Over the past two decades or so, I've decided that there is no more inexcusable a figure in our national politics than Rahm Emanuel, who is, for the moment, the mayor of Chicago, but also someone who, throughout his entire career, has made it quite clear that he believes political power derives from being as much of a dick as possible to the people who ostensibly are on your side. He is angry and profane, but he also remains utterly graceless and completely without charm. He alienated enough people while he was working for Bill Clinton that his tenure in the White House was shorter than it would have been otherwise. In 2006, when Howard Dean's 50-state strategy delivered the Democratic Party a whopping victory in the midterm elections, he climbed over the people who did the real work to claim credit for the landslide. (And he succeeded: he is what passes in the political elite for a "tough guy" because he says "fuck" a lot. Google "Rahm Emanuel 2006" sometime.)

He was insufferable as a member of the House of Representatives, where the standards are designed by the Constitution to be pretty damned high. His hiring as White House chief-of-staff was probably the worst personnel mistake the Obama Administration made in its early days. As mayor of Chicago, he's managed to be so horrible to the city's public school teachers that a couple of them went on hunger strike. He got re-elected because he strategically has not been a dick to anyone who would contribute a fat check to his campaigns. Now, though, he has his ass in a crack because the Chicago Police Department is running amok (again), and it looks like Emanuel put his re-election prospects ahead of telling the parents of Laquan McDonald how their son came to get shot 16 times by a Chicago patrolman.

John Kass, who is not exactly a flaming liberal, speculated today that Emanuel tacitly allowed the burial of the recently-released video of McDonald's killing because it would have hurt him in what was a close re-election fight against Chuy Garcia. Kass points out that, having already tossed police superintendent Garry McCarthy over the side, Emanuel (and his friends) may be edging Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez closer to the rail.

Rahm seems to be throwing her under his bus, but he doesn't want his fingerprints on her. So his ally, David Axelrod, threw her under. Axelrod is a Rahm pal, but for years he was also the mouthpiece for former Mayor Richard Daley, and was the top political and media strategist for Obama. It's a Chicago thing. "Why did it take a year to indict a CPD officer who shot a kid 16 times?" Axelrod tweeted Tuesday night. "Would it have happened today if judge hadn't ordered video release?" That puts it on Alvarez. Does she deserve it? I don't think so. To me, she's not the issue. The video threatened Rahm Emanuel and his pursuit of power. Alvarez told reporters she'd been waiting for the feds to issue a joint announcement with her office. That didn't happen. Funny how things work out.

A mark, that will surely leave.

In addition, Garcia, a Cook County Commissioner who forced the incumbent into a run-off only to get money-whipped in the last mayoral election, is all over Emanuel. Police violence was one of Garcia's key issues in the campaign, and he has his teeth into this story all the way back to his molars.

"The mayor has been involved in an effort to conceal information regarding this incident, this tragedy, miscarriage of justice," Garcia said in an interview on CNN. "It was obvious that the video would have had profound impact had it been released when it occurred. and the mayor has taken great steps to ensure that it's concealed."Garcia went on to say that the city's quick settlement with Laquan McDonald's family is another indication that Emanuel was trying to hide something. Garcia also says releasing the video would have had a significant impact on the runoff election between himself and the mayor.

If you ignore the fact that a slaughtered teenager is at the heart of these recent events in Chicago, there's a delicious irony in that Emanuel is now being pilloried by many of the same forces that he has mocked and insulted his entire career, despite the fact that they are vital to the electoral success of the party to which Emanuel allegedly belongs. Right now, there are calls for him to resign, which he has said he will not do. He's appointed a task force, but he doesn't want the Department of Justice to come in and try to investigate the serious endemic problems in the CPD. He can talk a little more ragtime about "regaining trust." He can yell "Fuck!" at Lake Michigan if it makes him feel better, for all the good it will do him. This is a problem he can't swear his way out of. Going around, as they say, and coming around.

Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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