[Rhodes22-list] Politics - The Daily Kass

[Brad Haslett]

Why watch the Sopranos?  This is much better material! Yesterday was
not a good day for Tiny Dancer (Emanuel).  Maybe he should take some
lessons from Sarah Palin on how to multi-task as a public servant and
parent.

Brad

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www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass-12-dec12,0,723256.column
chicagotribune.com

Man behind curtain is wizard of Rod, Rahm

John Kass

December 12, 2008

When it comes to being the guy behind the guy, there is no one more
conspicuous than Rahm Emanuel.

As chief of staff for President-elect Barack Obama, he's usually at
Obama's news conferences, standing off to the side, glowering like
some fiercely loyal mini-me.

But Emanuel wasn't there Thursday when Obama faced reporters to answer
questions about federal charges against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich
(D-Dead Meat), accused of trying to sell Obama's Senate seat to the
highest bidder.

"I have never spoken to the governor on this subject," Obama said. "I
am confident that no representatives of mine would have any part of
any deals related to this seat."

Wow. No staffers tried to make a deal for his Senate seat?

"I've asked my team to gather the facts of any contacts with the
governor's office about this vacant seat, so that we can share them
with you over the next few days," Obama said.

He could have just asked Emanuel, but he wasn't there, and reporters
kept wondering, "Where's Rahm? Where's Rahm?" What they should have
been asking is, "Where's Jimmy?"

As in state Sen. James DeLeo (D-How You Doin?)

DeLeo is an extremely powerful politician. You know this because he's
hardly ever quoted in newspaper stories.

Emanuel and DeLeo have a relationship. Emanuel is the congressman from
the 5th Congressional District, where DeLeo is the Democratic state
central committeeman. What hasn't been reported on much is that
Emanuel has not yet resigned from the House. And if you want to play
politics in Jimmy's sandbox, you need his OK.

DeLeo is also considered by some to be the real governor of Illinois.
Blagojevich is the nutty guy who makes the speeches and gets the
federal slap. They're so close that if Jimmy suddenly stopped walking,
Rod would chip his teeth on the back of Jimmy's head.

It's reasonable to assume that if there's one fellow Rod would talk to
about the Senate seat, it's Jimmy. And given their relationship, Jimmy
could talk to Rahm. I'm not suggesting money was offered. There is
nothing illegal about politicians horse-trading to fill seats. Only
when such deals are monetized—as the governor is alleged to have
done—is it illegal.

I'm just talking about putting political pieces on the board the
Chicago Way. A vacant Senate seat and a soon-to-be vacant House seat
in Illinois would be a package deal. Consider this mathematical
equation: Jimmy/Rod + Jimmy/Rahm = Happy Rod, Jimmy and Rahm. Get it?

Before he became so powerful, Jimmy was a lowly traffic court bailiff
making a measly $20,000 a year. Yet he was able to own shiny new
Cadillacs, Jaguars and Mercedes, astounding federal agents, who in
1989 charged him with taking bribes to fix tickets in the Operation
Greylord probe of judicial corruption.

Later, his former roommate told a federal grand jury that there was
$35,000 in cash in their freezer, carefully wrapped in butcher paper
so the bills wouldn't get freezer burn. But the roommate came to
Jimmy's defense, saying the money was his, not Jimmy's, and that it
came from the roommate's stolen-car business.

At Jimmy's trial, Outfit gambling boss Ken "Tokyo Joe" Eto emerged
from the witness protection program to testify that he passed cash to
Jimmy via handshakes. Eto had been hiding since Outfit hit men tried
to kill him. They used cheap bullets, and three slugs failed to fully
penetrate Eto's diamond-hard cranium.

The jury didn't believe the feds. They believed Jimmy and acquitted
him, so he rose to political prominence, and now Obama's chief of
staff is the congressman in the district Jimmy controls.

Jimmy didn't return my call to his office, so we checked other joints.
"DeLeo?" said Glenn, the manager at Carmine's. "I've never heard of
the name. Who?"

At Tavern on Rush, a hostess said, "I haven't seen him today." A woman
at Cafe Bionda simply said, "No, he's not here."

So I phoned the Excelsior Casino in Aruba, where Jimmy takes
politicians to gamble, including Illinois Secretary of State Jesse
White. I figured Jimmy might be there.

"Who's calling please?" asked a secretary in the office of Michael
Posner, the casino boss who has Chicago connections.

Tell him John from Chicago is calling, I said. Posner picked up and
was quite chirpy, for about three seconds, until he realized I was a
newspaper guy.

"If you want to find him, call him yourself," Posner said. Click.

Later, Jimmy's attorney phoned, upset that I'd called all over looking
for him. She told me that Jimmy had nothing to do with any deal for
Rahm's seat or Obama's seat.

"The answer is no," said Jimmy's attorney. "No."

OK, but I'm still waiting to hear from Jimmy, so I can ask him about
Rod and Rahm. I won't hold my breath.

You never hear from the real guy behind the guy.

That's how they remain the guy behind the guy.

jskass at tribune.com

Copyright (c) 2008, Chicago Tribune