Rahm-bo Goes

At his last White House morning meeting, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel was given a symbolic gift–a dead fish.

Austan Goolsby, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, took the floor at the meeting and said:

"I talked to the policy team and we wanted to give you a going away present—something to show how we feel about you but also shows we understand your new possibilities. I was the natural go between—I voted for you all three times you ran for Congress and even in that first primary. So here is your present."

Emmanuel was presented with a dead Asian Carp. This fishy send-off was fraught with meaning. Emmanuel is infamous for sending a dead fish to a pollster who he did not like, ala Sam Corleones in The Godfather. This homage used an Asian Carp, which is an aggressive and invasive fish which reflected Emmanuel’s In-Your-Face approach to politicking in Congress and at the White House. Moreover, the Asian Carp is the transplanted blight of the Great Lakes that is soon to be threatening Chicagoland.

Come to think of it, there could not have been a more meaningful parting gift.

XO Rahm Emmanuel conveniently abandoned the ship of state before hitting the shoals of the midterm elections and facing the Mutiny of the Tea Party so that he could have his own helm as Mayor of Chicago. But there may not be such smooth sailing for the Rahm-bo of Chicago.

A prominent Chicago election attorney insists that Emmanuel is ineligible for the mayoralty race since he is legally not a resident of Chicago. On WLS-AM, Attorney Bud Oleson noted that:“He rented his house out in Sept 09 and has not been back since and has no residency in Chicago”. Earlier in the week, when the beltway buzzed about Emmanuel’s plans, there were reports that Rahm was negotiating with his renters to get back his abode to no avail. Some speculated that he might try to sublet and live in the basement at his home, since such a questionable abode arrangement worked in Washington with Representative Rose De-Laurio (D-CN).

Citing election law forgets that this is Chicago politics and the rules usually do not apply to Democrats.