Rangel launches rambling, blistering attack on Cheney

[cal04]

Rep. Charles Rangel, the gravelly voiced dean of the New York State congressional delegation, launched a blistering attack on Vice President Dick Cheney Friday night, calling him a "sick man" who was unfit to lead.

In a rambling interview on NY1, the Harlem Democrat also said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is the "guy who's running the country" -- not Cheney or President George W. Bush.

"Sometimes I don't think Cheney is awake enough to know what's going on," Rangel said. "He's a sick man, you know. He's got heart disease but the disease is not restricted to that part of his body. He grunts a lot so you never really know what he's thinking." Rangel, the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, made his comments when asked if he thought Bush's extended vacation in Crawford, Texas, was inappropriate.

Rangel said he did and then launched into his tirade about Cheney.
"Why do you think people are spending so much time praying for Bush's health?" he asked as the show's host, Davidson Goldin, sat stunned. "If he ever leaves and Cheney's in charge there's not very much else to pull together our nation."
In June, Rangel sparked a political firestorm when he suggested the war in Iraq was "as bad as the Holocaust."

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/manhattan/nyc-rang0827,0,2146720.story?coll=nyc-moreny-headlines

[bemildred]

1. LOL.

:popcorn:

[rateyes]

2. I love that guy....

he and Conyers are top-notch in my book! I wish every Democrat in Congress and the Senate had half their guts to speak the truth. Keep shouting it Charlie...and, don't EVER freaking apologize for it either.

[Lifelong Protester]

3. I agree

I mean, come ON, there must be more Dems in Congress who have some guts, they have to get a real tidal wave of opposition going, that is the whole problem, criminy, way over half of the people in this country don't approve of George (ratings, down, it's hard work, ratings, down and all that)... why can't the folks inside the beltway get a backbone and start ranting... go HOWARd DEAN!

[rateyes]

28. Welcome to DU..

Lifelong Protester!! :hi:

[geckosfeet]

4. Way to go Mr. Rangel. Those NYC dems are tough cookies. n/t

[go west young man]

5. Please God dont let Leiberman and the rest of the complacent bunch retain

thier seats in 2006. We need a house cleaning so bad. More Paul Hacketts, more Howard Deans and more John Conyers.

[rodeodance]

6. "He grunts a lot so you never really know what he's thinking." whow--

[TomInTib]

7. Shades of Bill Casey n/t

[PinkyisBlue]

26. "He grunts a lot so you never really know what he's thinking."

Too funny.

However, his comments really change the image in my mind of Cheney. Now, instead of a stern leader with a commanding presence, I see him as an older, ailing man who grunts and belches at will.
What about the rest of the White House bunch? I can see Rummy performing mime demos to break the tension during meetings, Bush snoring at his desk in the Oval Office, Condi listening to gospel music on her headphones.

[loudsue]

8. More Charlie Rangels!

"You forgot Poland".

In this case, you forgot Rangel!

:loveya: I love this guy!!! :grouphug:

:kick::kick::kick:

[burrowowl]

20. Yes WE WANT

REAL DEMS, LIKE THE BLACK CACUS!
NOT PSEUDO-DEMS LIKE THE DLC!

The only difference between DLCers and Repukes are that they are a tad worried about the environment, as is McCain; however, they have never made the connection between the wanton destruction of the environment by CORPORATISTS/FASCIST and the wanton destruction of the environment by CORPORATISTS/FASCIST!
Their environmental goals are save a few acres here and there and GODDAMN GAIA (SHE IS PAGAN YOU KNOW)!

[saigon68]

24. You mean the Turd "LIMPmANN" DINO REPUKE LITE from Conn.

A disgrace to this party if there ever was one.

[The_Casual_Observer]

9. He speaks the truth, but he is so marginalized by the

msm that nobody hears or listens.

[Dr Fate]

39. Marginalized? I see him on TV more than Tom Cruise!

He is on those shows all the time.

[wli]

10. the rethugs were offended by his Holocaust remark because...

... they had their hands in the original Holocaust and thought it a much grander affair than Iraq, and they have plans for a grander Holocaust yet to exterminate anyone who is "insufficiently pro-war" or otherwise not a Republican in the US.

[Nostradammit]

12. How come your profile is disabled, wli?

Just curious.

