Massa's in the Hot, Hot, Hot Shower! DNC Lather Lobbying.

Rep. Massa says it was not sexual harassment - it was 'Tickle Fights!'

Bony Finger poking Rahm Emanual lobbies Massa's support in the Congressional Shower!

Yet, I am still a Democrat - Chicago Democrat. Hey, really. We showered together after practice in high school and that was it. Really.

Rahm Emanuel - Sejanus ducitur unco: The Stuff of Satire

Good Lord, only two weeks ago, Rahm Emanuel was poised to usurp Daley as Mayor of Chicago; run for the U.S. Senate; Replace Jay Leno; Double Bill with Lady GaGa.

Today, Politico.com is waxing up his funeral board.

Rahm Emanuel is the new kind of king maker - flashy, foul-mouthed, fast and fierce.

I like the Old Timey Kingmakers - Avunucular and Anonymous. They are the guys only whispered about in the corridors of power - the elevators of Chicago City Hall and Cook County Building by awed suppliants - generally without actually moving their mouths so as no one could say that their lips were moving - "My guy says to call Mr. C- - - - - at 35 East Wacker on Friday at exactly 9 A.M. - I don't get ito work until 10 -you think I got problems, Mickey?"

That's a Kingmaker. Rahm Emanuel makes nice parlor game politics - (Mo Dowd, Daily Kos, MSNBC variety), but if you want signs up in your neighbors' yards without too much vandalism, call Mr. C- - - - - at exactly 9 A.M. on Friday - or whenever - if you don't want the signs up or to get elected.

Rahm is edgy, like the Goof on Entourage or whatever. Rahm Emanuel is smart. He is tough. So is a Bear lineman.

So was Sejanus. Sejanus" — commander of the imperial bodyguards under Tiberius (who was emperor a.d. 14-37). Tiberius withdrew from active government in a.d. 26, and for the next five years Sejanus gathered dictatorial power to himself, conducting a reign of terror in the last three of those years. For reasons unknown, Tiberius turned against him, had him arrested by a trick in October a.d. 31, and Sejanus was immediately executed. He is a figure for satire.

In Part III of Juvenal's Sixth Satire, which later was to become Samuel Johnson's Vanity of Human Wishes - the thirst for absolute power in politics is ridiculed:

quosdam praecipitat subiecta potentia magnae
invidiae, mergit longa atque insignis honorum
pagina. descendunt statuae restemque sequuntur,
ipsas deinde rotas bigarum inpacta securis
caedit et inmeritis franguntur crura caballis;
iam strident ignes, iam follibus atque caminis
ardet adoratum populo caput et crepat ingens
Seianus, deinde ex facie toto orbe secunda
fiunt urceoli pelves sartago matellae.
pone domi laurus, duc in Capitolia magnum
cretatumque bovem! Seianus ducitur unco
spectandus, gaudent omnes: "quae labra, quis illi
vultus erat!numquam, si quid mihi credis, amavi
hunc hominem. sed quo cecidit sub crimine? quisnam
delator? quibus indicibus, quo teste probavit?"
"nil horum; verbosa et grandis epistula venit
a Capreis." "bene habet, nil plus interrogo." sed quid

Translated:

Some men are hurled headlong by over-great power and the envy to which it exposes them; they are wrecked by the long and illustrious roll of their honours: down come their statues, obedient to the rope; the axe hews in pieces their chariot wheels and the legs of the unoffending nags. And now the flames are hissing, and amid the roar of furnace and of bellows the head of the mighty Sejanus, the darling of the mob, is burning and crackling, and from that face, which was but lately second in the entire world, are being fashioned pipkins, basins, frying-pans and slop-pails! Up with the laurel-wreaths over your doors! Lead forth a grand chalked bull to the Capitol! Sejanus is being dragged along by a hook, as a show and joy to all! "What a lip the fellow had! What a face!" — "Believe me, I never liked the man!" — "But on what charge was he condemned? Who informed against him? What was the evidence, who the witnesses, who made good the case?" — "Nothing of the sort; a great and wordy letter came from Capri." — "Good; I ask no more."

