Obama's MuscleRahm Emanuel will bring discipline to the White House. And lots of profanity. By Christopher Beam

Rahm Emanuel's first task upon becoming Barack Obama's chief of staff will be to track down and fire whoever the fuck leaked word that he was offered the job. Even if that means he has to fire himself.

It wasn't a promising start for the president-elect's transition team. Job offers are supposed to happen behind the scenes. But Obama's courtship of Emanuel was made public nearly a week before Election Day. It's unclear who leaked the news, but Emanuel, not known for his reticence, had been talking to reporters even before the latest wave of speculation. Luckily for Obama, Emanuel accepted—but only after days of what looked like dallying. (Emanuel told a TV station he needed to consider his family, which would have to move from Chicago to D.C.; he would also have to shelve ambitions to become speaker of the House.) Maybe he just didn't want to jinx Obama's victory. Regardless, the impression was that Emanuel wasn't sure he wanted the job...