Posted on 11/28/2010 4:54:49 PM PST by EveningStar
...In unbelievably difficult service in the Korean War, his unit was swamped, cut off, overwhelmed by hordes of Red Chinese crossing into Korea. In the worst cold weather imaginable, under fire, starving, acting Sergeant Charles Rangel, in a black unit led mostly by white officers, took a large group of men, led them by example, lifted their morale, as they fought their way out to safety. Men were being shot, freezing, getting captured all around him, yet he got most of his men out...
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Just what the hell happened to Rangel? How do you go from someone like THAT to a puke faced ranting corrupt leftist POS?
Cue “Glory Days” by Bruce Springsteen...
Yeah, when I was 10 I saved a nun from drowning. So I should get a pass for killing that hobo yesterday...
Ben Stein belongs in the Colin Powell, Kathleen Parker, Peggy Noonan pile. Just because they still say they’re Republicans doesn’t mean we have to claim them.
Ok, Ben - let’s hear it for another hero: Duke Cunningham.
I never knew that. God bless Charlie for his service.
To me Charlie is an example of why we need term limits.
20 terms in Congress is about 16 too many IMHO.
30 years in Congress?
Legend has it Ted Kennedy tried to save Ms. Kopechne, too.
By this standard, Duke Cunningham should not be in jail.
Ben Stein may be a smart guy but he is showing a lack of common sense.
You abandon what you originally stood for.
I liked the fact that Rangel wanted to bring back the draft...when the country goes to war, it needs to send troops from ALL elements of society.
‘Ben Stein may be a smart guy but he is showing a lack of common sense’
He does that from time to time, like supporting his Hollywood friend Al Franken for Senator in Minnesota.
He succumbed to the politically corrupt power of Washington........Term limits puts an end to that corruption.
The corrupting power of congress happened to him. He's a poster child for term limits. He runs unopposed for all intents and purposes, he brings the pork back to his district and they love him. The down side is his decisions in the Ways & Means committee affect the entire country, yet we can't vote him out.
I always love the people who say things like, "Well we have congressional term limits, they're called elections.". Sure that's true in theory but someone like a Rangel or Pelosi only has to appeal to a narrow leftist base. They can screw everyone else and there isn't a damned thing we can do. If anything congress needs term limits much more than the President (present occupant excepted)
How do we know a single word of his korean service is the truth? Other than documentation that he served, is there any documentation as to what he did while in the service?
What you did well over 55 years ago DOES NOT cover criminal acts today.
Shell shock maybe?
Yeah, and Benedict Arnold was the hero of Saratoga.
Yet he still died a disgraced wreck of a man in London, hated by both sides.
I appreciate his service...but he’s still Boss Hogg with a tan.
Hitler was a courageous war hero also. You can be corrupt and evil and still have good qualities. Evil is spoiled goodness. Even street gang members can be courageous, loyal, devoted, and willing to sacrifice for their bros.
...and some people still adore OJ Simpson.
This story reminds me of a portion of the piece I wrote about John McCain. How few remember they are supposed to be citizen legislators.
“John McCain has succumbed to the terrible addiction of political power. The same addiction expressed itself differently in fellow Navy officer Randy Cunningham, who was the Navy’s first Vietnam ace. Over the decades the honor and moral authority of both were gradually traded away for influence in the political arena. There is a vast, immeasurable gulf separating John McCain from the genuine people who dealt with the issues sponsoring the Geneva Conventions and our Constitution. He much more equates with the parasites now feeding upon the prosperity and security so painfully forged for their benefit. We now suffer imposters like him with such extraordinary mental athletic prowess as to scale unheard of heights of arrogance and studied ignorance and achieve unparalleled duplicity.
To me McCain is like a cadaver prepared for viewing. The removal of blood and organs equates to the trading away of honor and moral authority. The reputation that remains is like the cosmetics applied for viewing a corpse at the funeral. It is easy for anyone to get onto the same sort of gently downward sloping path. The final result is tragic, but we should not suffer such pathetic and contemptible modern day Macbeths or Hamlets as Republicans in the Senate or any other public office. I am amazed that people can be so easily duped by such obvious illusions.”
