Thursday, November 6, 2008

Rep. Michelle Bachmann on What the Rahm Emmanuel Appointment Means: "It Looks Like The Sopranos"

Minnesota Representative Michelle Bachmann spoke to Mark Levin on his radio show Wednesday afternoon, after winning a second term in Tuesday's elections.

Mark asked Congresswoman Bachmann for her opinion on Rahm Emanuel being appointed Barack Obama's Chief of Staff:

Mark Levin: You've dealt with this scoundrel, my word, not yours, Rahm Emanuel, he's going to be chief of staff to Milhouse, Barack Milhouse Obama. Now the issue here is, he's a very nasty guy who plays really knuckle politics. This doesn't look like "change" and "hope". Does it to you?

Rep. Bachmann: Well, it looks like The Sopranos. I mean that's kind of what we're looking at. This is knuckle Chicago politics. And that's what's going to be in the White House now. I mean, we have been, Conservative Republicans have felt the brunt of Rahm Emanuel, this election cycle, last election cycle. It's unlike anything anyone has ever seen or heard. And now it's going to come forth out of the White House.

[crosstalk]

Mark Levin: Does this guy, does this guy reach across the aisle, does he ever reach across the aisle? I don't see it.

Rep. Bachmann: No, it's called shame and humiliate your opponent. That's what it is; it's shame and humiliation.

Mark Levin: So what kind of signal does this send to Republicans in Congress?

Rep. Bachmann: I think what it says is, people are not going to be running for office as Conservative Republicans unless they really mean it and feel it. To go through the kind of brutal lashings that the Democrats are going to be holding out for future office holders, um, you'd really have to think twice, just about your position, your reputation. I'm a mom of five, I had twenty-three foster kids and I worked professionally as a federal tax lawyer, and we've started our own business. And to go through something like this, where, really for eighteen days, your name is mud, your ruined, your reputation is destroyed.

And for what? I believe in freedom, I believe in this country. Believe in what you're trying to talk about everyday on your show, I mean, I'm a huge fan of you, Mark. And you've got, you've got normal people who want to run for office, 'cause they just love this country, and want the next generation to enjoy freedom. And let the world have a haven to repair to for freedom. And this is what we're up against.

Because it literally what is now the choice between socialism and those who still believe in the initial foundational principles of freedom. I'm never going to let go of those principles. I don't care how hard they beat me and humiliate me. I am never letting go of those principles, because I do think they are going to be under assaalt and this is Day 1 of the assault of socialism. But we need strong-minded leadership in D.C. to take these people on.

Mark Levin: Well you are a very, very strong person. We admire you enormously. And as you need to come on, you let us know. You need to do one favor for me, will you make me one promise?

Rep. Bachmann: What?

Mark Levin: Don't go on "MSLSD"* anymore.

Rep. Bachmann: That you don't have to worry about, my dear. You absolutely don't have to worry about that.

We lost some great colleagues last night. I mean true freedom fighters. Tom Feeney, Tim Walbert, Marilyn Musgrave, Steve Shaba, Thelma Drake. We lost true freedom fighters. We hung onto some; Scott Garrett, whose a real hero of mine. So it was brutal and it was bloody, but for those of us who made it through the smoke, it's because of the generous involvement of your listeners.

And I'm not going there just to put my head under the radar screen. I'm going there because we have to fight. Because if we don't fight, there is no alternative. That's what you told us when you spoke to us. We're it, we're all that's left. And if we don't fight, the only alternative is, is full-bore rampant socialism. You'll hear from me, you'll hear from Scott Garrett, you'll hear from my colleagues. We're going to go down swinging, we're not going to let them just roll over us. We're going to go down swinging. We're going to let the public know, from the front lines, what we see and hear everyday.

Mark Levin: Well, you are, you make us all proud. My buddy, Scott Garrett, thank God he won, too. And, uh, Congresswoman, God Bless you, and go get 'em.

Rep. Bachmann: We're going to do it. And thanks a million to your listeners, thank you for making this happen, thank you.

*If you want to know more about what's being referred to at this point in the conversation, read this post.

Rep. Bachmann is not painting a stilted picture of Rahm Emanuel. He once said, "Republicans can go f*%$ themselves." But then again, according to a Chicago Tribune reporter who followed him throughout the 2006 Mid-term election cycle, Emanuel's sentences are laced with profanity and he "extends his middle finger with some regularity". The Tribune reporter, Naftali Bendavid, was only allowed to report in detail on Emanuel and his tactics after the elections. It's a long, detailed piece, and while it provides insight into just how Emanuel master-minded Republican defeat, it blasts to shreds the flimsy hopes anyone has of the "new kind of politics" promised by Barack Obama during his campaign. The full story can be read by clicking here.

Constant use of profanity and "flipping the bird", while endearing qualities in any White House Chief of Staff, are not the sole talents Mr. Emanuel possesses. He is also, apparently, very entertaining when wielding a steak knife. A practially crowing article in the Huffington Post appeared today entitled "Rahm Emanuel: Knife Figher, A Look Back", details how Emanuel vented his frustration at "enemies" at an after-election dinner with fellow campaign workers. After screaming out a name, Emanuel apparently "stabbed" the table with his steak knife, screaming "Dead!"

We can all only wait to see who will be the next delightful appointment to the coming Obama administration.

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