Charlie Rangel: Democrat Attack Machine

There aren't many reasons to watch "Hannity and Colmes" on the Fox News Channel if you are looking for halfway decent analysis. Colmes consistently makes the most intellectually juvenile points while Hannity just berates the guests into submission. However, if you like your politics like you like your wrestling then this is the show for you.

One reoccurring character that I think deserves his own debate show across from Ann Coulter is Harlem Representative, Charlie Rangel (D). This guy is the Stone Cold Steve Austin of talking head analysis and pop culture politics. He can say and do anything he wants (within reason) and nobody ever challenges him on it. I cannot recall the last time he faced a serious opponent from the Republican Party for his seat in the House of Representatives. His district is Harlem, which is home to the Apollo Theater and most recently Bill Clinton's office. Unless there's a biblical exodus of African-Americans living there I'm fairly certain his seat is more than safely guarded.

And that is what makes Charlie Rangel great to listen to. He doesn't have to parse his words. He doesn't have to hold anything back. He just lets it rip, damning political correctness and all that it stands for. I've yet to see anyone else stand up to Sean Hannity the way he does. Mind you, I disagree with just about everything the man says and stands for but I'll be a monkey's uncle if when he's on I'm not completely fixated on his visage. He's like Al Sharpton but with a respectable political career.

Rangel appears to be the permanent vice-president of the Democratic Party. In other words, he is their go-to attack dog for any issue that needs attention brought to it. For example, before the election it was Rangel that introduced a bill into the House that if passed would have brought back the draft.

"Yesterday's draft bill — sponsored by Rep. Charles B. Rangel, New York Democrat — was defeated 402-2, with even Mr. Rangel voting against the proposal that called for reinstituting the practice abandoned in 1973 when the military converted to an all-volunteer force...

Mr. Rangel said that his bill deserved "serious consideration" and that the surprise vote, scheduled just yesterday morning, was a "blatant politicization of the issue of meeting our military staffing requirements."

The bill, which Mr. Rangel said he introduced to make a political point that the military is being stretched too thin under Mr. Bush, would have required everyone, including women, between the ages of 18 to 26, to serve a period of military service," (Credit The Washington Times).

What made this episode so dastardly is exactly the sort of thing that makes Rangel so damn entertaining. This guy can introduce strictly for political purposes and with no intentions of voting for it himself and he suffers no political damage. Late in the election cycle the Dems needed to invent an issue that would spark interest in likely Kerry voters, namely the youth vote. And that's where Rangel does his dirty work. He takes advantage of mounting fears of a draft and then submits legislation that actually calls for reenacting it. The best part is, for a while there, the Bush Administration really did take the rap for it. It was absolutely brilliant until of course the GOP called his bluff and put it to a vote. I tell you, Vince McMahon couldn't write something this good. Rangel is the political mafia king of Harlem, "and there is no higher!"

The latest dirty trick has so far, followed much the same path as the draft issue. This time Rangel is gunning not at a specific issue, but a specific person. This from Newsmax.com:

"Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., announced on Sunday that he's introducing legislation to impeach Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

"I put in a bill for his resignation. It's shameful," Rangel told NBC's "News Forum" in New York. 'Not only for his resignation, for his impeachment as well, because he would allow us to believe that he was shocked and he did not know exactly what we would be faced with [in Iraq].' "

What chutzpa! What audacity! And Frankly, how very, very cheeky indeed! Better men than Rangel have tried to take on the Bush hydra and all of its many tentacles head on and have suffered greatly for it. Not this guy however, he's a real pro. He's taken it upon himself to take out old McNamara himself, Donald Rumsfeld. What do you do with a guy like that? How do you handle a seemingly invincible political opponent whom has no fear of clearly more powerful figures?

See, this is why I love Charlie Rangel. He may say some of the strangest comments I've ever heard - I mean stuff that would make Dennis Kucinich raise a questioning eyebrow but he's one of the few people in Washington that are not hiding behind a wall of rhetoric.

Straight talk is good, even when it's insane.