The Beat Goes On

Rep. Charlie Rangel(D-NY) has finally stepped down temporarily as Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. After dragging her heels for 2+ years, Speaker Pelosi has finally dropped the hammer on Rangel. Apparently even the Speaker can no longer justify protecting a scoundrel.

Is Charlie Rangel an honorable man simply caught up in a series of oversights caused by incompetent staff? I think not. Why? Well, let’s take a look at one of Charlie’s longest-standing abuses of power. For years now, he has tied up not less than four rent controlled apartments for his personal and business use. Four.

Illegal? No, not technically. Abusive? You bet! Is it within the spirit of our rent control laws for a powerful and wealthy Congressman to maintain one of these spaces let alone four? Is this way rent control was meant to be applied? These apartments could be rented to young people just starting out in careers or marriage. When he’s not being chauffeured around at our expense, Mr. Rangel drives a Mercedes Benz automobile. He owns a lavish villa in the Caribbean which he has not paid his taxes on.

Well, its not against the law and, after all, Ed Koch, David Dinkins, and David Paterson have all lived in rent controlled apartments for years. Apparently Rangel has plenty of company from his compadres. Shame on them as well.

Now I’m no fan of rent control – I think it is a law that forces one person to subsidize the life style of another. If the people of the state believe that rent control is necessary, then all of the people of the state ought to subsidize the needy – not one landlord. At the very least, there ought to be a public shaming of any well-to-do public servant who abuses the system in such a manner.

No, Charlie Rangel is not an honorable man. A man who forces his constituents to subsidize his personal living arrangements has no honor. A man who imposes taxes on us that he fails to pay himself is not honorable. A man who takes advantage of every perk that is his due…and more than a few that are not…well, you get the point. Shame.

And the beat goes on….

Sourcing on Rent Control:
Rent Control for the Rich & Famous
Rent Stabilized Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous

In what country does 30 hours equal 50 minutes? That would be LiberalLand…the land where senior Administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, were unaware that Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab (a.k.a. the Panty Bomber) had been charged as a criminal and Mirandized after only 50 minutes of questioning. He was introduced to his taxpayer-provided legal counsel sometime on December 27th.

It took a full month of fumbling around in the haze that generally obscures reality in LiberalLand before these revealing facts came to light. It appears that the President wasn’t the only one pushing back from his Christmas Day turkey dinner, popping the waist button on his pants, and having a second piece of that apple pie.

Apparently there was no reason to interrupt anyone’s Christmas dinner to see to the man who very nearly blew several hundred innocents to smithereens in the Christmas Day skies over Detroit. What a picture that would have made in between dinner courses. Never fear…the authorities were perfectly capable of handling the Panty Bomber without help from specially trained interrogators.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told us countless times that the Panty Bomber had been interrogated for 30 hours before being Mirandized and that he had given up important information about terrorist activities. Of course, Mr. Gibbs refused to elaborate and the state-sponsored media repeated the talking points and asked few questions.

No one asked, for instance, how the Panty Bomber could have been questioned for 30 hours despite his serious self-inflicted wounds in what is arguably the most sensitive area of the male anatomy. No one asked if he had been sedated and for how long. No one asked how long he was under treatment by doctors. No one asked how much time he spent asleep or unconscious.

Indeed, no one even thought to ask if the slick new High Value Detainee Interrogation Unit (HIG) had been mobilized to make the most of the 50 minutes. Really! You can read all about HIG in the government’s own press release issued on August 24, 2009. Here’s the link: The Interrogation Group that Never Was.

Now, one month after the fact, it becomes clear that HIG doesn’t even exist in our reality – only in LiberalLand reality – and that 30 hours of questioning really equals only 50 minutes of questioning.

Initially, Secretary Napolitano made her now-famous “the system worked” comment – apparently because the plane did not actually explode! She subsequently claimed that she had been taken out of context and clarified that the system had worked only in the aftermath of the event. We now know something about the “aftermath.” One of the things we know is that the system failed…and not only did it fail, it imploded.

And the beat goes on…

The Democrats are attempting to give context to Harry Reid’s racial statements about Barack Obama’s candidacy for the Presidency a year ago. Well, let’s take a look at what he said.

During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Mr. Reid said that Mr. Obama was electable, basically, because he is a light-skinned black man who didn’t speak with a “negro” dialect. Agreed? OK, let’s move on.

Did somebody badger Mr. Reid into answering a trick question? It appears not. I’d suggest to you that he made this statement in a casual, unguarded conversation and that this is what Harry Reid actually thinks. Now, what did Harry mean when he said that? Some Democrats are suggesting that he was actually saying something nice about the President. I beg to differ. I think it means that, to Harry, light-skinned blacks are more acceptable, more palatable, less threatening, than are dark-skinned blacks.

Now, is that racism? I’d say it is, but apparently the President and most Democrats know what is in Harry’s heart. If you are struggling with this one, I’d suggest a quick exercise to help you settle into an answer.

In Scenario 1, the comment comes from Harry Reid.

In Scenario 2, the comment comes from Mitt Romney

Things they have in common: Both are white Mormon males who have been successful politicians.

Where they differ: Reid is a Democrat. Romney is a Republican.

Now, do you arrive at the same conclusion vis-a-vis both men? If not, consult a psychiatrist or, better still, confront your biases honestly. And don’t look for any help from Anderson Cooper of CNN…he’s AWOL on the subject (he’s working on a full-blown case of PDS - Palin Derangement Syndrome).

And the beat goes on…

Have you noticed anything different on the terror front over the past two or so years? Its complexion has slowly begun to change from plots by foreigners being uncovered in European cities to several instances of American citizens or legal US residents being arrested both here and abroad and charged with various terror-related crimes, a.k.a. man-made-disasters.

The Virginia Five, all Americans, arrested in Pakistan after trying to hook up with a jihadi group. The Fort Dix Six who were plotting to murder soldiers and their families at a Fort Dix dance. Najibullah Zazi who is accused of planning to blow up several New York targets. Major Nidal Malik Hasan who murdered 13 fellow soldiers right on the base at Fort Hood, Texas.

What should we be thinking about as we enter this new decade? It may be time to start thinking about the vulnerability of crowded commuter trains, malls, movie theaters, out-door street fairs, and large public gatherings of any kind. It is very possible the game is changing.

Yet, as the President becomes more reasonable in his dealings with Muslim nations, those who practice radical Islam meet his outstretched hand with explosive devices. Mr. Obama’s response to the Christmas Day attempt to blow up an American airliner filled with American citizens is so measured and controlled, one wonders if he actually appreciates what happened last week.

Mr. Obama and his Administration dodged a very big bullet, no thanks to any of the procedures, agencies or Government bureaucrats put in place since 2001. He owes his good fortune to brave and vigilent passengers who subdued the terrorist. Our enemies are taking our measure and, I’m afraid, we are being found wanting.

And the beat goes on…