"An Old Capone Tactic"

UPDATE: NY Times Mag. Rahmbo preview below***Rahmbo in the shower room of the House gym with Massa. (Audio of Massa's weekend radio rant here where he tells the story). (More here.) Neil Cavuto has a fascinating interview with Gianni Russo, who played Carlo Rizzi in The Godfather. When asked about the shower summit, Russo laughed and said "that's an old Capone tactic". You can't wear a wire or a gun.

Cavuto asks how come Charlie Rangel is still there with all his ethics problems. Is it because Massa is a no vote against health care? Russo says well Massa is not welcome. It's the Mafia style, they "dug up a bunch of stuff" on Massa. "It's like watching the Sopranos".

Cavuto wonders whether with The Godfather being a cult film, some people watch it so many times they realize these tactics work. And why this wedding Massa went to comes up 3 months later. Russo says he thinks if Massa were a yes vote he wouldn't have a problem. Then he says "Why is Rahm in the shower? Why wasn't he on the phone?"

UPDATE: The Limits of Rahmism. Here's an apropos part of it:

Emanuel, the provocative and profane White House chief of staff, slammed his hand down on the table and shook his head with seething exasperation. He did not yell, according to others in the meeting, but his thoughts were obvious. How had this happened? What the bleep was going on?

Will the shower summit be Rahmbo's Waterloo? Or, where's the knife?

More:

As different as the two men are, there is something in the erudite and zenlike Obama that seems to enjoy Emanuel’s coarser side. At an epilepsy fund-raiser in Chicago in 2005, Obama, then a senator, roasted Emanuel, then a congressman, in a moment captured on video. Obama joked that Emanuel once adapted Machiavelli’s “Prince” for dance, naturally with “a lot of kicks below the waist.” He recalled the teenage accident with a fast-food meat slicer that cost Emanuel part of his middle finger, joking that it rendered him “practically mute.” Emanuel doubled over laughing. Obama, clearly enjoying the audience reaction, added: “Has he ever flashed that little stubby thing at you? It’s appalling!” He then noted that Emanuel’s brother Ari is the inspiration for the cocky Hollywood agent on HBO’s “Entourage” and joked that Rahm was more like Tony Soprano. “Rahm is a little intense, he’s strong, he’s aggressive, he’s emotional, he’s moody,” the future president said. “Thank God he is one of a kind.”

Oh, well, NY Times. Barack Obama has his seamy and hardball side too.

And then there's Obama's disturbing radical ideological core.

It looks like the President has abandoned any pretense of bipartisanship on health care. And he's back on the campaign trail. It looks like Rahm is losing votes and the president's ear.

Related post: Another of The One's Bites the Dust?