We all remember learning that Louis XIV thought very highly of himself, (although, there appears to be some doubt that he ever said, "L'État, c'est moi").  However, it looks like Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel fancies his own self as a modern-day Sun King, ruling, as it were, unchecked there on the South Shore of Lake Michigan.

It seems that Rahm Emanuel believes that silly laws against electronic eavesdropping don't apply to him or that they are just minor inconveniences that may be brushed aside at his whim (Oh, you haven't heard about that---Try searching, and you, too, will find zilch from the MSM on it).

The eavesdropping and its dismissal by His Honor really should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with "The Man With Nine-and-a-Half Fingers" (as his autobiography might dramatically be titled) and his imperious ways.  After all, he was the arrogant driving force supervising the task force attempting to create HillaryCare

Think of the worst boss for whom you have ever worked.  Was he (or she) irrational, erratic, destructive to organizational goals, and perhaps corrupt?  Was this boss two-faced, showing his best behavior to superiors and treating subordinates with contempt, demonstrating dishonesty and  temper tantrums toward lower-ranking personnel and threatening violence?  Did this boss ever describe himself specifically as a "tough SOB," or at least as something similar?  Does this pattern of behavior fall within the description of a "personality disorder"?

[.]...Emanuel has been a complete bust as a leader in an operational environment.  Emanuel was a principal in the failed Hillarycare effort early in the Clinton administration.

Read the rest of that piece, for it is a powerful exposition of the "SOB Syndrome" and how it applies to the man:

Known as Rahmbo by friends and enemies alike...[his] often capricious style of management has helped define Mr (sic) Obama's rollercoaster ride in the White House during the past 20 months.

Let us now return to the offense in question:

Mayor Rahm Emanuel, at a Monday news conference, didn't like questions about whether his press office had recorded reporters' conversations without first seeking their consent.   That's a big no-no under the Illinois Eavesdropping Act, one of the toughest two-party consent laws in the country.

One woman, Annabel Melongo, spent 20 months in Cook County Jail before a judge finally freed her.   Her crime: She had recorded a couple of phone calls with a court clerk. We're talking felony, folks.

Emanuel, invoking "Will" Shakespeare, dismissed such bothersome questions about his press office doing the same as "much ado about nothing."  Frankly, another line from Shakespeare seems a better fit for the mayor's fit of pique: "What a piece of work is man." ("Hamlet")

The full story is here:

After incidents in which phone conversations with Chicago Tribune reporters were recorded without their consent by City Hall officials, a city attorney has insisted that there is no widespread practice of such taping and that steps have been taken to ensure it does not happen again.

So, the official story is "we didn't break the law, and, anyhow, we won't break it again."

Perfect!  As the brilliant caricaturist, John Cox, put it, "this dude is a shark," and this is how Cox portrayed him a couple of years ago:

Well, at least there seems to have been neither intemperate outbursts nor profanity-ridden tirades.

Cox also addresses the temperament of le Roi-Soleil:

A couple of observations on that L'État, c'est moi quote here:

[I]t all begins and ends with him. There is no procedure, there is no judiciary or legislature, no deliberations. He can write a letter and declare anyone he wants arrested for whatever reason. He can decide to go to war. He can make laws and repeal them on a whim.

And here:

He meant that he was the absolute ruler and wanted to control the whole France without anyone's help. [T]his meant that he needed to keep the middle and the upper class busy so the (sic) wouldn't budge into the political stuff. For the upper class he created the palace of versialles (sic). [W]here  they stayed and basically hung out. for the middle calss (sic) aka bourgeoisie he appointed them as advisors because they would basically losten (sic)  to him. [T]hey were called the estates general and he never called a meeting.

Which, in the end, perfectly describes the situation: Luis XIV was an absolute, unchallengeable despot, but he wasn't a profane, hot-tempered, soi-disant SOB.