[wli]

13. I got a burst of spam shortly after signing up. n/t

[Ian David]

36. It's not as bad as The Holocaust... YET.

You shouldn't have to wait for it to become a Holocaust before you step-in.

So, I propose that instead of calling it "as bad as The Holocaust," we call it "A nascent Holocaust."

[wli]

41. the relentless persecution of the left has gone on for 150+ years...

The US has 2 million in prison at any given time. COINTELPRO/etc. makes it obscenely dangerous to express any political belief beyond throwing your vote away on a party that doesn't represent you that isn't even counted anyway. The Homeland Offense Gestapo is now here to launch full-scale military assaults on even apolitical gatherings and nightclubs that seem too "foreign" or "left-leaning."

When foreign governments lean left, the CIA rolls in with death squads, assassinations, defrauding elections, and if none of those succeed, the Pentagon rolls in with a full-scale war and invasion to install puppet dictators who commit the genocide they were trained to do at the School of the Americas. Adding these proxies into the total amplifies the violent deaths to a number dwarfing Hitler's own.

Watch that prison population. It's been exploding for decades. Watch all those US-sponsored dictators' body counts. It is a real and ongoing holocaust on a vastly grander scale than Hitler ever dreamed of.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

11. And the best part of all...

he won't be issuing an apology!!

[maddezmom]

15. true enough, Charlie always says what he means

and means what he says. :loveya: Charlie

[Stinky The Clown]

14. There are damned few in Congress who I really, really love

But Charlie Rangel is at the top of the list.

I really, really love this guy.

And right up there at the top along with him are such luminaries as Barney Frank. Sheila Jackson Lee. John Conyers. Maxine Waters. A few others.

The club is small.

But distinguished.

Go Charlie!

[TankLV]

37. Amen to that!

[William Seger]

16. I like Rangel, but...

... I was pretty shocked to find the following in this week's James Randi (http://randi.org) commentary:

SCIENTOLOGY GETS TAX FUNDS

Back a month ago, the media noted that our administration has chosen to support a dangerous and vindictive "religion," L. Ron Hubbard’s "Scientology" farce. Margarita Lopez, a Manhattan, New York, council member successfully lobbied for $630,000 in funding of a controversial Scientology "medical treatment" for rescue workers who worked on the 9/11 disaster, and then received nearly $100,000 in her political campaign account from Hubbard followers.

The "New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project," which based its "therapy" on Hubbard’s book, "Clear Body, Clear Mind," called for the rescue workers to abandon traditional medical treatment in favor of large amounts of niacin, long sauna baths and exercise. Hubbard was against all pharmaceuticals and preached "natural" modes of treatment. Of further interest to us is the fact that the "Project" was co-founded by Scientologist Tom Cruise. Questioned about the wisdom of Hubbard’s system, Lopez asked, "This is a program that should be funded. Who are the stupid people who are criticizing it?" Well, Ms. Lopez, just about everyone who doesn’t believe that intergalactic alien octopi were here billions of years ago imprisoning criminal souls in volcanoes…

Not to our astonishment, the "Project" also has supporters in Congress. Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Charles Rangel have both come out in favor of it and Representatives Vito Fossella and Carolyn McCarthy have requested $1.5 million in federal funds for the New York programs. But, after all, Scientology is a religion, and offers "faith-based" reasons for acceptance, so it must be okay with the White House, right?

Scientology is a truly nutty "religion" and the Church of Scientology is a truly dangerous and greedy organization. Giving them tax money is bad enough, but giving NY rescue workers a pile of crapola instead of genuine medical treatment is downright criminal.

[Dogmudgeon]

27. Thomas Szasz has a similar problem

He appears to be on the board of both CSICOP and the CCHR, Scientology's anti-psych "Citizens Commission on Human Rights". (See http://www.cchr.org toward the bottom of the page on the right.)

Chances are Schumer, Rangel, and Margarita Lopez had no previous contact with the Cof$, didn't identify "The Purif" as being associated with it, and were receptive when the church and/or program approached them. It's the kind of mistake many politicians make when they get schmoozed by cults. Fred "God Hates Fags" Phelps conned Bill and Hillary into a photo-op, too.

The hate, the craziness, and the intergalactic alien octopi are all kept safely out of the picture until later.

--p!

[koopie57]

31. I'm sure you could dig up

many articles about decisions made by "the good guys" that would put them in an unfavorable light. Anyone who makes decisions will make one I don't agree with. The question is how seriously do I disagree with it.

