Obama—I feel like I have seen it on TV already (Lo he visto en la tele!)

                            Originally written in November 2008

I have been quite amazed by the closeness of the recent events in American politics and the much-famed TV series “The West Wing”, shown in Spain as “El ala Oeste de la Casa Blanca”. That and how fast Wikipedia is refreshed.

Just as the news of the proposed designation of Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff in Obama’s White House, the Wikipedia entry on Mr. Emanuel, using the past tense reads ”… after the 2008 presidential victory Emanuel was appointed Chief of Staff…"

There have been less than 36 hours since the election, and I was trying to learn more about Mr. Emanuel, just to find that he is also the inspiration for the character Josh Lyman on The West Wing played by Bradley Whitford.

I do not know how many Americans have seen “The West Wing” NBC series. I am pretty sure that few Spaniards have had the opportunity just yet, as the series where shown in a pay cable channel. Now is being replayed in another open one. But one wonders how much the scriptwriters of “The West Wing” have written of Obama`s recent past. Actually, they have been a bit more conservative as the character of the new president, played by Jimmy Smits, is a Hispanic and not an Afro-American. Perhaps they were playing safe or just demographically conscious as Hispanics now outnumber Blacks in the US.

Anyway, Rahm Emanuel is a guy to watch in the near future. It is interesting to know his past as an advisor to the Clinton presidency and whatever role he played in the Lewinsky scandal. You know that I have always sustained that Monica Lewinsky was a Mossad operative planted in the White House to, literally, ”get Clinton by the balls”. It was the classical “honey trap” of the old spy trade, and good old Bill fell on it in all fours (or was it standing?)…

Para los lectores en Español:
No os perdáis “El Ala Oeste de la Casa Blanca”. Se puede bajar de la Internet.
Repasad la entrada de Wikipedia sobre Rahm Emanuel, el hijo de un pediatra judío de Chicago que dará que hablar.

Emanuel ran for Mayor of Chicago in 2011 and held the post until 2019, and was later nominated ambassador to Japan, in office from March 25, 2022, to January 15, 2025.

In 2026, it was announced that he may run for the presidency of the US in 2028.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahm_Emanuel)