Absolute Power

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." ............ British Lord Acton, 1887

Apparently, Lord Acton had people like NY Rep. Charlie Rangel in mind when he made that now-famous statement. Old Charlie, the ultra, ultra, liberal Demoncrat, has been a liar, a thief, and a tax cheat for most of his 40 year political career, much like his predecessor Adam Clayton Powell. This is not some big revelation since there are very few people, especially in Harlem, who don't know it. People around the country might ask, "why do they keep re-electing him"? Now that's a perfectly rational question, unless you're from Harlem or DC. You see, in Harlem, Charlie is known as "the govt money tree", that is, he's the guy that brings home the bacon ($$) to Harlem. And in this case, that bacon is your tax money. His pals in DC won't bring it up because if they did, Charlie just might tell the country what his pals are also doing.

Now it seems, Charlie is in hot water. Why? It's the standard reason. Greed! Although in his case, it's extreme greed. Charlie's been "doing his thing" for so long that he feels it's legal! Actually, he's been stealing and lying for so long because, a) he's a NYC liberal, and b) he's black. In politics, especially in NYC and DC politics, that means a free pass. But old Charlie has been really pushing it, so much so, that he's now forced someone to turn the lights on him. Not good! But, since the entire govt. is controlled by his fellow Demoncrats, Charlie's been able to keep his very powerful job in congress, (he actually writes the tax laws! LOL) and has so far managed to dodge the slings and arrows coming from the weakling Republicans. Of course, Charlie's not at all bothered by the fact that he's making fools of every hard-working American tax payer. To Charlie, that's what they're for.

As expected, Charlies pals on the Congressional Black Caucus, and even the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, are coming to his aid. (I assume the Congressional White Caucus is still working on their statement) I guess the general feeling in these two groups is, "hey, he's black and he's been doing this so long, why not just let him ride". Even though the charges, serious charges, are mounting higher by the day, i'm betting old Charlie can con his way out of this. Again. A Demoncrat-controlled congress. A black president. Well, half black. I'll bet Charlie sees a mild slap-on-the-wrist coming, if anything. You know what? I'm betting he's right!


http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/08/cbc-efforts-oust-rangel-tax-writing-post-partisan-attempts/