Critics left and right are accusing Rahm Emanuel of disloyalty-by-proxy after a Dana Milbank column in Sunday’s Washington Post defended the White House chief of staff – while trashing reputed Emanuel rivals Valerie Jarrett and Robert Gibbs.
There’s not a shred of proof that Emanuel fed Milbank the Rahm-friendly intel included in the piece – or that he was the source of a tart comparison of President Barack Obama to Jimmy Carter. But critics from MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough to widely-read D.C. blogger Steve Clemons see telltale signs of Emanuel’s involvement.
On Monday’s “Morning Joe,” Scarborough, an Emanuel opponent of long standing, all but accused him of blaming Obama for not following his advice to move ahead more aggressively on jobs and recovery bills after health reform stalled in the Senate.
"Dana Milbank wrote a story where he said: 'If only the president had followed Rahm everything would be okay.' It certainly sounds like Rahm was leaking like a sieve to Dana Milbank,” said Scarborough. “It appears that Rahm has become quite promiscuous in telling anybody who will listen to him about how he tried to coach the president."
He added: “Rahm was right, but it's also Rahm's job to keep his mouth shut. Well it is, to serve the president and keep his mouth shut."
The reaction from Democrats was swifter and less measured, with many progressives still blaming Emanuel for counseling the president to ditch the public option on health care reform – and smarting over the revelation that the chief of staff called liberal attacks against moderate lawmakers “F—-ing retarded.” - Politico Story
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