O Come, O Come Emanuel

Rahm Emanuel is girded for battle, only not the kinds of battles with which his father may have been familiar some years ago. For those of you who have not heard, Rahm, the 48-year-old son of an Israeli physician who moved to New York, is leaving his position in Congress where he made a name for himself as a hardened Democratic fighter on the Hill. His entry into politics started many years ago during the late Paul Simon's 1984 race for president. He followed that up with a successful stint when Richard Daley captured the Chicago mayoralty. A bit later he started work with a then-unknown governor in Arkansas who was preparing a run for the presidency himself. Emanuel was probably Bill Clinton's biggest fundraiser and even during the most troubling periods of his presidency, Emanuel was still able to get money brought in to help the president wage his legal battles. Perhaps it's the scrappy Israeli in his heritage or it's just his nature, but he is not someone who will back down from a fight lightly. In "Godfather" fashion, he has been known during Clinton's presidency to send someone whom he felt was being disloyal a dead fish ("Luca Brazzi sleeps with the fishes.") and his selection as Barack Obama's Chief of Staff was loudly bemoaned by Republican Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio), who, given Obama's claim to be more centrist, labeled the choice as "ironic." Emanuel is not considered the cool, level-headed plotter that some may have thought Obama would have gone with as his Chief of Staff. In terms that Mario Puzo might employ, Emanuel is the "Sonny" of the House chamber, not a level-headed "Michael." Because of his temper, he probably wouldn't have made a good choice as Speaker of the House, which Emanuel was hoping to capture in another few years. But, perhaps Obama needs Emanuel as someone whose loyalty and insight he can trust. A good chief of staff must be able to tell the President no from time to time and to back up what he says. Emanuel strikes me as someone who won't pull his punches, even if it lands him in trouble with the rest of the Cabinet, the First Lady (as was the case with Hillary Clinton), or the press. Also, putting a man with close ties to Israel can't help but stifle some of the Jewish critics who have wondered aloud if Obama will be good for the Jews and the Jewish State. Interestingly enough, Emanuel is a close friend of Aaron Sorkin, the creator of TV's "The West Wing." Sorkin allegedgly based the character of presidential aide Josh Lyman in the drama on Emanuel. So truth echoes fiction and how the final script will be written only time and history will tell.

Another Spirit of 76

©TimothyA. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

The words historic, transformational, and momentous seem to pale given the light of day and the realization that the United States of America has initiated a new era of change with the selection of Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th President. It took two years and was the most expensive race for the White House ever waged. Yet, as the dust settled on Election Day there emerged the two nominees congratulating each other with grace and admiration, reminding their party faithful that America had spoken and that everyone needed to support the choice that had been made. Like the war hero and patriot that he is, John McCain delivered a brilliant consolation speech advising the Republicans who gathered in Arizona in the midst of defeat that America had won respect throughout the world for the peaceful transition it had achieved at the ballot box. For his part, in front of a Chicago crowd of 125,000 at Grant Park, Barack Obama delivered a rousing, emotional speech with the anthem "Yes we can" reverberating throughout the crowd, their cheers rising up through the night air and reaching into the homes of the nation via the broadcast waves. It is incredible when one considers that 40 years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King -- a moment when African-Americans most despaired for true equality -- that one of their own will soon occupy the highest office in the land. As a child I remember those turbulent days in the Old South and I recall the pushback to the civil rights movement that resulted in sit-ins, marches and, sometimes, unfortunately, that escalated into violence. America is on the brink of a new era that will have a great deal of scrutiny on the young family that will soon live in the White House. As the President-Elect suggested, these will be tough times ahead and there will be setbacks along the way. Only 76 days remain between now and January 20 when he takes his historic, transformational and momentous oath of office. God bless him and, in the words he ended his address last night, "God bless the United States of America."

