Degree of Madness

Obama's Iraq plan goes under the bus...

Barack Obama's surge purge, Ed Morrissey has the scoop:

Better late than never, I suppose.  Barack Obama has purged his website of criticism of the surge, and has now credited American troops with the security gains of the last year.  The move comes as John McCain repeatedly points out that Obama opposed the surge in January 2007 and said it would make the situation worse:

The presumed Democratic nominee replaced his Iraq issue Web page, which had described the surge as a “problem” that had barely reduced violence.

“The surge is not working,” Obama’s old plan stated, citing a lack of Iraqi political cooperation but crediting Sunni sheiks - not U.S. military muscle - for quelling violence in Anbar Province.

The News reported Sunday that insurgent attacks have fallen to the fewest since March 2004.

Obama’s campaign posted a new Iraq plan Sunday night, which cites an “improved security situation” paid for with the blood of U.S. troops since the surge began in February 2007. It praises G.I.s’ “hard work, improved counterinsurgency tactics and enormous sacrifice.”

The surge, which John McCain fought for, and was right about.  The one Barack Obama opposed and was wrong about:

The campaign says they regularly update the site to “reflect changes in current events”.  However, the Obama campaign has yet to acknowledge that the changes came from a strategy he opposed and that he predicted would fail.  Even more remarkably, he hasn’t changed his policy to incorporate the “changes in current events”.  Instead, he just retooled his demand for timetabled withdrawals with a sop to the troops.

I guess you can't blame Obama for wanting to sweep this one under the bus rug.  Which candidate had the foresight and judgment and which one did not?  And which one is backtracking?  Jim Geraghty (his links):

Rush noted Obama's position in January 2007:

OBAMA: We cannot impose a military solution on what has effectively become a civil war. And until we acknowledge that reality, uh, we can send 15,000 more troops; 20,000 more troops; 30,000 more troops. Uh, I don't know any, uh, expert on the region or any military officer that I've spoken to, uh, privately that believes that that is gonna make a substantial difference on the situation on the ground.

Dan Riehl notes Obama's position in July 2007:

"Here's what we know. The surge has not worked. And they said today, 'Well, even in September, we're going to need more time.' So we're going to kick this can all the way down to the next president, under the president's plan."

A Democratic debate in September 13, 2007:

After putting an additional 30,000 troops in, far longer & more troops than the president had initially said, we have gone from a horrendous situation of violence in Iraq to the same intolerable levels of violence that we had back in June of 2006. So, essentially, after all this we're back where we were 15 months ago. And what has not happened is any movement with respect to the sort of political accommodations among the various factions, the Shia, the Sunni, and Kurds that were the rationale for surge and that ultimately is going to be what stabilizes Iraq. So, I think it is fair to say that the president has simply tried to gain another six months to continue on the same course that he's been on for several years now. It is a course that will not succeed. It is a course that is exacting an enormous toll on the American people & our troops.

Democratic debate, January 5, 2008:

I had no doubt, and I said when I opposed the surge, that given how wonderfully our troops perform, if we place 30,000 more troops in there, then we would see an improvement in the security situation and we would see a reduction in the violence.

Wrong.  That is not what Obama said.  Here it is again, January 2007:

We cannot impose a military solution on what has effectively become a civil war.  And until we acknowledge that reality, uh, we can send 15,000 more troops; 20,000 more troops; 30,000 more troops. Uh, I don't know any, uh, expert on the region or any military officer that I've spoken to, uh, privately that believes that that is gonna make a substantial difference on the situation on the ground.

Maybe Obama should have spoken to John McCain.

Mike Gallagher says goodbye...

To his precious wife Denise and Tony Snow:

Tony Snow's death packed a particularly hard punch to my gut this week. Because during the past year, Tony had been warmly and graciously corresponding with my precious wife Denise, who had also been battling cancer. When Tony found out about her diagnosis, he asked for her email address so they could exchange words of inspiration and advice.

