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RAHMWATCH: 'Nothing's colder than dead clout...' (traditional Chicago wisdom)... As New Trier's most notorious alumnus faces the termination of his years in power... The verdict is on the Democratic Party's 'reform' leaders -- and not just against the Hollywood hype and spin the helped create Rahm..

George N. Schmidt - January 03, 2016

Rahm Emanuel at the Center for American Progress...As a recent (on line only, so far) New Yorker article about Rahm Emanuel's career in power notes, Emanuel's versions of political reality have cost the Democratic Party, both locally and nationally, dearly. From NAFTA to the fielding of reactionary candidates for the House of Representatives in the last national election when he had national power, Emanuel has been a consistent enemy of working people, unions, and what he once grandly called "liberal theology." Rahm's opposition to the legacies of the New Deal and to federal programs that helped most citizens was well known before he returned to Chicago to assume power at mayor in 2011 -- with, let's not forget, the full support of President Barack Obama.

And so The New Yorker is joining those among the media elite who are now taking a critical look at Rahm Emanuel and the versions of Rahm's years in power in Chicago that were peddled nationally and internationally by pundits and supposed "journalists" from the moment Rahm was installed in the office on the fifth floor of Chicago's City Hall in May 2011.

Even though the latest New Yorker story details some of the dishonesty and political reaction that kept Rahm in power, the revisionist histories of Rahm's reign in Chicago have left out one of the key parts of the Rahm reality -- Hollywood hype.

From the beginning of his return to Chicago, Rahm's version of his work was promoted by the titans of Hollywood. It went on from the beginning of Rahm's first term, and continued in story after story. Each was carefully placed in the nation's corporate media, to the point where Rahm's "Mayor's Press Office" team could just recycle the same old script over and over when national pundits came to town to visit the shrine to Rahm's greatness and witness the miracle of Rahm as mayor for themselves.

The "facts" were carefully spun, with a certain number of extras always in the ready to speak for Rahm. Part of the Rahm hagiography was what we at Substance called "Rahm's Rainbow." Chicago's mayor never appeared for TV without a bunch of extras showing how much the mayor was doing "diversity." Black and other minority people were carefully placed behind him, in some cases being line up before an event by the mayor's press minions (almost all of whom were white). I witnessed this myself on several occasions.

No big city mayor has ever been promoted so shamelessly in such a short time. Even before Rahm had any real accomplishments to justify his boasting, the Rahm propaganda machine was in full force. Now that the revisions are coming, the political history will have to stand alongside the media history and the Hollywood "documentary" -- CNN's "Chicagoland" -- as a primary examples of how political narratives are manipulated.

"Chicagoland," however, was actually the culmination of a lengthy process of self-promotion by Rahm Emanuel and a team of his advisors and Hollywood friends. Locally, the propaganda was produced at taxpayer expense by what is known as "The Mayor's Press Office."

The dozen or more public workers who toil daily at "The Mayor's Press Office" have routinely put out press releases promoting the daily propaganda from Rahm Emanuel. The releases of the Mayor's Press Office were published virtually daily following Rahm's inauguration in May 2011. While many simply announced the media events at which the mayor could be found, more often than not, the events were carefully staged. Rahm Emanuel, surrounded by a group emphasizing the diversity of his supporters, would stage a public announcement. During the years following Rahm's inauguration, the events ranged from the opening of a new park, to the possible building of a new train station.

On many of those occasions, reporters were presented with a complete story, written in news format. The "Mayor's Press Office," also created photographs and other material so that the press could provide readers with a complete "news" story. In many cases, the story was published just as it came from the "Mayor's Press Office," with the photographs or other graphics provided at taxpayer expense. These articles often became "news" in the Chicago Sun-Times, which is owned by a wealthy friend of Emanuel.

The culmination of the propaganda onslaught was the CNN story in 2014 called "Chicagoland." Promoted nationally and produced by Robert Redford, "Chicagoland" purported to be a documentary, but was in fact, as was later revealed, propaganda on Rahm's behalf during the production of which the mayor and mayoral propagandists were actively involved.

