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| Rangel in 'Holocaust' firestorm |
| 2005-06-09 |
| Keep digging, boys! Powerful lawmaker Charlie Rangel has provoked the ire of the Anti-Defamation League by likening U.S. military action in Iraq to the Holocaust of World War II. The Iraq war "is the biggest fraud ever committed on the people of this country. ... This is just as bad as the 6 million Jews being killed," the 74-year-old Harlem Democrat insisted during a Monday radio appearance on the WWRL-AM morning show with Steve Malzberg and Karen Hunter. "The whole world knew and they were quiet about it because it wasn't their ox being gored." Nice to be in a bulletproof district, huh Charlie? You can spout whatever you want and they can't lay a glove on you. When interviewer Malzberg challenged Rangel's analogy, the congressman replied: "I am saying that people's silence when they know things terrible are happening is the same thing as the Holocaust." Yesterday, after Malzberg sent me an audiotape of Rangel's appearance, ADL President Abraham Foxman responded: "It is so outrageous that a leader of Congress would compare one thing to the other. Sometimes we say it's ignorance. Charlie Rangel is not ignorant. Charlie Rangel has been there." That's right. And he knows he'll always get away with it. On the radio show, Rangel also suggested that proponents of military action - namely Vice President Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Rumsfeld's former deputy Paul Wolfowitz and Pentagon adviser Richard Perle - don't worry about the Americans in Iraq because they're "black and poor white soldiers" from "the lower economic class. They had a plan to put our kids in harm's way long before 9/11," Rangel said. "Because it's not their kids ... that's exactly why. They go and pick a fight, and then say, 'I'll hold your coat.'" You left out Latinos, Charlie. They'll be pissed. Foxman retorted: "It is so outrageous that I think he owes an apology not only to the families of the victims of the Shoah, but he also owes an apology to the soldiers who are fighting for freedom. If the world had recognized the evil of Hitler early enough - just like we're confronting the evil of terrorism and fundamentalism now - then maybe the 6 million wouldn't have died." Don't hold your breath waiting for that apology. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #11 Charlie's invoked Godwin's Law, which means we win! |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2005-06-09 21:40 |
| #10 "Mouth, don't fail me now ....." |
| Posted by: too true 2005-06-09 20:16 |
| #9 Look! I'm in the news again! Wow - it works every time! Senate seat here I come. |
| Posted by: Charlie Rangel 2005-06-09 18:39 |
| #8 Charlie Rangel served this country well in the Korean War and the Civil Rights movement but age and power have been clouding his judgment ever. It has long since become opaque. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2005-06-09 16:55 |
| #7 He's a fine representaqtive of his district. Course I wouldn't play golf with 'em. well unless he was carring the bag of course. Have you seen the the CRFX Mod II? Propane Baby. |
| Posted by: R Byrd Kleagle 2005-06-09 16:35 |
| #6 Charlie's got a way with sticking his own foot in his ... nevermind ... every couple of months. Sad fact is that an idiotic racist can pass as a thoughtful and intelligent person in some quarters. Worse yet, the same type of nutter can get elected. |
| Posted by: Tkat 2005-06-09 16:09 |
| #5 Not "powerful". Think of him as "influential", like the "influential" Association of Moslem Scholars. I think in either case, "influential" has some associated meaning with influenza or something. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-06-09 12:33 |
| #4 The sad part is that there are a lot of people out there that want to belive crap like this and do believe every word out of his mouth. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2005-06-09 12:12 |
| #3 Rangel is also a big, big supporter of Castro. Essentially all the big cheeses in Castros regime are whites. The opponents and persecuted include whites, browns and blacks. Hmmm. |
| Posted by: mhw 2005-06-09 12:07 |
| #2 Spot-on, BH. Rangel's just another race-baiting ankle-biting racist asswipe - from a safe district. I needn't add that it's BLUE, do I? Nah, didn't think so, heh. I would be banned for saying what I really think of people like Rangel. Blood-sucking leech is as close as I dare. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-06-09 12:07 |
| #1 Step 1: Spout some hateful, ignorant bullsh*t and wait for the backlash. Step 2: When people complain, say they just want to keep a black man from speaking his mind and watch them slink away. Step 3: Repeat as necessary. |
| Posted by: BH 2005-06-09 11:53 |