The New York Times has another hagiography -- er, profile -- of President Obama's chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel.

The Times' Peter Baker and Jeff Zelany explain that there is a more "nuanced" view of Mr. Emanuel:

The caricature of Mr. Emanuel as a profanity-spewing operative has given way to a more nuanced view: as a profanity-spewing operative with a keen understanding of how to employ power on behalf of a new president with relatively little experience in Washington.

We also learn that the "tough, foul-mouthed scrapper" apparently has a soft spot for puppies:

While he remains a tough, foul-mouthed scrapper, he is more likely these days to give a dog dish to a senator who got a new puppy (as he did to Kent Conrad this summer) than send a dead fish to an enemy (as he did two decades ago as a brash young campaign aide).

And while delivering the latest NYT's 'teaching moment,' Baker and Zelany realize it is important not to reference an accurate description of Rahm Emanuel as a Chicago pol. Better to use a more distant historical description, like that of New York's Tammany Hall -- it seems more antiseptic that way:

Any White House blends political operatives with policy wonks in a sometimes-uneasy relationship. In this White House, they have given themselves nicknames ? the Aspen Institute policy people versus the Tammany Hall political people. Mr. Emanuel is the undisputed boss of Tammany Hall.

Nuance is a beautiful thing, n'est-ce pas?