Rahm: On the Rocks? Outside the Wire?

I’m interested in the two photos the NYT chose to accompany its Rahm profile yesterday — “The Limits of Rahmism.” The conclusion of the piece is that Emanuel either rises or crashes with health care.

In the top one, by Stephen Crowley, it’s hard to read the message. Is Rahm a force of nature? Or, is he headed over the falls? And then, the White House Flickr shot is equally ambiguous. Between the center of power and a guy getting his wires crossed (note the finger pointing), it seems the photo, truly showcasing Obama’s “inside man,” is a dramatic hedge on the outcome of the legislative Super Bowl this week.

(Expanded. Title change. 10am PST. 3/15. Further tweaked. 12pm.)

(photo: Pete Souza/White House. caption: National Security Advisor General James Jones, left, and USSS Special Agent in Charge Joe Clancy coordinate arrival details by telephone for President Barack Obama’s visit to Baghdad on April 7, 2009. Joined also by White House Senior Advisor David Axelrod; Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel; Jim Messina, Deputy Chief of Staff; White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, and National Security Counsel Chief of Staff Mark Lippert, background-right)