine threatened me on-camera for trying to ask Emanuel a tough question on Columbus Day. They have been even more angry since I charged Levine with assault, which he will have to answer to at his court appearance on November 19th in Chicago. To the biased Chicago media and those that support them, I only have this to say: If you aren’t willing to ask tough questions or risk rudeness when prevented in the asking, what kind of reporter are you? Isn’t that what a real reporter does? And there are plenty of unanswered questions left for real reporters to ask about Rahm Emanuel. Questions about Rahm’s involvement with convicted former Governor Rod Blagojevich. Questions about Rahm’s history with the Clinton Administration. Questions about Rahm’s involvement with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Questions about the scandal-ridden history of his 5th congressional district seat. For background, Congressman Dan Rostenkowski was the congressman of the 5th congressional district in Illinois from 1959 to 1994. He was convicted of mail fraud and sentenced to 17 months in prison. Rod Blagojevich – America’s favorite reformer – took over the seat in 1997. Emanuel took the seat in 2002 after Blagojevich decided not to run for re-election. Lucky us, he ran for Illinois Governor instead. Moreover, Blago’s father-in-law, powerful Chicago Alderman Richard Mell, played a significant role in organizing field operations for Emanuel’s 2002 congressional run. As such, the 5th congressional district has been run by some of the worst elements of the Chicago Democrat machine. It is a district where you learn how to use stalking horses, place holders, and other underhanded techniques to win political offices for you and your friends. It is the kind of district where you might even learn how to sell public offices for profit and power. In this landscape, it is not hard to imagine a Rahm Emanuel being involved in bribing candidates like Sestak and Romanoff as President Obama’s Chief of Staff to ensure they wouldn’t run in hotly contested Democrat primaries in 2010. Maybe or maybe not. But shouldn’t these issues be raised? The media should be asking Rahm Emanuel tough questions now – just like they should have been asking Rod Blagojevich tough questions before he became governor. Imagine if Rahm was a Republican instead of a Democrat. The Chicago media would be asking tough questions of him morning, noon, and night – not giving him a pass or a hailing his coronation. Tough questions like why has Rahm’s toughest competition been dropping out of the mayoral race like flies? Why did Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart decide not to run when he would have been a front-runner? Why did speculation over Jesse Jackson Jr.’s role in Blago’s pay-to-play scandal and his tryst with a DC nightclub hostess only now become front-page news in Chicago? Why did the media wait for such an opportune time to release this information? Wasn’t it widely known? Did Rahm ask them to? The latest speculation was that former U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias was also going to throw his hat in the ring for mayor. But after a reported meeting with David Axelrod, Alexi was said to be frightened and refused to meet with the Chicago alderman who wanted to support his campaign against Emanuel. Again, what is everyone so afraid of? We don’t need any more thugs in the City of Chicago and we certainly don’t need one running it. Whether or not Rahm Emanuel is indeed a “thug” is beside the point. This is the image he has fashioned for himself and it is precisely why I think he needs to be held accountable for his “dead fish, steak knife” actions past and present. The one thing that may yet prevent a Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s ascendancy is a little technicality called a “residency requirement.” A legal battle is underway to challenge Rahm’s petitions for Mayor based on the fact that he rented his Chicago home while residing in Washington DC. To be Mayor of Chicago, you are required to be a Chicago resident for a one-year period. I asked a WGN TV reporter about this issue on Saturday and she told me my point about the residency issue was “legitimate” but that she was only there to cover Rahm today. What?! Are there any real reporters left? The new media has stepped in to fill this journalistic void and finally ask the tough questions the mainstream media refuses to ask. As the new media, the next questions we need to ask are: Do the same rules that apply to you or I apply to Rahm Emanuel? If not, where does it end? Is there any accountability? Or is all just one big manipulation? Does justice serve justice or does it serve power? Do we have any rights at all? Maybe the mainstream media won’t ask these questions but there is at least one reporter in Chicago who will. Even if they call me “rude.”

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Rahm Refuses to Answer Conservative Reporter’s Freddie Mac Question

From WGN : David Axelrod, a top advisor to President Obama and the main architect of his election victory in 2008, will be leaving the White House next year and returning to Chicago to work on the president’s re-election campaign, a White House aide said Thursday. Axelrod has not specified a departure date, but he plans to remain in his current position “well into 2011,” the aide said. Axelrod, who calls himself a “Chicagoan on assignment,” has long made clear he missed his hometown and would return before the end of the four-year term. His wife still lives in the city. One of Obama’s most trusted aides, Axelrod occupies a small office just steps from the Oval Office. On a wall in Axelrod’s office hangs a picture of the White House drawn by his daughter. The Chicago skyline is shown in the reflecting pool. Axelrod, a former Chicago Tribune reporter and City Hall bureau chief-turned-campaign consultant, is the latest of the Obama crew to voluntarily dive overboard, joining Peter Orszag, Christina Romer, Larry Summers and, soon enough, fellow Chicagoan Rahm Emanuel. This was Axelrod’s brief: His portfolio is a broad one. He shapes the president’s message, oversees the speechwriting team, plots political strategy and advises on policy. A longtime campaign strategist, he is aware of his limitations when it comes to complex policy matters. He once made a self-deprecating reference to himself as “a duffer” when it comes to policy. Other White House aides said part of Axelrod’s role is reminding the staff of the president’s campaign commitments and making sure that the White House agenda stays true to Obama’s promises. Obama has given himself a solid B-plus grade as president; what grade should Axelrod get?

