The House Ethics Committee's censure of Congressman Charles Rangel is vastly disproportionate to his minor infractions, and indeed lacks the mercy for which Rangel pleaded. The shame lies with the Congressional hypocrites, not with Charlie Rangel.

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The real humiliation falls, not upon eighty-year-old Congressman Charlie Rangel, but upon the House Ethics Committee for censuring him for rather minor infractions of House rules.  Sure, during some twenty terms in the U.S. Congress, Rangel cut a few corners, probably fewer than the corners cut by his vengeful inquisitors.  Charlie should have paid taxes on the rent received from his house in the Dominican Republic and should have handled some of his fund raising better than he did.  But weighed against his distinguished record of public service, from the Korean War to the present, those matters are rather small potatoes.  And weighed against what other U.S. representatives get away with, the Rangel censure has to be a horrid case of the Kettles censuring the Pot, to paraphrase that old proverb.

Take, for example, the horrid case of former Congressman Nathan Deal, recently elected Governor of Georgia in spite of profound ethical (and possibly illegal) violations of the rules of the U.S. House of Representatives.  Deal and his aides used public time and resources to lobby for a zoning change in Gainesville, Georgia which would benefit Deal personally.  Deal's Gainesville Congressional office was even used as the venue of choice for meetings on this matter, which were intended to enrich Deal himself through his private salvage yard.   Had this particular Kettle not resigned from the House to run for Georgia governor, he might well have been hauled before the same committee which censured Rangel.  The Nathan Deal case is just one tip of a Congressional iceberg of profound ethical and legal issues needing attention.

Yes, the Rangel case also deserved attention -- and a reprimand to the Congressman would have been warranted.  Instead, though, those pompous hypocrites on the House Ethics Committee sought censure, requring Charlie Rangel to stand in the Hall of the House while outgoing speaker Nancy Pelosi reads the motion of censure to him, in the style of medieval excommunications and comparable techniques of public humiliation.  Why not make Charlie wear a scarlet letter on his forehead, or perhaps place him the the Stocks as the Pilgrims did to minor miscreants? 

Yes, there is shame in the sad case of this iconic Congressman, who has served his constituents, his state, and his nation so well for so long -- but that shame falls, not on Charlie Rangel, but on those who judged him without the mercy for which he was forced to plead.  Let those who are without sin themselves cast the first stone at Congressman Rangel -- and there would be precious few stones, indeed.

Authors Bio:

Author's Biography

Eugene Elander has been a progressive social and political activist for decades. As an author, he won the Young Poets Award at 16 from the Dayton Poets Guild for his poem, The Vision. He was chosen Poet Laureate of Pownal, Vermont for his poem Pownal People. His three new verses for America the Beautiful:September 11, 2001 were widely acclaimed and read into the Congressional Record by U.S. Senator Chris Dodd.
Dr. Elander has authored four volumes of poetry: The Right Click, The World Click, Journeyings, and Philosophy over Fika, all written from 2004 to now, in the U.S. and Sweden -- as well as two published novels: The Goat of God, and Turning the Tides, both available via Signalman Publishing on Amazon.com in Kindle and electronic pdf editions. A self-help book titled Empowerment:Taking Charge of your Life was recently completed and is available via Amazon.com KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing.
Dr. Elander is a freelance columnist who published a newspaper for ten years in New London, CT. He is an economist and college lecturer, and has been an agency executive director, emergency management consultant, investigator; and former animal control officer, deputy code enforcement and health officer for Farmington, New Hampshire. He and his wife Birgit, who co-authored The World Click, divide their time between Georgia and her homeland, Gotland, Sweden.
Several other books are underway, including a sequel to The Goat of God, and a public version of his doctoral dissertation on Cooperatism, a new economic system he developed which includes all stakeholders (workers, consumers, and the public as well as stockholders) in crucial decision making. Dr. Elander has been a member of the Stonepile Writers group in Georgia and the Poetry Society of New Hampshire. He is president of his own Elander Press.