Wanted: A mayor willing to stand up and make the tough decisions. Not Rahm the whiner.

It seems the Little Emperor has turned into the big whiner.

No sooner had Republican Sen. Kirk warned us, in racist code language, that if strongman Rahm wasn't re-elected, the city would turn into Destroit, than the mayor became wussified.

First he cries to S-T's Fran Spielman that Chicago's fiscal fiasco "isn't my fault". Waaah!

He blames the city's crashing bond rating and all the other city's financial problems on the Daley's. That's gratitude for you. This, after his predecessor was nice enough to hold his nose and endorse Rahm. Let that be a warning to all other potential endorsers. You know who you are. 

Chuy and Richie definitely ought to grab a cup of coffee. 

Parents ready to fight PARCC

Next the kinder, gentler Rahm claimed he had "no choice" but to cave in to Gov. Rauner's threats over the PARCC tests. This even after his own schools CEO warned that giving PARCC was, "absolutely not in the best interests of our students."

 “Once the federal government and the state were threatening to cut hundreds of millions and billions of dollars off, which would have dramatically increased the teacher student ratio, it was clear that that was . . .  a bridge too far,” the mayor said.

Yes, we've all seen that movie, Rahm. But seriously, did you or anyone else really believe that Rauner could get away with holding back $1.8 billion in Title I poverty funds from a school district with nearly 90% of students of color and living in poverty? Rahm could have, should have, stood up for the thousands of Chicago's students and parents who are ready to opt-out and go to the wall over PARCC. Why no testing waiver application to his boy Arne Duncan at the DOE? And as for the state, doesn't his pal Boss Madigan still control what goes on in Springfield? Isn't that why they still have the mayor in charge of the schools?  According to Spielman:

Emanuel cut off the questioning before he could be asked about parent-led student boycotts or about whether he had lobbied the state and federal government behind the scenes to delay the test or drop the threat of penalties.

What up with that, tough guy? Since when do you get bullied by a political neophyte, wine-tasting, suburbanite from Winnetka? Ooops, I forgot... Sorry.

Brother Fred

Funniest TV Rahm ad... Axelrod could have saved some money on this one. It has kinder/gentler Rahm telling us what we already know:

"I can rub people the wrong way..."

You know what comes next -- the old,  "My strengths are my weaknesses" bit that I think Axelrod stole that one from Pres. Bush. Whatever. That's followed by Rahm's "listening tour", an idea borrowed from CTU Pres. Karen Lewis.

Today Rahm Emanuel launches a listening tour. Nearly 4 years into his mayoralty.
— Laura Washington (@MediaDervish) February 28, 2015

Let's not make it 5.