Althouse: "Someday William Daley may tell the world what went wrong during his short, unhappy tenure as White House chief of staff..."

January 10, 2012

"Someday William Daley may tell the world what went wrong during his short, unhappy tenure as White House chief of staff..."

"... but even now it's safe to say it was a lost year for him—and the country."

37 comments:

rcommal said...: Daley seemed like a good choice, briefly, after the 2010 elections. But since then, Obama's team has decided to change back its direction (though I'm not so sure it was particularly committed to the post 2010 change to begin with).; 1/10/12, 10:45 AM
The Drill SGT said...: So the "Adult in the room" was neutered and didn't enjoy the experience.

My WaPo this morning was full of WH spin on how Daley had failed with Congress.

Standard WH spin to have somebody take the bullet for a POTUS failure.; 1/10/12, 10:54 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: I don't care how 'adult' you are, being locked into a room with a bunch of whiny demanding toddlers would drive anyone insane.

They won't listen and the snot nosed brats just run around screaming and breaking things.

I don't wonder why he quit.; 1/10/12, 10:58 AM
edutcher said...: GodZero was part of the Hyde Park mob (mostly Commies) and Daley was part of the City Hall mob, whose motto is, "Corruption That Works".

The failure is obvious.; 1/10/12, 11:04 AM
David said...: What this tells you is that President Obama himself is firmly in charge. He has no interest in the Daley approach, which is to find reasonable common ground and get things done. Obama's sole goal is reelection. Then--and only then--will we really learn what Barack Obama believes.

Obama may be the most manipulative and dangerous man we have elected in the modern age. That's saying something.; 1/10/12, 11:05 AM
Anonymous said...: I have to wonder at all this "the last adult has left the building" stuff I'm reading in the right-o-sphere. I don't recall any rejoicing at his appointment that now, finally, there was an adult in the room. In fact, I don't recall anything nice being said about him until now.

Daley's just another corrupt Chicago politician who's come and gone from the Obama Administration. There were plenty before him and there will be more after.

(I highly recommend "Boss", the Mike Royko book about Daley's dad.); 1/10/12, 11:07 AM
Steve said...: Standard WH spin to have Bush take the bullet for a POTUS failure.

There, fixed it!; 1/10/12, 11:07 AM
traditionalguy said...: The ChiTown powers still have a vested interest in the American economy and want to stop short of destroying it.

But the Pelosi wing of the Obama Party has long since sold out Americans for a piece of the cash flows to and from China.

It depends upon the goal. A strong America is simply not the Obama/Pelosi goal. So Daly's world view was a thorn in their eye.; 1/10/12, 11:12 AM
Martha said...: Jodi Cantor's book The Obama's out today reportedly claims that Michelle disliked the Irish Catholic families who ruled Chicago City Hall--especially after Valerie Jarett was fired from Her CityHall job (Assistant to Mayor Daley).

(Chicago Sun-Times) — When Michelle Obama worked in Mayor Daley’s City Hall in the early 1990s, she was “distressed” by how a small group of “white Irish Catholic” families — the Daleys, the Hynes and the Madigans — “locked up” power in Illinois.

Don't think Daley was welcome in to the Obama's inner circle.; 1/10/12, 11:14 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: Actually, it may not be a lost year for him. This is the sort of job that can be easily parlayed into a nice lucrative career (or, in his case, an even more lucrative one) over the coming decades. How did George Stephenopolis, Dede Myers, Karl Rove, etc. get their TV gigs?

But, the real money is in the connections - and there is probably no place you can make better contacts than in the position that Daley had in the White House. He had top notch Chicago and Ill. contacts. Now they are national and international. K Street pays extraordinarily well for the ability to open doors, like he will now be able to do.; 1/10/12, 11:18 AM
Browndog said...: Fact is, Valerie Jarrett runs that White House-cross her, and you better just fade away...

