Politico: Probes of Rangel and Maxine Waters “Raise Questions” About Race
Yes, I predicted this reaction. But predicting something this obvious does not make me Carnac:
The politically charged decisions by veteran Democratic Reps. Charles Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of California to force public trials by the House ethics committee are raising questions about race and whether black lawmakers face more scrutiny over allegations of ethical or criminal wrongdoing than their white colleagues.
The controversy over the cases and the prospect of the first simultaneous ethics trials for multiple members in more than 30 years mark the biggest challenge for the ethics committee’s and the House’s ability to police its own members since the mid-1990s, when then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and other leaders from both parties found themselves hauled before the secretive panel.
The question of whether black lawmakers are now being singled out for scrutiny has been simmering throughout the 111th Congress, with the Office of Congressional Ethics a focal point of the concerns.
What evidence is amassed in the article that black lawmakers are being treated differently? None. There is a list of black lawmakers who have faced ethics probes. It is long, and nearly every such investigation has resulted in a finding of wrongdoing. Amazingly, the list excludes William “Cold Cash” Jefferson, sentenced to 13 years in federal prison on corruption charges, as well as Alcee Hastings, who was impeached for taking bribes as a federal judge. But it is long enough, and the findings of wrongdoing consistent enough, to merit a conclusion that several black lawmakers have been investigated with good reason.
Have similarly situated white lawmakers escaped such probes? The article provides no evidence of this. Another list is offered, of white lawmakers who have faced probes. But no attempt is made to show that whites have committed the same acts but escaped investigation or punishment.
You’d think such a showing would be required before accusations of racism were hurled. That is, you’d think that . . . . if you were an alien arriving in this country from a distant galaxy, and you’d never had the chance to observe firsthand how casually the accusation of racism is tossed around in modern America.
Maybe we can get a “national lecture conversation” about how Rangel and Waters are being screwed by the man. Just don’t try to offer any contrary evidence in that lecture conversation. When we want your opinion, we’ll tell you . . . which will never happen, because we don’t want your opinion. Racist.
P.S. I said some time back that I would boycott Politico.com over the way they attempted to terrorize the College Politico. I wrote him about this some weeks or months back to see what had happened with that, and he said that they had never followed up and he assumed that they had silently backed down. He doesn’t consider it an issue any more, and accordingly, neither do I.
well, this is certainly unexpected, even if it isn’t unprecedented.
in other news today, the sun came up in the east, water is still wet and Il Douche is still the worst Presentdent in US history.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 8/2/2010 @ 6:53 amdon’t you imagine that as these crooks go back to their districts people often come up to them and say hi, dirty crook, you suck.
I like to think they hear this a lot every day.
happyfeet (19c1da) — 8/2/2010 @ 6:57 amwell, i will ask, and i am genuinely asking… are these the two most blatantly corrupt members of congress?
I mean if the answer is no, then that is the best way to put it to rest.
Aaron Worthing (A.W.) (e7d72e) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:01 ambtw, i will bet that the truth is more like this. the discrimination is between the safely democratic seats and the rest. in a purple district, the dem is likely to get away with anything but dead girl/live boy. But in a deep blue one, they might just throw you to the wolves, in the hope that the people will say “see? they are enforcing ethics.”
Aaron Worthing (A.W.) (e7d72e) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:03 amI do believe it raises a question of race, but in the past.
The CBC has been given a free pass of so long that they feel immune to any rules. Equal justice is a concept that will seem racist to them, but that is what they are getting now .. in our post racial America.
Welcome to what the rest of us have to deal with.
Neo (7830e6) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:17 amNeo, I can believe the cbc has gotten so many passes that they would believe they are immune. But, I concur with AW that this is an attempt to show that the dems take ethics seriously by targeting characters who wouldn’t lose their seats except by death and might even win in that circumstance too.
Jim (844377) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:23 amIf congressional crooks would stop sticking their hands in the till, they wouldn’t keep getting caught.
A disproportionately high percentage of black congresscrooks get caught because they expect to be protected from exposure by the Civil Rights narrative, by black privilege, by the CBC, by the Democrat Party, and by the establishment media. And, if the need arises, by rent-a-mobs organized by Black Panther thugs and college professors.
ropelight (9fec9d) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:35 amA racist is anyone who is winning an argument with a liberal. (A sexist is anyone winning an argument with a feminist.)
