pkpatriotic
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Rahm Emanuel -The Obama's Newly appointed Chief of Staff
by Lizzie Widdicombe
November 17, 2008
When Barack Obama appointed Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff last week, a bunch of old stories went back into circulation, clues, perhaps, to how hell run the White House:
Emanuel, Lopatin emphasized, is a genius at balancing things. A few weeks ago, Emanuel consulted Lopatin about working on the financial-bailout package during Rosh Hashanah. The rabbi gave his approval, citing the principle of pikkuah nefeshTo save a life, you can violate almost any commandment, he said. Theres no doubt that somewhere in the world there would be a serious risk to lives and personal survival if the financial system melted down, he reasoned. So Emanuel tiptoed out of the service to take a conference call. But the rest of the time he was in synagogue. This year, Id asked Rahm to open the ark, the rabbi said. We had to make sure we gave him an ark-opening time that didnt conflict with the conference call, so he could get down from the bimah in time. (Lopatin said that he had missed the episode of Entourage in which the character based on Emanuels brother, the Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel, sneaks out of Yom Kippur services to talk to a studio head on his cell phone. That is so funny! Lopatin said. I like Jewish characters on TV. I think its a good thing.)
Last week around the same time, Ron Reagan (that Ron Reagan) offered his views on another facet of Emanuelhis training in ballet. Reagan, like Emanuel, is a former dancer. (Emanuel received dance training in high school, and danced for a year at Sarah Lawrence after turning down a scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet School; as a freshman, he appeared in a modern-dance piece called Desire.) Reagan, who was a professional dancer for four years, didnt completely buy the comparison: Im not trying to knock him or anything, but, O.K., its like if Im a well-known actornot a big star, but I appear in moviesand youre talking about someone who was in the drama club in high school. He argued that dancing and politics are really two different parts of your brain. He said, Politics is the art of compromise. Its shades of gray and nuance. Theres nowhere to hide when youre a dancer. Youre almost literally naked, wearing an outfit that reveals everything about you. He went on, There are no Sarah Palins in danceno one who doesnt know what theyre doing. Theyre weeded out by the time you get to be a professional.
So thats body and spirit. Meanwhile, back at Sarah Lawrence, the nicely named Jefferson Adams, a European-history professor, was discussing his former students mind. Adams had been Emanuels academic adviser. (They hadnt communicated much except for one post-college phone conversation about the décor of Emanuels first Chicago apartment. Somehow, wagon wheels come to mind, Adams said.) He recalled that, in college, Emanuel was already raising money for political campaigns on weekends: There was a now defunct little store, a BFO, and he was buying suits to go around fund-raising. He loved philosophy, especially the nineteenth-century German thinkers, but, Adams said, he wasnt an academic. His papers were good, not outstanding. They showed an involvement in the material, but nothing youd put in an anthology. He was not a stellar writer, and hes not a great speaker. Hes very effective one on one. Adams is one of the schools few conservative professors, and he remembered getting into philosophical discussions with his advisee, trying to temper Emanuels infatuation with Hegel by showing how much Hegel had actually been influenced by GoetheThe fact that nature is not going to be mastered, whatever the system, and that these man-made systems ultimately fail. He would also try to explain the appeal of Ronald Reagan. Adams said, I can remember his voice: Mr. Adams, you cant possibly believe that! ♦
by Lizzie Widdicombe
November 17, 2008
When Barack Obama appointed Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff last week, a bunch of old stories went back into circulation, clues, perhaps, to how hell run the White House:
- Emanuel wrapping up a dead fish to send to a pollster whod made him angry;
- Emanuel stabbing a table with a knife while shouting the names of people whod betrayed Bill Clinton;
- Emanuel saying Dont F**k it up to Tony Blair. etc,.
Emanuel, Lopatin emphasized, is a genius at balancing things. A few weeks ago, Emanuel consulted Lopatin about working on the financial-bailout package during Rosh Hashanah. The rabbi gave his approval, citing the principle of pikkuah nefeshTo save a life, you can violate almost any commandment, he said. Theres no doubt that somewhere in the world there would be a serious risk to lives and personal survival if the financial system melted down, he reasoned. So Emanuel tiptoed out of the service to take a conference call. But the rest of the time he was in synagogue. This year, Id asked Rahm to open the ark, the rabbi said. We had to make sure we gave him an ark-opening time that didnt conflict with the conference call, so he could get down from the bimah in time. (Lopatin said that he had missed the episode of Entourage in which the character based on Emanuels brother, the Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel, sneaks out of Yom Kippur services to talk to a studio head on his cell phone. That is so funny! Lopatin said. I like Jewish characters on TV. I think its a good thing.)
Last week around the same time, Ron Reagan (that Ron Reagan) offered his views on another facet of Emanuelhis training in ballet. Reagan, like Emanuel, is a former dancer. (Emanuel received dance training in high school, and danced for a year at Sarah Lawrence after turning down a scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet School; as a freshman, he appeared in a modern-dance piece called Desire.) Reagan, who was a professional dancer for four years, didnt completely buy the comparison: Im not trying to knock him or anything, but, O.K., its like if Im a well-known actornot a big star, but I appear in moviesand youre talking about someone who was in the drama club in high school. He argued that dancing and politics are really two different parts of your brain. He said, Politics is the art of compromise. Its shades of gray and nuance. Theres nowhere to hide when youre a dancer. Youre almost literally naked, wearing an outfit that reveals everything about you. He went on, There are no Sarah Palins in danceno one who doesnt know what theyre doing. Theyre weeded out by the time you get to be a professional.
So thats body and spirit. Meanwhile, back at Sarah Lawrence, the nicely named Jefferson Adams, a European-history professor, was discussing his former students mind. Adams had been Emanuels academic adviser. (They hadnt communicated much except for one post-college phone conversation about the décor of Emanuels first Chicago apartment. Somehow, wagon wheels come to mind, Adams said.) He recalled that, in college, Emanuel was already raising money for political campaigns on weekends: There was a now defunct little store, a BFO, and he was buying suits to go around fund-raising. He loved philosophy, especially the nineteenth-century German thinkers, but, Adams said, he wasnt an academic. His papers were good, not outstanding. They showed an involvement in the material, but nothing youd put in an anthology. He was not a stellar writer, and hes not a great speaker. Hes very effective one on one. Adams is one of the schools few conservative professors, and he remembered getting into philosophical discussions with his advisee, trying to temper Emanuels infatuation with Hegel by showing how much Hegel had actually been influenced by GoetheThe fact that nature is not going to be mastered, whatever the system, and that these man-made systems ultimately fail. He would also try to explain the appeal of Ronald Reagan. Adams said, I can remember his voice: Mr. Adams, you cant possibly believe that! ♦
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