In order to appreciate the closed world of Rahm Emanuel's self promotion, it is necessary to study "Chicagoland" as completely as The New Yorker is now reporting on Rahm Emanuel and the New Democrats

Chicagoland is a documentary series that aired its first episode at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2014. "Chicagoland" was aired on CNN in eight successive weekly broadcasts beginning March 6, 2014, and ending April 24, 2014. The supposed "documentary" was produced by Robert Redford and Laura Michalchyshyn and created by Mark Benjamin and Marc Levin.

While it was promoted as a "documentary", it received some criticism when it was aired, and the criticism reached a peak when it was revealed that there was a coordinated effort to ensure thatChicago mayor Rahm Emanuel was portrayed as a "star" in the series. Tough mayor for tough times in a tough town was the slant Redford and Hollywood provided to the story. The staging also made certain that the story was filled with the "diversity" Rahm utilized as his regular background for media events.

The show was produced by Redford and created by filmmakers Benjamin and Levin, who had previously created the very similarly themed show "Brick City," a documentary about Newark, New Jersey. "Chicagoland" is narrated by Mark Konkol, who was shown as a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter. (He is now head of DNA Chicago). The filming was done over eight months in 2013. CNN described the show as: "The riveting, real-life drama of a city looking to unite at this critical moment in the city�s history." Later, it was widely known and reported that the show's slant was bullshit, and it was far from a real "documentary."

The principal subjects of "Chicagoland" were Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Fenger High School principal Elizabeth Dozier and Chicago Police Department superintendent Garry McCarthy. One of the many ironies now obvious to those looking back two years after Sundance is Rahm's treatment of McCarthy since the revelations about the murder of Laquan McDonald. Dozier's career has never been examined in the context of the city's other more than 100 high schools in Chicago.

The show was eventually exposed for the propaganda that it was from the beginning. While the Sun-Times was prone in the face of Rahm's propaganda, the Chicago Tribune gained access to over 700 e-mails between Emanuel, Benjamin, Levin, and CNN.

In response to the Chicago Tribune report, CNN asserted that the Mayor's office had neither editorial control nor editorial approval over either the show's content or its associated promotional material, and one of the Chicago Tribune reporters said the emails show the normal scheduling and schmoozing involved in working with subjects.

Other critics began weighing in on the nature of the sow. The Huffington Post blogger Spencer Green mocked the whole ordeal saying that a sequel was forthcoming entitled Rahm Emanuel: A Towering God Among Men. Months before the show ever aired, Levin and Benjamin, who were clients of The William Morris Endeavor (WME) agency. requested that WME not represent them in this production to avoid a conflict of interest because WME's co-CEO is Ari Emanuel, brother of Rahm.

"Chicagoland" aired in eight episodes, summarized here:

1. "The New Boss" March 6, 2014 The struggle between Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis and the administration of Mayor Rahm Emanuel is introduced along with the improvements of Fenger High School on the south side, and cameras followed the principal. Gang life in Chicago is illustrated by Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. His outsider approach is aggressive as he states "I want to save the world... I want to save Chicago... All of it."

2. "The Champs" March 13, 2014. The whole city of Chicago is captivated by the historic playoff run and victory of the NHL Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks. As the plans for the schools closures move ahead, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is criticized for using city funds to develop a new basketball arena for DePaul University and revamp the Navy Pier. As the seniors at Fenger High School get ready for prom, Principal Liz Dozier questions the school's plans to organize a peace march after a nearby shooting creates a rise in tensions. Meanwhile, one of Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy�s top commanders, Police Chief Leo Schmitz, works to help serve and protect the community of Englewood from gang activity.

3. "Fireworks" March 20, 2014. As the 4th of July approaches, Mayor Emanuel presides over the naturalization of new citizens and reflects on his own heritage as the son of immigrants. At the Albany Park Theater Project, Lilia Escobar and JP Marquez perform in �Homeland,� a play about their immigrant experiences �- taking their work to the big stage at the Goodman Theater. Fenger High School Principal Liz Dozier takes one of her culinary graduates to meet award-winning chef Grant Achatz at his renowned restaurant, Alinea, where he gets a life-changing opportunity. An explosion of holiday shootings keeps the pressure on Superintendent Garry McCarthy, while trauma surgeon Dr. Andrew Dennis struggles to save a young gunshot victim � only to discover his real story.

4. "Second Chances" March 27, 2014. Common, Dwyane Wade and Magic Johnson assist Mayor Rahm Emanuel with promoting Chicago's youth programs. Also: The mayor mentors a promising young man; a youth rapper makes his Lollapalooza debut; and a Fenger high-school student is released from prison.

