Joe Scarborough and Crew Lament the 'Sad,' 'Terrible' Ordeal of Charlie Rangel
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough and his Morning Joe co-hosts on Friday commiserated over the "sad," "terrible" ordeal that Charlie Rangel suffered through while being censured. Echoing many liberals in the media, Scarborough commented, "People want to forgive Charlie. They do." He fretted, "And, Norah, a sad day yesterday on the hill."
Journalist Norah O'Donnell recounted the censure for failing to pay taxes as a "very moving moment" and complemented Rangel's "very emotional statement." on the floor of the House. At one point, co-host Mika Brzezinski offered a one word description for the Democrat's punishment: "Terrible."
Later in the morning, while talking to Republican Dave Camp, Scarborough chided those who might not feel sorrow over Rangel's predicament: "I was trying to explain to everybody, and a lot of partisans may not understand this, this was a genuinely sad moment, not only for Democrats yesterday, but so many Republicans." (He didn't specify these unnamed Republicans.)
Scarborough did criticize Rangel, but seemed pained to do it: "He should have taken the deal and spared himself and his Democratic friends who love him- even the Republicans were very respectful on the floor yesterday. They respect this man. He's a war hero."
On Thursday, CBS Evening News host Katie Couric described the censure as "painful" to everyone who watched. On Friday, the network's morning show avoided the topic entirely.
A transcripts of the two conversations, which aired on December 3, can be found below:
JOE SCARBOROUGH: And, Norah, a sad day yesterday on the hill. Most Democrats said "Hey, he deserved it." But, it was sad. Charlie Rangel having to stand before the House being censured.
NORAH O'DONNELL: It was a very moving moment. I mean, censure happens very rarely. This is the first time in three decades. It's the most severe punishment short of expulsion. You could tell there were a lot of Democrats upset they had to do it. But, he was censured.
SCARBOROUGH : Nancy Pelosi was struggling to get through it.
O'DONNELL: He was censured. I thought she was struggling as well. He seemed emotional. He blamed it on, sort of, politics and then had the very emotional statement where he said, you know, I didn't have sex, I didn't steal. He called it politics. But, clearly, I mean, what a fall from grace for a man that served Harlem for half of his lifetime.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Terrible.
SCARBOROUGH: I know. And served his country as well. It's unfortunate when he did say it was politics when, again, even Democrats on the hill, we were up there, we were saying we hate it happened.
BRZEZINSKI: And wish we didn't have to do this.
SCARBOROUGH: But he's the guy that writes laws on taxes and he didn't pay taxes for 15 years.
BRZEZINSKI: Everybody was in a bad position.
SCARBOROUGH: He put everybody in a bad position and even last night he couldn't say I messed up and I'm sorry. People want to forgive Charlie. They do.
ANDREA MITCHELL: The painful thing was watching Pelosi and then she had to say, "And you will pay your back taxes for the property in the Dominican Republic," it brought it down to the level of what the actual facts were once he talked about his service, being wounded in Korea and all of that. And you looked at him and thought of career. And then she talked about what was really involved, that was the reality.
SCARBOROUGH: Yeah. That was the reality. He should have taken the deal. I was going to say, it's about the only deal he passed up on for the past 30 or 40 years. He should have taken the deal and spared himself and his Democratic friends who love him- even the Republicans were very respectful on the floor yesterday. They respect this man. He's a war hero.
SAM STEIN (Huffington Post): You're right. I mean, it would have spared a lot of people embarrassing moments. I was struck that in his defense Democrats were saying, well, "You know, Tom Delay, Newt Gingrich, they got off far easier." Well, you know, the reason they got off far easier is what propelled Democrats to run against the culture of corruption and say we're going to install these new ethics policies. For the party to turn around and say Charlie should get off easy, it was impossible. They put him in an impossible position. It was an unfortunate fall from grace.
