Rangel Mangles Mississippi

I've been saying that one of the biggest problems for the Dems is that a lot of people who are in line to assume positions of power are too liberal (or too much of a douche) for the rest of the country. Sadly, while I agree with Rangel politics, he's too polarizing of a figure, and by pushing him to the fore, the Dems are hurting themselves for 2008 and beyond.

I've said it all along: The Democrats need to promote newer, junior members from battleground states (like Ohio and Florida), so those members can have a national voice. Instead, we'll never hear from those people, and they will lose their seats quickly because the national Democrat voice will be from people like Pelosi, Rangel and Nydia (all of whom I like, but middle-America will not!)

Um, I don't want to live in Mississippi. And most of you don't either. He's supposed to represent the will of the people, and this is a helluva way to start. I hope he says something like this every day. Not because it's spiteful, but because it's true. Let's not forget that when he started representing NYC in the House, living in MS, for him, wasn't a lifestyle choice, but one of personal safety. And in many parts, still is today.

Gee... nice of you to publicly admit that you're a moron. Like all of the rightwingnuts who constantly make snarky lines like yours about the Democratic Party, Tuesday was your day to start shutting up. I'd like to know what, in your entire wonderful life, you have accomplaished that comes close to an average year in Congressman Rangel's. Until you can answer... shut up. Show me what the Neo-Cons have created that has made America better. One thing. Anything. Clean air? Nope. Democrats did that. Clean water? Nope. Democrats did that. Veteran's hospitals? G.I. Bill? Nope. Democrats did that. Nope. Democrats did that. College loans? Nope. Democrats did that. Safer workplaces? Nope. Democrats did that. Minimum wage? Nope. Democrats did that. 40 hour workweek? Nope. Free public education? Nope. Democrats did that.Democrats did that. Medicare? Medicaid? Nope. Democrats did that. Civil right movement? Nope. Democrats did that.

I think that all of us New Yorkers agree with Rangel, at least privately: "Who the hell wants to live in Mississippi?"

So typical. You don't know anything about me asshole. I'm not a Republican. I'm not rightwing. I just actually see things for what they are and don't put on the Democrat-tinited filters when I view the world. Did you notice that you did not address one thing I said? Not one. Instead you rant on and on about things that have no bearing here.

Rangel is an asshole, just like you. And you know that if some Congressman from Missouri or South Carolina said something like this about New York you would be throwing a temper tantrum right now. Maybe you should be the one to hurricane ravaged parts of Mississippi and explain to them they'll have to keep living in trailers because New York needs some pork barrel spending to make the High Line into a park. Hey, rich people in their West Village condos need their property values boosted too.

" I thought the whole philosphy of the Democratic Party was to tax the rich and give it to the poor."

This demonstrates that I, and any other rational human being who gets his "facts" from people other than Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter, et al. do, indeed, know a lot about you: You are an ass.

I know that plenty of politicians, mostly southern republicans, say disparaging things about New York all the time. They all come here with their hands out, looking for money, though. I do not, as you so sophomorically out it: throw a temper tantrum. I simply accept it as part of the republican hypocricy. New York has ALWAYS paid more in to the federal gov't. that it gets back... while the southern states who receive the bulk of our largess complain about us, using code words for black, hispanic, jewish, catholic, etc.

Don't try pinning the handling of Hurricane Katrina on New York or New Yorkers or, by your unsubtle inference, on liberals. FEMA was a cabinet level position under Bill Clinton, was headed and staffed by competent people, had the funds available to get the job done, and were held accountable.

Now, after W has given tax breaks to the richest Americans while cutting money for veteran's hospitals, education, etc... what is that about West Village rich people?

Anyone with a rudimentary undersanding of economics knows that our nation is stronger, safer, richer when the middle class is strong. The Democrats saw to this, especially since F.D.R. The current republicans have been about power and wealth for the wealthy at the expens of the rest of us.

So... keep defending the people who take away your buying power and your political power. Maybe some day the fairy godmother will tap you with her magic wand and you'll wake up to be in that richest 1% and you'll actually be represented by the republicans... not the Democrats whom you so ignorantly demean.

