Liberals' Long War With Rahm Emanuel

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As Peter Wallsten of the Wall Street Journal has noticed, Rahm Emanuel isn't getting along too well with liberals these days. Tension started as early as August when the White House Chief of Staff went "apeshit" (in the words of liberal blogger Jane Hamsher) at the left wing over health care. The spat heated up in December when Hamsher joined forces with Grover Norquist to call for "an investigation into Rahm Emanuel's activities at Freddie Mac," while Emanuel continued to blow off the left on policy. Now progressives are openly calling for Emanuel's resignation, blaming him for the mess Democrats and Obama currently find themselves in.

The six-month spat is getting fairly serious:

• 'Rahm Goes Apeshit on Liberals,' reports Jane Hamsher on August 7. "Rahm unleashed a tirade on them all, telling them that they were going to fuck up the Democrats if we 'failed' to pass any old health care bill (which appears now to be the health insurance industry approved co-ops). But I doubt you'll hear any of them confirming that the White House hasn't pressured them to stop their attacks on Democrats any time soon, because it came in the form of a flying shit fit at top volume with four-letter verbiage liberally applied."

• 'Don't Worry About the Left,' The Wall Street Journal's Jonatahan Weisman summarizes Emanuel's position on December 18 regarding compromises on health care. He quotes Emanuel as saying "there are no liberals left to get" in the Senate.

• Let's Investigate Rahm--Who Should Meanwhile Resign Hamsher and Grover Norquist co-sign a letter calling for investigation into the "corruption-riddled bailouts"of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and "demand the resignation of Mr. Emanuel, a man who has steadfastly worked to obstruct both oversight and inquiry into the matter."

• At Least He Should Sit up and Take Notice Leftist radio host Cenk Uygur backs Hamsher and Norquist, and says "if this wipes the smug smile off Rahm Emanuel's face, and his dismissive attitude about all the people who elected Barack Obama, well, that's a step in the right direction."
  

• Emanuel Sank Obama "Barack Obama should fire Rahm Emanuel today," declares Matthew Rothschild of The Progressive. "He has not served the President well as chief of staff ... Obama took the oath of office riding a wave of goodwill. ... But now it's hit bottom, and so have the Democratic prospects, after the debacle in Massachusetts. Rahm Emanuel is responsible for a lot of this free fall."