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Oh, Come on Emanuel!
If you did not see the clip of Rahm Emanuel apologizing for his part in suppressing the release of the video of Laquan McDonald’s murder and, more generally, of screwing up the city of Chicago into near chaos, you missed a real holiday treat. You can see it here. (If you’re impatient with the blather, the fun part starts at about 3:26.)
As Todd and I discuss in this week’s edition of the Harvard Lunch Club Political Podcast: “Oh, Come on Emanuel!,” the Godfather’s performance is true virtuoso.
Forget what I just said about skipping ahead to 3:26 – you’ve got to see the whole thing. (Watch it now … I’ll wait.) Here is Rahm with his back firmly to the wall, in the political performance of his life … a performance for which he has exactly zero aptitude. He has (oops) been caught suppressing a video for over a year of a cop apparently committing murder and, in the view of some cynical, vicious (vicious, I say!) people, he has suppressed it out of sheer expediency to avoid complications to his (ultimately successful) reelection bid. The irony of seeing the man who famously said that you should never let a good crisis go to waste in this situation of groveling to save his political skin is positively Shakespearean in its richness.
The first thing I thought of when listening to “The Apology” (no offense to Plato) was that Rahm’s voice reminded me of something from the distant past … something shrouded in mist. It had to do with his deliberate cadence, his careful enunciation – on the one hand soothing and comfortable, and on the other, dark and disturbing – that had the tenor of a man calmly convincing kindergarteners one after another to leap off a building. It was, damn, just so reminiscent of … what exactly?
Then it hit me.
It was Mr. Rogers!
Only, Mr. Rogers is now surrounded by a mob of merciless and desperately hungry zombies. But Mr. Rogers maintains his composure.
“…supervision and leadership in the police department and the oversight agencies that were in place … failed”
The zombies move forward.
“and that has to change.”
Closer.
“I am the mayor…”
Mr. Rogers knows it’s the end, but he knows that he has to keep talking. He has no other hope.
…
But then, I watched Emanuel again, only now it reminds me of something else. Something else from the distant past. An apology of some staggeringly intelligent, bloodless killer who has found himself fresh out of options.
But who … or what?
“Look, people of Chicago. I can see you’re really upset about this.”
Oh. My. God.
“I know I’ve made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I’ve still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission.”
…
But the pièce de résistance (as noted above) is at around 3:26 when Rahm throws down the gauntlet and decides to go for the Oscar. He tells a story about one “young (one assumes, black) man” who wants to know if he will ever be treated the same way by the police as Rahm is. The mayor quivers. His voice cracks. He gets angry at the cruelty of life and pounds the podium.
At which point anyone with a shred of heart … a scintilla of decency…
Is rolling on the floor laughing.
Bravo, Rahm!
Published in Politics
I actually laughed out loud at the end. Brilliant performance!
I really really really hope this breaks him.
Black Lives Matter, except occasionally one needs to be sacrificed to save the career of a white Liberal. It’s the Mary Jo Kopechne principle.
Rahm says it is a problem that African-American parents have to teach their kids to be respectful of police and put both hands on the wheel when pulled over.
I do that and I will teach my kids without seeing it as a problem.
Some zlub asks the Mayor of Chicago if the police treat the Mayor better than they do the zlub and the Mayor gets upset over the unfairness of it.
Worse, the Mayor gets angry – at Chicago!
Having manipulated public information to his own benefit Emanuel lectures his city on unfairness, while holding himself out as just the person to make things right.
The sickening narcissism of this dead-eyed virtue-signaler is too much to take. In a moral society he would be wearing tar and feathers and be riding a rail.
Mr. Stopa, thank you for the post. I just have one quibble. I think you are being unfair to Mr.Rogers. And to HAL. Oy.
I thought the message was – don’t bring a knife to a gun fight.
The victim probably didn’t read well enough to learn that.
That was a completely practiced set piece, and horribly performed.
I can feel the passion of a man who knows he could be kicked out of office from way down here in North Carolina.
Scumbag. Like his former boss. Actors at being leaders, and horrible ones at that. Really? Slam the dais? You’re lucky you won’t be dragged from the building and be beaten from Fort Chicago.
Another in a long line of Democrat Poster Boyz.
This.
Anyone who believes that Rahm wasn’t aware of this shooting or the video of the shooting is exceptionally naïve.
In big city police departments Sgt’s are pretty much immune from politics. Once you get to Lieutenants, Captains, Precinct Commanders, Deputy Chiefs, and Chief politics play a big role.
Not supporting the winning candidate for mayor or embarrassing a mayor can be a career ender. Rahm was in a tight run-off election for Mayor of Chicago and decisions were made to try and kill this investigation. I’d be stunned if the Mayor’s office, Chicago Police Dept., and the State’s Attorney office were not involved in this mess as a group.