Who are these people who keep posting they are not republicans but are still Assholes?
If you think Mississippi is so great, why don't you move there?
I think you have serious mental issues. We know who you are asshole, you're the only guy who uses the word "screeds". We've seen your posts here before.

I live at the same residence as Congressman Charles Rangel here in the 15th District, Harlem, New York City. Rangel has no shortage of failures within his own district where Black male unemployment is 55+% and children suffer from the diseases of asthma at an epidemic rate and crisis level. These people and a lot more citizens now living in Rangel's problem plagued district would love to live in Mississippi.

My family originates from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. My mother, Cheryl Philips, lived at 418 Sears Ave. Waveland, MS until Katrina destroyed everything she owned leaving her nothing more than a concrete slab. She now has a FEMA trailer but her spirits are bright, she's looking forward, and she LOVES living in Mississippi.

My mother can live here in the 15th District, New York City, right at the very same residence of Charles Rangel, here with me. She likes visiting however chooses to live in Mississippi, in a FEMA trailer, volunteering and helping to rebuild the community. That's character Charles Rangel knows nothing of.

Note Charles Rangel had no problem with Mississippi when it came to accepting $27,000 in Mississippi Band Choctaw Indian Tribal Money, funneled to him courtesy of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff (this is well documented). Then with all the arrogance that can only come from Charles Rangel he refused to return one penny once the scandal broke.

This is but one example of the shame and embarrassment Charles Rangel is as a Congressman. Locally Rangel represents 35 years of unfulfilled promise and functions basically as a "political crime boss". I've addressed a small example of Rangel's failures at a website I created called "www.CharlesRangel.com" where I spare no punches.

If it counts for anything, Mississippians, please accept my apology for my repugnant Congressman. Do know the enlightened and educated of Harlem simply refer to Rangel as our village idiot as he's so well demonstrated (once again). When you line your pockets with $27,000 of Mississippi Choctaw Indian Payments orchestrated by Jack Abramoff, refuse to return it, then insult anyone who wants to live in Mississippi....is that not an idiot in a nutshell?

Lance A Smith
10 West 135th St. #14P
New York City, NY 10037
lanceandrew@aol.com

Screed?

For being the self proclaimed smarter and better educated half of the country you would think you would have learned this word. And it figures that rather than address the issue at hand you all just stick with personal attacks. Pathetic really.

Please, southern politicians said worse than this.
Just ask them about two cites, NYC and San Francisco. They are just more vile, period.
asshole.

So now two wrongs make a right? Is that what we can expect from the new Congress. Great. And it isn't just about what he said, it goes to his entire philosophy about the distribution of tax dollars. I've been called an asshole about a dozen times now but not one of you guys has addressed the very first point I made.

Thank you Mr Rangel! I thank God every time WTBS shows "Mississippi Burning" so that the unenlightend will think my state is still that way and stay out! After all, some years ago, I asked Pulitzer Prize wining author and former Harper's editor Willie Morris, "how do we get more people to come to Mississippi?" his reply was, "why would you want to do that, you'll ruin it!"

On the other hand, whenever we do get visitors that become new residents, we invite them in, like family...

Mississipi is not a state, it's a club!- Willie Morris

I wrote the following letter to Rangel's office on Saturday; thought it might be of interest to this audience:

- - - begin paste-in - - -

November 11, 2006

Congressman Charles B. Rangel
163 W. 125th Street, #737
New York, NY 10027

Congressman Rangel:

This note is in follow-up to your public comment, where you stated for the record, “Mississippi gets more than their fair share back in federal money, but who the hell wants to live in Mississippi?”

Well, a couple of days have passed since your comment and I'm sure you realize from the backlash that has no doubt reached you by now that you really "stuck your foot in it" on this one. At the risk of "piling on", I'd like to share with you my unique perspective as a native New Yorker who is now proudly transplanted to Mississippi.

I was born and raised in Queens and spent the first 26 years of my life there, until the crime, homelessness, and general degradation of quality of life throughout the city (I went to college and spent the early part of my career working in Manhattan) drove me and my Mississippi-native wife from it in 1990. Over the next several years we made career/life stops in Houston, TX, and Atlanta, GA, before finally settling for good in my wife's hometown of Biloxi, MS in 2002.

