It wasn't all that long ago that New York Democrat Charles Rangel was indignantly and defiantly stating that he would be vindicated in any ethics trial carried out by the House of Representatives. He thought that the charges weren't serious and that there was a lack of evidence.
This week, he's changed tact, claiming that the Republicans are out to get him and are the ones standing in the way of any deal on the 13 charges facing Rangel.
It's all so much smoke being blown by Rangel and his supporters.
Rangel wants to shift the blame of his situation on to anyone but himself.
Rangel was the one who failed to report income for years on end. He's the one who failed to follow House ethics rules on reporting junkets and imputed income. He's the one who lived in a rent subsidized apartment for years on end even though he was using those apartments illegally.
And charges that Rangel acted improperly seem to increase by the day.
Should it surprise anyone that Rangel is not optimistic that a deal can be struck? The time to cut a deal passed long ago. Congressional Democrats protected him long enough, and they correctly see Rangel as a weight on their collective necks with the 2010 election season being a particularly challenging one.
Rangel has to go, and yet he's still campaigning for reelection (and could quite likely win reelection despite his corrupt nature).
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