Jack & Jill Politics

I guess it’s about time Charlie felt the love. As Prometheus 6 says, “See? Charlie’s a nice man.”

Dick Cheney said some things that were not so nice like:

“Charlie doesn’t understand how the economy works,” Cheney told Fox News Channel a week before the election.

But everybody knows, you don’t mess with Charlie. Jack Kemp is quoted saying:

“I don’t think Republicans should fear Charlie Rangel. But you do have to be prepared for the Charlie Rangel one-two punch.”

Also in the article (emphasis mine):

And yet so numerous are the faces of black legislators on Capitol Hill that it might not be immediately obvious: When Rangel assumes chairmanship of Ways and Means in January, he will be the most powerful black legislator ever.

“We had Bill Gray, first black chair of the House Budget Committee,” says Cummings. “But Ways and Means is far above that. Charlie’s being elevated adds another dimension to the happiness of the Congressional Black Caucus — and the Democratic Party. But it’s not a black thing with Charlie. It’s a red, white and blue thing.”

Most powerful black legislator ever. Let’s pause to take that in. Few people have actually used those words to describe Sen. Ba-rockstar Obama in contrast. People talk about his charisma or his magnetism or his inexperience. But no one really talks about Obama’s power to change the lives of ordinary Americans. That makes Charlie special. He gets a good rating (A — Honor Society) from the CBCMonitor Report. So he’s alright with me. Let’s hope he doesn’t fall sway to the corruption that such “awesome” power can bring and become, ahem, Mr. Charlie…