They did. And she relished every word. Here was my wife, a frustratingly liberal-leaning woman and wife of a conservative radio host, sharing a bond with a fellow cancer fighter, one of the giants of conservatism. It was proof that a life-threatening disease is the great equalizer, a reminder that there are more important things than Democrats and Republicans. Denise loved Tony. She admired his faith, his optimism, and his "live-for-the-moment" approach to life.

I imagine right about now, they are arguing politics face-to-face.  Because my beloved died almost two weeks ago.

My sincere condolences to Mike and his four sons.  Denise sounds like a beautiful lady who was taken much too soon:

She died the day before her 52nd birthday.

She is in God's hands.  He called Denise home but He left the memories: 

Like most married couples, Denise and I had a bunch of little rituals. One of mine was to say the exact same thing every single night that we turned out the lights to go to bed. I literally didn't sleep very well if I didn't say it to her.

"Good night, my princess.  Sleep safe."

R.I.P. Denise.

The New Yorker Cover story

Jake Tapper:

The sophisticates at The New Yorker have come up with a cover that is sure to get the magazine a lot of attention. Negative attention. From their friends.

An illustration by Barry Blitt depicts Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and his wife Michelle in the Oval Office, revealing their "true" selves: Michelle is in full revolutionary garb, an enormous afro making her look like a millennial Angela Davis, holding an automatic weapon and wearing military pants.

In the cartoon Michelle is giving dap, or fist-bumping, with her husband who is wearing a turban and is dressed in garb perhaps more appropriate for a madrassa in Lahore than the Oval Office.

A painting of Osama bin Laden hangs above the fireplace, where the American flag is being burned.

Speaking for the Obama campaign, Bill Burton said:

"The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."

I would like to know which right-wing critics The New Yorker staff member was talking about.  The mythical "they" perhaps?:

"It is going to be very difficult for Republicans to run on their stewardship of the economy or their outstanding foreign policy," Obama told a fundraiser in Jacksonville, Florida. "We know what kind of campaign they're going to run. They're going to try to make you afraid.

"They're going to try to make you afraid of me. He's young and inexperienced and he's got a funny name. And did I mention he's black?

Must be. 

The article inside the magazine by Ryan Lizza, titled Making It, subtitled How Chicago shaped Obama, is a (very) detailed look at Obama's rise in Chicago politics.  It is a long article but Scott at Power Line has highlighted some excerpts.  Here is a small sample:

Ivory Mitchell, the ward chairman in Obama’s neighborhood, says of Obama that “he was typical of what most aspiring politicians are: self-centered—that ‘I can do anything and I’m willing to do it overnight.’”

***

Many people who knew Obama then remember him for his cockiness.

"Running unopposed... is a pretty good way to win":

{Obama secured the endorsement of state senator Alice Palmer to succeed her while she unsuccessfully sought the Democratic endorsement for a congressional seat and then refused to step aside to let her reclaim her position. Palmer filed a petition for a place on the ballot.] Obama was conciliatory about the awkward political situation, telling the Hyde Park Herald that he understood that some people were upset about the “conflict between old loyalties and new enthusiasms.” Privately, however, he unleashed his operators. With the help of the Dobrys, he was able to remove not just Palmer’s name from the ballot but the name of every other opponent as well. “He ran unopposed, which is a good way to win,” [former D.C. Circuit Judge Abner] Mikva said, laughing at the recollection.

Tony Rezko, who seems to be all but forgotten these days, figured prominently in Obama's rise in Chicago politics:

[Tony] Rezko was one of the people Obama consulted when he considered running to replace Palmer, and Rezko eventually raised about ten per cent of Obama’s funds for that first campaign. As a state senator, Obama became an advocate of the tax-credit program. “That’s an example of a smart policy,” he told the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin in 1997. “The developers were thinking in market terms and operating under the rules of the marketplace; but at the same time, we had government supporting and subsidizing those efforts.” Obama and Rezko’s friendship grew stronger. They dined together regularly and even, on at least one occasion, retreated to Rezko’s vacation home, in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

The "smart policy" certainly benefited Rezko and other political insiders. 

