SORRY, CHARLIE!

For a black man of Charlie Rangel's age to claim that he didn't know that the word "cracker" is offensive to whites is a flat-out lie. Cracker is to white people what the n-word is to blacks. And for everyone of any race who is appalled by the racist attacks on president Obama by whites, this is the same thing in reverse. Like Charlie, I disapprove of the tea party's ignorant agenda and have called them many names myself. Ignorant, selfish, obstructionist, violent, neanderthal and many other adjectives would apply without resorting to racial slurs. And I myself use the word cracker and other offensive words. But I'm not in public office and I'm not lying about it on camera.

Frankly, I think seeing two black men laughing on a "news" segment over one's use of the word cracker is disturbing and it's crystal clear proof that race-baiting doesn't only come from whites. In his attempt to back-track and apologize, Rangel even presents the ridiculous notion that he used the term thinking it was a term of "endearment." This again is an absurd lie. Then again maybe lying isn't so unusual for Rangel, since he was indicted for 11 counts of ethics violations in 2010, including this lunacy. NY Times: "Since the accusations were first raised two years ago, Mr. Rangel has acknowledged bookkeeping errors in his financial disclosure forms and has said that his failure to pay more than $60,000 in taxes on rental income from a Dominican beach house was an oversight, caused, in part, by his inability to speak Spanish." I wonder if in the statement he called spanish "spic-ish", because that's a term of endearment to latinos. Puh-lease.

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