Karmic Knowledge

Barack Obama has tapped Chicago Congressman Rahm Emanuel to be his Chief of Staff, his first cabinet appointment since becoming President-Elect last Tuesday. Known as “Rahmbo,” because of his direct and aggressive style, Emanuel is considered a controversial figure by Republicans and Democrats alike. A 2005 profile of Emanuel in Rolling Stone magazine entitled The Enforcer tells the story of how he sent a rotting fish to a pollster who had rubbed him the wrong way. It continues:

And there’s the story of how, the night after Clinton was elected, Emanuel was so angry at the president’s enemies that he stood up at a celebratory dinner with colleagues from the campaign, grabbed a steak knife and began rattling off a list of betrayers, shouting “Dead! . . . Dead! . . . Dead!” and plunging the knife into the table after every name. 

These are not the earliest stories of Rahm Emanuel’s displays of intensity. According to an article on Bloomberg.com, at the age of 17, Emanuel cut his middle finger, known in Palmistry as the Saturn finger, while working at an Arby’s fast food restaurant. According to his mother, he refused to go to the doctor, afraid it would prevent him from attending his high school prom, after which the finger became infected. The tip of his finger had to be amputated in order to save his life. (Photo also from Bloomberg.com) 

In Palmistry, injuries to a particular part of a hand represent challenges in the corresponding area of life at the time of the injury. Saturn is the finger of responsibility, accountability and integrity. It’s also associated with structure, discipline and logic. It is the finger of Karma.

Saturn challenges take two forms. Underdeveloped Saturn energy manifests as insecurity, lack of discipline and fear of success/failure. A person with overdeveloped Saturn energy may appear cold, ruthless, and inflexible. Extreme ambition and inflexibility are two of its hallmarks. 

The workaholic and the ideologue are two Saturnian personality types.

Rahm Emanuel is often described as focused, disciplined and organized. He has been referred to as a super-achiever. Many in Washington call him “The Enforcer.” Other Saturn words that have been used to describe Emanuel include serious, relentless, fearsome, demanding and strategizing. The loss of his middle finger is the outward manifestation of the unmerciful drive that has propelled Emanuel upward in the equally unforgiving world of Capitol Hill politics.

In addition to the meanings ascribed to the middle finger in Palmistry, the raising of the Saturn finger at another has been considered an obscene gesture since the time of the Ancient Greeks. The Romans, who also favored this gesture, called the Saturn finger digitus impudicus, or impudent finger.

Rahm Emanuel is well known for his frequent use of the f-word. He says of himself,

Of all the fingers to lose! I could not express myself for months. I had to learn to talk with my left hand.

There are some who worry that Rahm Emanuel is a poor choice for Chief of Staff, calling him an old-school partisan politician, as far from Barack Obama’s message of change and hope as one could possibly find in the Democratic party. Others see Emanuel as the perfect partner for Obama, the bad cop to his good cop. 

Will Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel apply his will and his ability to get results in service to Obama’s vision? Or will he simply flip America the bird, missing digitus impudicus be damned?

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