One step ahead: 

Obama has frequently been one step ahead of his friends and the public in anticipating his own rise. Perhaps it is all those people he has met over the years who told him that he would be President one day. The Reverend Alvin Love, a South Side Baptist minister and a longtime Obama friend, said that Obama called him in December, 2006, seeking advice about whether to run for President. “My dad told me that you’ve got to strike while the iron is hot,” Love recalls saying, and Obama replied, “The iron can’t get any hotter.”

Obama has always had a healthy understanding of the reaction he elicits in others, and he learned to use it to his advantage a very long time ago. Marty Nesbitt remembers Obama’s utter calm the day he gave his celebrated speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, in Boston, which made him an international celebrity and a potential 2008 Presidential candidate. “We were walking down the street late in the afternoon,” Nesbitt told me. “And this crowd was building behind us, like it was Tiger Woods at the Masters.”

“Barack, man, you’re like a rock star,” Nesbitt said.

“Yeah, if you think it’s bad today, wait until tomorrow,” Obama replied.

“What do you mean?”

“My speech,” Obama said, “is pretty good.”

Scott Johnson:

Lizza's article coincidentally demonstrates that Obama's grandiosity is a quality that can be traced through his years in Chicago.

But there is so much more that can be traced through Obama's Chicago years.  And those years are ongoing.  Obama is definitely not leaving his roots in Chicago.

From the article (page 2):

Chicago is not Obama’s home town, but it’s where he chose to forge his identity. Several weeks ago, he moved many of the Democratic National Committee’s operations from Washington to Chicago, making the city the unofficial capital of the Democratic Party; his campaign headquarters are in an office building in the Loop, Chicago’s downtown business district. But Chicago, with its reputation as a center of vicious and corrupt politics, may also be the place that Obama needs to leave behind.

I don't think Obama plans on tossing Chicago under the bus any time soon.  As for the New Yorker cover, President Bush has had much worse drawn and written about him.  He seems to be able to handle it pretty well, sort of goes with the territory.  I do believe it's pretty crass but there is some rationale, (unintended I'm sure), for it and I'm not talking about the supposed right-wing caricature that Obama is a Muslim.  Obama has some pretty radical friends.  When you hang out with William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn and you're running for President, people will notice.  It is not guilt by association, we are known by the company we keep and Obama's kept some pretty sleazy company.

Barack Obama, a Happening Dude

Obama the happening:

The casting of votes is still four months away, but we can already see a certain pattern and detect a certain narrative developing regarding the presidential race. The first and most obvious element in this pattern is that Barack Obama is benefiting from a level of media adulation that perhaps no contemporary American political figure or public figure of any kind has received.

This media adulation, and it is indeed that, is disturbing.  Barack Obama is running for President, he is not auditioning to perform with Hannah Montana. 

Obama’s recent, exquisitely calculated policy shifts won’t hurt him much because what Obama mania represents is not a traditional political movement per se but the injection of the concept of celebrity culture into the political realm.  The end result is an eerie kind of personality cult in which form substitutes for content and style and persona become ends in themselves.

Form over substance.  When Barack Obama, after saying he would meet with John McCain anywhere, anytime, refuses to do just that, you know he knows he's out of his league.  Obama is counting on the media and his cult-like followers to ignore the obvious and simply repeat, ad nauseam, hope and change.  And they are more than willing to oblige.  One need look no further than Obama's decision to give his acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination at Invesco Field.  His empty rhetoric will go unnoticed with thousands of fans shouting OBAMA, OBAMA.  La, la, la..We can change the world!

No one will question his actual record, he does have one, however slim.  It starts in Chicago.

Obama, The Happening: 

Is it real, is it fake, is this game of life a mistake
Cause when I lost the love I thought was mine
For certain, suddenly I started hurting.

