Jane Hamsher from firedoglake has joined forces with conservative Bush BFF Grover Norquist in sending a letter to the Attorney General asking that an Inspector General be appointed to look into Rahm Emanuel's shady activities while he was on the board of Freddie Mac from 2000-2001.
They further complain that the White House has blocked all attempts to investigate the allegations swirling around Emanuel's tenure on Freddie Mac's board, and that Mr. Emanuel should resign as President Obama's Chief of Staff.
Now I am no fan of Rahm Emanuel's; in fact I hold him personally responsible for the obstructionist Blue Dog Democrats we're burdened with in Congress and I think he's a significant contributing factor in President Obama's crippling obsession with political concensus at any cost. I'd like nothing better than to see the abrasive Mr. Emanuel replaced by someone who actually has some core principles that go beyond getting a bill, no matter how weak and ineffective it may be, passed.
The sticking point for me; however, is signing anything that is originated by Grover Norquist. While I have not a single doubt about Jane Hamsher's motives, I can't help wondering that if Grover Norquist is the sort of man who quivers with indignation over the unethical behavior of government officials who represent the peoples' trust, where were his letters to the Attorney General's office during the Bush administration? I don't remember any call for an investigation into Dick Cheney's activities in relation to Haliburton and their billions of dollars in government awarded no-bid contracts for Iraq and Katrina. I could be wrong, but if he called for the resignation of any Republican officials who were known to associate with the disgraced lobbyist, Jack Abramhoff, I didn't hear about it.
Those of us who live in California have another special reason to be wary of the ubiquitous Mr. Norquist. He demanded and got all of the Republican legislators save one in the state to sign pledges saying they would never, under any circumstances, even in a state of dire emergency, vote for any bill that contains a tax or a fee. That pledge has virtually hamstrung any effort to deal with the staggering deficit that is pulling California towards insolvency.
That's why, as much as I agree that Rahm Emanuel should not only be replaced, but should never have been picked for the job in the first place, I couldn't quite bring myself to accede to Ms. Hamsher's request and sign onto her and Grover Norquist's letter displayed on the firedoglake website. While I may agree with the sentiments in the letter, signing it is a deal with the devil I am not willing to make.