00 or 01

With today's elections, the choice boils down to two simple selections. Do we want to vote for 00, which is a possibility? Or will we decide to go with 01 instead? In binary, the language of computers, it's just that simple. Either the bit is turned off (0) or it is turned on (1). Granted, when it comes to selecting a president, it is a much more complex and detailed affair. Over the course of the last several weeks, I have received a number of troubling e-mails from friends who are obviously supporting John McCain that suggest a vote for Barack Obama is a vote that guarantees creeping socialism. There have been a number of other e-mails from a smaller group of Barack Obama supporters who have similarly predicted economic disaster under a McCain presidency. Of course the two can't both be right, but such is politics. If only the choice were as simple as a bit turned on or a bit turned off. Computers have it much easier than we responsible American voters. A rogue program can be installed that can do great harm to a computer system. Yet, in most cases a computer program can be removed and, if corrupted, reinstalled without any trace of a lingering problem. Unfortunately, the decision rendered at the polls and through the number of electors selected for the Electoral College, which is what we popular voters are actually doing today, cannot be reversed so easily. There will be at least four more years in front of us to undo what agenda we launch today. Frankly, I believe both major candidates march to the beat of their own drums. A vote for McCain is not a continuation of the Bush era in all respects; nor is a vote for Obama going to necessarily mean a sweeping series of reforms from which America will never recover. There is a truth that lies somewhere in the middle of all this rhetoric. As a responsible journalist with -- dare I say the word -- ethics, it has been my aim to walk the middle ground between the Democratic and Republican Parties without expressing my own leanings or desires. What I want for the future of America will be expressed privately in the voting booth and not necessarily through words I write or post online. I do want a strong, secure America with a robust economy and freedom for all of its citizens. I want the children who cannot vote today to inherit a country that offers them protection and guarantees them and their children and their children's children rights and liberty. The best way we all can do that is to exercise our right to vote today and to cherish the fact we have this opportunity. May God provide the providence to the leaders of our nation elected today to keep the United States a leader among nations and a country of whom our forefathers can still be proud. If only it were as simple as 00 or 01.

Take it from "Les Miserables"

At the very end of Act One in the musical "Les Miserables," the protagonists are prepared to battle one another at the barricades. The student revolutionaries are joined on stage by the beleaguered Jean Valjean who is relentessly pursued by the malevolent police inspector Javert. Valjean's ward -- his daughter Marius -- has smitten one of the idealistic students, Marius, who must decide as to whether he will join his fellow students or seek out her love. Meanwhile, Eponine, the daughter of the cutthroat thief Thernadier, pines for Marius, hoping he'll notice her. The students, led by Enjolras, wave a red flag in the background as the voices of the hopeful rise in harmony proclaiming "Tomorrow we'll discover what our God has in store! One more dawn! One more day! One day more!" It is riveting theatre and among the most powerful onstage moments in a Broadway musical. It is much the same in the political theatre today. The two presidential candidates are jetsetting across the country trying to haul in as many votes in the traditional red or blue states, but in reality they are just trying to innervate the electorate. Voting lines should be very long tomorrow, but the election is so important to the future of this nation that I can't imagine too many people complaining excessively. Well, there will be voter irregularities. There always are. Make sure that your votes count. Don't wear campaign buttons, paraphenalia, or shirts that may contain logos or the names of candidates. It might be considered electioneering and could be cause for poll workers to prevent your voting. Carry I.D. with you and be prepared to prove to poll workers that you are who you say you are. Proper identification is usually a driver's license, U.S. passport, or state-issued I.D. card. Don't think anything less will be considered valid. Wherever you may be, check out in advance to whom you need to report voting irregularities or fraud. Call them right away and, if you have a cell phone, do so within moments of voting as close to the polling place as you can without being inside. It is important that you document any problems and, if you can do so without inviting injury from others, ask if any other witnesses are willing to come forward as well. Here's the link for the Louisiana Secretary of State, whose office is in charge of elections. Use common sense and don't make a scene. If you feel intimidated or threatened, remove yourself from the polling place immediately and alert authorities. So, one more day! One day more! I hope this real life Act Two turns out better than it did in Les Miserables.

