Charles Rangel, thou art either incompetent or corrupt...

[redneckgaijin]

Remember Charlie Rangel, the Congressional representative from New York City who wants to enact a universal draft?

Well, he got quoted by the New York Observer...

So now that the Democrats have won control of Congress, what should they do about the war in Iraq?

“I never understand that question,” answered Charlie Rangel, the incoming chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. “You have a President that’s in deep shit. He got us into the war, and all the reasons he gave have been proven invalid, and the whole electorate was so pissed off that they got rid of anyone they could have, and then they ask, ‘What is the Democrats’ solution?’”

Mr. Rangel, how dare you act as if Iraq is not your problem. You are a very senior member of a Congress which, as of Jan. 3, 2007, will be controlled by the Democratic Party. Your freshman colleagues were elected for one reason above all others: to change the situation in Iraq. The voters have taken that responsibility away from the Republicans, who have been criminally inept in exercising it, and have handed it to YOU. And your apparent response is, "Why are you asking me for? It's not MY fault! I'm not responsible!"

You know, if it wasn't for the average of 10 dead and 100 wounded US soldiers per week, I might actually hope you and your party DO pretend it's not your responsibility. If the Democrats don't take some decisive action to end the war and bring our troops out of Iraq, then either the electorate will run back to the Republicans in 2008... or else, maybe, voters will abandon the old two parties for other options, despite the efforts of you and yours to take those options away from them through "campaign finance reform" and ballot access restrictions.

And you in particular, Mr. Rangel, have no excuse. You've been in Congress since the LAST time Democrats were in power. You were in Congress when it voted to give Bush authority to invade Iraq. You were in Congress for each and every budget supplement to create money from nothing to pay the bills for the Iraq war. You've been briefed time and time and time and time again on this war- the forces, the logistics, the strategy, the tactics. Yet in all these years, apparently you've never bothered to give the war a thought- aside from remembering to blame the Republicans for it.

Charles Rangel, you disgrace your office and your nation.

Comments

[gau.livejournal.com]

So, it was all a sham, eh? Not that I'm particularly surprised. On the other hand, I was kinda hoping for the universal draft, because I believe it would invalidate the workability of 10 USC 654 ("Don't Ask, Don't Tell"), thus allowing me to sign up for military service.

One of the things that really disappointed me about the way the Democrats ran the 2006 election was that their rallying cry was "we're not Republican!" (even though some who ran on the Democratic ticket were as conservative as any Republican one cares to mention.)

It also seems as if there is a severe lack of communication between the Democratic Party and the U.S. Military. While this isn't surprising, given the very strong conservative slant of many members of the military, it is certainly problematic. (Of course that relationship is circular; the military, at both the upper level and the "man-on-the-ground" level, sees the Democrats as a threat.)

I definitely agree that for Mr. Rangel to be giving us a giant shrug as a response to three years of debate on this subject is insulting. As a representative of the people, he has the RESPONSIBILITY to understand what the country should do about one of the the worst foreign policy debacles in our nation's history. I'd apologize on behalf of the Democratic Party...but these days I wonder if I'm even part of the same party anymore.

[faxpaladin.livejournal.com]

I vote "incompetent." Though "both" is always a possibility...

A Disgrace?

[kyllein.livejournal.com]

While the Honorable Mr Rangel (and it took an act of Congress for him to be that) may consider that the voters have the memory of two-year olds; the real disgrace is the Party that campaigned him and the people who elected him. He hasn't changed any, yet the voters approved him.