7:44
SCARBOROUGH [To Dave Camp]: Now, you obviously worked very closely with Charlie Rangel through the years on the Ways and Means Committee. I was trying to explain to everybody, and a lot of partisans may not understand this, this was a genuinely sad moment, not only for Democrats yesterday, but so many Republicans. When I said, you going to see Rangel? And they're like, "God, I don't want to. It's going to be painful."
DAVE CAMP: Well, I like Charlie. I was ranking member. He was chairman for a time.
SCARBOROUGH: Most people like him there?
CAMP: He's very likable. Obviously has a tremendous- War hero, tremendous record. But, it's a sad day. It was a sad day for the House. But, the rules are the rules.
SCARBOROUGH: Yeah. And that's what everybody is saying.
— Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
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Comments
Boo Hoo
Submitted by jdlybrand on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 5:47pm.
Cry me a freaking river.
"What a revoltin' development this is!"
Chester Riley
Good grief, Charlie Rangel!
Submitted by Galvanic on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 5:53pm.
Rangel is a thief. He got off with less than even a slap in the face -- and he's still in denial.
Rangel said it himself on the floor of the House: "I brought this on myself."
Correct. He did.
And now he's been censured -- wow. How under-whelming.
The rest of us would've ended up in prison and broke for the same behavior.
Have pity...it's a tragedy
Submitted by motherbelt on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 6:02pm.
Have pity...it's a tragedy this had to happen to him.....
There he was, just standing there, an honorable public servant, and ....WHAM!!
The House Dems have found the enforcement of . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 4:12pm.
. . . the ethics rules so distasteful, that they have dropped the ethics trial of Maxine Waters.
Poor Charlie. Poor Maxine.
Pick a Day
Submitted by BuffNBone on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 6:03pm.
Unless actions are taken against him on Jun 7th, an argument came be made that people are being mean since is too close to the past Christmas or too close to the upcoming one.
Well when I was elected in '94 Blah Blah Blah
Submitted by connman on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 6:09pm.
...Blowhard Joe has poisonal experience when it comes to spending time in the halls of Congress,and when you listen to him at any given time for a maximum of two minutes he'll tell you all about it. If any of us did what Rangel did we'd be heading up the river! So if it was a (R) would they be bragging about Miss Nancy dredging the swamp?
Sad moment for RINOs? Not a
Submitted by eaglewingz08 on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 6:11pm.
Sad moment for RINOs? Not a sad moment for conservatives at all. Joe has become a flaming liberal. He is not tolerable to listen to anymore. He has sold his soul (if he had one) to MSLSD. He has no credibility left, he is merely a trojan horse for liberals to use to try to destroy conservative policies favored by wide margins of Americans.
Mr Rangel-is a thief-
Submitted by JIMMY1660 on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 6:12pm.
the rest of it is BS.
someone outside the DC circle would be in jail-
is the IRS going afterv the money he owes America?
if not he needs to go to jail and pay "HIS FAIR SHARE."
They'll go after Charlie...
Submitted by jimbo297 on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 9:13pm.
...just like they've been going after the Reverend Al.
My god, actions actually have consequences...
Submitted by krendler on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 6:24pm.
Oh, the humanity.
Poor Charlie Rangel. *He* is obviously the one who is the victim here.
Call me when there is a Republican crook pity party
Submitted by Tomorama on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 6:29pm.
The facts are that this CROOK could have taken a much lesser "sentence.... snicker, snicker" and instead he arrogantly said bring it on, well homey they brought it on and found you guilty of the charges and you got hit with a brutally long 0 days in jail, but a stern talking too by your fellow "crooks" errr "peers".
Imagine that, Wesley Snipes who has done a hell of a lot more for me, did pretty much the same thing and he's going for 3/4 years, but we are supposed to pity Rangel, WTF?
I take that back, Rangel is a heavily decorated veteran and I respect the hell out of him for THAT, but that does not allow you to play the "veteran card" whenever you bleep up.
9.8 unemployment, thank god for those shovel ready jobs.................
Hey, cut Joe some slack,
Submitted by Reaver on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 9:02pm.
Hey, cut Joe some slack, remember how broken up he was about Tom
Delay’s conviction? Oh, wait… never mind.