I saw the light too late, when that fickle finger of fate
Yeah came and broke my pretty balloon
I woke up, suddenly I just woke up to the happening.

Sooner or later Saint Obama's followers will wake up and find their pretty balloon has been broken.  The folks in Chicago could tip them off, but they won't.  He's their guy.  Gravitas or charm?

Does America appreciate gravitas, or do they want to be charmed?

Charmed, I'm sure.

Change we can believe in

Carol Marks for President!  I believe she will make a fantastic President and I'm hoping she'll let me be her campaign manager.  I do have experience.  When I was in college I was the campaign manager for a friend running for student body council, or something like that, and he did make it, I think.  Anyway he had the coolest signs on campus. 

So you need to get on board here.  I'm not sure what her platform is, it probably has something to do with golf and weddings, not necessarily in that order.  If you believe in golf and weddings, you've got yourself a candidate.  (If you don't, you're a communist and you shouldn't be voting anyway). 

So get out there and show Carol some love. 

(Carol Marks did not approve this message).

Barack Obama still running from John McCain

Barack Obama still refuses to appear with John McCain in a Town Hall meeting.  Despite his bravado back in May (my emphasis):

"If John McCain wants to meet me anywhere, anytime, to have a debate about our respective policies in Iraq, in Iran, in the Middle East or around the world, that is a conversation I am happy to have," the Illinois Democrat told reporters at an afternoon news conference in Watertown, S.D. "I believe that there is no separation between John McCain and George Bush when it comes to our Middle East policy and I think their policy has failed."

Obama has turned down another opportunity to do just that:

A coalition of military groups is planning a nationally televised town-hall-style meeting with the presidential candidates near Fort Hood, Tex., the largest active-duty military installation in the country. But so far, only Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, has agreed to attend.

CBS has agreed to broadcast the meeting live from 9 to 11 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, Aug. 11. The candidates would face questions directly from an audience of 6,000 people, made up of veterans, service members and military families from the base.

Barack Obama is the ultimate poseur.  After his excuse of a previous engagement was addressed he still would not agree to face John McCain or members of the military he wants to lead.  Some leader:

“Senator Obama strongly supports America’s veterans and military families and has worked hard on their behalf in the Senate,” said Phillip Carter, director of Mr. Obama’s veterans effort and an Iraq war veteran. “While we unfortunately had a previously scheduled commitment on the date proposed, Senator Obama looks forward to continuing the dialogue he’s been having throughout the country with veterans on how we can better serve our men and women in uniform as they serve us.”

Carissa Picard, managing director of the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall Consortium, said she had suggested Aug. 11 and asked the campaign to suggest other dates if that was not convenient, but after several conversations she had not been able to work anything out.

“I’m having extreme difficulty getting the Obama campaign to commit to this event, and we do not understand why,” said Ms. Picard, whose husband is deployed in Iraq. “We made it very clear to them that if they would commit to the event, we would work with them on dates.”

These are the folks Obama refuses to address:

Organizers include American Veterans, Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Veterans for Common Sense and Military Spouse Corporate Career Network.

I hope the event goes on as scheduled.  It will speak volumes if McCain shows up, and he will, and Obama does not.  CBS should honor its commitment to broadcast the meeting live.  Our military (especially) and the American people, deserve to hear directly from both candidates.  If one refuses, so be it.  This presidential election is too important to let one candidate dictate the ground rules. 

Anywhere, anytime, Obama?

(H/T Ed Morrissey)

Tony Snow, R.I.P.

This is heartbreaking news:

Tony Snow, the former White House press secretary and conservative pundit who bedeviled the press corps and charmed millions as a FOX News television and radio host, has died after a long bout with cancer. He was 53.

Tony Snow was one of the best.  He will be missed.  In his own words:  Cancer's Unexpected Blessings:

Blessings arrive in unexpected packages—in my case, cancer.

