Rangel's "It"

Daily Politics has an interesting post on the gala thrown for Charlie Rangel, the chairman of the House Ethics Committee-no, that can't be Wright: "According to Assemblyman Keith Wright's estimate, somewhere between 500 and 600 people attended a low-dollar fundraiser for Rep. Charlie Rangel yesterday at the Alhambra Ballroom on 126th Street. Wright rejected my characterization of the veteran Harlem Democrat as "embattled," in spite of the fact that he has given up his post as chair of the Ways and Means Committee in the wake of a less-than-glowing House ethics committee report. "It was a great show of support," said Wright. "The man is an icon. The man is an institution. He's delivered...You know, he's still relevant. He's still got it. He's still engaged. He's still got...the it factor, as they say, and obviously people still want him to represent them."

Now we belong to those who really don't want Rangel to step down since we believe that his "it" factor is akin to a game of tag-or perhaps Pin the Tail on the Donkey. This "institution," snoozing away on a DR beach, will be the best poster child for a change in Washington-a gift that will keep on giving.

That so many people could come out to celebrate a former chairman of Ways and Means who flaunted the tax laws and illegally occupied four rent stabilized apartments-spitting in the face of the tax payers and the average voter in his district-says a great deal about the standards, or lack thereof, of the Manhattan Dems. Integrity is no longer expected it appears.