5. "Safe Passage" April 3, 2014 A new school year brings with it the implementation of Mayor Emanuel's Safe Passage program. Also: A crisis occurs on the first day of school at Fenger High; and venture capitalists host a Demo Day for young tech stars.

6. "Broken Wings" April 10, 2014. Mayor Emanuel launches a series of new public-works projects; former mayor Richard Daley reflects on his time in office; community leaders work to improve their neighborhoods; a community activist fights violence; a potential gang war threatens the safety of Fenger High students; a young patient gets a second chance at Cook County Trauma and Burn Unit.

7. "Back of the Yards" April 17, 2014. A mass shooting rocks the community. Meanwhile, Fenger High prepares for homecoming while dealing with the aftermath of the violent event; and Mayor Emanuel campaigns for stricter gun laws.

8. "City of the Future" April 24, 2014. Mayor Rahm Emanuel delivers his annual budget address, in which he shares his vision for Chicago's future. Meanwhile, "Chicago Ideas Week" features appearances from chef Mario Batali and artist Hebru Brantley; the mayor deals with the pension crisis; the Chicago Police Department addresses safety concerns regarding the city's marathon; educational programs for young children are expanded; First Lady Michelle Obama speaks with a young college-bound student; and Fenger High holds a fund-raiser.

Many critics were originally impressed with the show, although some recognized that it was bald faced propaganda from the beginning.

Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times says the show is a "commendable" effort with "compelling characters" and described its subject matter and cinematic depiction favorably. She also echoed the criticism that the series "looks more like an ad campaign than a documentary".

Allison Keene of The Hollywood Reporter noted both positive and negative elements of the show but generally approved of its presentation. Keene also noted, however, that subsequent episodes did not quite live up to the premiere.

Los Angeles Times critic Robert Lloyd viewed the show as a bit of self-promotion for the city. Brian Lowry of Variety questioned the worth of the show as a constructive use of time for viewers.

According to Crain's Chicago Business, the show is "often disturbing" yet "hope-inspiring".

The Wrap's Tim Molloy said that "Chicagoland" was good, but did not compare to Brick City.

Among the few reviews that were published after or near the end of the series was a negative one by Rick Kogan of the Chicago Tribune. Kogan considered the whole series a bit "contrived".

The verdict on the show was rendered by viewers, who tuned out over time. During the 8-week span the viewership dropped off precipitously losing 48% of its viewers.

Both the media and the "New Democrat" corruptions will have to be examined and reexamined for a long time to come before Chicago is cleansed of the mess that Rahm -- along with all of his promoters from Robert Redford to the editors of most of the nation's most influential magazines -- created.

While Rahm Emanuel and his family vacationed in Cuba during the Christmas holidays in 2015, Rahm didn't even have the courtesy to have someone scheduled to shovel his sidewalk in case it snowed. Protesters at the Emanuel home on North Hoyne photographed the sidewalk, still covered in ice and snow, during the Emanuel family's vacation. One of the most noteworthy things about the un-shoveled sidewalk was that nobody on the block took the time to blow the snow off the Emanuel sidewalk, a Chicago indicator of how Rahm is unpopular even with his neighbors on the block where he and his family "live."But with the majority of people in Chicago now demanding that Rahm leave office, the question remains a traditional Chicago one: Where is his base of power?

And if recent revisionist narratives from the voices of the American ruling class are any indicator, Rahm's finished. From his own block (where his neighbors have allowed the snow to accumulate on his sidewalk while he and his family arrogantly vacationed in Cuba) to every one of the wards in Chicago's Black Community that brought him to power in the runoff election of 2015, Rahm's finished. As The New Yorker notes, when threatened for his mistakes by well deserved outrage (who can forget who engineered the parking meter deal and the privatization of the Chicago Skyway), Richard M. Daley could fall back on friends in the city's 50 wards. Rahm Emanuel, by contrast, is probably the first mayor in Chicago history who could tell you more about the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies (and their tastes in fine wines) that he could about the boundaries of the city's complex system of voting centers -- Chicago's wards and precincts.

And so, as 2016 dawned, it became clear that Rahm was finished, even if he be fated to remain in an office on the fifth floor of Chicago's City Hall. As the traditional wisdom puts it:

"Nothing's colder than dead clout..."