Those of us with potentially fatal diseases—and there are millions in America today—find ourselves in the odd position of coping with our mortality while trying to fathom God's will. Although it would be the height of presumption to declare with confidence What It All Means, Scripture provides powerful hints and consolations.

The first is that we shouldn't spend too much time trying to answer the why questions: Why me? Why must people suffer? Why can't someone else get sick? We can't answer such things, and the questions themselves often are designed more to express our anguish than to solicit an answer.

I don't know why I have cancer, and I don't much care. It is what it is—a plain and indisputable fact. Yet even while staring into a mirror darkly, great and stunning truths begin to take shape. Our maladies define a central feature of our existence: We are fallen. We are imperfect. Our bodies give out.

But despite this—because of it—God offers the possibility of salvation and grace. We don't know how the narrative of our lives will end, but we get to choose how to use the interval between now and the moment we meet our Creator face-to-face.

How Tony chose to "use the interval between" should be an inspiration for us all.  His faith never wavered nor did his smile. 

What is man that Thou art mindful of him? We don't know much, but we know this: No matter where we are, no matter what we do, no matter how bleak or frightening our prospects, each and every one of us, each and every day, lies in the same safe and impregnable place—in the hollow of God's hand.

Tony is now truly in God's hand, living life ever after as promised.  His was a life well lived and he will be missed, but he left behind a lifetime of great faith and love for us to remember. 

R.I.P.

Regrets, I've had a few

But who's counting?  Luke Boggs with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Barack Obama just may be the most regretful figure in American politics, no small feat for a freshman senator.

On Wednesday, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said he regretted allowing his young daughters to participate in a family TV interview with "Access Hollywood."

It was an abrupt shift from decision to regret, even for Obama. The family sat down for the interview on July 4, and the first segment ran on July 8. By the next morning, Obama was saying he regretted including his daughters, even before the other two parts of the interview could air.

What else does Obama regret?

In November 2006, Obama said he regretted buying property adjacent to his Chicago home from Tony Rezko, a longtime supporter and big-time fund-raiser who has since been convicted of mail and wire fraud, aiding and abetting bribery and money laundering.

In February 2007, as his presidential campaign was beginning, Obama said he regretted saying that the lives of American soldiers who died fighting in Iraq had been "wasted."

In April 2008, Obama said he regretted his choice of words when he told some well-heeled donors in San Francisco that "bitter" folks in Middle America who have lost economic hope "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them."

Is this the hope and change we've all been waiting for?

Perhaps the American people are looking for a regretful guy this time around...

Obama would be a shoo-in.  Hope, Change, Regret You Can Believe In:

But I'm not so sure. After all, a lot of Americans understand that you don't get a bunch of easy do-overs in the Oval Office. You have to make tough calls, even when they may be politically costly.

I can't help wondering what Obama might regret in four years as president. What might he regret doing —- or not doing —- on the world stage? What might he regret saying —- or not saying —- to Putin or Kim Jong-il or Ahmadinejad?

Only time will tell. Depending on what happens in November, we may begin to find out next January. When we do, some voters may well have regrets of their own.

And then it will be too late.  Choose carefully.

Obama to sponsor car at NASCAR'S Pocono race...

***UPDATE BELOW***

Going after those bitter Bible totin', gun totin' clingers in Pennsylvania.

I hate it for ya, Kenny:

SI.com has learned that for the first time in history, a major presidential candidate may sponsor a race car in NASCAR's premier series. According to sources, Barack Obama's campaign is in talks to become the primary sponsor of BAM Racing's No. 49 Sprint Cup car for the Pocono race on August 3. Details of the agreement are expected to be worked out over the coming days.

A BAM spokesperson has revealed the team will hold a press conference July 23 in Miami to reveal the partnership, currently a proposed one-race deal with an option to continue. Obama will be at the briefing, which will be tied to the "Get Out The Vote" campaign message he spread throughout the 2008 primary season.

