Let's Hug It Out

One of the worst kept secrets in the past week was that President-Elect Barack Obama wanted Congressman Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff in his White House. This story first surfaced on Halloween on a few different news websites. Well, for those of you who do not know who Rahm Emanuel is, let me tell you a fun-fact about him: His brother is Ari Emanuel, the head of the Endeavor Agency, who Jeremy Piven's character Ari Gold on Entourage is based on.

Now, the best part about Rahm's brother Ari is that Ari is very much like his t.v. counterpart Ari Gold. Ari used to be one of the big agents at International Creative Management (ICM) in the late 90's before he got fired by ICM head Jeff Berg because they found out that him and some other agents were planning on starting their own agency (sounds like a storyline from season two of Entourage, huh). The real-life Ari has been sued for sexually harassing employees and has been known to walk into rooms by kicking the door open (also sounds like his t.v. counterpart). And let me tell you something, his brother, Rahm, the probable Chief of Staff for Obama, is like his brother.

Now, if you do not know anything about Rahm Emanuel, let me tell you a little bit about him. Rahm has been involved in politics since 1984 when he worked for Paul Simon's Senate campaign. Later on, he was on Bill Clinton's Presidential campaign staff as Director of Finance in 1992, and work for his administration as a Senior Advisor from 1993-1998. Currently, he is a Congressman from the 5th District in Illinois and is the Democratic Caucus Chairman.

But, what Rahm is known for is being a bulldog and his intensity. He is a take no prisoners politician that will fight for his causes till his last dying breath. He is very passionate about what he does and is doing. He reportedly told British Prime Minister Tony Blair, prior to Blair appearing in public with Clinton for the first time after the Lewinsky scandal, "This is important. Don't fuck it up." He is said to have "mailed a rotting fish to a former coworker after the two parted ways." On the night after the 1996 election, "Emanuel was so angry at the president's enemies that he stood up at a celebratory dinner with colleagues from the campaign, grabbed a steak knife and began rattling off a list of betrayers, shouting 'Dead! ... Dead! ... Dead!' and plunging the knife into the table after every name."

He also has been involved in some historic moments in this countries and the world's history. Rahm helped create and plan the 1993 Rose Garden signing ceremony after the Oslo Accords between Israel and Palestine. He directed the details of the ceremony, down to the choreography of the famous handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.

So you may be asking yourself at this moment what I am getting at. I think Congressman Rahm Emanuel is the perfect pick to be Obama's Chief of Staff. He is a fighter and at this moment, that is what our country needs. We need someone that will be in the backrooms and dark hallways cutting through the partisan bullshit and setting people straight. We need someone to tell people for both sides to "Shut the Fuck Up" when neccessary and light a fire under people's asses to make "change we can believe in" happen. So, I salute you Barack Obama for making a bold choice for, as some say, the "Co-President" of these United States.

Sidenote: Rahm Emanuel actually has a t.v. character based on him, Bradley Whitford's character, Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman, on the West Wing. Also, as a child, he took Ballet, and was originally going to study it at Sarah Lawrence before he got bite by the political bug while in college.