Is Rangel losing it?

[DW Simpson]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051003/.../cheney_rangel

Cheney: N.Y.'s Rangel Is 'Losing It' By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 35 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney contended Monday that Rep. Charles Rangel (news, bio, voting record), the dean of New York's congressional delegation, is "losing it" — striking back after months of verbal attacks from the Harlem lawmaker.

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Rangel had criticized Cheney in recent interviews, saying the vice president, who has a history of heart trouble, might be too sick to perform his job.

"I would like to believe he's sick rather than just mean and evil," Rangel said last Friday on NY1, the New York City-based all-news channel.

In an interview with nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh, the 64-year-old Cheney suggested it was the 75-year-old Rangel who may not be up to the demands of his job.

"I'm frankly surprised at his comments. It almost struck me — they were so out of line, it almost struck me that there was some — Charlie was having some problem," said Cheney.

"Charlie is losing it, I guess."

Cheney added to his criticism later in the day in an interview with conservative radio talk show host Sean Hannity.

"I don't know what I did to offend him, but he's gotten pretty nasty lately.... I think Charlie is a lot older than I am, and it shows," said the vice president.

Rangel, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, is one of Congress' most caustic critics of the Bush administration. He has denounced the administration's handling of the Iraq war, tax policy, and a host of other matters.

Emile Milne, Rangel's spokesman, refused to comment on Cheney's remarks.

Rangel's verbal broadsides on Cheney escalated in late August, when the same local news station asked him if President Bush was spending too much time on vacation.

"Oh no, it makes the country a lot more safe," Rangel said. "The further Bush is away from Washington, the better it is. And sometimes I don't think even Cheney is awake enough to know what's going on."

Cheney, 64, has had four heart attacks, quadruple bypass surgery, two artery-clearing angioplasties and a pacemaker placed in his chest. An annual heart checkup in July found him in good health.

On Sept. 24, Cheney had surgery to repair aneurysms behind both knees and was walking with a cane last week as a result.

[Moe Szyslak]

He is just venting, which most people do, just in plublic, like only some people do.

[Cloister]

No - Rangel lost it a long time ago, and has nothing left to lose now.

[Pseudolus]

At least he still has his mellifluosity.

[Cloister]

I don't know much about Rangel's district, but I've always gotten the impression that he's a PermaRep - much like "Baghdad" Jim McDermott out here in Latte-Land. You know, the kind of Representative that can pretty much say or do anything without risk of losing their seat. I figure if good-ol Jim Boy was caught in a 3-way with Osama and Fidel, that might possibly lower his percentage of the vote to 70%. But probably not.

[Harry]

Why can't we vote for more than one of the choices?

[Pseudolus]

You know how great you feel when you, say, put on a jacket you haven't worn in awhile and you find five bucks in the pocket? Well, Charles Rangel must feel like that today - times a hundred thousand.

[Darth Chef]

Originally Posted by Cloister

No - Rangel lost it a long time ago, and has nothing left to lose now.

[Pseudolus]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08292009...uth_187038.htm

Falsely claiming one house is your primary residence when you actually live somewhere else - isn't that, like, fraud or something?

[Jokebama]

Among other issues, Mr. Rangel is currently under investigation regarding his use of four rent-stabilized apartments at New York City's tony Lenox Terrace and soliciting donations with his official letterhead for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York, which was itself built with a $1.9 million earmark. Yet another part of the probe is his failure to report $75,000 in income from a rental villa at the beachfront Punta Cana Yacht Club, in the Dominican Republic.

Mr. Rangel blamed that last one on the language barrier because he doesn't speak Spanish. We can only imagine what language he speaks with his accountants and tax attorneys.

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