Not Sorry Charlie

I have to ascribe some cynical motives to proceedings in the United States House of Representatives regarding Charlie Rangel. First, his years of misconduct were ignored with no hearing taking place before the Ethics Committee until after he had safely won reelection. Then, this slick who saddled the American tax payer with onerous burdens only receives censure for ignoring the Federal Tax law he imposed on the rest of us but never quite fully complied with- if you were as cavalier about your income tax as Congressman Rangel had been, you would be in a Federal prison- not retaining a seat in the august body of the US House. One more aspect of the timing, with the hearing finally taking place before the newly-elected Republican majority in the House is sworn in, is that the toughest sanction against Rangel of expulsion was taken off the table, so the lame duck Democrats protect their own yet again. And if you think that censure would be the end of Rangel's career with Harlem voters, guess again. The only constraint the eighty year old fast talker has about being perpetually reelected is his health. The Rangel ethics scandal is just one more way that he and his Democrat party can give the heartland the middle finger.