As much as I loathe Lanny Davis, I kind of admire his going to bat for Charlie Rangel. I think the comparison to Sherrod is stupid as hell, but, still. I guess I just still really respect loyalty.
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.
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He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!
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Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!
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Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.
Technically true, but collectively nonsense
Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.
How stupid are these people?
Toast
I respect loyalty as long as it’s not slavish and/or misplaced. Lanny Davis’ loyalty fetish also drove him to defend years of indefensible slime-ball moves by the Shame of Connecticut, Joe Lieberman (I – Have no principles).
NobodySpecial
Did I mention Fuck Lanny Davis?
I’d love to know who these ‘honest Republicans’ are.
Alex S.
He surely knows how to pick the wrong side…
Edit: I read on his wikipedia page that he’s a lobbyist for the pakistani government, lol.
jeffreyw
I am loyal to Heinz ketchup. At least I was, until they sold us out.
The bastards.
I am making my own ketchup today. And I’m using all the damn salt I want in it. Sue me.
Keith G
I like Charlie Rangel. I agree emphatically that there should be no rush to judgment.
And I really appreciate this from the article’s comments”
I think good ol Charlie got to be a bit detached from the things he needed to be paying attention to.
My Truth Hurts
You admire honor among thieves? No wonder you were a Republican for so long…
anthrosciguy
I guess I just still really respect loyalty
How very GW Bush of you. :)
Bobby Thomson
Anyone who thinks Lanny is defending Rangel out of the goodness of his heart (rather than for pay) is . . . perhaps a bit naive.
parksideq
Speaking of Shirley Sherrod, she’s planning to bring a suit against Andrew Breitbart.
Of course, this only reinforces the notion that Sherrod is shrill, as well as a reverse racist. Why is she trying to add more weight to the white man’s burden, anyway?
Corner Stone
Lanny Davis is the nominal D version of Bill Kristol.
Anytime Lanny takes a side you can bet he’s being paid to do so, and it’s going to be the wrong one.
Zifnab
OT: But this is ripe for a “Going Galt” piece.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immigration-phoenix-20100723,0,6111019.story
Looks like John Galt was an illegal immigrant. What a twist!
Paris
‘“culture of corruption” tag — a phrase I believe Democrats unfairly used in the 2006 elections ‘
Lanny ‘The Blind Sqirrel’ Davis is a douchebag of the highest order.
El Cid
Has Charlie Rangel hired Lanny Davis? Or is he free from representing any 3rd world coups lately?
feebog
Davis makes a good point in his article. I don’t know anything about the charges against Rangel, but they are just that, charges, not proven at this point. And lets not forget that in many of these ethics cases, they go through the hearing and then come back with a recommendation of censure or some other mild form of discipline.
wilfred
Lanny Davis is the pricks’ prick.
Still, this is a bit much, no?
Is including percentage of the vote a new trend – like an electoral batting average or something?
Zifnab
@feebog: That’s the thing though. After the DeLay years, I have very little confidence in the Congressional Ethics system. It’s barely functional on a good day.
Even if Rangel walks away with a clean bill of health or a mild censure, he could have a million dead kittens in his closet or he could be an anointed saint and I have still have no clue which.
I, personally, have a hard time believing you get to be the head of the Appropriations Committee without getting dirty, no matter who you are. I’d just like to see something that would let me put my suspicions to rest. At least with Clinton, the climax of the investigations was a blowjob. That’s the sort of thing we can all laugh off as asinine.
eemom
@parksideq:
.
Yay! Yay!! I was so hoping she’d do it. This is eleventy kinds of awesome.
Please Shirley, bring it in DC. Hire the sharkiest lawyer in town to grill that fucker’s ass in front of a DC jury. Prove the existence of God.
JGabriel
John Cole @ Top:
Really? It kinda made think less of Charlie, whom I like but don’t exactly think of as the least corruptible person in NYC politics.
Definition of an honest NYC pol: Someone who makes sure the project is for the good of the community before taking the kickback.
P.S. I can say that, I live here. The rest of you …
.
El Cid
@Zifnab: Climax?
Triassic Sands
Davis wrote:
I agree with Davis on this and note with sadness that the presumption of innocence has largely become a quaint memory, that is if one assumes it was ever given more than lip service in this country.
