Rahm Gets Dead Fish Farewell
img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-47724" title="asian carp (1)" src="/files/wxrimport/2010-10/asian-carp-1.jpg" alt="" width="205" height="105" /><The Washington Post reports:
In an East Room event attended by senior staff and Cabinet members, Obama called Emanuel, who resigned to begin an expected run for mayor of Chicago, someone "I could count on day and night to get the job done."
"This is a bittersweet day at the White House," Obama said. "On the one hand, we are all very excited for Rahm as he takes on a new challenge for which he is extraordinarily well qualified. But we're also losing an incomparable leader of our staff and one who we are going to miss very much."
[...]
Presiding over his final 8:30 a.m. staff meeting, Emanuel said goodbye to about 30 White House officials gathered for the event in the Roosevelt Room, telling them through some tears that "I know I pushed you hard."
Austan Goolsbee, Obama's chief economic adviser and amateur comedian, then handed Emanuel a dead fish wrapped in a pair of Chicago's major newspapers. The gift evoked an infamous moment in Emanuel lore when he sent a dead fish to a political opponent.
The Asian carp was also meant to poke fun at Emanuel's work in trying to prevent the non-native fish from infesting the Great Lakes, an issue that may consume some more of his time if he wins the mayor's race early next year.
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