While it's true that it was family ties that brought us (back, for my wife) to Biloxi, it's the quality of LIFE and PEOPLE that keeps us here. I make my living as a high-tech systems analyst, and with this sort of career I have the ability to basically pick and choose where I might live and earn a living. I CHOOSE to live in Mississippi.

My wife and I, as well as our extended family, were all devastated by Hurricane Katrina last year; in our case, the storm surge flooded our house and over 95% of our personal property, basically forcing us to "start over". The Federal Government was of little use to us, as we were renters, and as we made a comfortable enough living before the storm not to be considered "poor" and thus were not entitled to grant money beyond the minimums offered. The Insurance Industry was of little use to us, as we lived in a place that had never flooded before and thus we had no flood insurance. So, we burned through our savings in order to resume our lives, and unlike so many of our less-fortunate fellow Mississippians, we have been able to resume in fairly good order.

Once again, due to our comparatively-fortunate life and career circumstances, we had the CHOICE to relocate away from Mississippi and restart our lives elsewhere...but we NEVER CONSIDERED DOING SO. Why? The quality of LIFE and PEOPLE here.

Unlike our neighbors to the west in Louisiana, here in Mississippi we didn't whine about what we were or were not entitled to after the storm, we simply GOT TO WORK on rebuilding. Neighbors helped neighbors, and strangers helped strangers, and we all continue to do so. Mississippians stand PROUD to tell you where we're from and what we're all about.

Mississippians from all walks of life (i.e., not just my extended family) have welcomed me into the local community and culture, find humor and fascination in my New York accent and point of view, and have almost universally commented, "If he married into a Mississippi family almost 20 years ago, and they've accepted him all these years, well he must be OK."

Congressman Rangel, I return to New York several times a year to visit with my Mom in Queens, and my sister and her family who happen to live in YOUR DISTRICT on the Upper West Side. I'm always happy to renew my ties to the New York culture, and enjoy great ethnic food that I can't get on the Gulf Coast or anywhere else. However, at the end of my visits, I'm always MORE HAPPY to return to my HOME, Mississippi.

"Who the hell wants to live in Mississippi????" This NATIVE NEW YORKER, that's who. I'm proud of my New York roots, but I'm MORE PROUD to call myself a Mississippian.

Sincerely,
Dave Ratisher, Biloxi, MS

- - - end paste-in - - -

Rangel: 'I sincerely apologize' for Mississippi remark

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press Writer
357 words
14 November 2006
04:35 pm GMT
Associated Press Newswires
English
(c) 2006. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

JACKSON , Miss. (AP) - Group hug, please.

A New York congressman says he's sorry for making remarks about Mississippi that some in the Southern state saw as fightin' words.

In The New York Times last week, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., talked about wanting to bring more federal money back to his home state, and added: "Mississippi gets more than their fair share back in federal money, but who the hell wants to live in Mississippi?"

Rangel issued a news release Monday night, saying: "There is no excuse for my having said that. I am fully aware that every American loves their respective state and city and I'm afraid that my love and affection for New York got in the way of my common sense and judgment, and for that I sincerely apologize."

Rangel's first remark -- which came after Democrats regained the congressional majorities in the midterm elections -- prompted indignant letters to the editor, Internet postings and calls to talk radio in Mississippi.

U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering had called on Rangel to apologize and asked whether Mississippi could expect "insults, slander and defamation" from the Democrats in Washington.

Now, Pickering says he accepts Rangel's apology.

"Mississippians are forgiving folks," Pickering said.

The New York Daily News reports that at a Monday breakfast hosted by the Association for a Better New York, Rangel said: "For all of you from Mississippi, I'd like to extend my deepest apologies. I promise I'll visit as soon as I find a food taster."

Pickering said in a news release: "He will not need a food taster to enjoy our hospitality."

Rangel is in line to become chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.

In talking about wanting to bring more federal money to New York, he said he used Mississippi as an example because it gets back $1.77 for every $1 it sends to the federal government, and New York gets back 79 cents on the dollar.

Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the nation.