'Looking Across the Aisle, I See Mostly Folks Giggling'

Looking at the current state of affairs with the Democratic Party, people aren't just giggling. Mostly, actually, they're shaking their heads in disgust. Yet here are the Democrats, still sticking by the disgraced Charles Rangel.

Somber House Democrats said yesterday that Rep. Charles Rangel should have kept his mouth shut!

"If I was in his shoes and know what I know, I would have been quiet," said Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), an influential member of the Congressional Black Caucus, who until now largely defended the embattled Harlem Democrat.

"I'm not backing up anyone," Lewis told reporters outside the House chamber after Rangel's 37-minute appeal.

"I just think the process must be followed. That's why we have a bipartisan ethics committee."

Several New York Democrats -- including Rep. Eliot Engel of The Bronx and Rep. Louise Slaughter of Rochester -- refused to comment on the rambling plea from Rangel, who faces 13 ethics charges and a rare House trial.

Slaughter was one of several Democrats to claim they didn't hear the speech, even though they were seen in the chamber.

"I don't think it accomplished much," said Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.), who has made integrity an issue in his campaign for US Senate.

"Looking across the aisle, I see mostly folks giggling," Melancon said.

"If you are talking to people who are giggling the whole time, you're not getting a whole lot of attention from them."

I half expect giggling to soon be equated with racism.

Meanwhile, some vintage whine from the "experts":

Political experts agreed that Rangel didn't do himself -- or fellow Democrats -- any favors by running his mouth.

Rangel's rant was eerily reminiscent of President Richard Nixon's infamous "I'm not a crook" speech in 1973, said University of Virginia political-science professor Larry Sabato.

"The similarities just stunned me. He sounded defensive, hurt and angry," Sabato said.

"It causes problems for the Democratic caucus. They have a full plate, and Charlie Rangel just put a cherry on top of it . . . If he can't get out, he's going to drag others down the hole with him."

Hank Sheinkopf, a New York Democratic political consultant, said Rangel's self-serving address only succeeded in "putting congressional Democrats in a corner."

"He's putting his own interests over the good of the Democratic Party. It's fairly outrageous," Sheinkopfsaid.

"We have high unemployment, and we're fighting two wars. And we have a guy involved in serious ethics violations talking on the House floor. It's not what America wants to see."

We,, at least Democrats now acknowledge we're fighting two wars.

As to Rangel--buck up, Chuckles. It's party time!