White House Staff Gives Rahm Emanuel Dead Fish as Parting Gift

Rahm Emanuel listens during President Obama's meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan, Tuesday, April 21, 2009.

/ AP

Updated 5:55 p.m. ET

What a charming parting gift given to outgoing White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel at his final Senior Staff meeting this morning.

A dead fish.

Spokesman Robert Gibbs says it was presented to Emanuel by Austan Goolsbee, the new Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors.

"I talked to the policy team and we wanted to give you a going away present," Goolsbee is quoted by Gibbs as telling the morning meeting of top White House aides.

Goolsbee said the staff wanted to give Emanuel "something to show how we feel about you, but also shows we understand your new possibilities."

Emanuel unwrapped the present and immediately recognized what it was: "This is a dead fish," he reportedly declared.

Actually, it was more than that, explained Goolsbee.

""To most people it looks like a dead fish, but to a future Mayor of Chicago, it looks like a dead Asian Carp."

(a picture of the fish is at left.)

The Asian Carp is the bloodthirsty, voracious and irrepressible species of fish that Chicago is trying to keep from using its waterways to reach Lake Michigan.

"In Chicago," said Gibbs, "this is how friends say goodbye."

Or as Sean Connery famously said in The Untouchables: "That's - the Chicago Way."

More coverage:

Rahm Emanuel Out, Pete Rouse In - But Don't Expect Much to Change at the White House
Rahm Emanuel WH Departure to Become Official
Pete Rouse, Insider's Insider, Replacing Emanuel
The Inside Scoop on Rahm Emanuel
Former Bush Chief of Staff on Emanuel's Exit
60 Minutes: Katie Couric Interviews Rahm Emanuel

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Mark Knoller is a CBS News White House correspondent. You can read more of his posts in Hotsheet here. You can also follow him on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/markknoller.

[P0ST1ING_AWAY]

by RickChicago1 October 2, 2010 8:12 AM EDT
All democrats are bottom feeders. In many many ways. Take money from the Producers of society and give Trillions and Trillions away to people who are capapble of working but are gaming the system to steal. All so the same non producers will vote in the same crooked Leftists next time. ==================RESPONSE===> RICKY: You Tea-Bagging-Bozos (TBB's) have a twisted view of the world. You are willing to ignore large government expenditures (TARP, Haliburton no-bid contracts, BlackWater USA, etc) when Repug presidents authorize them, but you somehow choke on programs when a Democratic president puts them forth. You imply that you are among the "Producers of society". The only thing I have seen YOU produce is NOISE.

[jgg000101]

well, a dead fish is better than an ipod with obama's speeches on it or pickled okra.

[drthvader]

or the head of a dead horse?

[stn_sage]

I don't think their choice of gift was funny at all!
Which begs the question, of who the bigger jerk(s) are, Emanuel or the policy team?!

[sddave--2008]

What, no steak knives?

[jeffinpa1234]

It is fitting for his personality!

[geewhillikers]

Funny, CBS just censored my post about the historical reference as to WHY he got a dead fish as a present. Just google it and see what he did before he hit the White House.

[geewhillikers]

Before serving in the White House, it was reported that he once sent a dead fish to a pollster that made him angry. He also reportedly had an incident where he stabbed a desk repeatedly with a steak knife while chanting the names of people who'd betrayed Bill Clinton.

Maybe instead of reporting on the fish gift, someone could investigate the antiques in the West Wing to see if they're still intact.

I can see how they all think that this is a joke and what it represents, but I don't think that this is going to end up amusing Chicago in the long run. I don't find that behavior funny, I think that it's about being emotionally out of control. You want him running a major city?

[phillyfanaticoldtimer]

I wonder if Chicago minorities are just going to lay down and allow Rahm to come waltzing in and take the seat without a fight? We know Chicago is corrupt and it will never elect a competent Pub. But, what if Rahm doesn't meet living requirements there? What if an opponent arises who accuses him of policies which have put Dems in jeopardy?? Would that not be sweet?

[documemts]

Desperate, whining, complaining, complacent Republican sycophants,(Sigh).

[pragmatist1]

...God help Chicago...I thought I was going to puke with this idiotic smooch fest...crediting the president in staving off the "next Depression" made me gag...

[documemts]

If it's true....