[MissWaverly]

32. interesting you should say this

I read a translated article from a Polish newspaper saying that Polish
workers that helped at 9-11 are dying from exposure to contaminants at
ground zero after 9-11. The article noted that George Bush demanded that the unused "Federal Funds" be returned (of course), you notice that he knows down to the last decimal place what money is available for some programs, but is unable to account for 9 billion missing in Iraq. Hey there's probably a Head Start down in Florida that is using Federal Funds to feed a goldfish. (Quick, bring in the investigators).

[Judi Lynn]

17. If Charles Rangel only had lacked enough character to be a Republican

you wouldn't read nasty little pieces claiming he has a "gravelly" voice, it would be a "distinctive" voice, he wouldn't "launch rambling, blistering attacks," he would simply "comment," or "point out" or "remark" and he'd never "launch into a tirade," instead he'd "address issues."

It wouldn't have been written that the show's delicate host "sat stunned." No, he probably would have "beamed appreciately."

Charles Rangel is terrific, always has been. Nothing these underhanded, hateful idiots can do will ever make him seem otherwise.

[Robeson]

18. Exactly, it would have stated he had an "authoritative" voice.....

....and instead of "blistering attacks" they would say he "posed the questions that needed asking".....well you get/got the picture.

[Judi Lynn]

19. Yes, you've got it! Can't wait 'til these "journalists" are forced to eat

their smug, spiteful words.

[MADem]

33. I had a problem, too, with the RAMBLING word in that headline

Charlie does not RAMBLE--he kicks ass and takes names. He stays on point, on message, and does not let people slap him down without slapping back.

This was not journalism, it was an opinion/subtle hit piece, poorly disguised as journalism.

They oughta be ashamed, but then, that takes a conscience.

[satya]

21. One of my favorite Rangel quotes:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23747-2005Apr3.html

But there was nothing inadvertent about a quip from Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), second-most senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus. Rangel was interviewed on New York Public Television WLIW21 last Monday night and asked for his quick reaction to various people. The first was Bush.

"Well," Rangel said. "I really think that he shatters the myth of white supremacy once and for all; it shows that, in this great country, anybody can become president."

[fernsibal]

23. Rangel's quote re: Bush

Anybody from any race can become president...even cro-magnons.

[Voltaire99]

22. Brilliant (nt)

[pinniped]

25. Tomorrow the sick POS will be asking for an apology. Rangel needs to...

tell him to go F!@# himself.

[tabasco]

29. Charlie is an Army vet.

Hats off to ya' Brother Charlie ! :yourock:

[tinfoilinfor2005]

30. The show's host was shocked, SHOCKED

to hear any criticism of a man who's only goal in life is to line his pockets with stolen government money.

Charlie was being funny and rattling old cheney's cage. In reality, cheney is a very poisonous viper who still has plenty of venom left, lest we forget his successful attempt to manipulate and control energy sources, and his unrivaled success at implementing Halliburton as the primary beneficiary of the spoils of war.

[cal04]

34. No holds barred as Rangel bashes veep/NY Daily News

Rangel, who was on a roll last night, also took a potshot at the President, who has spent the last month at his ranch in Texas.

When asked if Bush takes too much vacation time, Rangel replied, "Oh, no, it makes the country a lot more safe - the further Bush is away from Washington the better it is."

A spokeswoman for the vice president declined to comment.
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/340973p-291122c.html

[etherealtruth]

35. Charlie Rangel "calls it like he see's it"

[Dr Fate]

38. Are there any factual errors in these statements?

:)

[Demeter]

40. Cheney Is One Of Many Sick Old White Guys In Charge

destroying our businesses, schools, churches, political system, cities, suburbs, towns, ecology, world standing and respect, marriages, the next generation and the previous, not to mention history, capital, and science.

So, what are we going to do about it?

[yorkiemommie1]

42. ' cheney is a fun, casual guy '

according to someone i know who contracts w/ the DOD in HI. and dearly wants to see HI. turn red.


:puke:

[0007]

43. Rangel doesn't ramble or slur his words like junior,

and as far as the shows host, Davidson Golding, being stunned, how does this staff writer, Glenn Thrush, know this? Fuck the NY Newsday, and it's whorey crew.

Kudos for Charlie Rangel.