Thursday, November 06, 2008

Grousing about Emanuel being "Too Tough?" Shut up and let the President work!

Why anybody would second-guess President-Elect Barack Obama (It's still thrilling to type that) is beyond me.

Has he not done everything right? Who knows better than him and his people about what to do next? When people were screaming for him to attack, attack attack, he played rope-a-dope, stayed on message and WON THE PRESIDENCY.

So when I read criticism that Rahm Emanuel is "too tough" for Chief of Staff, as Josh Marshall noted, calling it a Emerging DC Meme, all I can say is, shut up and let Obama do the work.

I remember the words of Gen. Tony McPeak (USF Ret.) who flew 269 combat missions in Vietnam and became a four-star general, serving four years on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. McPeak spent time with Obama on the campaign trail and was one of the generals lined up on the stadium stage before the acceptance speech.

He understands how tough Obama really is, and everyone who doubts it, from Republicans to pundits to heads of state of other countries better understand it too.

In describing Obama's toughness, McPeak was quoted as saying:

"He has gut-fighting sidewalk smarts that have allowed him to prevail when people said he couldn't. And he did it in a way that they didn't even know their throats were cut until they tried to smile."


People better understand the difference between anger and toughness. Bush=anger. Obama=toughness. You don’t have to scream and act like a cowboy to be tough.

No, Emanuel is a good fit. I'm not surprised at all.

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