The Rahmfather gets 'Rahmfather' portrait
John Kass
December 23, 2012
It's
not every day that the ruthless mayor of Chicago, the Rahmfather, can be
humbled and overcome by a spectacular Christmas gift presented by a newspaper
columnist.
"It's
a Hanukkah gift!" he insisted.
Whatever.
I wasn't going to argue, especially since he was tearing excitedly at the
tasteful Snoopy Santa wrapping paper.
Either
way, just the sound of the mayor pulling at that paper was enough. All I needed
was a pipe, slippers, a cardigan sweater and a big chair, from which I could
smile bemusedly while watching the fun like the dad in "A Christmas
Story."
But I
stood.
"I'm
so excited about this, you have no idea," said the Rahmfather, beaming.
"Oh, my God, this is absolutely fabulous!"
And
there it was, the Rahmfather holding his very own gorgeous edition of the
absolutely cool and mysterious portrait "The Rahmfather" — Emanuel as
Michael Corleone from the movie "The Godfather: Part III."
Emanuel
was himself, which means we can't use all the video from the solemn gift
exchange. It was a tad salty. But he had fun. And so did I. He gave me gifts
too.
The
ceremony of the gifts took place in his City Hall office the other day. Members
of his staff were there. Also there were my friend Old School and the famed
graphic artist Eric Brightfield, who created it, and his son, Evan, who
inspired it all.
For
those of you worried about my relationship with the mayor, relax. I'm not going
to sit in his lap, and he's not going to sit in mine. The portrait was donated
by the Brightfields, and my additional costs were nominal, around $50. I'm not
going to become Commissioner of Lotsa Stuff. He's not going to become my buddy.
And there are issues boiling over, from contracts at O'Hare to the police code
of silence, and we'll tangle.
It was
a year ago last December when the original "Rahmfather" arrived at
the Tribune, an amazing work.
I'd
been calling the mayor The Rahmfather for quite some time, and Evan Brightfield
had an idea, to create a portrait on canvas of Emanuel as Corleone. Eric
executed the design perfectly.
"I
want you to know that when I saw it in the paper, what did I do? What did I
do?" asked the mayor.
You
called me and said ...
"I
need it," he said. "I need that."
It has
that effect on people. But I'd never part with mine. Still, a mayor asks for
something of little monetary yet great symbolic value, you do what you can. So
Brightfield made another copy for the mayor.
Paul
Davey of The Practical Angle frame shop in Streeterville fixed an engraved
plaque with Brightfield's name and mine.
We also
added a special, cryptic phrase in Greek from ancient days, from the time of
Homer and heroes. But we had it engraved in English letters, so the Rahmfather
could read it aloud phonetically, as could all his visitors.
"What
is it?" asked the mayor.
I told
him:
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