McCain on SNL: politics as unusual

The words "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night" had barely left his mouth and I thought to myself. This John McCain is certainly a good sport. He may be trailing in the polls, but he isn't so stiff or incapable of self-deprecation that he can't enjoy a laugh with the rest of us, especially if it's at his own expense. It reminded me of when Richard Nixon appeared on "Rowan and Martin's Laugh In."(Sock it to me?") The idea was to soften Nixon's image before he ran for office in 1968 -- no matter how ridiculous he looked -- and it worked. While McCain did let the SNL writers weave a bit of their magic for him (the John McCain pork knives pitch was clever as was the allusion to McCain "fine gold"), I still had the feeling McCain had tarnished his presidential mantle and crown just a bit, but in doing so, had somehow made himself more like one of us. A man whose wife's family owns a brewery could probably never be a "Joe Six-Pack." Then again, it's nice to see him try to peel away some of the layers of his hard veneer and show the nation he's prepared to take a little flak as long as he can get his message to the people. Saturday Night Live's QVC John McCain sketch may go down in history as a comic anomaly of when truth and fiction merge in a quirky way. Sarah Palin managed to keep her name in the spotlight, but in an unfavorable way yesterday when it was revealed that she was the victim of a radio hoax by broadcasters who convinced her staff that it was French president Nicolas Sarcoczy on the phone. ("Palin Punk'd" read the headlines!) Meanwhile, McCain and Palin will be journeying across several key state battlegrounds as they try to pick up the requisite 270 electoral college votes needed for election. According to the pollsters, Obama has a significant lead and is in the driver's seat. But the headlines have two more days before the ink can dry on this matter. It is important that we all vote on Tuesday. It is our right and privilege and this year it means more than just whether we have a Democrat or a Republican in the White House. With the wars being waged in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economy in a shambles and lingering questions on the future of the nation still abounding, all of those undecided voters will be crucial in determining the course for America over the next four, and possibly, eight years.

A shout out to my friends in Cleveland, apparently one of the more heated electoral battlegrounds in the country and one that Obama and McCain seem intent on having in each other's camp. I wish I were up there now reporting on the seemingly endless appearances of the campaign principals, but the weather has been so pleasant in New Orleans these last several weeks that it's taken much of the sting out of my political jones. Besides, the odious task of electing New Orleans and Louisiana politicians has given me plenty to absorb as charges fly from one candidate to another. The four most hotly contested elections are that in the New Orleans District Attorney's office, the First and Second Congressional Districts and the race for the U.S. Senate seat presently held by Mary Landrieu. As to whom the next New Orleans D.A. will be, voters will be choosing between two former first city attorneys in criminal defense attorney Ralph Capitelli and former criminal court judge Leon Canizzaro. I'm going out on a limb here, but I predict that the next D.A. will be an Italian. In the First Congressional District race incumbent Steve Scalise, only elected about a year ago in another close race, is getting a significant challenge from newcomer Jim Harlan, a businessman and Scout leader. Former newscaster Helena Moreno is trying to unseat indicted Congressman William Jefferson in the Second Congressional District, but the polls suggest that he may have a walk of this race. Whether he will be as successful in the Virginia courts following the election remains to be seen. Senator Landrieu has pulled away from Republican challenger and State Treasurer John Kennedy in recent weeks, according to pollsters, but she never has had a large amount of support in north Louisiana. Even though Republican governor Bobby Jindal endorsed Kennedy in a show of party solidarity this past week, Landrieu is still expected to keep her Senate seat and become an even more powerful presence in the U. S. Senate.

