Rangel Rebukes

and the Chill Factor

Today is Meet your Leader Day for Charlie Rangel where the ethics committee is scheduled to give him a dressing down for his alleged infractions of congressional good behavior. Here is what he did wrong that really has them stringing him by his toenails: He got to be Chair of the Ways and Means Committee and he got to be Black. Those two combined are a disaster now.

So pile on pile on pile on-what did he really do wrong? Wrote on Congressional letterhead to a New York College for their fundraising purposes -and they named a program or school building after him. Was he buying influence or was he lending his name and garnering support so to enhance an educational institution with the gravitas of congressional leadership so more New Yorkers would be inspired to and have the resources to go to college from places normally undereducated? For that we want to scold him????

What else did he do? Not declare a few thousand dollars of rental income in the DR ? He has a defense apparently-and also apparently, even though the statute of limitations is already expired on prosecution of any such charges, he PAID it to the IRS already (and it's under 10k-not like he is a multigazillionaire hiding millions in the Camens)-

The third thing as far as I can tell is that he worked out of his home. He lives in NYC and has rent controlled apartments or maybe just one. He worked out of it even though it was against the lease to have an office there or against some NY City law. Who does not work at home these days? Doesn't telecommuting save gas, and reduce one's carbon footprint ?

The Congressional Rebukers are a Satire of themselves in this. They have not convinced the public that this is stuff for which you are supposed to lock a distinguished member in the stockades for public humiliation. It is a joke-and I should think that they all have much much better things to waste the public resources on than the MILLIONS that have been spent on this witch hunt to down Rangel. Which republicans are foaming at the mouth for his Chair and seat now?
When Charlie Rangel goes to the hereafter there will be streets named after him in New York. There will be monuments, museums, archives with his letters, tribute after tribute, and a Naval Ship with his name on it. Charlie Rangel is a national treasure. How dare they. Really. What a joke.