Charlie Rangel is as crooked as the day is long, I’m afraid, but this dressing down of Luke Russert was look a cool drink of water on a very hot day:
So much win.
(via)
by John Cole| 39 Comments
This post is in: Our Failed Media Experiment
Charlie Rangel is as crooked as the day is long, I’m afraid, but this dressing down of Luke Russert was look a cool drink of water on a very hot day:
So much win.
(via)
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Electricgrendel
Oh my. That would awesome. lol
Davis X. Machina
Dear, dear Charlie.
I will miss him when he’s gone — but go he gotta.
Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle
All things being equal, Little Luke is an easy target because he didn’t earn the job, he was handed it. Just goes to show that none of those reporters have any self respect.
flounder
Maybe next time Rangel will ask Little Little Russ how he got his job. That is the question I want to hear answered on national TV.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Davis X. Machina: SIgh. I can’t help loving the guy. But really you’d think these old bulls would’ve learned their lesson from Dan Rostenkowski, and that was almost twenty years ago.
I don’t think for a minute Li’l Luke got the irony of “make a name for yourself”
Bnut
So sad, charlie, too bad. Don’t let it hit you on the way out.
kd bart
But I’m Luke Russert. I once had to spend a whole summer fetching Brian Williams’ dry cleaning.
Paddy
Every time Russert sycophantically adds, “My friend” to the end of the thank you’s of a segment, I want to take him out back and make him pick up dog poop. Smarmy lil shit.
BTD
I am a Rangel-bot, so take it with a grain of salt, BUUUUT, Rangel is NOT corrupt. He took no public monies. There were errors on his tax returns. He corrected them, paid his taxes and the attendant penalties.
He also went on a junket that was legal the year before he took it but illegal the year he took it. He later paid for the junket.
Corruption is not screwing up your taxes or violating an ethics rule about free junkets.
Selling a Senate seat is corruption. Rangel never sold a vote to anyone. Your charge is unfair.
BTD
@Bnut:
Charlie ain’t going anywhere. He’ll be reelected with ease.
RareSanity
@flounder:
I thought that was where it was going…matter of fact, he looked like he wanted to go there but, he stopped himself.
I was kinda disappointed, that silver-spoon, greenhorn threw in the air and Mr. Rangle went with the finger roll instead of slamming it home.
BTD
@BTD:
This is the “corruption” that is charged:
The actual report won’t be out until next week so who knows what is really in it. But “Legislative favors” is an interesting phrase and impossible to understand. I doubt that one has any way of standing.
He did get a sweetheart deal on the office rentals in NYC, but there is no allegation that he did anything for this treatment.
He did err on his tax returns, but that error was corrected and full payment was made.
This is not corruption.
Keith
On the plus side, it looks like Luke is finally starting to comb his hair when he goes on TV.
John Cole
@BTD: Hey- I like Rangel. I even remember praising him back in my wingnut days. But for something to make it out of the ethics panel, I generally sense a there, there.
someguy
@kd bart:
Man, first time I read that it looked like Luke Russert spent a summer “felching Brian Williams dry cleaner.” I thought, “hmmm… pretty weird frickin’ internship, you ask me.”
But seriously, Luke Russert isn’t fit to felch Rangel or anybody else. What a POS. Typical villager hit job for what amounts to minimal ethics violations that are probably surpassed daily by the least member of the Republican caucus.
monkeyboy
The video has been replaced at the (via) link.
maya
I’m still waiting for someone, anyone, from NBC, MSNBC or BSNBC, to ask George W. Bush why he wanted his cabinet to “find me a way to get into Iraq”,(a la Paul O’Neill), 10 days after he took office. Oh, Dave…… Daayvid……. David Gregory….. yoo hoo, anyone home in there? [Crickets]
PTirebiter
I mentioned this on an earlier thread, I saw it live on NBC nightly news. After seeing it, I couldn’t believe they aired the clip, complete with an intro from Brian Williams. It was almost like they were pranking Lil’Luke.
BTD
@John Cole:
Let’s see what happens next week. There is much less there than you think.
If John Ensign, who violated LAWS, not ethics rules, by asking a lobbying company to hire the husband of his mistress, is still sitting in the Senate, then Rangel screwing up his tax returns is surely not corruption worthy of this.
Jules
@BTD
Usually Rangel receives about 90% every other November. I think that he will have a much closer race this autumn, and will poll a mere 80-85%.
Davis X. Machina
I don’t think he can be stopped at the polls, but then Adam Clayton Powell Jr. never was, either — except by Charlie Rangel.
BTD
@Jules:
Yep.
Full disclosure again – I know Rangel a little bit and love him to death. So I am not only biased, I am a little bit blind about him. So maybe this ends up ending his career. But I doubt it. And I think it shouldn’t.
BTD
@Davis X. Machina:
Actually, Charlie Rangel did. Powell was expelled, then won election again. And then lost an election to Rangel.
Corner Stone
Just don’t care for this. Rangel can go fuck himself if he doesn’t like being questioned about ethics complaints by a reporter gaggle.
BTD
@BTD:
Ironically, Adam Clayton Powell IV has made a career of trying to avenge that loss, running against Rangel in the Dem primary a number of times, and will run again this year.
BTD
@Corner Stone:
True. But coming from Luke Russert, the disgust is somewhat understandable.
Russert is a walking billboard of the corruption that is nepotism.
joe from Lowell
Dude. Seriously.
Get off his lawn.
Lev
Dude’s 80. He should retire.
Corner Stone
@BTD:
Not going to argue that point at all. And it was hard for me to hear all the original question but it sounded straight forward.
Maybe in the transcript it comes out as unwarranted.
Otherwise, if he asked him about ethics complaints then Rangel has no business getting his dander up.
Or, I guess he can and as you say still be re-elected, but I’ll still suggest it’s rank.
If this had been any pool reporter and not Nepotism, Jr., would it have been an acceptable reaction?
ruemara
I dunno. Having grown up in NY, it’s hard not to think of Rangel as my Congressman. I love the smack down and while BTD may be correct (how odd is that to type!) the problem is that he is obviously being quite sloppy around the legalities. After sitting through way to many ethics training for guvmint employees, I can’t understand why he would be quite that sloppy. More than likely, he’ll be fine. If Diaper David is still there, then why should he go? Shit, Tom Delay spent most of spring gliding around awkwardly in spangles, instead of an orange jumpsuit.
RSR
haha, I enjoyed the url for this post
BTD
@Corner Stone:
Probably not. Probably was not to Luke Russert. But I think it is less objectionable to Russert.
BTD
@BTD:
Just noticed you knew all this already. Sorry.
Corner Stone
@BTD: Just watched it on Maddow with the SAP on.
That was bullshit from Rangel. He might’ve insulted Russert but moreover he embarrassed himself.
Dude’s been an elected official since before Jesus was in diapers and he can’t handle some punk like Russert asking a softball?
JD Rhoades
Rangel’s a charming scoundrel, Russert’s a tool. It’s hard to know who to pull for.
mogden
They are pretty much equally abhorrent.
arguingwithsignposts
I could be wrong about this, but in the earlier version of the video with more footage at the beginning of the exchange, it sounded like Russert called him “Senator.” did anyone else hear that?
Malron aka eclecticbrotha
I know Rangel is having a rough time right now but damn I love that voice.
Dude is also one of the few Dems that consistently holds his own when pitted against a wing nut on the Beltway bobblehead circuit.
DonkeyKong
“I still crap shrapnel I took in the Korean War you punks!” -Charlie Rangel