Rahm Emanuel to Romney: ‘If You Can’t Stand up to Rush, How Are You Going to Stand up to Russia?

[Julian Englis]

Source: ABC News

Mitt Romney, in his bid to retake the momentum in the Republican primary from Rick Santorum with a win next week in Illinois, arrives in Chicago on Friday. But the city’s mayor – and former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel - couldn’t wait to rip into the GOP front-runner, saying Romney lacked “the fortitude, strength or character” to serve in the Oval Office.

“Now I’m not going to give advice to Republicans. They don’t take it and I don’t want to give it. They’ll make whatever decision they want to make,” Emanuel said at an event Thursday morning in Chicago. “You just take a look at the fortitude, the strength, the determination and the vision the president made on the auto industry and juxtapose it to Mitt Romney, who doesn’t have the fortitude, the strength or the character in my view to stand up to Rush Limbaugh. How can he stand up and make a decision to save 1.3 million manufacturing jobs?

“That Oval Office requires vision. That Oval Office requires spine. That Oval Office requires determination and grit. Mitt Romney says, ‘Let it go.’ The president said the American workers are too important to let go, and he doubled down on the American workers. When a decision comes to the Oval Office, who’s got the fortitude, who’s got the grit, who’s got the determination and who’s got the back of the American people and middle-class families? And nothing coming into that Oval Office is easy. It’s not clear. And I think when you see the character, the fortitude and the strength measured up, and the determination to reject conventional wisdom and see around the corner what’s right for the American middle class, people who work every day, play by the rules, you’ll see the difference of the two individuals and their vision for America.”

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/03/rahm-emanuel-to-romney-if-you-cant-stand-up-to-rush-how-are-you-going-to-stand-up-to-russia/

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Rahm "F*cking" Emanuel, is not to be crossed and shows why, as he nails this.

[cosmicone]

1. Rahm is dead right except

that Obama could use some more spine.

[yurbud]

2. Rahm, if you can't do anything less corrupt than a Republican, shut the fuck up.

[CAPHAVOC]

10. The question

Seems to be which crook to vote for?? This is awful.

[yurbud]

15. yep, do you vote for the crook who promises to be a crook on ideological grounds or

the ones like Rahm promises to be something else but is crook once in office anyway.

[Son of Gob]

21. Leave Mitt Alone!

[Cosmocat]

9. His spine is just fine

WTF do we have democrats who spew republican BS.

His "spine" is fricken rock. Just because he does not run around chest thumping and making big statements, like the "RESOLUTE" clown before him.

[msongs]

3. I love it when right wingers fight nt

[patricia92243]

28. Yep!

[MattSh]

4. What the hell is Rahm's problem with Russia?

I'd rather have a president that stands up to the bankers...and the education reformers...and the union busters...and the other "Americans" who tear down American for a living, or just for chuckles.

[excuse not to write]

5. I have a vision of Putin driving his car

With Mitt in a Mutt Carrier on the roof.

[Brettongarcia]

6. Did Rahm himself mention Russia? Better to mention: Romney's Bain Capital backs Limbuagh

Last edited Fri Mar 16, 2012, 08:15 PM - Edit history (1)

At times its good to remember that writers, speakers, public figures, don't write the headlines for newspaper articles. And this one, that would have Rahm focusing on "Russia," doesn't seem good. Probibly it isn't what Rahm himself meant to emphasize.

In point of fact, America and Russia get along fairly well these days; Russian rockets are regularly suppying Americans in the International Space Station. So the choice of the word "Russia," is probably at best a self-mocking allusion to or appeal to, right-wing parnoia's traditional target. Which as many correctly note here should be no target at all.

Rahm himself seems to have actually focused more, on a far better target and greater danger than Russia: unemployment. And the 1%.

Far more alarming than Russia is the discovery, elsewhere, that Limbaugh is owned by Clear Channel Communications; and one of the two major owners of Clear Channel, and its 3 billion dollar capital outlay, is Bain Capital. Which in turn, is Romney's baby.

So that? Romney and Limbaugh, more or less own each other. Limbaugh needs Romney's money; Romney needs Limbaugh, as his chief media propagandist.

That was Rahm's main - and still valid - point. Bringing up "Russia" was just an ill-considered allusion to a right-wing mentality that Rahm should not have catered to, or whose language he should not have invoked, even for a moment. Since it distracted attention, from the real problem: that Romney and Limbaugh are working very closely together, in an unethical relation.