Satire is poetry that points out the choice of folly over virtue. Satire is not the stuff that HBO or Comedy Central pass off. That stuff is called Satire. Satire makes fun of the powerful - Bill Maher makes fun of the devout, the patriotic and the sincere. Kingmakers are most often virtuous Women and Men. Big Shots are generally flashy, foul-mouthed, fast and fierce. They hold sway for a while - while they are useful.

Kingmakers (and I have met a very few) are often very quiet and almost invisible to the public; they tend to be courteous, caring and careful. Kingmakers are useful - as long as you follow what they tell you - that is, after all, why you reached out to them.

It appears that Rahm Emanuel is getting to be useless to the Obama White House. WHo knows? Click my post title for the Politico Obituary Early Edition of Rahm Emmanual - Sejanus Ducitur Unco!

Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. Was Right to Pay His Wife - Sandi Jackson is Smart, Experienced and a Winner.

Congressman Jesse Jackson has enemies. Many of them hate his Old Man. Some of them see Jackson as a political threat. A few of them fear his motives. Rahm Emanuel wants to send a message. Jan Schakowsky is Samantha's Mom.

Hell, I have given Congressman Jackson a few tickles - called him Kid Staples over the Tummy Tuck Nuance, but he has kept the lard off. I think his Pops is an Old Timey Stick-Up artist. I think that Congressman Jackson is dead wrong on the Peotone Airport. Hey, big deal. I got McCain three votes - unless Conor and Nora fibbed and went for Obama. What the hell do I know? I know this about Congressman Jackson - I like him.

Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. knows history and is a serious student of 19th Century American History -especially the Civil War. He was member of the board of a Holy Cross Brothers school in Indiana back in the late 1990's and brought a tough-minded eye to the school's future that eventually closed after Jackson helped keep the school viable long after it became evident that it's days were numbered.

The Chicago Media has been pipe-lined a story that adds fresh manure to the growing desire of some political sneaks to end Jesse Jackson's career. News creatures are the pets of political wizards who toss them nuance like Bits of Ritz to squirrels in the park- e.g Burge Sank the Lusitania! or TIFS IS BAD, rolled out when Mike Quigley fed his University of Chicago crafted policy study du jour to Ben Joravsky at the Chicago Reader and Mark Brown at the Sun Times and still rolling for the Granta and Redaction Readers of Hip Chicago. These niche story lines become the shingles on the political roof that covers Chicago. A story becomes a paradigm in Nuance ( BS ) Chicago, where every reporter thinks he's Emil Zola and every columnist firmly believes that every reader is a dope with no memory. However, there are more than a points of view in every circumstance. Life is NOT poetry ( not neat and tidy and brief); Life is Prose ( messy, quotidian) and as long as a Studs Terkel anecdote.

Tamara Holder* and I agree on a few things and one of them is that Congressman Jackson seems to be getting smeared by political hacks, their pet Watchdog groups and the compliant purse-puppies in Chicago's Media. Ms. Holder and I have had a few tussles over the Ickes Riots last summer when Pops Jackson had his Rainbow Jammies Sleepover and recently over my misunderstanding of Parole Violators and the Expungement work being done by Tamara Holder. I tend to believe Cops work to protect and serve the public and Ms. Holder, as criminal attorney, might be advocate for some bad guys. She is stuck between two immovable forces - Legal Louses like Flint Taylor and oafish Law Enforcement. There is a wide field in between and sometimes I miss that fact.

Criminal Attorney and Record Expungement expert Tamara Holder, with whom I have crossed thoughts ( she was classy and I was my Mick-minded Jerk Self, of course) questions the charges against Jackson - He paid His Wife out of His Campaign Funds!
Merciful Maxwell House, Murial!

Tamara Holder, who has had her battles with the Congressman's Pa herself, sees the same nuance that I see in the attacks on Jesse and Sandi Jackson -

The witch hunt against Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. must come to an end. Today, it was reported that Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. has paid his wife approximately $250,000 for her assistance in his campaign. Article here.

