The Atlantic - Latest Comments in Racist!

Re: Racist!

Darth Thulhu — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:25:58 -0000

Rangel's increasingly unbelievable dodges to each new NYT story are disgusting to listen to, because you know he's getting away with epic-level cavalier incompetence (at absolute best) that would earn anyone here massive fines and possible jailtime. There's no contrition, no remorse, no accountability, no chance of being primaried out, and no stomach for reprimand on Pelosi's part unless and until a damned fridgeworth of cash gets found.

Rangel is exactly like Rostenkowski and DeLay and needs to get his corrupt butt tossed.

Re: Racist!

sporcupine — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:42:52 -0000

I don't assume the Politico story is true.

Having watched legislative ethics panels for a while, I'm surprised that they have any active cases at all. The members love to toss complaints out as having too little proof, or to handle those with good proof as requiring only very quick and very collegial reminders that never ever go public.

Any ongoing investigation suggests that someone filed a small mountain of documents and listed a small army of witnesses. It suggests a staff of investigators and lawyers assembling all manner of evidence that requires months of staff work to sort through. It suggests a kind of complaint that is hardly ever filed, created by a kind of effort hardly ever made. It suggests very deep pockets and very committed investors.

So if the story is sound, it's worth asking who's building that kind of complaint.

Re: Racist!

rikyrah — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:07:14 -0000

I've been waiting for forever and a day for them to investigate Senator Dianne Feinstein with the money her husband has gotten through the government.

Re: Racist!

rikyrah — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:04:21 -0000

just cause you're paranoid DON'T mean that they're not out to get you.

period.

Re: Racist!

MaddogPHL — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:20:24 -0000

One can speak only to the article and not to the alleged corruption, because not only is it anonymously sourced, as TNC points out, but there is little detail to the allegations. It's lazy to say "some black members" of Congress are outraged, or "A number of CBC members opposed the resolution establishing the OCE [Office of Congressional Ethics]". Who? How many? Did any other members of congress, black or white, D or R, oppose the resolution? The article doesn't say. On the other hand, it's really weak for a black lawmaker to deflect scrutiny by pointing a finger at a fellow Democrat, Jane Harman.

Re: Racist!

Gotta Ask Why — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:19:24 -0000

Like TNC, I won't call racism based on an article devoid of facts and attributable sources. But out of 435 members of the House of Representatives there there are 7 full-scale investigations and all are being conducted on members of the Congressional Black Caucus? Really???

Now I'm stating explicitly that I do NOT believe that Nancy Pelosi et al in the House of Reps are racist. But it's hard to ignore the fact that Blacks and other Minorities still, after all of the progress that has been made, pay a much higher price for living than Whites do so I'll just have to file this story along with:

Blacks being more likely to be sent to prison for a drug related offense than a White person despite similar levels of drug usage. (http://www.rawstory.com/news/a...

Blacks being more likely to be stopped and searched during traffic stops (http://www.redorbit.com/news/g...

Blacks and Hispanics consistently paying higher rates for mortgages than Whites (http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/3...

...

That being said, I'm not surprised that institutional racism still exists will just try to "keep on, keepin' on!"

Re: Racist!

thefoulness — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:55:34 -0000

I'm surprised Charles Rangel hasn't been mentioned yet. He's one of the most powerful men in Washington, a Democratic committee chairman, and looks like he might be a crook. Rangel has been investigated for months, and if he wasn't so powerful, would have already resigned his chairmanship, if not his seat in Congress.

I'm only speculating on a hypothesis, but it seems possible the Rangel scandal could take down some other Reps. And that this gossip/leak is just somebody trying to throw sand on the fire.

Re: Racist!

Carrington — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:41:06 -0000

Per Tdawg11870, safe seats tend to be corrupt seats.

Re: Racist!

Jamilah — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:28:09 -0000

That line bothered me as well. How do you defend someone who not only was found with cash in his freezer but was also convicted.

Unfortunately, the CBC is filled with a significant number of clowns.

Re: Racist!

Tel — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:16:13 -0000

I'll admit I haven't been following this for awhile - but this line from the article really jumped out at me.

"Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are still fuming over Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to oust then-Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) from the House Ways and Means Committee in 2006..."

For real? They're saying the CBC is mad that, when a guy who's under investigation for bribery is found with 90 grand in his freezer, he loses his committee post? And that three years later, even after he was actually convicted of bribery, they're still mad over it? Man, either the CBC really is filled with a bunch of clowns, or Politico's editorial department is. (Not that the two are mutually exclusive).

Re: Racist!

tdawg11870 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:57:51 -0000

Politico is crummy: they're lazy, they regurgitate talking points and it seems like the main purpose of the entire site is to get links from Drudge.

That being said, there's some truth in this. The problem is not with the CBC per se, but the fact that majority-minority districts experience far lower-than-average turnover. Just like Tom DeLay and Duke Cunningham, very long periods in office increase the odds of corruption and ethical failures. The set-aside districts benefit both incumbent Democrats and neighboring-district Republicans, so that won't be changed any time soon.

Really, the only hope is that more than one political party will do more to shed its Jim Crow wing and make itself appealing to African-Americans in a way that involves more than tossing up some pictures of Jackie Robinson on its website. Think about it: if you were a 19-year-old freshman standing at the schoolhouse door with George Wallace, you're a 65-year-old white guy now, which puts you smack in the middle of the "keep government out of my Medicare"/racist email forwarding/bone-in-nose-sign waving Tea Party demographic.

There are huge caveats inherent in that statement (not nearly all Republicans, or seniors, or southerners are racist) but I think you'll see big, big changes once that generation dies out over the next couple of decades. By 2030, a Republican candidate in Harlem may break the 25% mark. Crazy, I know.

Re: Racist!

Byrk — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:57:44 -0000

I think the takedown of Fox News by Jon Stewart was pretty good, illustrating how Fox News works. What they do is separate their news and opinion time slots and try to pretend they are separate parts. However, the opinion side makes outrageous comments and then the news side reports that "some people claim that Obama is doing X" Then they expect us to believe that it's just the news, we're just reporting what people are saying.

Re: Racist!

DC Fem — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:17:53 -0000

Politico is the Fox news of the web. They drop their unsourced bombs, move on and then stare innocently and say, "Who Me?" when someone dares to question their "news" stories.