"Please don't hurt me, Mr. Son of the devil's spawn!"
Politics make for tough sledding, boys and girls. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel recognizes this, and reports indicate that he sharpens the runners before going to work. That’s why it doesn’t surprise me at all that people like Rep. Eric Massa refer to him as “the son of the devil’s spawn,” a classic phrase if ever there was one about political bedfellows. In the case of Eric Massa and Rahm Emanuel, however, their sparring matches extended into the shower. You can’t hide from the long arm of the Rahm, people.
Eric Massa won’t run for another term, claims Rahm forced him out
That’s one way of looking at it. Another might be Mr. Massa’s recent sexual harassment scrape, as well as thoughts about health care that run contrary to constituents in his district (see the video below). Some might argue that Eric Massa calling out Rahm Emanuel as “son of the devil’s spawn” has less bite than it could have, if Massa had a better public reputation. But there is little doubt that Rahm Emanuel isn’t tossing softballs when he’s hunting for Obama-centric votes. Emanuel isn’t above calling liberal activists who don’t fall in line “retarded,” and he has no qualms about living rent-free if it serves his political ends. But what stands out is that Rahm Emanuel is simply mean. Whether he gets his quick loans from Mephistopheles is uncertain.
The honorable Mr. Massa of New York shall elucidate
According to the Huffington Post, Eric Mass said that Rahm Emanuel is “an individual who would sell his mother to get a vote. He would strap his children to the front end of a steam locomotive.”
But is he mindful of the game, you ask? It appears that way, according to Massa, whose vote on health care reform was a vital piece. “You think that somehow they didn’t come after me to get rid of me because my vote is the deciding vote in the health care bill?” he asked.
It gets steamy in the shower
Massa claims that Rahm Emanuel once stalked him into a shower stall at the Congressional gym. As he puts it,
“I’m sitting there showering, naked as a jaybird and here comes Rahm Emanuel not even with a towel wrapped around his tush, poking his finger in my chest, yelling at me because I wasn’t going to vote for the president’s budget. Do you know how awkward it is to have a political argument with a naked man?”
Eric Massa resigns; Rahm Emanuel continues to grind his gears
Yes, Massa claims he was set up during that whole sexual harassment thing. He also insists that Rahm Emanuel set him up. Are you sure you don’t mean Larry Craig set you up, Mr. Massa? That’s instant money, if you’re talking comedy. Ha.
(Photo Credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/neeta_lind/ / CC BY 2.0) and http://www.advanceusa.org/
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This is kind of slanted toward Eric Massa making things up. I don’t think he made anything up. I do believe he was harrassed big time. However, he might not have been set up during the sexual harrassment situation but it does seem fishy.