Most importantly, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee states that at least 40 members of Congress, from both parties, employ spouses or family members in their campaigns. As for Illinois, the practice is very very common.

This is issue spinning at its best.

1) The reason for the Congressional Ethics inquiry into Jesse Jackson, Jr. was specifically to determine if he was involved in any quid pro quo with then-Governor Rod Blagojevich for the Obama's vacant senate seat. Congressman Jackson was not the subject of an inquiry for any other reason.

2) The Congressman's wife, Sandi, has been his #1 supporter. She is not a stay-at-home wife but instead a highly educated lawyer with real practice experience. She brings great talent and expertise to the campaign.

3) The amount he has paid his wife, has been for real consulting work. She has been at the forefront of his campaigning and her work has always been publicly known.

4) All payments to Sandi have been pre-approved. Congressman Jackson never paid her without full disclosure of his intent to do so.

5) Congressman Jackson fully disclosed to the Ethics Committee all payments to Sandi upon their request of his financial records.

6) From Rick Bryant at Congressman Jackson's office:

"There is nothing wrong and nothing new here.

"The fact is the Congressman sought and received written permission from the FEC to pay Sandi as a consultant. He also sought and received written FEC permission to contribute to her campaign. They both honor the practice of transparency.

"Sandi was paid on average $27,400 a year to regularly file FEC reports and advise his campaign. She has enormous experience -- a lawyer, former congressional chief of staff, former vice president of the U.S. Export/Import Bank, a former deputy director of the DNC. She's paid fair market value for bonafide services as the FEC stipulated eight years ago.

There are some real beauts doing the chumming for the lazy ink-sharks here in Chicago. I suspect Rahm Emanuel and Jan Schakowsky, because Rahm wants Fitzy to quit looking at ANYTHING that could tar-brush his boss. SEIU Illinois was all over the Criminal Complaint against Blagojevich, but that has been quieted up. Rahma -Lama Dang Dong would have no problem getting Chicago Dems give him a hand in tossing poop Jackson's way. As for Jan Schakowsky, the Congress Critter who looks like the Mamma Witch on the Old Bewitched Show, Jan was whining for the Obama Senate Seat from the day that Obama announced Change We Can Believe In in Springfield. Not only that, Jan Schakowsky knows all about the jackpot that can be tossed on spouse. Hubby Bob Creamer kited 501(c)3 checks and Jan, it seems helped blow the ink dry.


The thing is Jesse Jackson, Junior married the right girl. Not only is Sandi Jackson a beyond fetching young lady, she happens to be political professional with more of resume than the current Commander in Chief.

Early in Jackson's political career she served as press secretary for United States Congressman Mickey Leland. After the 1988 Democratic National Convention, she began working for Michael Dukakis who had become the Democratic party's nominee for United States President in the 1988 United States presidential election.[9]

Jackson's political career prior to her election as 7th Ward Alderman included the following positions: Deputy Director of Training for the Democratic National Committee, Director of Scheduling Operations for Rev. Jesse Jackson, Vice President of Congressional and External Affairs for the Export-Import Bank of the United States (appointed by Bill Clinton), Director of VIP Relations for the Presidential Inaugural Committee, National Outreach Coordinator for the Clinton/Gore 96 Campaign, and campaign manager and chief political strategist for many other politicians.[6]

"If Bill Clinton's wife can run for the U.S. Senate, if Bob Dole's wife can run for the Senate and for president, then why can't my wife be an alderman?"
——Jesse Jackson, Jr.[25] (December 2002)

While Jackson was serving as the Export-Import Bank's director of congressional affairs, she lobbied in opposition of her husband's proposal to tighten the restrictions on the activities in Africa of the Export-Import Bank. She did so successfully, as her husband's amendment failed.[26]

Jackson considered running for public office during the 2003 Chicago municipal elections.[25] At the time, Jackson, Jr. discouraged his wife from running for public office.[27] However, he felt his wife should be eligible to run for Alderman, despite the controversy surrounding such a candidacy.[25]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandi_Jackson

* Click my post title for Tamara Holder!