I certainly wish no bad luck on Ken Schrader, but...he will have to qualify and that's no sure thing:

Ken Schrader will drive the entry, a Toyota, at Pocono for BAM, which is outside the top 35 in owner points and must qualify for the race on speed. The team has run just once since Martinsville due to sponsorship concerns, and has just six top-10 finishes in 167 career starts in the Cup series dating back to '02...

I hate to say it but it would be funny if Obama sponsors the car and it fails to qualify for the race.  (Again, I like Ken Schrader, I have mixed emotions here).

As a life-long race fan (I am a native Alabamian after all.  My Father sponsored stock cars years ago here in Birmingham, Bobby Allison drove for him for a bit) I find Obama's obvious political play here laughable.  I will give him a little advice, forget the flag pin, NASCAR fans won't be fooled.  And I seriously doubt your little publicity stunt will erase this from the minds of small town Pennsylvania voters:

You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Oh, and as Michelle has mentioned, watch out for those NASCAR cooties.

***UPDATE July 12***

Flip Flop?  Barack Obama nixes deal to sponsor car in NASCAR race in Pennsylvania (note, I did a little editing for clarity):

Barack Obama was about to be a NASCAR daddy - until he ditched.

The Democrat's presidential campaign pulled the plug late Friday night on negotiations with BAM Racing to sponsor its No. 49 car at the Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania on Aug. 3.

"The Obama campaign will not be sponsoring a car in the Sprint Cup series, though we will continue to look for ways to reach out to voters and convey Senator Obama's message of change," his spokeswoman Jen Psaki said after the deal broke down.

I must say it didn't seem to be such a good idea to begin with. 

Charlie Rangel's Congressional Welfare

Why we need term limits...desperately (all emphasis mine):

While aggressive evictions are making rent-stabilized apartments increasingly scarce in New York, Representative Charles B. Rangel is enjoying four of them, including three adjacent apartments in a sprawling penthouse overlooking Upper Manhattan, courtesy of one of New York’s premier real estate developers.

Mr. Rangel, the powerful Democrat who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, uses his fourth apartment, six floors below, as a campaign office, despite state and city regulations that require rent-stabilized apartments to be used as a primary residence.

Mr. Rangel, who has a net worth of $566,000 to $1.2 million, according to Congressional disclosure records, paid a total rent of $3,894 monthly in 2007 for the four apartments at Lenox Terrace, a 1,700-unit, six-tower luxury development with doormen that is described in real estate publications as Harlem’s most prestigious address.

The current market-rate rent for similar apartments in the building would total $7,465 to $8,125 a month, according to the Web site of the owner, the Olnick Organization.

The Olnick Organization and other real estate firms have been accused of overzealous tactics as they move to evict tenants from their rent-stabilized apartments and convert them into market-rate housing.

I was never a big fan of term limits.  I always figured we already had it only we called it "elections".  When our representatives got out of line we could just boot them and still be able to keep the ones who were doing a good job for us.  But it just doesn't seem to work that way.  The voters in Charles Rangel's district just continue to vote for him in huge numbers:

Mr. Rangel, who was first elected to Congress in 1970 and is one of the city’s most recognizable elected officials, has written and spoken extensively about his devotion to his home in Harlem, but does not appear to have ever publicly acknowledged that he has been permitted to lease four rent-stabilized apartments there. According to a public records database and interviews with neighbors, he has lived in the building since the early 1970s, but it is not clear when he amassed the four units.

[...]

A sharp political tactician and a prodigious fund-raiser, Mr. Rangel is frequently re-elected with more than 80 percent of the vote...

Rangel is not alone in using his position to gain favor:

Mr. Rangel is not the only prominent resident with a rent-stabilized apartment at Lenox Terrace. Gov. David A. Paterson told The New York Sun in May that he pays $1,250 for a rent-stabilized two-bedroom apartment in the complex that rents for $2,600 or more at market rates. Basil A. Paterson, the governor’s father, pays $868 per month for his apartment there, in the same building as Mr. Rangel’s apartments, according to state records.