Same thing as Duke Cunningham...the seduction of power and money is just too much for some people.
Hitler won five medals including the prestigious Iron Cross during the First World War. His commanding officer wrote: "As a dispatch-runner, he has shown cold-blooded courage and exemplary boldness. Under conditions of great peril, when all the communication lines were cut, the untiring and fearless activity of Hitler made it possible for important messages to go through".
That, of course, excuses any thing he did thereafter.
John Dingell 54 years in Congress, John Conyers 44 years in Congress, David Obey 40 years in Congress. People who re-elect politicians for decade after decade are too lazy or stupid to throw them out.
Ben Stein is correct here. No one should forget for a moment that Charlie Rangel is a genuine war hero. He deserves the nation’s thanks for that.
And no one should forget for a moment that Charlie Rangel is a corrupt politician.
One does not lessen or cancel out the other.
As it is in so many things in life, it is more important how you finish, than how you start.
Two words ... “John Glenn”.
Charlie Rangel is still a turd to me
Benedict Arnold was a hero at one time, too.
Until, years later, when he threw that all away by preventing the Senate from holding Bill Clinton accountable for his crimes. From that moment onward, John Glenn was reduced to being just another corrupt, partisan political hack.
Sorry, Charlie, but you threw it all away too...
The draft is slavery.
Lets put those draftee’s in the most high-tech jobs! From High School to piloting a F-18 in a few weeks!
Charlie has been rewarded for his heroism with 40 years of sucking off the Government tit, while amassing homes in the Dominican republic and New York City.
Being a hero does not entitle you to commit criminal acts , nor does it entitle you to not pay taxes.
Charlie could have been a contender. Instead he is just an ordinary run of the mill crooked politician.
“God bless Charlie for his service.”
Yes, agreed. He should have taken the deal on this months ago. I honestly think he thinks he did nothing wrong. To him all this was just “honest mistakes”. It’s really a shame.
Now, as term limits requires an amendment to the constitution I propose ending any pensions for elected officials, at all levels, but why not start with congress? It will be a natural discouragement from decades of service and it will also save money. Of course, let them have a 401(k) or something, but no matching funds or anything. And no lifetime healthcare either, that will save a bundle.
I think congress critters should be limited to 3 consecutive terms, followed by 2 mandatory out-of-office. I think senators out to be selected by their state legislatures, like the constitution specified.
I think that supreme court justices should be able to be recalled by national ballot - perhaps with a required number of signatures to get on the ballot. (That’s an incomplete thought - just something I thought up on the spur of the moment.)
I believe that Presidents ought to have to prove they are eligible, in accordance with the rules specified in the constitution.
I believe liberals should be subjected to electric shock therapy, and that liberal pols should receive high-voltage treatments.
I believe I’ll have another beer. ;-P
I prefer Duke Cunningham’s Congressional voting record to Rangel’s, but excusing none of what Rangel did, his misconduct hardly compares to Cunningham’s, who took millions of dollars in bribes and went to prison for it.
Here is a link of Republican Rep. Peter King defending Charlie Rangel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OtwkcPT9DA
He cavorts with Castro
He called a decent man, George W. Bush, ‘our Bull Connors.’
He has belonged to Communist organizations.
He addressed leftist anti-American crowds at the time of the Iraqi invasion.
I could go on.
He has been my Congresman, since 1/71. As a white Republican, it is like I have NEVER had a Congressman!
There are simply MANY reasons I dislike him, even without these scandals.
He WAS a HERO; now he’s a ZERO!
I feel your pain. John Lewis has been my congressman for 20 years. I’ve never had a congressman either.
Ben Stein makes a habit of forgiveness. Especially where service to this country is concerned. I’ll not fault him for it. We could all use a little mercy now.
So he wasn’t always a two big thief in a poorly cut suit?
I like him even less now.
It’s a shame about Ben Stein—he actually knows better.
Big FD! Lee Harvey Oswald was once a marine.
“Bueller?...Bueller?...Stein?...Stein?”
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