Steven Den Beste (99cfa1) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:46 amI think i get neo’s point.
He is saying that congressional crooks are disporportionately black, because of decades of coddling them because they were black. if the rules had been enforced in a truly race-netural fashion all along, then black congresspersons would be as likely to be crooked as any of them (in other words, VERY LIKELY).
I find that facially plausible, but i don’t feel like i have enough knowledge to say if neo is right.
Aaron Worthing (A.W.) (e7d72e) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:49 amare raising questions about race and whether black lawmakers face more scrutiny over allegations of ethical or criminal wrongdoing than their white colleagues.
You have to love that passive voice, the preferred technique of the activist masquerading as a reporter.
Subotai (f079ed) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:57 amCharlie Rangel IS “the man.”
So is Waters.
I never bought a man that wasn’t for sale.
quasimodo (4af144) — 8/2/2010 @ 8:03 amI always thought it was the other way around. Tom Delay was hounded out of office for an indictment that still has not resulted in a trial.
Mark Foley acted disgustingly, but Politico reports taxpayers spend millions defending Congressmen from harassment claims. So he wasn’t alone.
If there is race involved, I think it is fear of really going after Rangel because nobody wants to look racist.
MayBee (1127e0) — 8/2/2010 @ 8:17 amWhat does the “B” stand for in “CBC” again?
If a group has organized itself strictly on racial lines and its agenda is racially focused, does that not meet the “racist” test?
If so, would not NAACP meet that test, as well?
jim2 (a9ab88) — 8/2/2010 @ 8:33 amThe Levys might disagree with you – might
EricPWJohnson (ab6cc8) — 8/2/2010 @ 8:40 amMy wife and I were the co-leaders of my daughter’s Brownie troop. To qualify, I had to join the GSA and become a card-carrying GS. This was back in the 80s and I would go to the large area meetings and generally be the only male. I would announce that I was the token male.
(Many of the others were, er, fervent feminists, and were not amused.)
jim2 (a9ab88) — 8/2/2010 @ 8:51 amThe black Congress critters are the way they are because the voters who elect them have an agenda different from most voters. The two big issues for the black districts, not all black voters, are is did the Congress critter bring home the bacon and did they, on the way home, stick a thumb in the eye of the white man?
If you doubt that, do a little research on Adam Clayton Powell and Alcee Hastings.
MIke K (0ef8c3) — 8/2/2010 @ 9:04 amI’m with Subotai on this. It’s the old “some say” construction beloved by Big Ears. Or the big screaming headline that ends with a question mark. Y’see, they’re just asking, that’s all…
Gazzer (7ce6e6) — 8/2/2010 @ 9:16 amEric
You do know that Condit was totally exonerated, right? they found her body and if memory serves it was linked to a serial killer.
Aaron Worthing (A.W.) (e7d72e) — 8/2/2010 @ 9:41 amEric
Okay, i am a little off in the story, but this wiki is trustworthy on the subject.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandra_Levy
Aaron Worthing (A.W.) (e7d72e) — 8/2/2010 @ 10:04 amAW
Levy’s murder to this day remains unsolved – the suspect passed a series of lie detector tests and as last I remembered had an aliby – the case was delayed by condits and PELOSI’s running interference
Something that needs to be looked into
EricPWJohnson (0f0a26) — 8/2/2010 @ 10:13 amwell, you could be right. look, condit looked guilty as hell way back in 2001. i mean as a lawyer i point to connie chung’s interview of him as a classic impeachment in cross examination. that was brutal what she did to him.
but i would add that the case is now 9 years old, and it would not surprise me if there are problems in proof. and lie detectors don’t impress me overly much.
Aaron Worthing (A.W.) (e7d72e) — 8/2/2010 @ 10:18 amWho knew that Dan Rostenkowski, and Jim Trafficant, were members of the CBC?
AD - RtR/OS! (95ef37) — 8/2/2010 @ 10:49 amThere’s a “dual standard, one for most members and one for African-Americans,” said one member of the Congressional Black Caucus, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
How did Politico happen to be discussing this with the “anonymous” individual? They approached him and asked “So, this is all racism, right?”? They happened to bump into him at a party and got to chatting?
And why was this person granted anonymity?
Subotai (f079ed) — 8/2/2010 @ 10:49 amGary Condit is a complete creep. He didn’t kill anybody.
