I would've thought he'd have stayed under the radar, hoping he can ride his latest corruption charges out. Guess not.
NEW YORK (CBS) ?
Already under fire for his tax troubles, Manhattan Congressman Charles Rangel really put his foot in his mouth on Friday.
In a CBS 2 HD exclusive interview, Rep. Rangel called Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin "disabled."
The question was simple: Why are the Democrats so afraid of Palin and her popularity?
The answer was astonishing.
"You got to be kind to the disabled," Rangel said.
That's right. The chairman of the powerful House Ways & Means Committee called Palin disabled -- even when CBS 2 HD called him on it.
CBS 2 HD: "You got to be kind to the disabled?"
Rangel: "Yes."
CBS 2 HD: "She's disabled?"
Rangel: "There's no question about it politically. It's a nightmare to think that a person's foreign policy is based on their ability to look at Russia from where they live.
Republicans think Rangel's comments are insulting as well as shocking.
"Charlie Rangel's comments are clearly disgraceful," Rep. Peter King, R-Long Island, said. "This is just another liberal Democrat who can't accept an independent woman running for president."
King, who is co-chair of the McCain-Palin campaign in New York, watched Rangel's comments with CBS 2 HD. He was particularly upset because Palin's 4-month-old son, Trig, is disabled. He has Down's syndrome.
"We should be sensitive to her or any woman who has a child or family member who has any affliction at all," King said. "And so to use the word disabled in the context of a female candidate for vice president who has a child who is disabled really is wrong. Charlie owes her and the entire disabled community and apology."
Advocates for the disabled are also upset.
"It makes me feel as if he's trying to put her down, trying to say she's not good for the presidency or the vice presidency," said Michael Imperiale of Disabled In Action Of Metropolitan N.Y.
"A disabled president ran this country. He was disabled. His name was Roosevelt."
A spokesman for the McCain-Palin campaign also piled on, saying that this kind of rhetoric has no place in politics.
Re: CBS: Rangel calls Palin "disabled"
I made a token attempt to be temperate. It didn't work.
If anyone's cuckoo, it's the psycho left that attacked her mothering skills, hair, outfit, accent, etc.
Ex: Lindsay Lohan, Matt Damon, Sandra Bernhard, the Dem chair of SC, etc. (not to mention the majority of the board on Augst 30-31)
Just what about conservatism is "cuckoo?" And you guys wonder why there has been a mass exit of conservatives of all stripes? They're somewhat sick of the facile arguments and knee-jerk digs.
Yes. I think many of the libs on here are similarly tired of your facile arguments and knee-jerk digs too. It cuts both ways Julie, and you know it.
Zoe, I can't believe you are still clinging to that provably false "banning books" charge.
How many places does it need to be said? Even CNN called it a "hoax." You know, it is possible to bring up an issue as an intellectual debate or maybe even devil's advocate without being for it.
"Charlie Rangel's comments are clearly disgraceful," Rep. Peter King, R-Long Island, said. "This is just another liberal Democrat who can't accept an independent woman running for president."
This bothers me. Don't pin this statement on liberal democrats, Rep. King. It's just another A-hole who can't accept a woman running for high public office (BTW, she's running for VICE president). There were plenty of conservative republicans who had problems with HRC, and they were A-holes, too.
Ditto Mrs. tlcS
I feel like this is deliberate misunderstanding of what he said. ?And Rep. King sounds damn sexist. ?
Newsflash to everyone: We don't care that she's a woman. ?We care that she's wildly unqualified.?
I have no problem with questioning her experience. However, this again leads me to the question of how qualified Obama is based upon his experience. If we're going to talk experience, how is he any more qualified (and he's running for President..not VP)?
I don't have the time to really get into your response because I'm on my way out, but let me just say that if there was debate about this for weeks, I missed them...probably because I got tired of sifting through all the anti-Palin threads.
Except Obama has been vetted by 50 + primary contests, has engaged in 20+ debates, and was chosen by the voters of his party as the best candidate for the job. Palin has been through no primary, she has engaged in no debates, and she was not chosen by the voters, she was summoned by one man. Obama's experience issue has been vetted and we passed him. I can't say the same thing for Palin. Maybe she is perfectly capable of running this huge nation, this huge economy, but no one has seen evidence of this yet. That's the difference.
Experience =/= Qualified
Yes, she's experienced but that doesn't make her qualified for this job. She said a couple months ago that she didn't know what the VP does, and she said yesterday she didn't know what branch of government the VP is in. The VP is in the executive branch and is to be the president of the Senate...an 8th grader knows these things.
She has never demonstrated any type of engagement or awareness of anything of national or international significance. She hasn't written papers or books, given important speeches, or engaged with heavy hitters at the national level on anything of importance. It took her six years and 5 different colleges to get a BA in journalism and her only trip out of the country was to visit Americans. To be frank, she has absolutely no public record of intellectual curiosity on anything beyond the bubble she has lived in.
That is what makes her so unqualified for this job.
But what's the difference between Obama when he first began to run for President and Palin now? Not much, yet people flocked to him with no concern for his relatively little experience. This is what I'm getting at.
I have no issue with the things you have mentioned, but I find it interesting that all of a sudden experience even matters to the Obama folks. I remember in discussions pre-Palin (when comparing McCain to Obama) that many people said experience is not that important. Which is it?
This sounds like another lie or a statement taken out of context. Chances are, she was questioning it because she was making the point that she is the one with executive branch experience, not Obama.
Travels abroad, Harvard education, teaching experience, and interviews with CNN does not qualify Obama to be president. He hasn't done anything (except for an ethics bill-which let's be honest has not worked) in the Senate so his legislative experience is not that impressive. His positions have not been intensly scrutinized by the media. Running an election campaign qualifies someone to be a campaign manager, not a president. If you were really concerned about experience and qualifications, which I am assuming you are given that you are criticizing Palin on those grounds, you would vote McCain instead of Obama. Let's be honest here, considering those are the candiates running for president.
Edited because I can't spell legislative apparently!
Can't argue with those points. I think the real discomfort with Palin has nothing to do with qualifications or experience. I think it has a lot more to do with her "wacko fundamental Christian" views.
Also her extreme naivete and simpleness.?
Simpleness? Please explain. Why is this a problem?