Percy E. Sutton, the former Manhattan borough president and a longtime ally and friend of Mr. Rangel’s, also lives at Lenox Terrace, though records about his rent were not available.

Under state and city rent regulations, tenants can continue renewing the lease in their rent-stabilized apartments for as long as they use it as a primary residence, and landlords can increase rent only by an annual percentage set by a city board.

The key here being "primary residence":

A spokesman for the governor said that Mr. Paterson, who owns a home in an Albany suburb and recently moved into the executive mansion, considered Lenox Terrace his primary residence. A secretary to the elder Mr. Paterson, who owns a home on Long Island, said he could not be immediately reached.

Must be nice to be so well-connected.  Somehow I doubt Rangel and company will be giving up their taxpayer enabled gravy train any time soon.  I also doubt he's in any danger of getting voted out of office.  Wash, rinse, repeat.

Via:  Kathryn Jean Lopez (Who really stretched to get "Alabama" into the title of her post.  I think she's still mad at us).

Ed Morrissey:

No one has a problem with Rangel occupying one rent-controlled apartment, although one has to wonder why Rangel should have priority for affordable housing over others who really need it.  The subsequent leases look a lot like gifts, and their value goes into the thousands every month, far exceeding the one-time $100 value limit for House members.  Using one of the leases for a campaign office looks even more problematic.  That can easily be seen as an in-kind campaign contribution by Olnick worth tens of thousands of dollars over the last few years.

The FEC should investigate this arrangement for Rangel, and so should the state and city of New York.  The House Ethics Committee also has a responsibility here, but no one expects them to act.  Nancy Pelosi only talked about ethics long enough to get a majority, and she’s certainly not going to allow another member of the Congressional Black Caucus to get investigated, not after they closed ranks so effectively around William “Dollar Bill” Jefferson.

I will be very surprised if anything comes of this, although it is a clear violation of state and city regulations, not to mention FEC rules.  But hey, New York, keep voting for Rangel  He is addicted to the perks and no way he would get such a sweet deal if he weren't a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.  Let's just call it Congressional Welfare.

***Update***

Rangel responds.  “The question of fairness is so subjective.”  The bright spot is that Rangel was challenged by "angry" residents:

...At one point angry residents accosted the congressman, the dean of Harlem politics, in an unusual sidewalk confrontation, as Mr. Rangel faced questions from reporters.

[...]

Earlier, residents interviewed about Mr. Rangel’s living situation had expressed anger.

“I’m a registered nurse, I live in this community, I take care of this community, and I can’t get a deal like that,” said Evelyn Harvey, who mentioned that she once lived in a $700-a-month rent-stabilized apartment in Lenox Terrace but now lives in a $1,300-a-month market-rate unit in the same complex. “When you have money and you have status, the rules are different.”

Another Harlem resident, James Bryant, said: “If he had four, he has to let three go. Think about the homeless people who are out here. Other people need a place to live too.”

Rangel was asked whether the publicity would hurt his chances for reelection.  He did not seem too concerned:

When a reporter asked Mr. Rangel whether he thought the publicity about his four rent-stabilized apartments would harm his chances for reelection or put any pressure on him to resign, he responded, his voice thick with sarcasm, “Yeah, I’ll have to give that some serious thought. Yes, I may give up the chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee and give up the seat I’ve had for 38 years and say, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, how could this happen to me?’”

He added: “If anyone can show any remote possibility that this could be considered as a gift, I’ll quit tomorrow. If not, they should owe me an apology.”

Remote possibility?  I do believe someone could show that.  You know what they say...Ignorance of the law is no excuse:

...“I didn’t see anything unfair about it,” he said. “I didn’t even know it was a deal.”

(Yeah, right).  Well now you know, Mr. Rangel.  What are you going to do about it?