RAHM EMANUEL (IL-05)-- AN ACCOUNTABILITY MOMENT

click the ad to enlarge

When I was a teenager I worked in a print shop and joined an AFL-CIO-affiliated union. I was very proud to pay my dues and I made it my business to learn about the American union movement and how it has been the single biggest factor in the rise of a viable American middle class, a middle class under constant attack today not by Iranian mullahs or by Mexican immigrants, but by the callous, greed-driven policies of Big Business and their wholly owned subsidiary, the Republican Party (and their partially owned subsidiary, the Inside the Beltway wing of the Democratic Party).

One thing I learned from my time in the printers union was about solidarity and sticking together. A few weeks ago Democratic Party insiders under the aegis of the DCCC held a training session in Chicago for a couple dozen of their favored candidates. Afterwards several of the participants, disgusted, let Blue America know that Rahm Emanuel delivered an ominous message demanding that they "move to the right" on immigration. Some of the Democratic candidates, like Emanuel puppets Bill Foster (IL-14) and Joan Fitz-Gerald (CO-02), have already started sounding very Republican on the issue, breaking Democratic solidarity and threatening unity by seeking short term advantage based on demagoguery against a vulnerable part of our coalition.

Emanuel has teamed up with xenophobic bigot Tom Tancredo through his North Carolina tool Heath Shuler. And yet Emanuel's North Side Chicago district is one of the nation's most immigrant-friendly districts. It always has been. And Emanuel never tires of telling the immigrant communities that he is their best friend. They don't believe him because his actions-- and his inactions-- speak far louder than his words. Nearly 25% of Emanuel's district is of Hispanic descent and there are almost as many Polish-Americans in the district. More recently plenty of South Asians and Koreans have also been attracted to IL-05.

Starting tomorrow, Blue America is teaming up with Illinois' largest immigrants' rights coalition to help bring a little accountability into the life of Mr. Emanuel. The ad you see above is even now being translated into several languages and customized for various communities. Many people feel that if Congressman Emanuel is busy kissing babies in Chicago he won't be meddling with matters of national importance he knows nothing about and he won't be interfering in congressional races around the country on behalf of Blue Dogs, Bush Dogs and assorted reactionaries. If you agree, please give us a hand at The Accountability Moment. The more contributions that come in, the more ads like the one you see above will reach Congressman Emanuel's constituents.


UPDATE: ACCOUNTABILITY ON THE NET

J-Ro, who designed the newspaper ads, gives his perspective at the Seminal, making the connection between symptoms of the horrendous trade policies that have been the hallmark of Emanuel's entire career and his cheap anti-immigrant game-playing.