Or, end up like Blago; 1/10/12, 11:26 AM
The Drill SGT said...: The ChiTown powers still have a vested interest in the American economy and want to stop short of destroying it.

ChiTown and its Pols want the economy to prosper AND to take their cut.

Don Corleone was a capitalist at heart after all is said and done. GENCO Olive Oil was a busines....

Edutcher and TG have it right. Hyde Park is a long way from City Hall...; 1/10/12, 11:37 AM
Mr. Buford said...: I think the line from the movie 'Tombstone' sums up what Daley would say if he could at this moment about dealing with the WH as the chief of staff -
Christ almighty, it's like I'm
sittin' here playing cards with
my brother's kids or somethin',nerve-wracking sons-of-bitches; 1/10/12, 11:39 AM
Toad Trend said...: Browndog is onto something.

Valerie and Michelle are running things, apparently.

wv - wooha; 1/10/12, 11:47 AM
mtrobertsattorney said...: "White Irish Catholic families" with emphasis on the word "white"

No racisim here. Or is there?; 1/10/12, 11:51 AM
Jason said...: Not too many Irish families of any stripe that AREN'T white!

(Though I know gingers aren't "human," in the strictest sense of the word.)

WV: forins; 1/10/12, 11:59 AM
Carol_Herman said...: Heck, Daley wanted to be out of town when Blago went to trial. (Which was TOTALLY an insider's game! Had nothing to do with an invisible senate seat. And, everything to do with a fight Blago had with his STINKO father-in-law, Madigan.)

Daley HID OUT at the White House.

Not every Chief of Staff wields power like James Baker did!

Heck, the elder Bush OWED the Chief of Staff's job to SUNUNU. The ex-governor of New Hampshire ... who ... in 1988 ... tampered with the (first time ever) primary elections WITHOUT PAPER! Just two computer lines.

And, Sununu, to give the win to the elder Bush, SWITCHED THE INCOMING TWO PHONE LINES WITH EACH OTHER! (How? You didn't know he was an engineer who knew his ways around computers?)

To get Sununu out ... it was (probably James Baker), who leaked the fact that Sununu used the president's helicoper to go to the dentist. And, to go to a stamp show. Front page news that "forced" the elder Bush to accept his resignation!

It's so easy to fool the American People ... when someone is backstage strong-arming the press.

Daley got just the year he wanted.

Chicago? Let's see if Michelle isn't the "next powerhouse" to run Chicago ... should her husband trip on himself into another term?

The odds are still in Obama's favor. (Is Tebow available for his opening veep slot?); 1/10/12, 12:00 PM
The Drill SGT said...: @Mr. Buford said...

For the rest of you, John Buford was a Southerner, West Point Grad, who stayed with the Union though invited by his Governor to return and be given high rank.

BG Buford commanded the 1st Cavalry Division when they met Bobby Lee at Gettysburg. Buford looked behind him, saw the beautiful defensive terrain that would be later know as Cemetery Hill, and decided they needed to hold until The 1st Union Corps (Reynolds) could rush to the sound of the guns.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Buford in that single decision, on one day, did as much as any man to win the Civil War...; 1/10/12, 12:02 PM
The Drill SGT said...: Jason said...
Not too many Irish families of any stripe that AREN'T white!

I beg to differ. What about the "Black Irish" and also this O'bama guy :); 1/10/12, 12:06 PM
MayBee said...: I don't know what made Daley leave, but Valerie Jarret sounds infuriatingly passive aggressive.

I think I'd pop a blood vessel dealing with her.; 1/10/12, 12:07 PM
Brian Brown said...: she was “distressed” by how a small group of “white Irish Catholic” families

Only someone who spent too much time trying to gin up racial grievances would think this.; 1/10/12, 12:17 PM
MayBee said...: she was “distressed” by how a small group of “white Irish Catholic” families

Second look at "hate whitey" tape?; 1/10/12, 12:35 PM
Hagar said...: As they say in Illinois, "The Daleys are awful, but they are all that keeps Chicago together."

