Monday, November 10, 2008

Mr Rahmbo In Obama's Office...


...and why the Mid-East is doing a U-turn -- from ecstasy in Barack Obama's election to unease and depression when the President-elect named Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff.

Here's from "The Middle East" Blog.

Barack Obama chose Rahm Emanuel to be his chief of staff not for his Middle East policy expertise but his Beltway experience and savvy. Nicknamed Rahmbo, Emanuel was Bill Clinton's scrappy White House political director--he taught that president the Hebrew word for balls, baytzim--and has served three terms in congress.

Yet, news of Emanuel's appointment is causing a stir in the Middle East. It's being met with some elation in Israel, a country that has been notably uneasy about an Obama presidency, and some despair in the Arab world, which had largely embraced Obama.

An Oxford-educated Arab friend called Thursday night to ask me in a tone of deep disappointment, "Did you notice how in the span of 24 hours Egyptians went from being ecstatic to being depressed about Obama?"

The Arab News in Jeddah, whose editorials are a good reflection of the Arab mainstream, did an astounding somersault on Friday. Just the previous day, the paper hailed the "symbol of hope and change" in the U.S., saying Obama's historic election "threatens the cosy Washington consensus. We are, therefore, embarking on exciting times.

" After hearing of Emanuel's appointment, the paper headlined its next editorial "Don't pin much hope on Obama." Arab expectations, the paper warned, "are likely to be dashed, generating a great deal of pain and resentment...The new team may turn out to be as pro-Israeli as the one it is replacing."

Click here to continue reading.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

GO! tell it on the mountains,
everyone & everywhere,
GO, tell it on the mountains,
let my people GO !!

Anonymous said...

What do you expect? There is no way Obama would have gotten this far without endorsement from the Jewish community. There must have been a trade off at the back which is not unexpected especially if you know how politics work in America. This is what being called as PTB (Powers That Be)or the hidden hands at work....

Get real people... Malaysian politics works the same way....Dirty dossier is all that is required.


Keturunan Jebat

Anonymous said...

Nuraina

Time Magazine is trying to whitewash Rahm Emanuel's background in the face of what everybody knows of his Israel connections.

The real facts about Rahm Emanuel
are found here in a series of articles posted:

http://malaysianunplug.blogspot.com/2008/11/us-president-elect-obamas-chief-of.html

Rahm is an Israeli first and American second when it comes to foreign policy on the Middle East.

Nothing will change from the Obama presidency in solving the Palestinian issue. The Israelis will drag this along with the help of Rahm.

The only thing we will see change if Obama has the balls to standup with the Israel lobby now surrounding his presidency as it did to the Clinton and the Bush presidency.

Anonymous said...

Please lah. His job functions are that of Chief Butler - make sure there are enough toilet rolls, the gardener is doing his job, and who gets to meet the Prez, that sort of thing.
He does not in any way influence policy and rarely would he sit in meetings.
Oh i forgot - he`s a jew - so that explains it.

-Butler

Anonymous said...

padan muka to all you people who blindly supported this man. betul-betul padan muka :)

Understanding Obama: The Making of a Fuehrer By Ali Sina

http://www.faithfreedom.org/obama.html

rm said...

Not surprised at all with the contents of the article. Told you.

Iran President sent a written congratulatory message on Obama's winning. The future Mr President didn't even have the courtesy, as a gentleman, to say thank you for the message. At the very least. But instead chose to comment he will deal with this message later. He already made a stand that Iran's nuclear program is not acceptable. Do you think Obama's administration will also stop Israel and India's nuclear programs?

It will never change.....YewASSa foreign policies. Still as arrogant as ever, black or white or mixed breed.