There will always be ‘theories’ from nutcases, though.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 8/2/2010 @ 11:03 amAW
THe police and the FBI investigated Guiterezze and passed on charging him
Condit is STILL the prime suspect
just another problem
Also potentially embarassing to both Pelosi and Obama is Janet Schakowsjy’s husbands kiting checks and stealing funds that were replaced by Pelosi herself – another huge thing left untouched even though Schakowski’s husband went to jail
EricPWJohnson (0f0a26) — 8/2/2010 @ 11:06 amYes, but he got out of jail, and helped write the health care strategy. Seeing what has been done in the Black, Stevens, Libby, et al cases, I’m just about ready to cry ‘Attica, Attica’ like Pacino in
ian cormac (6718a9) — 8/2/2010 @ 11:09 am“In Justice for All”
There will always be ‘theories’ from nutcases, though
Really, why dont you write the Levys and share your sterling insight with them Dustin
or better yet just stop typing
EricPWJohnson (0f0a26) — 8/2/2010 @ 11:18 amLOL, EPWJ.
How about YOU stop typing? You don’t know what you’re talking about, and accusing people of murder without anything to back it up is trashy.
You’re trash.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 8/2/2010 @ 11:19 amEthics is racist. Didn’t know that, just look at what happened to Detroit.
bill-tb (541ea9) — 8/2/2010 @ 11:21 amDustin – really time for you to go
1st – where did I accuse anyone of murder?
again your west Texas reading skills?
2nd he lied to an FBI inquiry about his involvement and relationship with the woman on more than one occasion – again you keep typing and not researching
3rd the DC (democrat) police (the same ones that let a blogger be run over in a street? suddenly in a Democrat year with no resources declare the case solved – when it isnt.
4th You need to leave this blog and never come back if you cant discuss things – Like I said why dont you ask the Levys if they think Gary who lied and obstructed the investigation had anything to do with it
5th then maybe just maybe you wont type so much
EricPWJohnson (0f0a26) — 8/2/2010 @ 11:41 amSomeone is off their meds again. I am fairly certain that insane liars what lie lie lie doe not get to determine whether or not Dustin can comment here.
JD (28c9d7) — 8/2/2010 @ 11:44 amDustin
You’re a good guy, but you need to slow down and step back every once in a while
EricPWJohnson (ab6cc8) — 8/2/2010 @ 11:49 amJD, it’s not that he’s off his meds, he has a very serious chemical dependency problem that shows up here in wild mood swings.
AD - RtR/OS! (95ef37) — 8/2/2010 @ 11:53 amJD
arent you one of those pt guys? I mean there’s a stable blogging environment of dicourse
Sure why dont you call the Levys and tell them that Condit was exonerated? Sure they’ll appreciate the gesture
I forgot, I need to get JD’s permission to have a thought – he’s the self appointed thought policeman
EricPWJohnson (0f0a26) — 8/2/2010 @ 11:54 amYou can think whatever you want, EPWJ, and even type whatever you wish. I would never deny you that. Having said that, nothing keeps me from mocking your aggressive idiocy.
JD (28c9d7) — 8/2/2010 @ 11:57 amWhat the hexk does that have to do with Waters and Rangel, ‘for the love of pete’
ian cormac (6718a9) — 8/2/2010 @ 11:59 amI practice the golden rule with mixed success. I doubt I’m all that good, but of course, from your POV, I probably look like some kind of angel.
If you don’t have evidence for whatever fantasy you woke up with each day, and you make yet another boring and nasty attack on yet another person you don’t even know, people will think you’re weird.
You seem to have a problem with how often I comment here, which is related to how busy I am (today, I’m busy). Strange thing to be obsessed with. I don’t plan on changing anything, and I don’t think it’s something anyone should care much about. If you don’t like my comments… ignore them. It’s easy.
Rangel and Waters are crooks, and it’s no surprise that democrats like EPWJ will pose and kooks to change the topic. It’s not like he hasn’t done so 100 times already.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 8/2/2010 @ 12:09 pmDustin – Breitbart’s indictment is coming any moment now.
JD (28c9d7) — 8/2/2010 @ 12:11 pmAD
So we can count you in on those that will call the Levy’s and give them the news that Condit had nothing to do with it? Hey the miraculous discovery of a serial killer that just happened to pick the lottery winner of victims is just an everyday event?