Huh?
Submitted by tampamom25 on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 6:32pm.
He didn't steal? Let's see, if I didn't pay income taxes for however many years and I got caught, they would tell me that I stole from the government.
He's a war hero. Thank you Charlie, we appreciate it. But it doesn't give you the right to lie, cheat and steal. In fact we would expect MORE from you, but you aren't able to deliver more, are you?
He's 80 years old and doesn't know how much longer he has to live. Retire already.
His family has gone through so much emotional upheaval. It's his fault, not ours.
He had to stand before Congress and be (gasp) censured. I am sorry that you weren't hauled away in an orange jumpsuit.
He messed up, but he's not a bad guy? Get a reality check here people. He broke the law, and if we the people (you know, we the serfs) did the same things, we'd be on our way to jail. But since this was a member of Congress (you know, them the ruling class) he gets away with just having to stand there and be embarrassed.
Hey Scarborough....I don't want to forgive him. I want him and all his liberal, wannabe the ruling class friends to be voted out of DC. Pelosi said she'd drain the swamp....that's an insult to swamps everywhere. DC has become a sewer, and Rangel is just another piece of crap floating around in it.
he paid no taxes on some
Submitted by sometimesright on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 8:01pm.
he paid no taxes on some property he owns in another country for 17 freaking years!!!! if this was me or you we'd be in handcuffs years ago.
Crime Does Pay
Submitted by sergeant stogie on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 6:33pm.
Typical liberals, loving fellow liberal criminals. Laws are for the common folk.
He has become what he despised!
Submitted by AirForceOne888 on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 6:50pm.
it's amazing to me the degree to which Joe has become everything he used to despise.
remember way back in 1994 when he came to Washington as a fresh faced Republican, determined to change the way Washington worked? Look at him now! He NEVER left Washington and has become what he despised: a Washington insider more concerned with personal relationships than ethics!
The nutworks: feeling sorry for the crook!
Submitted by Mary Louise Turner on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 6:58pm.
Isn't it amazing how the nutworks, still stuck in the year 1969, see Charlie "I Am Not a Crook" Rangel, who fleeced taxpayers out of millions, as the victim, while the taxpayers are treated with disdain? Remember, members of Congress have been expelled and/or thrown into jail for far less...
Very Sad
Submitted by Gat New York on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 7:43pm.
What is sad is while Charlie complains at the shabby treatment he is receiving for not paying taxes for 17 years he should ask the average person who did not pay their taxes for 17 years if they would mind getting a censure in Congress from their jail cell.
Term limits. That's how you stop the next Charlie Rangel and everyone else who thinks he was actually punished for what he did.
HE WROTE THE TAX LAWS
Submitted by WarEagle66 on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 7:51pm.
HE WROTE THE TAX LAWS JOE!
End of discussion. If I did not pay taxes for that long I would be in jail....as would most Americans.
A pox on all these clowns
Submitted by the struggler on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 8:29pm.
Did I miss the segment where they lamented the "genuinely sad moment" of Tom Delay's conviction?
Poor Charlie Rangle
Submitted by ThisnThat on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 8:38pm.
...If only he were an illegal, then his censure would be cancelled, and we'd be giving him a free education and instant voter status.
__________
“Didn't win the Medal of Honor? Didn't even serve? Then lie about it. We'll support you." — 9th Circuit Court
Waa Waa Waa...........
Submitted by DaMama on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 8:39pm.
I'm shedding buckets of tears over poor Mr. Rangel being held accountable for his actions.
Liberals, especially these faux newscasters, are such idiots.
One word description for Mika's "book"
Submitted by Cactus Kurt on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 9:38pm.
TerriblePos,
Submitted by gfrrman on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 10:31pm.
Charlie Rangel, a FELON in the serfs eyes. 17 years of NOT FREAKIN' PAYING TAXES???...and this?.......
" They put him in an impossible position."
NO, no no no. HE knowingly tried to get away with the theft. The left is always sorry after the fact.............ie: BjClinton.........until they get caught. These POS deserve a one-way ride to HADES!! All rules and laws to a Democrat/liberal are "gray" areas.
