Change as a state of mind

John Kass:

It took only 36 hours for President-elect Barack Obama to take the off ramp from the Change We Can Believe In Highway and slam his foot on the gas in the express lanes of the Chicago Way.

Because with his first official act, Obama selected a Chicago Daley machine guy for his chief of staff, U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Tomczak).

So much for transcending politics as we know it, eh?

"I announce this appointment first because the chief of staff is central to the ability of a president and administration to accomplish an agenda," Obama said in a news release. "And no one I know is better at getting things done than Rahm Emanuel."

Among Chicago politicians, the Emanuel announcement was treated with enthusiasm. But it was enthusiasm of the political salivary gland at the prospect of federal pork and leverage.

"It's a gain," said Mayor Richard Daley, speculating on all the contracts he would be able to give with new federal money. "It's a real gain, gain, gain," he said, repeating the word as if in prayer.

Chicago may have a history of corruption, but our politicians are realists. They're not fools. And Emanuel, though he has many critics, is no fool.

From Washington, however, you could hear that giant sucking sound as the Washington media praised Emanuel, as if the appointment was testament to change. There was so much sucking up, they may have created an El Niño effect that will plague our planet for years.

Some of the sucking up is understandable because their currency is access and, as chief of staff, Emanuel will be gatekeeper to the president. But the least they could have done was rate themselves NC-17. And they could have acknowledged what they were doing, which was praising him to their readers and viewers in hopes of maintaining or guaranteeing that access.

...

Kass goes on to explain how Emanuel owes his election to a corrupt member of the Chicago Daley machine who is now in federal prison in Duluth, Minn. The guy was ordered by Daley to put all the patronage staff on the streets in what became Emanuel's district to make sure he was elected. That is the Chicago way and that is the way it is going to be in Washington now.

Kass will be a guy to pay attention to in the Obama administration. He is one member of the media who is not in the tank and Chicago is his beat.