The presumption of innocence is something Davis and we owe to everyone regardless of political party or friendship. It shouldn’t have anything to do with loyalty.
Omnes Omnibus
@parksideq: Good for her. I hope, though, that she is prepared for the serious level of vile shit that is going to be thrown at her throughout the course of the suit. A defamation suit is going to open the doors to any, and all, crap about her life that could show that her character is low and, therefore, she could not be defamed. She is a brave, or seriously pissed-off, woman to do this.
And if face is on this thread, sorry for saying something that could start the lawyer talk you seem to hate so much.
Bill H
When someone is doing something wrong, it is not loyalty to support that.
When a SD Chargers player is arrested for drunk driving the other players all say “Well he’s my teammate, and I’m loyal to him.” In so doing, they condone drunk driving, and they facilitate the idiot driving drunk again. Think Vincent Jackson.
Real loyalty would be to tell that friend that his behavior is unacceptable, that you will support him but specifically saying that that you will not support the behavior.
MBunge
Lanny Davis is going to spend the rest of his life saying stuff like this to try and tamp down the self-loathing he feels from the whole Clinton-Lewinsky thing. He’d be better off just going to a therapist.
Mike
El Tiburon
Shorter Lanny Davis: Even if Rangel is as corrupt as they come, so what, he served in the war.
Look, elected officials (like cops) should be held to a much higher level of scrutiny. We ordain them with the power to decide our fates, including deciding on whether we earn a living or die.
Regardless of the good Rangel has done, IF IF IF he is guilty, then put him on trial or whatever is appropriate. IF IF IF he is found guilty, then let the Judge or jury decide on leniency.
Otherwise big fucking shocker that the MSM has already decided his fate. You have jack-offs like Little Timmah Russert on the beat. What can you expect.
brendancalling
@Zifnab:
i loved that article. It literally had me laughing out loud. not in a laughing with way, like when I watch Louis CK, but a laughing AT way.
It would warm the cockles of my heart if every single latino in Arizona, regardless of citizenship status, left. Think of the impact of 30% of your population leaving. not just the immediate economic impact, with all the closed businesses and abandoned homes. They’d have no one to harvest their cotton and lettuce (two major crops). No one to pack meat.
the only people remaining would be a lot of angry white people complaining about getting what they asked for.
valdivia
TPM reporting Rangel just cut a deal so there would not be a trial.
Mnemosyne
@brendancalling:
Unfortunately, the angry old white people who demanded this law aren’t the ones being hurt by having Latinos leave the state. As usual, it’s poor people and other immigrants.
Sure, eventually they’re going to have trouble finding a housekeeper or a gardener, but that’s going to be long after all of the people in that article have gone bankrupt.
Allan
I can’t hear Lanny Davis over the screams of his clients’ victims. Could someone ask them to keep it down so I can concentrate on Lanny’s message?
eemom
@Omnes Omnibus:
Interesting. I kind of assumed they’d try to buy her off.
I don’t know much about defamation law, but I seriously doubt a “low character” defense would go over well. I’m sure Breitbart’s own army of highly paid sharks would come up with something better than that. I.e., a large settlement offer, which I hope she won’t accept.
MattR
There is that magic number again (from a TPM article about the declining opposition to HCR)
Omnes Omnibus
@eemom: The fact that a low character defense would not be successful in court does not mean the Wurlitzer won’t conduct it in public.
Bender
Good. Now we can dispense with that “presumption of innocence” tripe for that fat old corrupt parasitic bastard. Every time I read “20-term Congressman,” I realize how stupid the general citizenry is, which directly equates to how fucked up the government is.
Bender
Greeeeeeat. Now when this case is inevitably dismissed, Breitbart can use the “I was exonerated” defense so popular with slimesuckers like the Climategate crew and ACORN. So then we’ll know that everything he did was on the up-and-up, right?
JohnR
Uh-huh. Say, you know who else was loyal?
Omnes Omnibus
Is it just me or has the quality of the trolls around here really declined?
JGabriel
As batshit crazy as BOB was, at least he never struck me as particularly angry. For instance, I never got the feeling that BOB was the type who would go into a Montessori school and kill all the kids just because their parents were liberals.