Along with articles and editorials in other publications, the New Yorker article begins to tell the story about how Rahm Emanuel -- as part of what was called the "New Democrats" -- attacked the New Deal and social policies that had been put into place under the leadership of the Democratic Party beginning in the 1930s. The article (see below) begins a more thorough analysis and history of Rahm Emanuel's work among the "New Dems" (especially the Clinton and Obama White Houses, and the reactionary policies of both recent Ivy League Democratic Party presidents).

Rahm Emanuel's political ties to Bill Clinton and the "New Democrats" go back to the years Clinton was in the White House and continued through the years Emanuel served as Chief of Staff in the White House under President Barack Obama. The reactionary policies of the two most recent "Democrat" presidents (Obama and Clinton) were implemented in many cases through the bullying by Rahm Emanuel. But a major part of the story that is not yet told is how America's corporate media pushed a mythical version of the Rahm Emanuel narrative, over and over and over, with a verve usually reserved for religious experiences. From The Atlantic to Newsweek and Chicago's local newspapers, Rahm Emanuel was allowed to control his "message" for several years. A low point in the media's complicity came with the production of a CNN story about Rahm and Chicago, but even at that time the media control was so laughable that the CNN story was laughed out of town. THE NEW YORKER CRITIQUE OF RAHM EMANUEL, DECEMBER 2015...

DECEMBER 31, 2015, THE NEW YORKER. The Sudden But Well-Deserved Fall of Rahm Emanuel, BY RICK PERLSTEIN

It�s hard to remember a time when Rahm Emanuel wasn�t a Democratic Party superstar. Go back to 1991, when the thirty-two-year-old took over fund-raising for Bill Clinton. He was soon renowned for making the staff come to work on Sundays, shrieking into the phone to donors things like �Five thousand dollars is an insult! You�re a twenty-five-thousand-dollar person!� � and, not incidentally, helping Clinton afford the blitz of TV commercials that saved him from the Gennifer Flowers scandal, clearing his course to the White House. The legend continued through this past April, when Rahm � in Chicago and D.C., he�s known by that single name � won a second term as the mayor of Chicago in a come-from-behind landslide.

Nine months later, Chicagoans � and Democrats nationally � are suffering buyer�s remorse. Last month, a Cook County judge ordered the release of a shocking dashcam video of a black seventeen-year-old named Laquan McDonald being shot sixteen times by a policeman while he was walking away. he charge came after four hundred days of public inaction, and only hours before the video�s release. Of almost four hundred police shootings of civilians investigated by the city�s Independent Police Review Authority since 2007, only one was found to be unjustified. So the suspicion was overwhelming that the officer would not have faced discipline at all had officials not feared a riot�especially after it was learned that McDonald�s family had been paid five million dollars from city coffers without ever having filed a lawsuit. Mayor Emanuel claims that he never saw the video. Given that he surely would not have been re�lected had any of this come out before the balloting, a recent poll showed that only seventeen per cent of Chicagoans believe him. And a majority of Chicagoans now think he should resign.

F or twenty years now, there have been those who say that this emperor never had any clothes on in the first place. Given the speed and intensity of his fall, perhaps it�s time to reconsider their case.

One of the protesters on New Year's Eve in Chicago. Photo by Bob Simpson.Start with the 1992 Presidential campaign. Emanuel persuaded Clinton to prioritize raising money. This, to put it lightly, caught up with him. And while Emanuel was never tied to the fund-raising chicanery involving forgotten names like James Riady, Yah Lin Trie, and John Huang, it was that zeal for cash that provided Clinton�s Presidency its original taint of scandal. Obsessive fund-raising is also the foundation of Emanuel�s political operation in Chicago. When two reporters for the Chicago Reader filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the mayor�s private schedule in 2011 (unlike previous mayors, his public schedule was pretty much blank), they discovered that he almost never met with community leaders. He did, however, spend enormous blocks of time with the rich businessmen, including Republicans, who had showered him with cash.