I mean several hundred women go jogging in DC everyday – many of those in that park – and just happenstance – happenstance – that a scandal that could make the Foley thing look like patty-cake just happened to be solved by a random event probability by a department that doesnt have the resources to solve anything without a witness or a confession – this just dropped in their lap like wow! – just found someone (who had an aliby and passed a series of lie detector tests) is really a just another in a long series of
Miracles upon miracles
EricPWJohnson (0f0a26) — 8/2/2010 @ 12:24 pmDustin
Please – AGAIN – point to where I accused Gary Condit of murdering Chandra Levy
I am pointing out how fortunate that Gary lying to the FBI was miraculously off the hook by a serial killer who just hepend to be there
think about it
at the same time at the same place at the same moment that Chandra was going to go public with the affair and happened to go stress jogging at the same place this guy was
wow!
amazing!
stupifying!
EricPWJohnson (ab6cc8) — 8/2/2010 @ 12:29 pmhappended not hepend
EricPWJohnson (0f0a26) — 8/2/2010 @ 12:30 pm“Dustin – Breitbart’s indictment is coming any moment now.”
JD – For Chandra’s murder? I thought James O’Keefe did it.
daleyrocks (940075) — 8/2/2010 @ 12:33 pmDustin
I’m not a democrat nor have I ever ever in any election ever voted for one
You’re a good guy, but you need to listen and type much much less – Chandra’s killer’s trial – MIRACULOUSLY JUST GOT MOVED to almost the fall election so it would not be a circus event this summer and I would not be surprized if this processing errors in evidence were a dodge that the DA has nothing – just smells and smells and smells and smells
I could be wrong – but hey – when someone turns up DEAD – I dont accept political police forces happenstance – its too convienent – remember in this trial Condit and Pelosi are going to be called by the defense possibly (if the guy has a sharp lawyer) because a good defense is another suspect
EricPWJohnson (0f0a26) — 8/2/2010 @ 12:38 pmDaleyrocks
Call the Levys the trial has been delayed a third time till almost after the elections for the fear that Pelosi and Condit are going to be called
yeah call them and tell them that Gary had nothing to do with it – sure they’ll appreciate it
EricPWJohnson (ab6cc8) — 8/2/2010 @ 12:40 pmClinically insane.
JD (3dc31c) — 8/2/2010 @ 12:48 pmShorter CBC: why don’t you bother some random Cracker instead?
And the MSM’s response? Indeed, why have you not charged a random Cracker to even things up?
And finally Olberman wraps it all up for the left: I’m making random Crackers the WPIW for failing to confess to their racial treachery.
East Bay Jay (2fd7f7) — 8/2/2010 @ 12:51 pmeric
Okay, then explain to me what this comments means, actually:
> The Levys might disagree with you – might
i mean that only makes any sense–indeed only relates to the discussion–if condit is guilty, right? Because of Chandra Levy was killed by some creep in the park who isn’t even a citizen, let alone a politician, then how does it even relate to the topic?
Aaron Worthing (A.W.) (e7d72e) — 8/2/2010 @ 12:55 pmJD
you a guy who proudly blogs on a site that mocks dead people, slanders people on this blog HOURLY – and we are supposed – supposed to believe anything that comes out of your keyboard
are you ever going to post something that isnt a comment on another comment –
oh that right that would be substance something that you arent know for are you?
EricPWJohnson (0f0a26) — 8/2/2010 @ 12:56 pmIf Gary Condit wasn’t mixed up in Chandra Levy’s murder he sure gave every bit as convincing a performance as either OJ or Joran van der Sloot. I got the guy in it up to his chinny chin chin.
ropelight (01dc27) — 8/2/2010 @ 12:56 pmWTF?!
JD (3dc31c) — 8/2/2010 @ 12:58 pmAW
The trial has been delayed again, his defense team isnt the one asking for delays over a YEAR long due to evidence processing
So the Levys might just disagree that this thing has been solved
EricPWJohnson (ab6cc8) — 8/2/2010 @ 1:00 pmJD
exactly my point
EricPWJohnson (0f0a26) — 8/2/2010 @ 1:02 pmSomeone call me when the insane person is back in his room with padded walls.
JD (3dc31c) — 8/2/2010 @ 1:02 pmYour point was “WTF?!” ?
