All of Washington Basically Agrees the Chief of Staff Is At Least a Little Unhinged, Right?

From this morning’s Jolt (disturbing imagery warning):

Rahmrod

Picture it: a naked Rahm Emanuel confronting you in the shower and thrusting his . . . finger at you.

I’m Jim Geraghty, and I approved this nightmare you’ll be having tonight.

The Massa Saga (Massaga?) is starting to feel like the Mark Foley scandal, not so much in the particulars of scandalous sexual behavior but in the ever-weirder twists and turns it’s taking. At the precise moment that Obama needs the White House team, the Senate Democrats, and the House Democrats to trust each other, Massa’s decided he’s going to go out like James Cagney in White Heat.  And the interpretation of events most generous to the White House is that in 2008 the DCCC did everything it could to ensure a crazy person represented New York’s 29th District.

Highlights: Massa declaring that “Rahm Emanuel is son of the devil’s spawn” – Mr. Applegate’s grandson? — and “an individual who would sell his mother to get a vote. He would strap his children to the front end of a steam locomotive.” Notice no one in Washington jumped up to deny that characterization; it’s not like any Democrat could honestly say, “oh, come now, that doesn’t sound like our Rahm.” It’s kind of tough to deny allegations of maniacal aggression when one of the most famous stories about Emanuel involves him violently stabbing a table with a steak knife and screaming that all of his enemies would be dead, the most bloodthirsty dinner interruption by a Chicagoan since Al Capone went Babe Ruth on his underling’s noggin.
Then Massa describes a confrontation with Emanuel in a shower: “I am showering, naked as a jaybird, and here comes Rahm Emanuel, not even with a towel wrapped around his tush, poking his finger in my chest, yelling at me.”

Read Tom Maguire of Just One Minute, this way I can justify stealing every word of this golden post: “They told me that if I voted for McCain, Democratic Congressman would be hounded on trumped-up ethics charges. And they were right! Oh, I confess – actually, they told me that if Obama were elected we would see raw, bare-knuckle Chicago-style politics brought to Washington.  But I didn’t realize the bare-ness would extend so far beyond the knuckles.  Sometimes the non-cover-up is worse than the crime.”

Sistah Toldjah: “This could be just a case of sour grapes, but as we all know, this WH – and the Dem ‘leadership’ in the House and Senate – will stop at nothing in order to get some form of healthcare ‘reform’ passed before the November elections, and have even encouraged Congressional Democrats to sacrifice via putting their careers on the line in order to get it rammed through. So it is by no means outside of the realm of possibility that he was pushed out over his healthcare ‘reform’ vote.”

Bruce McQuain at QandO draws an interesting contrast: “Of course, he has a point considering the outcome of the Rangel ethics probe in which Rep. Charles Rangel got off with nothing more than a virtual slap on the wrist (the ethics panel nor Democratic leadership requested he step down from his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee, pressure from other Democrats drove it) and he still retains his seat. He’s also a ‘yes’ vote on the health care bill. Massa, of course, is a ‘no’. I’m not sure which side is right on the allegations or their seriousness (here’s Massa’s side of it), but it is clear there’s a double standard at work given the treatment of Rangal v. Massa. And one can only hope that Massa will change his mind and continue to sound off about his treatment and expose the double standard. As someone said, if it is true, it amounts to extortion by the House leadership (vote our way or we do an ethics probe). But on top of the bribery we see daily, I’m not sure anyone should be surprised.”