Anonymous said...

dear ena,

i think it is a sign of how desperate the time is that people jump at the slightest excuse to get euphoric and are trigger-quick to despair at sheerest hint that utopia might not be achievable just yet.

some quarters are probably reading too much in obama's choice of rahm emanuel as chief of staff. this is not to say one should ignore some disturbing toids in the man's records, but there is another perspective that may have eluded those prone to see a half-empty glass.

one is the fact that the economic situation in the US is probably the first priority (and rightly so) of obama. he HAS to hit the ground running, as they say stateside, upon reaching the finish line a few days ago. he inherits a country teetering on the brink of crisis.

and by all accounts the man is definitely not wasting any time. the chief of staff is the man responsible for setting up the administrative base of the in-coming prez. that is the first order of the day before he can president himself away.

barrack obama needs a cos who not only can do the job (there are many who can) but can get the job done, and fast and as smoothly as possible!

he needs someone very smart, very capable, who'd be undaunted by the politicks of foggy bottom, who'd suffer no fools standing in the way of getting things done, who'd know his way around the white house, able to leap tall buildings, change into underwear on the outside in a phone booth at blinding speed, that sort of thing.

in other words, he needs a cos with the shortest learning curve and can hit the ground running at the same speed he is, if not faster.

emanuel is such a guy. he fits all the bills. what barrack did was just choosing the most appropriate candidate for the job.

however, if one insists in indulging in reading stragetic nuances in his choice of cos, perhaps here is another way to look at it.

obama, the unlikely president, who had to tread ever so carefully and cleverly in his campaign, will definitely have to continue to know when to tiptoe gingerly and when to tread purposefully throughout his presidency. not only abroad but also at home. more so at home in the beginning, given the situation.

ok... it is well-known that emanuel wants to become the first jewish speaker of the house and was the democrat's front runner for the post before he accepted the prez-elect's offer. in terms of "real" influence, it is debatable which job is more influential.

but in arguing which has more political clout, one should not fail to note that a cos can be replaced. easily, and by the prez himself. presidents have been known to replace their cos more than once in the course of their terms.

a house speaker otoh is chosen by house members and can only be dismissed, if warranted, by the house. on top of that, under the prez succession act of 1947, the speaker is second in the line of presidential succession behind the veep. that's like two heartbeats away, folks!

in a way, making rahm his cos takes care of more than one thing for prez-elect obama. one, he probably appeased for the time being the formidable israel-lobby (buying needed time while he finds his footing in the new job) and two, he may aslo be doing a sun-tzu.

didn't the old general say "keep your friends close and your enemies closer"?

Anonymous said...

many think alternate news are mostly full of conspiracy air only, hence the rejection; but it was the alternative media that highlight the two-faced nature of BO, hence Mr Rahmbo.

let us brace ourselves for more of the same in the years to come.

cheers

BaitiBadarudin said...

well, I certainly hope it's a sun-tzu!

Tok Kemuning said...

Are we saying because Mr. Rahmbo is a jew he is upright not qualify to lead Obama team.

As Obama being elected using American brain instead of plain prejudice. Let give Rahmbo a chance to perform.

He was involved in peace accord between Yasser Araffat and Israel before with the successful signing of the peace agreement during Clinton administration.

Perhap Obama administration need a jew like him that could bring about what Obama want to do as he mentioned earlier during the campaign for the middle east.

Come on let start to evaluate someone base on real value instead plain bias base on the color of their skin.

Anonymous said...

if obama can, why can't ah chong or bala be a PM here !?

ChengHo said...

Obama have to show Israel is a friend of USA in fact it was reiterated during his campaigned speech to Jewish community in New York. there is no surprises.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps now the Arabs are thinking " Obama or Osama!"

Oh Yes Chong or Bala can Malaysian PM if they are fully Malaysianised just like Obama who is fully Americanised..Does he speak in any of Africans' tongue ?...
If He go abroad does he claim himself "I am an Africann-American" and says 'we have schools back home teach our children in fully African mother tongue...and also African lion dance..?"
May be "Chong" or "Bala" in in Indonesia can be justified to be President in in Indonesia one day...

Anonymous said...

obama can't speak his mother tongue !?? r u SURE , mr. !?