JD (3dc31c) — 8/2/2010 @ 1:03 pmEricPW – What does Gary Condit have to do with this thread apart from being another one of your obsessions?
daleyrocks (940075) — 8/2/2010 @ 1:11 pmNow, I see why the tide has turned against good old Charlie Rangel. Two weeks ago, he introduced yet another version of a bill for the military/civilian draft, H.R.5741, “Universal National Service Act.”
Neo (7830e6) — 8/2/2010 @ 1:40 pmEric
> So the Levys might just disagree that this thing has been solved
That doesn’t explain your comment, which is the first time anyone in this thread mentioned the issue.
So why did you bring that up unless you think that condit got away with something? Seriously, explain what the hell you meant by it. because from where I sit, it is perfectly reasonable to think you believe he was responsible.
Which, hey, circa 2003, I leaned pretty heavily toward thinking he was guilty, too. you’re not off your rocker to think he is guilty, still, but don’t imply that and then not own it.
Aaron Worthing (A.W.) (e7d72e) — 8/2/2010 @ 1:52 pmInstapundit has linked a great Waters clip from back when she was haranguing the floor over the Newt Gingrich nonsense back in the 90’s.
The key thing isn’t really about prosecution… it’s about guilt.
No one I know is trying to say that there aren’t white people who commit these types of crimes… they just haven’t been discovered/uncovered at this point in time.
After all, who thinks the CBC would be keeping actionable info on a white, male congressperson on the sidelines while two of their own get skewered?
SteveG (5371de) — 8/2/2010 @ 2:16 pmI think it’d be doubtful that at least a little didn’t get leaked out of the committee’s Waters and Rangel are a big part of
Oddly, they don’t mention Democrat Speaker Wright and his bagman Tony Coehlo, who were forced out by his own party for “selling” large numbers of Wright’s books to special interest groups, in return for favors.
Kevin Murphy (73dcc9) — 8/2/2010 @ 2:17 pmA congressperson from a disadvantaged black district who is stealing, isn’t stealing directly from the constituency so I guess it’s OK…. sure taxes, goods and services might cost more than they should (See Bell, CA) but there isn’t a pistol whipping or a driveby that goes with it.
Just make sure the Federal money keeps the neighborhoods favorite stuff coming…
I guess the larger question for me is when is it OK to wonder aloud if a very small but powerful subset of the black community might be corrupt, or criminal.
SteveG (5371de) — 8/2/2010 @ 2:52 pmAnd if so, is it going to be OK to prosecute them, or do we have to also bring in 9 white guys, 2 Hispanics, an Asian, and go find a guy who is of mixed Native American, Pacific Islander, and Caribbean heritage too?
sestak romanoff
ColonelHaiku (537db7) — 8/2/2010 @ 5:09 pmbig zero madmax rangel
Dems need to drain swamp
mad max and rangel
ColonelHaiku (537db7) — 8/2/2010 @ 5:17 pmearly stage of dementia
hands in cookie jar
EPWJ is still allowed to comment here after beclowning himself so much?
Will wonders never cease …
SPQR (26be8b) — 8/2/2010 @ 5:38 pmPlease. This is an indictment against politicians, not race.
What does it matter if it were true that black lawmakers do indeed behave more unethically than their white counterparts? Whose going to keep a racial score other than the black community and liberals? What if white lawmakers behave more unethically, does it prove anything? No. It’s just another manipulation to keep us distracted.
I think the majority of the population are reasonable and practical, and look at the Rangel/Waters situation, not thinking, Oh great, blacks misbehaving again – but rather, Oh great, politicians misbehaving again.
Dana (8ba2fb) — 8/2/2010 @ 5:56 pmStill, Dana, the sense of entitlement that the whine reveals is astonishing.
SPQR (26be8b) — 8/2/2010 @ 5:58 pm#63
I’m still here too… though I’ve pretty much cut out the tequila keyboard syndrome… I’m down to Pabst Blue Ribbon posting syndrome.
Not sure if I’m going the right direction, but at least I’m moving..
“Never mistake activity for accomplishment”
-John Wooden
Maybe I’ll sue myself for benefits related to stress induced binges..