Obama is trying to blow things apart; not hold them together.; 1/10/12, 12:35 PM
Jason said...: There's noone as Irish as Barak O'bama!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EADUQWKoVek; 1/10/12, 12:53 PM
Michael Haz said...: William Daley was rope-a-doped by the Obama inner circle.

He was "recruited" to serve as Obama's COS, thereby opening the Chicago mayoral contest to Rahm Emmanuel.

One year into his term as Obama's COS Daley was fired by Valerie Jarrett, the same Valerie Jarrett Daley had fired when she worked for in in his administration in Chicago.

Reverge firing? Yep.

Daley is a Democrat pol, but he is also a realist who understands that businesses need to grow in order to grow tax revenues. That belief is in direct contradiction to the belief system in the White House.

Diversity of belief is not a feature of the Obama White House.; 1/10/12, 1:23 PM
Original Mike said...: "I don't recall any rejoicing at his appointment that now, finally, there was an adult in the room."

Then you don't have a very good memory.; 1/10/12, 1:24 PM
pm317 said...: Here is an answer why he left:

From Kantor's book and as relayed by Chicago Suntimes Lynn Sweet:

“…She[Michelle Obama] particularly resented the way power in Illinois was locked up generation after generation by a small group of families, all white Irish Catholic — the Daleys in Chicago, the Hynes and Madigans statewide.”

When Jarrett was forced out of City Hall in 1995 — even though she was close to Daley — “the Obamas were horrified, their worst suspicions about the world confirmed.”

He was battling it out with the two women and they prevailed (one of them BTW, has the previlege of pillow talk with the other WH resident.); 1/10/12, 1:54 PM
pm317 said...: I see that 'Martha' has already the point I was making.; 1/10/12, 1:56 PM
The Drill SGT said...: One year into his term as Obama's COS Daley was fired by Valerie Jarrett, the same Valerie Jarrett Daley had fired when she worked for in in his administration in Chicago

Bro Daley, but same idea...; 1/10/12, 1:57 PM
Toad Trend said...: The Chief of Staff position is arguably more powerful than a senior adviser position.

The insider article I posted earlier in this thread mentions this, and delivers some detail about the power plays going on between Jarrett and Daley.

Because Jarrett is so close to the first lady, she got the nod.; 1/10/12, 2:44 PM
Methadras said...: Hey Daley, what's it like dealing with temper tantrumed children in adult bodies that have OWS'ed the White House?; 1/10/12, 3:04 PM
Tim said...: "Someday William Daley may tell the world what went wrong during his short, unhappy tenure as White House chief of staff, but even now it's safe to say it was a lost year for him—and the country."

Oh, boo hoo.

Bill Daley lost a year, while the nation lost three years to the affirmative action grifter from the back-benches of the Illinois State Senate.

Daley will no longer have sound off "present" when the roll call of rogues is called. He must be relieved to have washed his hands of this mess.; 1/10/12, 4:26 PM
Darrell said...: Maybe one day, some of the commenters here will learn the difference between Richard M. and his brother, William M. Here's a hint-- One was mayor and the other was Commerce secretary under Clinton and current WH Chief of Staff.; 1/10/12, 6:03 PM
Clyde said...: Make that "a lost FOUR years for the country..."; 1/10/12, 6:15 PM
paul a'barge said...: Must pay to read.

Nope.; 1/10/12, 7:43 PM
Mick said...: David said,

"Obama may be the most manipulative and dangerous man we have elected in the modern age. That's saying something."

Of course he is dangerous, and not eligible. When the President is not eligible then there is no Constitution, look around.
The framers dire fear of foreign influence, and lack of total allegiance and attachment to America was well founded. Obama is the poster child of Federalist #2-6.; 1/11/12, 4:44 AM
Rusty said...: Any time a member of the Daley family is not in or around public office is a good day for American taxpayers.; 1/11/12, 11:41 AM