Rahm fallout
| "If Rahm Emanuel is anything, it’s a vindictive asshole. Being a vindictive asshole has gotten him very far in politics. Though if he isn’t careful, it may soon be his downfall." -- Jordan Sargent atGawker |
I'm wondering if Rahm's free-fall will help liberate some of his puppy-dog aldermen and local pols from their leashes, much the way that the fall of the old Daley machine and the ascendance of Harold Washington did back in the day.
It certainly seem like it's liberated some CPS principals.
It was Rahm's chief puppy-dog, Ald. Joe Moore who said it best:
"The City Council is the only legislative body in the Western world that acts like the Soviet Politburo... He [Emanuel] doesn't have inherent power. We surrender it."Rahm's bullying tactics won't be nearly as effective now that he's been wounded by the cover-up scandal. In his meeting with black ministers last week, Rahm threatened to take away resources and jobs from their communities if they didn't keep young protesters under control (as if they could). Let's see how that goes down, now that the word's out.
Also, let's see how all this plays out vis-a-vis the interplay between the city's teacher contract negotiations and Rauner's holding the school budget hostage. If I'm Karen Lewis right now, there's nobody I'd rather be sitting across the table from than Rahm Emanuel and Forrest Claypool. Remember, if Rahm goes down, Claypool goes with him. Now, more than ever, Rahm needs the unions, not only to help save his ass politically, but to be shock troops in Springfield -- not in the streets of Chicago.
On Wednesday, CTU's House of Delegates voted unanimously to approve a strike vote. A 90% membership strike vote on Monday will send a powerful message. Another teachers strike will all but seal Rahm's fate, or what's left of it.