Members of both major political parties in the United States have their more controversial members who typically motivate, invigorate, and strengthen their side’s arguments and proposed solutions to this nation’s severe problems.
However, there always seems to be one that stands out, and says something so unbelievable that it ceases to be helpful to the conversation, and only makes Americans dislike their members of Congress even more so than they already do. In this case it is Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.).
AP
The esteemed representative for New York's 13th Congressional District has been in office for more than 40 years, and I’d hope by now he would have learned that you don’t have to speak with venom in order to advance the agenda you feel is the right course for a district, a state, or the nation as a whole.
I actually thought cheating on his taxes by not declaring rental income from a home in the Dominican Republic, blaming “cultural and language barriers” that had hindered him from understanding the “finances of his house” was pretty bad. He still won re-election. One would think getting censored on the House floor to be a complete embarrassment for a congressman to go through.
What about stiffing the landlord of his Harlem political office, claiming he "lost the lease" and completely abandoned his responsibility to pay $87,000 in rent. That too did not earn him the rebuke of his constituents, even as many of them struggle to pay their own bills. The 13 ethics charges filed against Rangel were shockingly ineffective as he continued to win elections afterwards.
These scenarios would make most men watch carefully what they say and do, and insure they are in compliance with the proper discourse of political conversation. Unfrotunately not Rangel, as evidenced by this video:
It’s almost unbelievable for me to type this because I can’t understand how or why this comparison was drawn. I’m doing my best not to pretend to be a doctor, but this way of thinking can only originate from someone who is either clinically insane or an outright hurtful monster of a person.
While discussing the serious kidnapping of the three Jewish teen boys in Israel - one of whom is an American citizen - Rangel managed to compare the internationally recognized terrorist group Hamas, who fires rockets from civilian areas in the Gaza Strip into civilian territory in Israel (a double war crime), to the Tea Party which was forged in 2010 to combat big government and wasteful spending of taxpayer money.
The talk show host clearly was not going to let this disgusting remark go unchallenged, immediately clarifying that, “You can’t compare the Tea Party to Palestinian terrorists,” forcing Rangel to tone down the rhetoric and explain his lunacy.
This is a new low for the congressman who is no stranger to making horrible comparisons to the Tea Party. In the summer of 2013, Rangel used the term “white cracker” to describe members of the Tea Party, stating:
“It is the same group we faced in the South with those white crackers and the dogs and the police. They didn’t care about how they looked. It was just fierce indifference to human life that caused America to say enough is enough. ‘I don’t want to see it and I am not a part of it.’ What the hell! If you have to bomb little kids and send dogs out against human beings, give me a break.”
Really, if the 13th District in New York can find no one better to represent them in Congress than Charlie Rangel, this Republic, the greatest experiment in the history of the world, is in a lot of trouble!
Bradley Scott is an American designer from New York City with a unique point of view on the world. He can be contacted at www.facebook.com/bradleyscottreisman or visit him at www.facebook.com/thebradleyscott to see his designs.
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