There are moral complaints to be made about this, to be sure. But the behavior has also failed Emanuel on political grounds: when he found himself in trouble, he was left without a broad base of political support, unlike the previous mayor, Richard M. Daley, who in similar straits fell back on his close relationships in all fifty city wards. When one of those rich Republicans donors � Bruce Rauner, with whom Rahm has vacationed � became Illinois�s governor, last year, at least the scolds could comfort themselves that their mayor would enjoy privileged access to lobby for the city�s needs. But that hasn�t worked, either: instead, Rauner has given Rahm the cold shoulder.

But return to Washington in the early nineteen-nineties, when a grateful Clinton awarded his young charge a prominent White House role. There, Emanuel�s prodigious energy, along with his contempt for what he called �liberal theology,� rocketed him higher and higher into the Clinton stratosphere. �He gets things done,� Clinton�s chief of staff, Erskine Bowles, enthused late in 1996, when Emanuel usurped George Stephanopoulos as senior adviser for policy and strategy. Among his special projects was helping to pass the North American Free Trade Agreement and the 1994 crime bill. He also tried to push Clinton to the right on immigration, advising the President, in a memo in November, 1996, to work to �claim and achieve record deportations of criminal aliens.� These all, in the fullness of time, turned out to be mistakes.

NAFTA, in alienating the Party�s working-class base, contributed to the Democrats losing control of the House of Representatives in 1994. As for the crime bill, which included a �three strikes� provision that mandated life terms for criminals convicted of violent crimes even if their other two offenses were nonviolent, Clinton himself has apologized for it, saying that the policy �made the problem worse.� The attempt to out-Republican the Republicans on immigration never took off. Republicans are the party solely associated with vindictive immigration policies, which leaves them in the long-term crisis they�re finding themselves in now � identified as anathema by Latinos, the nation�s fastest-growing ethnic group. If Rahm had had his way, that never would have happened.

After Washington, Emanuel made eighteen million dollars in two and a half years as an investment banker. (His buddy Rauner helped get him his job.) He came back home � although diehards will insist that Emanuel isn�t really a Chicagoan, having grown up in suburban Wilmette � and won a congressional seat in 2004. His next step was chairing the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, in charge of recruiting House candidates. In 2006, he got credit when Democrats took back the lower chamber. One Democratic strategist from California who saw him working a room of worshipful admirers shortly afterward marvelled, �Inside the Beltway, Rahm is like � well, not Dylan or Madonna but maybe Britney or Paris.�

But that achievement disintegrates the more closely it�s examined. At the D-Trip, as the D.C.C.C. known, Emanuel aggressively recruited right-leaning candidates, frequently military veterans, including former Republicans. But many of his hand-picked choices fared poorly, losing in general elections. Some even lost in their primaries, to candidates backed by liberals � many of whom won congressional seats resoundingly, even after the D.C.C.C. abandoned them.

Robert Redford's mendacious hagiographic version of the Rahm Emanuel story aired on TV only a year before Rahm was re-elected in the April 2015 runoff election, and a few months before Laquan McDonald was murdered by a Chicago police officer. The "Chicagoland" version of reality, produced by Hollywood, was part of the corporate media reporting on Rahm Emanuel from the beginning of Rahm's first term in office, following his May 2011 inauguration. "Chicagoland", now a national joke, came at the finish line of a long list of reports praising Rahm's versions of reality, reports that were published in most of America's leading magazines and in some newspapers. By the time Robert Redford got around to doing Rahm's version of Rahm's leadership, things were already unraveling. Barbara Byrd Bennett was running the schools system, after being appointed CEO of CPS by Rahm in October 2012. Garry McCarthy, featured in the Robert Redford spin as one of the city's tough leaders, was in the middle of covering up an unprecedented string of police brutality, while the city's gang murders increased as Hollywood prattled. Victory, like defeat, can have a hundred fathers, and we can�t know what was ultimately responsible for the Democrats� success that November. Anger at Republicans for the Iraq War (which Emanuel supported) certainly drove many voters� decisions. What is indisputable is that the 2006 majority proved to be a rickety one. Critics argue that, even where Emanuel�s strategy succeeded in the short term, it undermined the party over time. One of his winners, the football star Heath Shuler, of North Carolina, would not even commit to vote for Nancy Pelosi for Speaker of the House, and was one of many Rahm recruits to vote against important Obama Administration priorities, like economic stimulus, banking reform, and health care. Many are no longer congressmen. Some Democrats now argue that, in the long run, 2006 might have weakened the Party more than it strengthened it. �Rahm�s recruitment strategy� was �catastrophic,� the retired record executive Howie Klein, who helps run a political action committee that funds liberal congressional challengers, said, and it contributed to the massive G.O.P. majorities we have now, the biggest since the nineteen-twenties.

