The First Oreo of the Week

by The Cranky Media Guy

Rep. Charles Rangel

Until recently, we were under the impression that Charlie Rangel was one of the few liberals left in Congress.  Imagine our surprise when we found out that Good Ol' Charlie voted to support that disgusting Chinese trade bill that Big Business spent tons o' bucks to shove down America's collective throat.  You know, the one that's gonna enable American businesses to sell shiny electrical objects to Chinese workers who make a whopping 13 cents an hour. You know, the bill that, according to the business operators, is absolutely not about allowing American businesses to set up shop in China, pay the locals peanuts and screw the unions back home at the same time.  That bill.

Rangel's pretty good when he appears on the Sunday morning poli-talk shows.  He knows how to shovel the shit.  Given his support for a bill that potentially threatens the livelihood of a lot of his middle and lower-middle class constituents, though, he isn't half as smart as we previously thought.  Rangel needs to take a look at a map of the district he represents.  That ain't Beverly Hills, Charlie; it's Harlem.  A lot of the people who voted for you hold the type of semi-skilled and unskilled jobs that the backers of that treasonous bill want to ship across the Pacific.

It should be noted that Rangel jumped onto the Trade Brigade pretty late in the process.  It might be that he figured it was going to pass with or without his support, so going along with the majority wouldn't really change anything, but voting for it might get him something down the road.  That is, after all, how a lot of business gets done on the Hill.  Rangel is a black Congressman in a largely black district.  As such, he has virtually no chance of losing his next election.  It still really blows to watch a supposed "liberal" sell his soul.  Rangel could have voted against the bill and used the opportunity to take a moral stand, but noooooooo.

Of course, when you take a look at some of the bills Charlie's sponsored in Congress lately, you realize that he's really just another overpaid hack, rather than a conscientious "people's representative".  Check out  Res. 343, which Rangel sponsored this year.  Its purpose?  "Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the importance of families eating together."  Wow.  Way to go out on a limb there, Charlie.  I'll bet the anti families-eating-together people are quaking in their boots.

Then there's Res. 434, another Rangel-sponsored proposal.  It was "a resolution expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Children are America's Greatest Assets."  (capitalization courtesy of Rangel's House web site)

For shit like that we pay this butterball over 150G's a year?  Charlie, Charlie, Charlie.  It's becoming increasingly apparent that you are no liberal (and certainly no friend to the working men and women who live in your district).  If you resemble anything at all, it's the character Algonquin J. Calhoun, the lawyer from the old Amos and Andy show.  Remember him, Charlie?  He was a jive-talking guy who used his status in the community to take advantage of his brothers and sisters.  Sound familiar, Charlie?

Knowing that your gig is safe is no excuse to sell your constituency down the river.  In the long run, all it accomplishes is that it shows you for the weasel you really are.