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| Michelle Obama 'raged against Rahm Emmanuel and White House advisors' |
| 2012-01-07 |
| Michelle Obama clashed frequently with Rahm Emmanuel, her husband's White House chief of staff, as the pair vied for influence over the President, according to a new book. The First Lady reportedly believed that Mr Emmanuel's willingness to cut backroom deals during the battle over health care reform was tainting Barack Obama's image as a new kind of American leader. The Obamas paints a picture of a presidential inner circle divided between Mrs Obama's idealistic belief in what the administration could achieve and the grittier pragmatism of Mr Emmanuel. The book, written by New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor, claims that the chief of staff refused to allow the president's wife into high-level morning meetings, leading a brooding Mrs Obama to berate other senior advisers by email. She allegedly sent furious notes to Alyssa Mastromonaco, the president's director of scheduling, and to Valerie Jarrett, a Chicago friend who now serves as one President Obama's top advisors. Ms Jarrett was said to remove the First Lady's name before circulating the emails widely within the West Wing. The then-press secretary Robert Gibbs was apparently often dispatched to placate Mrs Obama when limits were put on the amount she could spend on clothes or White House redecoration, as well as to explain why she could not take private holiday while on state visits. Aides were said to refer her East Wing office as "Guam" because it was "pleasant but powerless". The tension between Mrs Obama and Mr Emmanuel, a hardened political operative who is now Mayor of Chicago, reached a fever pitch during the battle for healthcare reform in late 2009 and early 2010. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #9 So Michelle is running the country. That actually explains a lot. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2012-01-07 20:58 |
| #8 I don't wonder at all. Two egos that big cannot coexist indefinitely. As soon as the fame and fortune dries up, she's gone. |
| Posted by: RandomJD 2012-01-07 16:43 |
| #7 I believe it was Hillary Clinton that established that the President and First Lady are a package deal. In other words, you vote for both of them. After all she did say, "We are the President". In addition, Michelle didn't want to go to Washington, she wanted to stay in Chicago. Makes me wonder just how stable that marriage is. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2012-01-07 16:25 |
| #6 "... the chief of staff refused to allow the president's wife into high-level morning meetings..." Ummm... who voted for her? |
| Posted by: Free Radical 2012-01-07 15:20 |
| #5 limits were put on the amount she could spend on clothes I thought, based on what I've seen, The Salvation Army (God bless'em), gave clothes away. |
| Posted by: Clilet Darling of the Ostrogoths8010 2012-01-07 14:31 |
| #4 It is kind of scary that Her Majesty thought Rahmbo was too much of a compromiser. I wonder if she's still proud of her country, or if we've once again dashed her expectations. |
| Posted by: Matt 2012-01-07 13:40 |
| #3 Raj, yes. Whenever I read somthing like "Obama's image as a new kind of American leader" I get a menatal picture of Zero on a balcony in Il Duce's uniform. These are scary people. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2012-01-07 10:28 |
| #2 $4 million vacays in Hawai'i would make me pissy too. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2012-01-07 09:50 |
| #1 ...when limits were put on the amount she could spend on clothes or White House redecoration, Who does she think she is, Imelda Marcos? |
| Posted by: Raj 2012-01-07 09:34 |