Hey, Chicagoist, your nine-fingered mayor better watch it with the insults, mmkay? Cause in a recent magazine profile former White House chief of staff and current Windy City boss Rahm Emanuel let loose a nice dig at New Yorker's remarkable ability to bring everything back to the Capital of the World. It is like he's asking us to start piling on the Capital of the Midwest? more ›

Obama administration officials rejected former Rep. Eric Massa's claims he was forced out of office because he opposed healthcare legislation—not because he was facing sexual harassment allegations for telling a male staffer the two of them ought to be "fracking." White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Massa's claims aren't credible because he keeps giving different reasons for his resignation, including his health, his "salty" language, and now a Democratic conspiracy. "I think this whole story is ridiculous. I think the latest excuse is silly and ridiculous," Gibbs said. more ›

Thank goodness for TMZ, because now we have audio of President Obama saying that Kanye West was a "jackass" for interrupting Taylor Swift's MTV Video Music Award speech and saying that Beyonce's video was way better. Barry said, "I thought that was really inappropriate... He's a jackass." Obama is then heard asking, "Where's the pool?" which TMZ analyzes, "Presumably, he was worried the joke would go wide. He noted the last time that happened, he got burned for killing a fly." Obama also added, "C'mon guys. Cut the president some slack. I've got a lot of other stuff on my plate." White House spokesman Bill Burton told the press, "Look, I'm not going to get into what the President had to say in an off-the-record conversation. But you should see what [White House chief of staff] Rahm [Emanuel] said about it." In other news, West apologized to Swift, who said he was sincere. more ›

A rep for Congressman Steve Israel is denying a report of ugly backroom politics where White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel laid down the gauntlet and threatened that the Obama administration would essentially squash his campaign if Israel went ahead and challenged Kirsten Gillibrand in the Democratic Senate primary next year. The fascinating article in City Hall News said that Israel was "1,000 percent in" to run until meeting with Emanuel, who allegedly said that Chuck Schumer would steer big donors clear of the congressman and Obama was "prepared to barnstorm through New York’s black neighborhoods hand-in-hand with (Gillibrand)." The report says that the White House was doing a favor for a Democratic Senate trying to maximize 2010 funding in an effort to hold onto their current supermajority with some room to spare. A spokesman for Chuck Schumer admits the senator had "a friendly conversation" with the potential candidate before he called off his campaign last week. City Hall stands behind their piece, which also paints Emanuel and Israel as old friends who share a love of New York bagels. more ›

As the President-elect vacations in Hawaii, his transition team released a 5-page report emphasizing that Barack Obama had "no contact with Gov. Rod Blagojevich or his office and no one acting on Obama's behalf was involved in any 'quid pro quo' arrangement the governor allegedly sought for filling the vacant Senate seat with a candidate of Obama's choosing," according to Chicago Breaking News. Is it worth noting that the report was issued late on Christmas Eve Eve? The report says that incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel had one or two conversations with Blago, but apparently the conversations were above board. From Politico: "The report does not say so, but an Obama adviser told Politico that at least one of Emanuel's calls was taped as part of the federal investigation into corruption in the governor's office." more ›

Politico has announced that Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel has accepted President-elect Obama's offer to be his administration's Chief of Staff. Emanuel, a Sarah Lawrence grad, has probably been the second most visible Congressman after Nancy Pelosi since Democrats took control of the House in 2006. He was expected to be next in line for the Speaker job and Politico says that his accepting this job is a move to demonstrate just how historic and important this administration will be. The GOP is already crying foul over the highly partisan Emanuel, saying that the choice is hypocritical to Obama's calls for unity in Washington. Back at a dinner after President Clinton's first victory in 1992, Emanuel turned some heads by listing Clinton enemies one by one and putting a steak knife into the table, saying after each one, "Dead!" more ›