Now that the Illinois Supreme Court rued Rahm Emanuel can run to become dictator of Chicago, the city’s gays are going to do their part to get him elected. Yesterday at the Center On Halsted, some 200 of our kind gathered to form the LGBT Committee for Rahm. The man himself was there, to receive accolades like “a proven friend to our community.” Maybe he’ll also muscle his way into Monday’s civil union signing ceremony hosted by Gov. Pat Quinn?
JKB
Hopefully none of them are the “f’n retarded” progressives he ridicules…
christopher di spirito
Rahm Emanuel has always been a reprehensible figure.
The queer community in Chicago should have their collective heads examined for supporting him. If he’s elected mayor he will throw the gays under the bus immediately.
bobito
@christopher di spirito: I think the queer community in Chicago is comprised of more than 200 people. But yeah, the LGBT Committee for Rahm Emanuel members may indeed require some sort of evaluation of their mental faculties.
reason
Rahm is the consummate political realist, or so he thinks. The problem is sometimes his rationality leads him to positions based on false presumptions. Rahm has chosen to compromise his values in exchange for being able to accomplish what he feels is able to be accomplished without poisoning the pot with things that are not. Rahm is not against the gay community, he just honestly believes that on a federal level we don’t have the support or interest in our own community to get the support needed to get big things done. Sometimes he makes the common mistake of failing to read the changing landscape, he knew how tumultuous DADT was to Clinton’s administration and thought it would fail and tarnish the Obama administration along with health care reform. He is of the thought that change comes from the people not the government and we are responsible for moving the ball 3/4 of the way then the government will try to move the next 1/4 for success. In the political realm success is currency, therefore some will reach the conclusion that you only touch things that can be successful. It is an inherent problem of our political system and one of the reasons the president has said that important things never get done i.e. decades for health care reform and DADT, while social security and medicare are still a floating albatross around the nations neck. Putting Rahm in Chicago is moving him to a different environment where GBLT rights are winnable, so you can trust that Rahm will be there fighting to win that currency and adhere to his underlying moral beliefs at the same time. I think people are going to find that Rahm will be a big friend to the LBGT community in Illinois. This was never a problem of like, it has always been about the probability of winning.
Sean
Well being a Chicagoian I say Thank God he’s guaranteed to get elected b/c there is no way the other candidates would do anything to advance gay rights. Mayor Daley has been a staunch ally to the gay community and Rahmn will continue to be as well.
justiceontherocks
@reason: Thank you for telling us about Emanuel’s thoughts. Not sure how you became privy to them. Not sure how you know so much about his “moral beliefs” when most people who’ve worked with him swear he doesn’t have any. But thank you for sharing your clairvoyance, and your third grade understanding of the political process.
Justin
@christopher di spirito:
Emanuel is a total asshole, but it makes sense they would support him. He was the one who worked to get the federal funding for the Center on Halsted, has had a consistent 100% rating from HRC, and doesn’t do the usual Democratic “Oh I support civil unions but not gay marriage” thing. From his website (emphasis mine):
“Rahm celebrates with the community the passage of comprehensive civil union legislation in December in Springfield. He vigorously advocated passage to members of the state legislature. He continues to believe THAT FULL MARRIAGE EQUALITY, IN NAME AND IN RIGHTS, SHOULD ALWAYS BE THE GOAL. While in Congress, he voted repeatedly against discriminatory efforts to make marriage equality more difficult to attain for gay and lesbian couples. Rahm voted against the Marriage Protection Amendment, which attempted to define marriage as only between one man and one woman.”
I’ll be the first to admit he’s a total dick, but his record in Congress on LGBT was really good. He basically backed everything pro-gay and fought against everything anti-gay that came through.
Harbo
Isn’t Rahm a former ballet dancer? Hde’s been in the gay scene a long time. If I live in Chicago I’ds sure as hell vote for him. He’s hot!!
Adam
@Harbo: Your last sentence is basically one of the only reasons gays will vote for him.
David
Emanuel is a dickhead!
Ronbo
I can’t believe how easily our community fooled. This is the man whose only constant is that he will use us when he has the opportunity and abuse us when he has the opportunity.
Reason and Justin suffer from a syndrome – very similar to that of the abused spouse. “Yes, he once said he loved me, so that is all that matters.” Let’s ignore that he has repeatedly worked against us andgoes off the record to insult us. Let’s ignore that he only takes actin for us when it in inevitable. Let’s ignore his history of duplicity on gay issues and his work in the Obama administration to move our priorities down, down and further down.
If Chicagoians think Rahm will do AYTHING for anyone else than Rahm, think again. Look at his actual record working for the various communities: Black, Gay, Hispanic, Female. His record is completely empty. Now, go look at what he has done to assist the corporate community and the richest Americans. We know his priorities and we are not among them (unless you make more than $150K). Look at what he has done, not what he says.
“I love you baby, I won’t hit you ever again.”
Isaac
I think Reason’s analysis of Rahm is spot on. He’s more interested in success than satisfying everyone. We need someone who is going to get things done in this city and not allow the various aldermen and other political forces to overwhelm them. For those of you downing him right now, you obviously don’t know Rahm beyond being a chief of staff for the president. You also don’t understand the political dynamics in Chicago or the other people running against him. I’d rather have someone who steps on a few toes, but gets things done than someone who I think is a nice person, but is ineffective. The battered woman syndrome is a tired and woefully inaccurate metaphor in the case of democrats like Emanuel—I’d find the battered woman syndrome a more apt case for the GOProud and the Log Cabin set.
reason
@justiceontherocks: If you don’t agree with my analysis, you are free to join the debate, but to claim that I have a third grade understanding of politics is juvenile. I also never claimed to have clairvoyance, it is my opinion on Rahm from what I have ascertained over the years from his time in politics.
justiceontherocks
@reason: OK. Second grade.
Ronbo
The only thing missing from Reason’s arguments are…
facts.
Sorry, your mind-reading doesn’t qualify. It’s called projection. You are in the company of someone very famous individuals though: Glen Beck, for one. Isn’t that something in which to take pride. You can go to dinner parties and exclaim “I’m as smart as Glen Beck!”