This Studs's for you

Studs Terkel died yesterday, a writer many of you know far too little. He was a tireless champion for the little man and the subjects of his Pulitzer Prize winning essays and books were the unknown workers who make up the majority of people across our land. He was an original like no other, who would recount the pain and suffering of the Great Depression in "Hard Times" with hundreds of personal stories, each one a study in determination and the will to survive. Terkel's "oral histories" were collected as a lepidopterist might capture fleeting butterflies and mount them for display. He would conduct interview after interview, with meticulous notes and then move on. He wasn't searcing for an explanation as much as he was looking for the feelings and coping mechanisms people have when dealing with adversity or the mundane. Another of his more well known works was "Working," where the stories of America's working class were revealed in a similar fashion. "Studs Terkel's Working" became a Broadway show and later was shown on PBS, the network for whom he had many projects. He was a prince among writers who asked the right questions until he had run out of them. In talking about his PBS production "Hope Dies Last," Terkel explained in 1990 that his hopes may have diminished, but his curiosity still remained and he had already picked out his epitath: "Curiosity didn't kill this cat," he beamed. Terkel's "The Good War," for which he won his Pultizer in 1985, suggested that, not unlike the VietNam War, World War II was not necessarily a period of national solidarity and unabashed unity. He was born a New Yorker, but became a proud Chicagoan at age eight. He got the acting bug while still a young man, but didn't do much with his career. (He did appear in the movie "Eight Men Out" as a reporter.) He had his own Chicago radio program for over four decades, "The Studs Terkel Program," in which he would interview guests and make commentaries. He was a man after my own heart, favoring well-mixed martinis and chomping on cigars on a regular basis. Because of the controversial positions he held (he would probably admit he leaned towards socialism), he was blacklisted from TV during the McCarthy era. It is interesting to note that Terkel then began his writing career. He started while in his mid-40s due to his love of jazz music. His "Giants of Jazz" was released in 1956, but he wasted no time in continuing his writing and was working all the way up until his passing. As a matter of fact, his last book will be published in just another two weeks. He may be a footnote in the newspaper editions this morning, but the Chicago museum that houses many of the oral histories he donated will be forever grateful as will a nation who mourns the passing of one of its favorite sons.

An anniversary gone by

Tuesday would have been my 24th wedding anniversary. I recall it as one of my most blessed and most perfect of days. Everything had been planned and mapped out for me in advance. All I had to do was show up in my tuxedo and say my "I do's." It was a Sunday and there were meticulous plans as to when I was to make my appearance and when my bride was to be there. We weren't supposed to see each other during that day prior to the ceremony because superstituous members of the family said it would be bad luck. So, I was at the morning brunch for an hour and then I had to leave in anticpation of my wife-to-be showing up to meet with family, friends and well-wishers there. During the day, I cooled my heels waiting until it was time to leave for the synagogue. When it came to the wedding ceremony, I merely had to wait. And wait. And wait some more. My bride had arranged for limousines to pick up her bridal party, which had assembled at the Fairmont Hotel. The grooms, ushers and I had to get to the synagogue by the appointed time on our own. While the crowd gathered, an organist played Beatles songs during the period prior to the actual ceremony. It was a key point upon which my wife and I had insisted. Several qualified organists had turned down the opportunity to perform citing "artistic differences" in our choices for selections. At the last minute a friend of a friend volunteered to take on the job, but he went to Florida the week before to party with some of his friends and made both my future wife and I very stressed because he didn't bother to show up until the day of the rehearsal in order to familiarize himself with the organ and to pick up the music. That was the only real stress we dealt with in the days leading up to the wedding. My bachelor party the previous Thursday night was a disaster, but it was a carefree affair. For those of you who would like to think that there were strippers or pole dancers prepared to give lap dancers to moi, forget it. It was a very tepid evening consisting of a bunch of guys drinking a lot of booze at Pat O'Brien's in the French Quarter (a giant hurricane in a souvenier glass about the size of a small fish tank) and a trip back to a hotel room that quickly emptied when one of the members of our party emptied the contents of his stomach in the middle of the carpet. Gee, how romantic! The rehearsal dinner at the Fairmont Hotel the night before the wedding was a very swank affair and the best part was that the master of cermonies was my dad, who also stood as my best man at the wedding the next day. Sadly, the wedding book that he, the rabbi who performed the ceremony, my uncles, my wife and I signed was lost to the ravages of flooding following Hurricane Katrina. So, too, were all of my wedding pictures except for one picture of my bride that was kept in a frame very high on a downstairs wall. So, too, was the book of Beatles music the organist played. Yet, I still remember the day as a bright and beautiful memory of a romance that culminated in a grand candlelit event at Touro Synaogue attended by four hundred of our closest friends and family members. No rank waters or encroaching mold and mildew could ever wipe away my memories of that day or of the woman I loved so long ago or my dad, who both left this world within three weeks of one another ten years before the hurricane that decimated my city.