SteveG (5371de) — 8/2/2010 @ 6:00 pmthese ones care not a whit about guilt or justice or adjudication just how they can pimp it
Sickening.
happyfeet (19c1da) — 8/2/2010 @ 6:16 pmAW
He certainly got away with lying in a criminal probe to law enforcement – didnt he?
Look, blacks whites, eskimos, anyone shouldnt use race when going down in flames for their own illegal actions
Like I said – no one has been convicted yet – the only one charged has had numerous delays which is also mysterious
William Jefferson also was under investigation for years – dont get me started about the dear departed congressman from Hershey PA or Dan Mollohan who got beat and all his millions upon millions that – miraculously too appeared in his coffers after the Dems took power
Its Amazing, and dont ask me what color Mollahan is because I dont know…
Playing the race card for fraud is stupid totally asinine and stupid there is racism everywhere and nowhere
EricPWJohnson (ab6cc8) — 8/2/2010 @ 6:22 pmTo be absolutely stone-cold about it (Chandra Levy), I would tell her parents to go see the same chaplin that the Kopechne parents saw to get their ticket punched.
AD - RtR/OS! (95ef37) — 8/2/2010 @ 6:26 pmdaleyrocks
not an obsession just an observation
didnt a blogger get michellened and the DC police told him his body fluids were in a different address?
And we are suposed to believe these guys
Daley this is big its unnnoticed – because the storm is rising against the dems the chickens are coming home to roost
In fact maybe ABB and the boy wonder could have spent some quality time against Schakowsky, Mollohan, Condit, the DC school superintentdents that get paid more than the president there is a raft of graft out there
ripe for the plucking
and they wont need the tool belts and go-go boots until the after party this time
EricPWJohnson (ab6cc8) — 8/2/2010 @ 6:27 pmIt is obsessed.
JD (3dc31c) — 8/2/2010 @ 6:32 pmMad Maxine Waters
ColonelHaiku (537db7) — 8/2/2010 @ 6:34 pmsay aint misbehavin but
she aint no Dream Girl
EPWJ, if you don’t know Jim Treacher’s story, don’t try to tell it.
SPQR (26be8b) — 8/2/2010 @ 6:34 pmthese ones care not a whit about guilt or justice or adjudication just how they can pimp it
I could not agree more.
I refuse to complicate this: Clearly if there weren’t enough evidence to support charges, Rangel and Waters wouldn’t be in the news. Period. They’ve obviously done something to warrant a deeper look. Whether black or white, they’ve gotta have something on you to press forward with charges.
But as soon as I hear Waters or Rangel personally make accusations of racism, then to my mind they’re just confessing their guilt. That’s how sick and tired I am of this subject and the dishonesty that always seems coupled with it.
Dana (8ba2fb) — 8/2/2010 @ 6:41 pmRangel must ask his
ColonelHaiku (537db7) — 8/2/2010 @ 6:48 pmbuddies Raul and Fidel for
home when he released
The news I like is the “giveaway” of Newsweek by the Washington Post to the husband of Congresswoman Jane Harman.
AD - RtR/OS! (95ef37) — 8/2/2010 @ 6:49 pmNow, Princess Nancy is going to know what a hostile press is like.
Amen, Dana. It has become the last refuge of a scoundrel.
JD (3dc31c) — 8/2/2010 @ 6:52 pmSPQR
Then you tell it – wasnt trying too
think he got run over though and they didnt do sqat one about it right or at least at first…
EricPWJohnson (0f0a26) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:03 pmThere’s a “dual standard, one for most members and one for African-Americans,” said one member of the Congressional Black Caucus, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The member said it’s too easy for an outside group to damage someone’s reputation by filing a claim with OCE…
“This is stacked against you once an accusation is made,” the lawmaker added. “You’re guilty until proven otherwise.”
I don’t know enough about the claims re the OCE, but I will say that anyone who doesn’t have the conviction to speak up in their own name for a perceived egregious injustice while simultaneously belonging to a group whose very membership is contingent upon the color of skin (Membership is exclusive to blacks,[1]), really isn’t going to get a whole lot of concern from me.
Dana (8ba2fb) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:05 pmSo, from the paranoid part of my brain that searches for these kinds of things: has anyone considered the possibility of these ethics charges are intended to rally a voting block within the D party?
There has been a dearth of issues with which the Dems have gained traction such they can increase the likely voter turn-out in November, and they need something. In these ethics issues, they have found a potentially polarizing issue that the right will be most happy to own, and with which their own base may be goaded into action come election day.
