Sounds like the first of the Three Letters joke:
A new CEO had been hired by the board to take over a flagging company. Asking the old guy if there was anything he needed to know, he was given three letters and told to open each in turn only in case of dire need.
The new CEO took things in hand, and pretty soon things were going smoothly for the company. Unfortunately, eventually disaster struck, and he was called by the Board to explain himself. At a loss on what to do, he finally remembered the Three Letters. He opened the first one, which contained these simple words: “Blame it on your precedecessor”.
He took the advice to heart and stood before the Board with that explanation. They grumbled but let him continue as the CEO. The company weathered that rough patch, and things looked good again.
But some time later, things turned rough again. Sales were down and prospects were grim. When all else failed, he opened the second letter: “Blame it on the economy”.
He made some grand speeches to the company, got everyone to hunker down, and eventually the company saw it through.
Things were looking good when the third downturn hit. Despite his frantic management, the CEO couldn’t get things going again. He finally opened the third letter to read what it said: “Write three letters…”
But seriously though, good on Rahm Emmanuel to owning up to the fuckup. The first step of solving a problem is admitting there is one…
