Sunday, January 25, 2009

Salty Fran vs. Potty Mouthed Rahm




The media loves foul mouthed bureaucrats. Bush's Homeland Security adviser Frances Townsend was known for unleashing a string of four letter words. President Obama's Chief of Staff likes to drop an "F bomb" or two, but does so more sparingly than his mentee Governor Rod Blagojevich. The New York Times shared this story on Rahm:


Early this month, Barack Obama was meeting with the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and other lawmakers when Rahm Emanuel, his chief of staff, began nervously cracking a knuckle.

Mr. Obama then turned to complain to Mr. Emanuel about his noisy habit. At which point, Mr. Emanuel held the offending knuckle up to Mr. Obama’s left ear and, like an annoying little brother, snapped off a few special cracks.

The episode, confirmed by Mr. Emanuel’s office, underscores some essential truths about Mr. Emanuel: He is brash, has a deep comfort level with his new boss, and has been ever-present at Mr. Obama’s side of late, in meetings, on podiums and in photographs.

Brash, hyper-competitive, foul mouthed, and hopefully more competent than his salty Bush peer. Frances Townsend left out the hospital with the highest patient death toll after Hurricane Katrina. Ironically there is a corporate link to Mr. Emanuel. Who knew they shared more than a potty mouth? They shared a toxic cesspool, one where 34 patients perished.

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