JSinAZ (4b70c6) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:07 pmAddition to my previous: I cannot believe a committee of any party would issue these charges such that the hearings would commence the week of the election! This really does smell like an engineered situation on the part of the majority party – and the calculation is that a fouling of the racial waters (ahem) will add to the perceived backlash against AZ SB1070 – and get the mid-term party base in a fighting mood.
JSinAZ (4b70c6) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:13 pmThat passive-aggressive “raises questions” formulation is SOP for the MFM on these types of things. King of like some people say …
JD (3dc31c) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:14 pmJD – was that directed at me? If, so – would you restate in the vernacular, please?
JSinAZ (4b70c6) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:24 pmNo, that was not directed at you, JSinAZ. Sorry for the confusion, just a general observation.
JD (3dc31c) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:26 pmJD, JSinAZ freaked you out with that “vernacular” remark, admit it.
SPQR (26be8b) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:31 pmThen why do you do this absurd moby of a republican? You don’t really think anyone buys your act for any length of time, do you?
You asserted, in a stupid and slimy way, something you have no evidence for and is totally unrelated to this embarrassing to democrats topic.
It’s like to 100th time you’ve done it. I think it’s funny how defensive you are. Who cares if you’re a democrat? I like democrats. In my field, almost everyone is one and almost all my friends are. I like Aphrael and Leviticus as much as AW and JD.
Whatever you are, your points are fantasy and meant to be nasty.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:35 pmYup, SPQR. I am a stoopid hilljack, I had to google that just to find out what he meant.
JD (3dc31c) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:37 pmDustin doesn’t like me, so don’t let him try to fool you 😉
JD (3dc31c) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:38 pmrofl
SPQR (26be8b) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:42 pmSPQR – My tongue was firmly planted in my cheek when I typed that, unlike crissyhooten’s tongue with is generally firmly planted in the squeakhole of an underage goat non-consensually.
JD (3dc31c) — 8/2/2010 @ 7:43 pmhttp://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/08/lawmaker-suspects-someone-somewhere-in-congress-is-racist/60772/
two quotes
First the obvious, I’m highly skeptical that, say, Charlie Rangel or Bill Jefferson are victims of any “dual standard.” G.D. made a great point last week about confusing the health of allegedly black institutions, with the health of actual black people. The former is only important, in so much as it affects the latter. There’s a similar disconnect that happens with black politicians, a sense that the collective interest is somehow perfectly aligned with some politician’s individual interest. It is not clear to me that Rangel holding four rent-controlled apartments is somehow in the interest of black people in Harlem.
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What is in the interest of black voters, and really all voters, are competitive races which prevent politicians from turning their districts into fiefdoms. What is in the interest of black voters, and really all voters, is a political class that does not wax indignant when questioned on ethics, or offer some version of “the other guys are doing worse” as an excuse. “Twice as good” was always the rule of our parents’ generation. I suggest they employ it.
For those not familiar with him, Coates is the Atlantic’s resident black blogger. I believe he lives in NYC, but I’m not sure whether he actually lives in Wrangel’s district.
kishnevi (6c49d9) — 8/2/2010 @ 8:40 pmComparing, say, Palin’s or even Tom Delay’s ethics charges with Rangel’s, and I think it’s pretty clear that whatever double standard exists isn’t running against Rangel.
Hell, you don’t even have to go back so far. They issued a censure against a speaking-out-of-turn Joe Wilson. Rangel got a less severe reprimand for his actual criminal behavior.
Double standard? Yes, there probably is one, and I think that’s why Waters is playing this so loud. They ‘look at the double standard’ is actually code for ‘give me a slap on the wrist.’
Dustin (b54cdc) — 8/2/2010 @ 8:46 pmNaw, not really … Just crooked Democrats who think they can hide behind the now destroyed race card.
Bring on the trials.
bill-tb (541ea9) — 8/3/2010 @ 6:55 amSince the relevant thread is oversurbscribed, guess
what we found about the Sherrods
http://www.counterpunch.org/wilkins08022010.html
ian cormac (6718a9) — 8/3/2010 @ 6:57 am\
Saint Shirley cannot
ColonelHaiku (63753b) — 8/3/2010 @ 7:27 ambuy break just when think she new
Mother Teresa