Rahm Emanuel Has Some Personal News

Rahm Emanuel, fresh off his disastrous tenure as mayor of Chicago, wasn’t left wanting for work long: He’s now a blogger at The Atlantic and, the Daily Beast reported on Tuesday, he’s scored a plush contributor gig at ABC News, just two days after he left office.

Multiple sources told the site that after talks with MSNBC and CNN, Emanuel landed at ABC.

It’s been a busy some personal news…week for Emanuel! His first column with The Atlantic, where his byline calls him a “contributing editor,” also ran today. Shockingly, the mayor bemoaned any leftward motion within the Democratic Party and defended his old boss, all while still castigating “elites.” Impressive mental gymnastics! (emphasis mine):

Democrats have become increasingly cognizant of the anger, but too often they’ve drawn the wrong conclusions. The answer certainly isn’t socialism. Middle-class voters currently presume that elites already control the government—so why would they want to give the bureaucracy any more power? Rather, Democrats need to become the party of justice. They need to demand accountability from bad actors—and point out where Republicans would give them a pass.

[…]

Every time Democrats look at a problem, they think of a program. And while those programs often point the way forward, Democrats need to focus their energy on convincing the middle class that they share their values more than just their economic interests. There is more to voters than their wallets. To do that, Democrats need to prove to them that they know the difference between right and wrong, and that begins with owning the terms accountability and responsibility. Democrats need to be the ones demanding that those who fall short, no matter how privileged, be made to answer for their own decisions. Every one of us should have to live by the same moral and ethical codes. The nation’s elite shouldn’t have any special license to take the easy way out.

Even before I got my grubby hands on it, Emanuel made it clear what he thinks is important here: values, interests, accountability, responsibility. All nice words in a vacuum, which is clearly how The Atlantic thinks we’re consuming their newest contributor’s writings.

You know what else is in line with our values? Not covering up police misconduct, closing schools and hiring cops, or promoting corporate growth at the expense of the working class. All ideas I’m sure Rahm will tackle in upcoming columns!