Charles Rangel: quintessential Democrat

By Gabriel Garnica

Gloria Steinem's remark that the only thing Sarah Palin shares with Hillary Clinton is a chromosome was right on the mark. The only problem is that liberals think that is an insult and conservatives know it is a huge compliment. Such is the degree of separation of most Democrats from reality. Take corrupt politician Rep. Charles Rangel of New York as a classic case in point.

Corruption Rewarded

Democrats love to accuse Republicans of being corrupt, insensitive to society's weak and greedy, yet they seem to reward such conduct from their own. Charles Rangel is one of the longest serving Democratic House members, having represented his district there since 1971.

He is presently Chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, and co-founded The Congressional Black Caucus, where he still serves as a member.

Recent revelations indicate that Rangel failed to report income in his taxes and abused New York City's rent stabilization laws by benefitting from such laws despite not qualifying for rent stabilization due to his actual income. Through lies and manipulations, Rangel managed to pay roughly half the rent he should have paid on four apartments in his district although his income made him ineligible for such benefits. Although he has since given up the apartment he used as an office, he still uses the other three as a home. New York's rent stabilization laws allow an owner to deregulate apartments if it can be shown that the tenant involved had a verifiable income of $ 175,000 for two consecutive years. Rangel reported an income at or slightly above this limit despite having an actual income which could reach $ 200,000 when various investments are added to his congressional salary.

Simply stated, Charles Rangel has taken advantage of laws designed for people in need to enrich himself and lied about it. He has abused congressional perks and lied on his taxes. Despite all of these embarrassing revelations, he continues to hold his powerful House post and refuses to step down. Nancy Pelosi met with him recently, apparently to discuss these issues. Whether or not she asked him to resign is a matter of conjecture, but the fact remains that he has not despite Republican calls that he do so. In the selective, rationalized, one-sided, biased and distorted world of Democrats, Charles Rangel is a perfect fit.

Hypocrisy Rewarded

Rangel neglected to pay taxes on a Dominican Republic vacation home while sitting atop the committee that oversees tax laws. He neglected to report this rental income completely. He received a favorable, no-interest loan to buy the property in the first place, and that property is used by the powerful to get away from it all. A congressman owning property that powerful people use does not seem kosher to me. The four rent-controlled units described above were provided to him by developers who could benefit from his position. Can anyone say "conflict of interest"? As mentioned earlier, he was even violating parking laws by parking his vintage Mercedes-Benz against congressional rules.

This is the man who once sat on the House Judiciary Committee and participated in impeachment hearings against Richard Nixon. This is the man who recently called Sarah Palin "disabled" in a television interview and then said he meant to say "politically disadvantaged." Considering revelations that he is a corrupt liar who has betrayed the trust of the American people, Charles Rangel is in no position to judge whether anyone else is "politically disabled/disadvantaged."

Like so many Democrats around him, Charles Rangel is a hypocrite. He points fingers at others, accusing them of improper conduct and incompetence while he embarrasses his party, his constituency and himself. While Jackie Robinson's classy professionalism and outstanding ethical conduct made him a great pioneer and role model for the African-American community in baseball, Charles Rangel provides ammunition for bias and stereotypes by racists by failing to represent his community at the highest possible ethical and public relations level.

Charles Rangel may have co-founded the Congressional Black Caucus, but his present improper conduct and insensitive remarks about Sarah Palin betray his duty to those of his community who rightfully look to people such as himself for leadership, example and inspiration of greater gains for African-Americans at all levels. If he had any conscience at all beneath the layers of self-satisfaction and ungrateful, irresponsible sense of entitlement, he would step down immediately to lessen harm to his party and followers.

Arrogance Rewarded

Despite his tax scandal and insensitive remarks about Palin, Rangel has refused to step down, instead calling Republican calls for his resignation a "guerilla war." Such arrogance is typical of Democrats, who tell us not to stick our hands in the cookie jar even as they wipe the cookie crumbs off their faces, and then have the audacity to play victim on cue. I am shocked that Rangel has not whipped out the race card by now, defiantly declaring that any calls for his ouster are entirely based on his race.

To add insensitive ignorance to arrogance, only a fool would dare to use the word "disabled" in describing the mother of a physically challenged child, as Sarah Palin famously is. Any Republican stupid enough to utter such an asinine remark about a female Democratic politician would be out on his bottom by the next sunrise. Have a long-term and powerful Democrat speak such imbecilic thoughts and we hear crickets. Pelosi, the House speaker who once declared she would oversee the most ethical Congress, says she sees no reason why Rangel should step down. Given this assessment by Pelosi, one can conclude that she only has 20/20 ethical sight when Republicans are the targets. Clearly, if Rangel were a GOP type who decided to pray while making a speech, Pelosi would be outraged.

All of this proves that anyone who did not roll over in tears laughing when Pelosi began to preach about ethics at the start of her stint as speaker does not know the scarcity of Nancy Pelosi's integrity and credibility. I guess she does not have time to take continuing education courses in ethics while preaching to the Catholic Church about its own doctrine.

Conclusion

I am a Mets fan, so I know a thing or two about people declaring that things are going to be better only to disappoint. Obama and company hit us over the head about how they plan to change Washington as usual, but then we see Charles Rangel's antics, his smug arrogance and his insensitive ignorance being overlooked and even rewarded, and we know business-as-usual is still in force.

In trying to explain his idiotic remark about Palin, Rangel stated that "politically, it's a nightmare to think that a person's foreign policy is based on their ability to look at Russia from where they live."

I do not understand why Rep. Charles Rangel is so mystified by that standard. After all, ethically, intellectually, rationally and sensibly it's a nightmare to think that a person's moral and ethical policy is based on his ability to betray the people, cheat the government and fill his pockets with improper funds all while pretending to lead responsibly.

Sarah Palin may be able to see Russia from where she lives, but Charles Rangel could not see ethical conduct if he had a telescope.

© Gabriel Garnica