What a Comparison

Orrin Hatch should feel proud. The semi-conservative Utah US Senator survived a challenge within his Republican Party, just as corrupt-ocrat Congressman Charles Rangel held the Democrat nomination to vie for (and inevitably retain in a uniformly Democrat district) his US House seat from New York. These two politicians have been mentioned in the same breath and together on the news feed crawl. Rangel has been censured by his own colleagues for his ethical and even legal lapses. Hatch is honorable but occasionally has crossed the aisle and voted more moderately than the most strident conservatives. What a symmetry though- the crooked candidate and the compromise candidate- about all they have in common is that they are ossified fossils who because of age are a bit out of touch. Both Hatch and Rangel should have been retired by their constituents.