So, what next for Americans

[Xiahou]

I will say the choice of Rham Emmanuel as Obama's chief of staff doesn't give me warm fuzzies about 'reaching out'. The man is bright, disciplined and effective, but he's about as partisan as they come. At the same time, Obama's short list of Treasury secretaries gives me hope that Obama intends to reform Wall Street, not destroy it.

What? No, Rahm is a perfectly reasonable guy.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The best Rahm Emanuel story is not the one about the decomposing two-and-a-half-foot fish he sent to a pollster who displeased him. It is not about the time - the many times - that he hung up on political contributors in a Chicago mayor's race, saying he was embarrassed to accept their $5,000 checks because they were $25,000 kind of guys. No, the definitive Rahm Emanuel story takes place in Little Rock, Ark., in the heady days after Bill Clinton was first elected President.

It was there that Emanuel, then Clinton's chief fund-raiser, repaired with George Stephanopoulos, Mandy Grunwald and other aides to Doe's, the campaign hangout. Revenge was heavy in the air as the group discussed the enemies - Democrats, Republicans, members of the press - who wronged them during the 1992 campaign. Clifford Jackson, the ex-friend of the President and peddler of the Clinton draft-dodging stories, was high on the list. So was William Donald Schaefer, then the Governor of Maryland and a Democrat who endorsed George Bush. Nathan Landow, the fund-raiser who backed the candidacy of Paul Tsongas, made it, too.

Suddenly Emanuel grabbed his steak knife and, as those who were there remeber it, shouted out the name of another enemy, lifted the knife, then brought it down with full force into the table.

''Dead!'' he screamed.

The group immediately joined in the cathartic release: ''Nat Landow! Dead! Cliff Jackson! Dead! Bill Schaefer! Dead!''

[Koga No Goshi]

Let's not even get into really nasty campaign management. A good high school friend that I am still in touch with worked on the McCain campaign, and was directly around Schmidt numerous times. And just those few stories.... the guy sounds like a monster. Even when a Republican staffer describes him.

Really competitive, borderline neurotic, controlling, bastard guys are tapped for this kind of job. It's just a matter of degree. I mean, the job description is basically "make me look really good and that other guy like a total ."

[Gregoshi]

Really competitive, borderline neurotic, controlling, bastard guys are tapped for this kind of job. It's just a matter of degree. I mean, the job description is basically "make me look really good and that other guy like a total ."

Sounds like he's a real (Il-advised pun).

[Don Corleone]

Let's not even get into really nasty campaign management. A good high school friend that I am still in touch with worked on the McCain campaign, and was directly around Schmidt numerous times. And just those few stories.... the guy sounds like a monster. Even when a Republican staffer describes him.

Really competitive, borderline neurotic, controlling, bastard guys are tapped for this kind of job. It's just a matter of degree. I mean, the job description is basically "make me look really good and that other guy like a total douche."

But the point is, Rham Emmanuel won't be running a campaign, which by its very nature is partisan. Making a guy like that Chief of Staff in your White House sends a strong message what sort of dissent you're going to tolerate. There's lots of Democrats I respect, and I don't think Rham Emmanuel is a particularly ideological freak. But he is all about gutting anybody that disagrees with him. That's not coalition building.

[Strike For The South]

What? No, Rahm is a perfectly reasonable guy.

Guy sounds like a punk.