G
Charlie Rangel
Submitted by billerubin on Fri, 12/03/2010 - 10:55pm.
This should have happened years ago.
Nobody should be in Congress any where near this long.
Oh, yeah, Charlie (even his
Submitted by Chris Norman on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 1:02am.
Oh, yeah, Charlie (even his name sounds friendly) Rangel was such a nice, courteous, dignified figure that it pains me to see him reduced - through no fault of his own - to the sad tragedy of his censure. Actually, Rangel was and is a nasty obnoxious old gas bag circus clown. He's a Democrat crook who was so blatant in his misconduct that even his fellow circle-the-wagon Democrats and the news media couldn't protect him. At that, he got off too easily and is probably laughing in private at his good luck..
There is an old saying which
Submitted by jkwtrading on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 2:41am.
There is an old saying which applies to Rangel and his supporters..no one in prison is ever guilty...
no inmate ever admits guilt...
Let's compare Rangel to Duke
Submitted by big.league.slider on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 3:52am.
Let's compare Rangel to Duke Cunningham.
Cunningham was more of a war hero than Rangel. Yet Cunningham was sentenced to 8 years in the federal pen for tax evasion and shady real estate deals similar to Rangel's.
Are Joe and Mika "sad and lamented" over Cunningham's conviction?
Without NB, who would watch
Submitted by Cowboy on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 8:15am.
Without NB, who would watch Scarborough and even know?
Situation Ethics
Submitted by fbom0724 on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 8:29am.
If I had done the things Mr. Rangle had done, the IRS would have taken my home, any and all other assets, major fines and perhaps jail time.
Hey - Joe - the bus has left and you are still on stage preaching to an empty hall.
Wheres the love?
Submitted by Redrowan2000 on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 9:29am.
Mika, Joe, Nora? Wheres the love for Tom Delay?
"Don't let the bastards grind you down."
Red
I can hardly wait for the tears
Submitted by Redrowan2000 on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 9:39am.
Wait til Max Waters has her day in the dock, Not only will the waterworks flow from the left, and by that I mean the mainstream media. But the anger and arrogance of this congress-person will be 10x's worse than Rangels . Oh and don't forget this time we'll get the additional sideshow of racism and sexism. I'm sure Joe is already getting his pity party invitations together for part 2 of this 3 ring circus.
"Don't let the bastards grind you down."
Red
" Mika Brzezinski offered a
Submitted by SonnyPalermo on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 10:07am.
" Mika Brzezinski offered a one word description for the Democrat's punishment: "Terrible." "
One word.
And it was scripted for her.
And she still required a teleprompter to read it off of . . .
Instead of slapping his hands.............
Submitted by Patriot II on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 11:37am.
They should have slapped the thief behind bars!!!
Exactly, Patriot II . . .
Submitted by ConservaSerb on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 1:01pm.
The ONLY sad thing about the "Rangel deal" is that he isn't going to be someone's butt-buddy in a cell for the next 10 years.
A wise & frugal government, which shall leave men free 2 regulate their own pursuits of industry & improvement, & shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government. T. Jefferson
Joe
Submitted by rpeeler42 on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 2:51pm.
Charlies deserves all the punishment he has been given so far. Okay Charlie served in Korea and for that I thank him. However, that service does not offset his many misdeeds and violations of his oath of office.
Joe is losing his mind. He needs psychotherapy. He has become totally illogical. He is turning into a left wing idiot by hanging out with some many of them on his show. I don;t see how Joe is any kind of conservative.
Anyone else would be at Club Fed.
Submitted by drsamherman on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 8:55pm.
I don't care if Charlie Rangel served for 78 terms and had known Henry Clay personally. He was convicted of ethics charges by his peers according to the established procedures. Had he been a Republican or blue dog Democrat, he would have been expelled without a second thought. The double standards and the hypocrisy are just too much. January 3rd can't come soon enough to watch Nancy Pelosi being told that she has to fly commercial coach back to California.