Anonymous said...

Wake up people. No way in the world Obama has the money to spend like the way he did in the last election. It was supported with bigger fund than the Clintons and the Republicans put together.

So where the money came from? Well the answer lies with the appointment of the most important person - Chief of Staff = Jews.

Where did they got the money, so much to spend? Remember how much the price of petroleum a few months ago? So yess, everybody in the world paid for Obama to be elected as the US President. Why Obama? Why not Clinton or any other white American? So the American Public could be pacified to focus on their internal affair ONLY.

So that leave the international affair in the hand of CIA and Jews. Put these two together, they'll start to attack Sudan and Iran. Yes for more money in oil and sale of war products. Yes we support Obama = support more wars in the world. Everybody else except the Americans will pay for the war. And lots of people will die, muslim, American and those who will suffer due economic problems because of the imcpomming wars.

Good luck everybody. So when every Malays in Malaysia died because being Muslim, then there will be a Chinese PM speaking Cantonese and there will be another Chinese "Anwar" speaking Hokkien. And they will fight on who suppose to be the PM. Its never end with you people. Chowww.

Anonymous said...

1. Notwithstanding the Palestinian issue being a serious one for the world, why are Malaysians so obsessed with Palestine and Iran? We (Muslims) here like to believe the Palestinian crisis is a Malaysian crisis. The crux of the issue has always been a political one more than anything. We don't speak their languages, nor do we share the essence of their culture and are thousands of miles away.

2. The citizens of the muslim empire during the 12th-14th century, commonly known as the period of renaissance of the muslim world, lived in a multi cultural, multi ethnic and multi religious environment. Meritocracy was the order of the day, and high ranking ministers were of the Jewish faith. Valuable books of historical and religious value were stored in old Coptic churches. No surprise that arguably, the world's oldest university, was born in that period.

Anonymous said...

this is america, land of opportunity only and only you appoint some jews in your cabinet

zamri ppbss

Anonymous said...

Ironic that the last comment (anonymous) come from someone who is probably a Muslim version of a zionist. You say 'Chinese are taking over', I hear 'Protttt!!!!'

Anyway, what I heard is that Rahm is at least related to parties in Israel that made a peace pact with Egypt. He's a liberal Jew, then? Also, the normally pro-Israel Republican hate him. I would say that Obama wants himself to represent the Muslims and Rahm to represent the Jews, but Rahm is only Chief-of-staff.

Whatever. I'm going to Mecca, and I'm going to pray for Palestine AND Israel, Muslims, Jews and everyone.

Anonymous said...

Nothing's going to change anyway. America is never and will never be a friend to the Arab world except when it comes to oil so I don't understand what's with the disappointment. Americans never care about the world, heck they probably don't even know there's a world outside the US.

Anonymous 8.07:

Don't worry about America starting another war, they won't be able to do that. They don't have money to do that and for them to do that they would have to borrow from the middle easterners and the chinese. Think that's possible?

Anonymous said...

Long time since I peeped into your wonderful blog, Cik Nuraina. Four years ago, I was probably one of the few Asians who felt goosebumps when then-rookie Senator Barack Obama took centerstage during a Democratic National Convention to give his inaugural keynote speech to the world (courtesy of the BBC, CNN, etc).

I told my two kids (who were too young to even understand democracy, then) that Obama was the perfect African-American to become the First Black President of America in the future. It was more of a praying hope from me then and my prayer has now been answered. A month before last November 4th 2008, I ranted in my shoddiest and unprofessional blog -http://peacelovekindness.wordpress.com - that as far as I was concerned Senator Barack Obama was already US President-elect to me! However, I also stated my concern that Jewish lobbyists would still surround him and influence whatever American presidential decision he will make!

So now I can only hope and pray that may US President-elect Barack Hussein Obama see the Light of his ancestral Islamic Faith at the end of a dark tunnel... Ameen! :)

Anonymous said...

...please where can I buy a unicorn?