[Fearless]

8. Isn't this cute... he thinks he's relevant. n/t

[samsingh]

11. this idea has to be pushed.

[SHRED]

12. Silly comparison

"Standing up" to Russia and not standing up to Rush serve the same purpose for the GOP. Both acts gain support from their rabid right base. Both acts fit together well. Rahm is an idiot.


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[Iggo]

13. Rahm to Romney. Rush to Russia.

Poetic, that is.

[tularetom]

14. Like Rahm Emanuel is famous for standing up to right wingers

He talked pretty tough to and about "liberals", but he was pretty wimpy when it came to challenging congressional and media republicans.

His credibility on this and most other topics is lower than whale shit.

[kenfrequed]

20. I'm sure Whale shit serves a function

Probably as food for Plankton or something.


Agreed about the rest. He is a tactician that never should have been elevated to strategist, much less actual leader.

[yurbud]

22. even calling him a tactician is too kind. He is more like a bag man

who collects the money from the corporate crooks and delivers it to the political crooks.

anything else he does is a function of that.

[kenfrequed]

23. Hmm...

Well, I won't argue that he is a bit on the corrupt side and that he favors corporations a bit too much, but really there is method to his positioning. Unfortunately it is a method that contradicts the ideals of the party and the defense of the working class.

He is obsessed with putting points on the board, winning the spin cycle, avoiding conflicts, and passing or signing anything. In this way he is good at the political equivalent of small arms tactics. His best use would be to GIVE him what the strategy is and ORDER him to accomplish it on a small scale.

By having him be put in charge of winning the war you end up with a situation where the conflict is never enacted, where positions are never presented or defended, and where the best that can be expected is that he adopts enough of the enemies ideology so that the republicans never have to fight and they never are confronted with the ideocy of their own doctrine. His idea of 'winning' has nothing to do with leading or accomplishing anything of actual import.

Again, yes he is comfortable with corporate power, but only inasmuch as it leads to 'not losing.'

[yurbud]

24. by that logic, he is like a quarterback who throws the ball to someone on the other team

because they are more likely to make a touchdown, or a sniper who shoots his own troops because it's the easier shot.

[Julian Englis]

25. You make a number extreme assumptions and discount the value of pragmatism

[kenfrequed]

26. While...

I might not agree with the football quarterback/sniper analogy, I think my point stands. He would almost be more useful to our side if he were a republican that constantly sold out their positions and adopted liberal language and policy positions to 'win elections.'

I won't bother with an analogy and most of what I wrote is backed up by primary and secondary sources discussing the way that Rahm plays the game of politics. He is never there for the progressive side of the party and does his level best to shut us out of positions repeatedly. He was a terrible choice as Chief of Staff and if Suskind's book is to be believed then it is quite possible that had he not managed to slide into the race for Mayor of Chicago then he might have ended up being booted from his lofty perch for alienating too many people.

He seems to have few principles or ideals.

[yurbud]

27. pragmatism implies that it is in service of some higher good

with folks like Rahm, the higher good is the number digits in his bank account.

[kenfrequed]

30. I half agree...

I don't think it is all about the dollar signs. I think ideologically he is a free-trade pro corporate sort and I think he gains some kind status amongst some of his peers for his "wins" which feeds into the image of a tough guy he has embraced. No doubt there is personal satisfaction to be had as well.

[yurbud]

31. Washington has an odd definition of ''tough guy'': stomping on those with less money and power

on behalf of those who have more.

But I guess it helps when those you are stomping on behalf of also pay the salaries of those doing color commentary.

[David__77]

16. WTF? "Stand up to Russia?" Crazy talk...

Is his aim to get the US even more isolated?

[joshcryer]

17. I have a kinda dirty taste in my mouth recing that, but it's a good line. :)

[Julian Englis]

18. I just like the fact he is pointing out Romney is spineless

Whether you like Mayor Emanuel or not, he is right to call out Romney for being spineless.

Mittens has caved into Rush Limbaugh, he has caved into the most extreme elements of his party.

Romney is not his father. His father was a man of principles even if you don't agree with all his principles. His father stood up to the LDS Church elders over race. His father stood up to hawks over Viet Nam.

Romney again and again in this campaign has shown himself to be lacking the most basic principles. Mittens is willing to say or do anything that he thinks will get him what he wants.

[lovuian]

19. Republicans are spineless

they talk and they Bullie

but its all a show
deep down they are TERRIFIED

[KamaAina]

29. Who is that man

and what has he done with Rahm (D-But Still Waste of Oxygen) Emanuel??