Obviously, that conclusion wasn�t shared by Barack Obama in 2009, when he named Emanuel as his White House chief of staff. There, however, Emanuel�s signature strategy�committing Obama only to initiatives they knew in advance would succeed, in order to put �points on the board��nearly waylaid the President�s most historic accomplishment: health-care reform. Emanuel wanted to scale it back almost to the vanishing point. It took a concerted effort by Speaker Pelosi to convince the President otherwise. This time, it was Emanuel who apologized: �Thank God for the country he didn�t listen to me,� he said after the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare, in 2012.

By then Emanuel had became the mayor of Chicago, elected with fifty-five per cent of the vote in the spring of 2011. Since then, there have been so many scandals in Emanuel�s administration that have failed to gain traction that it�s hard to single them out. One signature idea was lengthening Chicago�s school day by thirty per cent � controversial because he proposed compensating teachers only two per cent more for the extra work. The Chicago public-schools inspector general was soon investigating allegations that a local pastor linked to Emanuel was arranging buses to pack public hearings with supporters of the idea, paying at least two �protesters� twenty-five to fifty dollars each.

he city also rolled out a new �smart card� system for customers to pay transit fares, a product of the San Diego-based defense contractor Cubic. The system, known as Ventra, worked about as well as Lucille Ball on a factory production line: some people would get on the bus for free, while others would be charged several times. The cards were supposed to double as debit cards for Chicago�s �unbanked� poor. But buried deep within the thousand-page contract with Cubic were nice little Easter eggs, like the seven-dollar fee for customers who didn�t use the card for eighteen months, and another five dollars tacked on for each dormant month after that.

The manager of Cubic�s Chicago division while the project was under negotiation had previously been the Chicago Transit Authority�s vice-president for technology; then, when it came time for implementation, he spun back throughthe revolving door to his former city job. Well, that�s Chicago; after critics blamed Emanuel for the debacle, it was pointed out that the project was, after all, a holdover from the previous administration. Didn�t the blame really belong to Daley�s C.T.A. chief, Forrest Claypool, who had nothing to do with Rahm Emanuel? A reasonable argument�though it did not prevent Emanuel from making Claypool his chief of staff. Then he appointed him as the Chicago public schools� C.E.O., following the resignation of his previous pick, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, ahead of an indictment for a kickback scheme, to which she later pleaded guilty.

Byrd-Bennett had taken over the job from an unfortunate gentleman named Jean-Claude Brizard, who was forced to take the fall when Emanuel lost a teachers� strike in 2012.* She was then tasked with another of Emanuel�s sketchy initiatives: closing fifty-four schools, many of which were in the city�s black neighborhoods. Why were these pillars of community stability shuttered? Suspicions of venal motives abounded, but nobody could really be sure. A fact-check by Chicago�s public-radio station, WBEZ, discovered that many of the facts that the city gave about the decision were not accurate. But don�t confuse that inquiry with a joint investigation by WBEZ and the schools magazine Catalyst Chicago which discovered that Emanuel�s claim about high-school-graduation rates�that they would increase by fifteen percentage points�was also a mirage. (Dropouts are reassigned to for-profit online education programs that demand very little work, and then are awarded diplomas from the school they last attended or one near where they live.) Or with the multi-part series by Chicago magazine that blew the mayor�s claims about Chicago�s supposedly declining homicide rates out of the water, too. (One method: categorizing homicide victims as �noncriminal deaths.�)

Now the sins of Emanuel are finally catching up with him. Lucky for him, however, the compounding police-shooting scandal has erased from the news a peccadillo from this past November: the mayor�s press team was eavesdroppingand recording reporters while they interviewed aldermen critical of the mayor. A spokesman responded to the press by saying that their only intent was also �to make sure reporters have what you need, which is exactly what you have here.� That made no sense. But then so much of the legend of Rahm Emanuel�s brilliant career makes little sense. The bigger question, perhaps, is what this says about a political party and the political press that bought the legend in the first place.

*A previous version of this post stated that Brizard�s resignation followed the closing of schools, not a teachers� strike.

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