Rangel feels the Wrath of The One
posted at 11:40 am on August 14, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
Send to a Friend |
Share on Facebook | printer-friendly
Charlie Rangel won’t get a high-profile speaking slot at the Democratic convention, and he can thank Barack Obama for the snub. The powerful chair of the House Ways and Means Committee wanted a prime-time spot to address the delegates in order to help bring unity to the party. Obama apparently thinks Rangel serves better as a warning to others for showing disloyalty to The One:
The Obama campaign is denying House Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel a speaking role at this month’s Democratic National Convention – a move those close to the powerhouse Harlem congressman view as a spiteful snub.
Rangel surrogates approached Obama staffers this week about the possibility of securing him a slot at the podium, making the case that it would showcase reconciliation between the nominee and Hillary Rodham Clinton’s African-American supporters.
But they were told that the 78-year-old congressman’s support for Clinton earned him a place at the end of the line behind Barack Obama’s loyalists – even if Rangel played a crucial part in prodding Clinton to abandon her presidential bid in June.
“It’s crazy… This man [Rangel] controls tax policy in the United States. He’s a lot bigger than just a regular member of Congress, he deserves more respect than this,” said a Rangel confidant. “Basically they have told us they can’t help us that there are too many Obama supporters ahead of Charlie on the line.”
Regardless of what happened on the campaign trail, a President Obama would need Rangel if he expects to get his tax policies signed into law. Rangel controls the agenda on Ways and Means, and if Obama wants to treat him like a traitor now, Rangel will almost certainly return the favor after the inauguration. Even more, Obama needs Rangel for GOTV efforts in New York City, although it’s highly doubtful that even a no-show by Rangel would put the state in jeopardy of turning Republican. If that’s at risk, then Obama’s already lost the national race.
If anything, this feeds into the perception of Obama’s arrogance. Obama acts as though he needs no one’s support to win the presidency, and that he will ascend by acclamation to the White House on clouds of media spin and a deluge of cash. The One has begun to grate on nerves, and not just Republican nerves now.
Some suggest that Rangel became too closely associated with Hillary Clinton and that Obama needs to minimize her in Denver, and that Rangel’s exclusion is an unfornuate necessity. That might be true if Obama had actually won the primary, but he hasn’t actually won anything yet. Half of the Democrats voted for Hillary, and minimizing her in Denver means minimizing those Democrats, like Rangel, that Obama needs to compete in November. This, combined with his insistence on avoiding a nominating roll-call vote for the first time in 124 years, paints a picture of a haughty autocrat, unwilling to forgive slights and ready to punish opponents far beyond any necessity. This isn’t “New Politics”, it’s LBJ with a better PR firm.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
If ye are not a true believer of the Messiah’s word, ye shall be cast into the darkness. Ye shall also not report any change observed in the word as only the messiah knows its true meaning.
trs on August 14, 2008 at 11:43 AM
“Blue on Blue, partisan cleansing edition”
Immolate on August 14, 2008 at 11:45 AM
So Mugabe lite is punishing his peeps and purging the ranks…so much for party unity.
elduende on August 14, 2008 at 11:45 AM
Any time Rangel catches one in the chops, its a good thing.
The real liberal mating call: “Do you know who I am!!!!??”
BobMbx on August 14, 2008 at 11:45 AM
And Obamessiah looked at all he had done and said..it is good.
becki51758 on August 14, 2008 at 11:48 AM
Reminds me of the Obama Files from SNL…
JetBoy on August 14, 2008 at 11:49 AM
Could the Night of the Long Knives be far behind?
crazy_legs on August 14, 2008 at 11:49 AM
“Blue on blue” takes on a whole new meaning.
Why do I get a mental image of two nerds slap-fighting?
Bishop on August 14, 2008 at 11:50 AM
lol. great caption of the Obamahole.
Too ripe for jokes, Obumble’s gotta pull that hand gesture.
mylegsareswollen on August 14, 2008 at 11:50 AM
Will Rangel still be allowed to get the ‘Mark’ branded on his forehead after the coronation?
Bishop on August 14, 2008 at 11:52 AM
New York go Republican?? Not while they’re still bring in latte by tanker trucks.
snaggletoothie on August 14, 2008 at 11:53 AM
Get used to in, Charlie. There’s a new Sheriff in town…
gridlock2 on August 14, 2008 at 12:00 PM
This is the most UN-unified party evah! And the sad part is, the Repubs will probably still lose seats this November. Oy.
robblefarian on August 14, 2008 at 12:02 PM
This is a pleasant fiction. I wouldn’t count on Rangel to do anything but complain (faintly) about the snub. It beggars belief to imagine that Rangel would be the one to complicate up the rubber stamp on Obama’s tax plans.
