What are we to make of Congressman Charles Rangel now that even President Obama has thrown him “under the bus” (something Obama is expert at doing to anyone inconvenient, so look out Maxine), saying that Rangel should “end his career with dignity”? Perhaps we need to look back to whence Rangel came from, New York’s “Adam Clayton Powell, Junior” Congressional District.
First of all: what’s with representatives from this district and tropical venues?
Here’s Charlie Rangel contemplating ending his career in dignity on his beach in the Caribbean:
Rangel’s predecessor, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., while incognito from his own Democrat Congress, took to Port Royale in Bimini while on the lam:
“Among Port Royale’s other notable residents was Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., who was excluded from the U.S. House of Representatives because of allegations that he misappropriated Committee funds for personal use. He stayed in Bimini from January, 1967 to April, 1969 in self-imposed exile until the Supreme Court ruled that the House had acted unconstitutionally when it excluded Powell, a duly elected member.”
Maybe Charlie should take a cue from his district’s legendary congressman and quickly escape to his villa at Punta Cana Resort in the Caribbean’s Dominican Republic before the so-called “Ethics Committee” reigns down on him as it did Powell until The Supremes came to his rescue. If he holds out until Kagan is seated, with the help of the “Wise Latino”, the Supremes might just come to his rescue, too.
Seriously: Rangel has nothing to lose and everything to maintain. Away from the Washington-New York media axis that now considers him fair game (witness that recently newbie and heir apparent, MSNBC’s Luke Russert, took a foray into gotcha journalism with Charlie), and distancing himself from his fellow Democrat Congresswoman Maxine Waters, now officially in her own hot water, Charlie has no real reason to experience yet another worst day of his life.
Hell, even former Congressman, James “Squirrel Head” Traficant, could have been re-elected while serving his term in prison he was so beloved in his district (despite the fact that thanks to his mug shot, his constituents now realize that was not his hair, but one of the world’s worst rugs that gave him his trademark haircut). Obviously, Waters and Rangel could easily be re-elected, too: these are very forgiving, “benign neglect” voters in these Democrat controlled districts.
Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald declared: “There are no second acts in American lives.” Fitzgerald should have stuck to tending to Zelda as Richard Nixon proved him wrong in 1968 and in 1972. Nixon’s resignation shows that he should have quit while he was still ahead, but there is no need for Charlie to: hang in there by going on the lam Congressman Rangel!
Indeed Rangel should take a cue from Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., whose motto and “biopic” was appropriately entitled, Keep The Faith Baby.
Nicholas Thimmesch II, son of the late Los Angeles Times columnist Nick Thimmesch, is a longtime media and communications consultant to numerous campaigns, government representatives and public policy organizations, serving in the Reagan White House as a staff writer.