Charlie Rangel (D-NY) has an intriguing personality. He can be fiercely partisan and confrontational, or affable and friendly. He is at times one of the easiest Congressional Democrats to work with on bipartisan initiatives. Yet he is prone to offensive attacks and the politics of personal destruction. In 2005 he dabbled in gutter politics when he called President Bush “Our Bull Conner.” He has said that the war to topple Saddam Hussein was “as bad as” the Holocaust. And when it comes to Dick Cheney, Rangel’s attacks seem to know no bounds. He has said that Cheney has a personality disorder. He said that Cheney had heart disease, but it was “not restricted to that part of his body.” And how he has told the Hill why he holds Dick Cheney–with whom he served in the House of Representatives for years–in such low esteem:
One can understand Rangel’s frustration at the inability of the Democratic Congress to accomplish anything noteworthy. Polls show that the voters hold Congress in much lower regard than they do the president. Nevertheless, if Rangel believes the war is criminal, he can’t possibly believe that the crime is equivalent to slavery–and that the entire U.S. military, including the many black soldiers serving in Iraq, is complicit. And considering the offenses of Saddam Hussein–who did, essentially, enslave the people of Iraq–it’s disgusting to see Rangel throw about slander like this.
