The Cossack and the Czar

Rahm Emanuel, Obama's outgoing chief of staff, once famously said, "You never let a serious crisis go to waste." Today, Ezra Klein smartly noted that "all in all, the crisis didn't go to waste. The period of change, however, is over, at least for a while. The next year or two will be defense and implementation. That's not Emanuel's specialty, and so his exit is fitting. But in the end, it may not mean that much. The same president who chose Emanuel and made the decisions that Emanuel carried out will also choose his successor and make the calls that he or she implements. The Cossack may change, but he still works for the Czar."