Lehosh on August 14, 2008 at 12:02 PM
That’s because the Repub. are the second most un-unified party evah :)
JiangxiDad on August 14, 2008 at 12:03 PM
You’re asking us to weigh how much the Dems are motivated by principle or power. My guess is that power wins every time.
JiangxiDad on August 14, 2008 at 12:05 PM
I think his hand signal has a sexual connotation to it.
stenwin77 on August 14, 2008 at 12:06 PM
Denver! Denver! Denver!
GarandFan on August 14, 2008 at 12:07 PM
I bet this came from axelrod:
rangle too east coast, too yesterday and too pushy.
jimmer on August 14, 2008 at 12:09 PM
Excellent move, Team Obama. Credit must never be shared lest the Messiah-Glo™ be diminished.
Paging Alice Palmer, Emil Jones, Jeremiah Wright… Time to put all those boring old civil rights crusaders in their place under the closest mass-transportation vehicle. Obama didn’t need them at his posh private high school in Hawaii or during his brilliant-yet-strangely-undocumented Ivy League career and he doesn’t need them now. Show them codgers who’s the new boss, Barry! Charlie Rangel? Who?
Gilda on August 14, 2008 at 12:10 PM
After seeing the goatse version, I can’t look at that obama hand thing anymore.
Blake on August 14, 2008 at 12:10 PM
With a better looking candidate, too, quite frankly.
tree hugging sister on August 14, 2008 at 12:13 PM
BO really is running for Carter’s second term. Jimmuh also alienated a Democratic Congress.
Karl on August 14, 2008 at 12:14 PM
Ah yes, bringing everyone together.
.
Distancing itself from anyone/everyone who disagrees.
Forced volunteers. ( Barry will FORCE you to…..)
Bitter half given prime speaking spot.
.
Get used to it ( if the evil one wins), socialism trained in Marxism…a wonderful change.
shooter on August 14, 2008 at 12:19 PM
A new term for the liberal lexicon:
Obamacide
As in “Rangel committed Obamacide when he chose to support Hillary Clinton”
BobMbx on August 14, 2008 at 12:26 PM
Sounds like Charlie needs to sit down for a nice long chat with Alice Palmer. She can probably tell him a couple of things about the REAL B.O. that he obviously was not aware of.
pilamaye on August 14, 2008 at 12:27 PM
The truth is, that except for our votes, Obamma could do without the distraction of an electorate too.
TimothyJ on August 14, 2008 at 12:27 PM
Kinda reminds me of John Kerry
Kini on August 14, 2008 at 12:29 PM
I doubt it will matter much after November, unless Rangel decides he wants to screw with rookie Senator Obama’s committee assignments or take away his Senate parking place or something.
AZCoyote on August 14, 2008 at 12:35 PM
The sheriff is “nigh”?
Buford Gooch on August 14, 2008 at 12:36 PM
Ed - you are right that this is not “new politics” but LBJ it ain’t. This is straight out of the Richard J. Daley book on how to punish your political enemies…..
LL
Lady Logician on August 14, 2008 at 12:40 PM
“It’s crazy… This man [Rangel] controls tax policy in the United States…”
Yes, that is crazy.
forest on August 14, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Is this a quiet way of Bambi calling Rangel Uncle Tom?
Bambi is a spiteful little twit eh? Oh well, I can’t stand either of them so let the show commence.
Geronimo on August 14, 2008 at 1:36 PM
There is something drastically wrong in this country when one senile insignificant congressman can have this kind of power. Term limits now.
abcurtis on August 14, 2008 at 1:36 PM
You mean the 666? The number of Oba… I mean the Beast.
abcurtis on August 14, 2008 at 1:38 PM
The new Messianic hand signal demonstrates what you will have earned after you pay your fair share.
trs on August 14, 2008 at 3:03 PM
I like that final sentence, Captain Ed. It’s a pithy and apt historical analogy. The arrogant corrupt Texan…fast forward four decades…the arrogant, corrupt Illinoisan.
DavePa on August 14, 2008 at 3:42 PM
The image with the hands is disturbing.
freevillage on August 14, 2008 at 4:59 PM
I don’t think this gives fair credit to both Socialists’ loyalty to “the greater good.” Unless, by this statement, you mean Rangel will only want to double whatever Obama proposes…
simon on August 14, 2008 at 7:24 PM
This is racist! The white half of half and half denying the all black Sharpster.
dhunter on August 14, 2008 at 10:29 PM
Purely and simply a cult symbol . . . Obamaites had better stay away form the Cool Aid.
rplat on August 15, 2008 at 10:07 AM
Another example of the arrogance of the ‘Self anointed leader of the World’.
Obombem does not hold the presidency of the u.s. in the same regard as he does himself as the leader of his world, which is not really free.
MSGTAS on August 15, 2008 at 10:23 AM