I don’t why I thought of that just now. It’s not like there are any angry conservatives that make me think they would do that posting in this thread.
(whistles innocently, strolls away …)
.
Zifnab
@brendancalling:
Now they finally have all those great, high paying jobs back. Hurray!
MattR
@Bender:
Huh? Both the Climategate scientists and ACORN were exonerated but no one seems to care about those details.
Omnes Omnibus
@JGabriel: Montessori in particular?
Paris
@Bender: Get some new medication and try again.
Zifnab
@Mnemosyne: The damage trickles up. You can’t have a city purely of the rich. More jobs than just “domestic housekeeper” exist, even in Bellaire and the OC.
Who do you think is stocking their grocery stores? Who do you think is driving the trucks that ship in merchandise to their malls? Who paves their roads?
Fewer residents means a higher premium on existing talent. And make no mistake. Laying asphalt that doesn’t crack and shipping groceries so they don’t spoil are talents. The upper classes will feel it if there’s a big enough exodus.
Davis X. Machina
I haven’t noticed anything special — they’re as pie-obsessed as ever.
Omnes Omnibus
@Paris:
Fixt.
Cacti
Rangel is, of course, entitled to the presumption of innocence in any legal proceedings against him.
But, considering he is 80 years old and has been in Congress for nearly 40 years, maybe now would be a good time to step aside and make way for some new blood.
He could use his free time to give his full attention to exonerating himself.
Tom65
The fact that Lanny Fucking Davis is coming to Rangel’s defense is proof-positive that Rangel is guilty.
TimmyB
I agree about admiring loyalty. I couldn’t help but think, while watching Al Cowling drive O.J. Simpson during the infamous “low speed chase,” that Al was a great friend.
What stuck in my mind was that I couldn’t think of a single person who I could ask to drive me to Mexico so I could escape an arrest for murder. But O.J. had such a loyal friend.
Not that Al shouldn’t have been charged with helping a fleeing felon, but who among us ever had a friend like that? Now that’s loyalty.
eemom
@Omnes Omnibus:
yeah, I just meant I think that strategy would backfire because it would make Breitbart look like even more of an asshole than ever.
cfaller96
Perhaps John needs to reexamine his definition of “going to bat” for somebody. You see, when I pay someone to deliver a good or perform a service for me, I don’t think that someone is “going to bat” for me. I think that person is “hired.” Lanny Davis is just doing whatever his “employer” told him to do.
(And yeah, we may not technically know that Rangel hired Davis. But c’mon, it’s Lanny Davis.)
eemom
@Bender:
I know I’ll regret asking this, but what exactly is the basis of your belief that the case would be “inevitably dismissed”?
Are you a defamation specialist? Cuz to a regular Jane Q. Lawyer like me, Sherrod’s case looks pretty solid.
eemom
oh, fuck that c*al*s shit that got me in moderation again. Who though up that stupid name for that drug anyway?
Omnes Omnibus
@eemom: I know, but the fact that he is that much of an asshole will mean that he and his friends won’t be able to stop themselves.
J sub D
The GOP is hoping this drags on until November. Charlie might oblige them.
eemom
@Omnes Omnibus:
ah. Good point.
Bill Murray
@JohnR: My neighbor’s wolf. Until the neighbor got hurt and the wolf made a play for alpha status right at my neighbor’s neck
Bender
@MattR:
Suuuuure they were. Just like Breitbart will be, right?
MattR
@Bender: I am still confused. Are you aguing that despite the fact that a court will have found him guilty of no wrong doing Andrew Breitbart will be forced out of business, similar to ACORN?
Norwegian Shooter
@Zifnab: Rangel is Ways and Means, but my main point is that there are powerful congressmen who are clean. Appropriations is currently chaired by David Obey. Besides the scandalous Alan Mollohan, who lost his primary in May, the other top D’s are Norm Dicks and Marcy Kaptur. The other top-ranking D’s on W&M are Sander Levin, Pete Stark, Jim McDermot and John Lewis. Besides the 2 louses, the rest are stand-up people. That’s about 20% scandal-ridden. Not too bad, eh?
brantl
Loyalty that isn’t leavened with common sense just makes lemmings. And no, you can’t make lemming-aide from lemmings. You make TeaBaggers from lemmings, at least the hairless variety.