http://michaelklonsky.blogspot.com/2015/12/feds-are-in-town-to-save-rahm-not-to.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mikeklonsky+%28SmallTalk%29
"The Department of Justice is coming in," Emanuel said. "We welcome it, accept it and need it. It's in our self-interests as a city." -- Tribune
Boy, that was easy. Three days earlier, Rahm had made clear that he didn't didn't want no stink'n feds sticking their noses into his business. Now he's breathing a sigh of relief that Lynch has promised "not focus on individuals" but rather to "improve the system."
Rahm had no choice but to face reality after a come-to-Jesus meeting with party and White House heavies. His approval rating is now at an all-time low of 18%. To put that in perspective, that's lower than the 20% Gov. Rauner, the most hated pol in Chicago, polled last fall. As I recall, Mayor Daley was down to 31% in 2010, when he declared his intention not to seek a seventh term, clearing the way for Emanuel to take over.
Yes, Obama's cavalry is coming in to supposedly clean-up Rahm's racist and corrupt police department. The FBI has already been in town for months, trying to clean-up Rahm's no-bid-contract scandal at CPS. When is the last time you heard mention in the media about that? It appears that the best way to take a scandal off the front pages is to have the feds investigate it.
Neither the police department nor the school system are entities unto themselves. As the Tribune's John Kass notes:
And the government of Chicago, for generations — as Obama and Rahm and the Clintons know all too well — is the Boss on Five. The mayor controls the police budget, decides who gets promoted and where resources are directed. The mayor picks the superintendent and the top cops, brokers the appointment of district commanders.
But the real purpose of this latest investigation, made clear by A.G. Loretta Lynch herself, is to save the system -- not to bury it. To "rebuild trust" and head off seemingly inevitable "civil unrest". There's little mention of "justice" coming from the Justice Dept. But sooner or later, all roads will lead to
Rome Rahm. Thus, the growing pressure on him to resign before that happens.
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