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Axelrod, Obama Media Guru, Will Return to Chicago

OBAMA: The party’s hemorrhaging elderly voters over ObamaCare despite Andy Griffith ’s help.   And even the Times says the plan’s numbers don’t add up.  What now?  David? AXELROD :  Two tracks, sir.  Short term, lure seniors back.  We need their votes in November to keep the Senate, at least.  Long term, address the program’s fiscal time bomb. OBAMA :  OK.  How do we get Democrats bragging to oldsters about their support for the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”?   HHS ? SEBELIUS :  Sir, announce that attorneys reviewing the law have determined that language in Part 3, Sec 1141, (a), (1) suggests seniors’ pets may be considered ”partners,” and therefore eligible for health insurance as dependents of covered humans. JOE BIDEN :  Nice!  But . . . who’d, uh, vet the claims?  Hahahahaha. OBAMA :  Be quiet, Joe.  Remember, Hillary’s in the wings.  Whaddya think, Tim? GEITHNER : Too costly, sir . . . unless the only treatment option for animals was to put them down. LARRY SUMMERS :  That works for me.  Even so, there’s just enough scratch in the budget we haven’t passed yet to euthanize felines.  Dogs will have to wait. OBAMA :  Agreed.  Let’s call the subsidiary program “Medicat.” “Peticare” sounds too  . . .  inclusive.  Other ideas to energize old folks?  Nancy? PELOSI :  How about a “Cash for Clunker Body Parts” promotion, sir?  “Replace your worn-out hip or liver, get a $5,000 rebate from Uncle Sam.” OBAMA :  Good!  Funding, let’s say two billion.  Limited time offer.  Tim, write the bill with Waxman , and make the application procedure impossibly complicated.  Last thing we want is a run on the organ banks. GEITHNER :  Yes, sir.  Nobody will actually qualify.  Then you can brag about two billion you saved taxpayers. BIDEN : I dunno, Boss.  Every time we do something to help this ObamaCare rat puke go down like oatmeal, support declines.  We need professional help.  How ‘bout hiring a New York ad agency to pitch our proposals like they were peanut butter or Depends? OBAMA :  Hmmm.  Madisonian Avenue Democracy.  Jefferson would gag.  Well, he’s dead.  Eric, tell a top firm to take on selling our pets and body parts initiatives or face a DOJ probe.  Now, the finance problem.  Rahm? EMANUEL :  Axe is right, sir.  We’re looking at a fiscal train wreck because people are living longer and consuming medical resources into their nineties. PELOSI: Well then, after November, let’s incentivize death.  I’ll have one of my congressional automatons propose legislation halving the death tax for anyone who voluntarily passes away prematurely.  Harry, you run with it in the Senate.  Reverend? JESSE JACKSON :  What? PELOSI : We’ll need some Johnnie Cochran word play for ads. JACKSON :  Oh.  How about, ”Early croak, kin won’t go broke,” or, ”Take a fall, kids get it all.” BIDEN:  Get Hillary’s ghostwriter on it: It Takes an Early Grave to Save the Village . HARRY REID:  Following up on Nancy’s suggestion, sir: in December, speak from the Oval Office about the imminent bankruptcy of convalescent homes across the country.  Announce their nationalization.  Cast it as an urgent measure to stave off an economic and humanitarian catastrophe. BIDEN:  I gotcha!  Then we run ‘em like Third World clinics to boost death rates. OBAMA:  Hmm—a riff on Roach Motels : they “check in, but they don’t check out.”  Sebelius, work with Pelosi and Reid on the legislation. Do a backroom deal to get the AMA on board—tell ‘em we’ll consider tort reform if they cooperate [snort]. SEBELIUS:  A bonus, sir: HHS will pick up costs for deceased residents’ funerals–secular only, of course.  That’ll give you civil rites street cred. HOWARD DEAN:  After midterms, we should have a national conversation on end-of-life options, sir.  Hey Leon, what’s your view on euthanasia? PANETTA:  Um, they’re highly susceptible to al Qaeda recruitment, especially in Jakarta. You should see the reports I’m getting… EMANUEL:  Howard, Leon’s special.  Tease him again and I’ll rip your heart out and eat it in front of your family, Chicago-style. OBAMA:  No squabbling; time’s short.  Valerie, hush-hush, ask Jack Kevorkian to be our National Health Care Czar.  And I want Michael Moore as the program’s ombudsmean. BIDEN :  Good moves, Boss.  No more coddlin’ after the elections.  Throw the fear ‘o God into the geezers. Tell ‘em straight up: you’re the One. You can cut Medicare and privatize Social Security with a word; sic the IRS on their kids; tax their Roth money retroactively. They cross you and you got two years plus to nail their skinny old butts. [enter First Lady] MICHELLE :  I just talked with Rosalynn Carter. I want you to put “Comparable Worth for First Ladies” at the top of your agenda. You hear me, Barack?

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Inside the Obama War Room: Senior Moments