The Rangel Drama

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President Obama to Rep. Charlie Rangel: Drop Dead (shortformblog.com)

So far I have refrained from digging into the details of the unfolding Rangel drama. I have not had the interest. I have had better things to do with my time. I noticed there was talk of some kind of a vacation home in the Dominican Republic, but that was in Fall 2008. He finally stepped down from whatever committee he was chairing in the House. Good for him.

Before I look into the details of the more than a dozen allegations against him, to me the political aspect is obvious. If the Rangel drama is going to play out in full view like it looks like is going to, the Dems just made their job of keeping the House that much harder. It was already a tough task to begin with. Why is the New York congressional delegation so intent on depriving my president of a House? This is no uncalled for.

I thought this guy had already announced a year before that he was not going to seek another term in office, he said he was too old. Can't dispute that. But looks like he has changed his mind.

The best thing politically for him and especially the party would have been if he just stepped down from the office. What's the pain in stepping down from an office a few months early?

I don't understand this behavior on the part of pols like Maloney who don't seem much interested in keeping the House for the Dems. Either that or she has a huge political blind spot. Neither look good.

This ethics trial will rob the Dems of much oxygen. They could have been talking about issues instead.

I am in disbelief with the stupidity, the political stupidity.

People like Maloney who feel loyal to Rangel should have been the first to ask him to vacate the premises. Leave office, go into retirement.

Starting from September 15, Reshma 2010 is going to join the national effort to keep the House. But that task just got so much harder. And so now I think I am going to be forced to read up on some of the details. This feels so unnecessary.

If the Rangel drama becomes too much of a distraction, the president should completely cut loose of him. Rangel should not be allowed to take away from Obama's intent to keep the House.

Obama, Reshma

"I think Charlie Rangel served a very long time and served his constituents very well. But these allegations are very troubling. He’s somebody who’s at the end of his career. Eighty years old. I’m sure that what he wants is to be able to end his career with dignity. And my hope is that it happens."

President Barack Obama • Saying that Charlie Rangel should retire and just go away. The House ethics subcom­mittee has recommended a reprimand for Rangel, which would be light compared to the censure and expulsion he could get. Still, though, Rangel won’t admit his guilt and as a result is making the situation much worse for himself.

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Vogue India Features Reshma

I dropped by the Reshma 2010 headquarters earlier in the evening to make some phone calls. Usually I email at least one person in the office about a day before. This time my email went to Art. You are trying to make sure they have a phone for you, and on Sundays I get my own computer, on other days they print out names and phone numbers for me. Making phone calls is a workout experience. (Freehand Exercise: 1,000 Push-Ups, 1,000 Squats, 1,000 Crunches) You get better at it over time. People feel the excitement in your voice and they are more likely to say yes, I am voting for her.

Reshma looked like all dressed up and ready to go and I assumed she must have an event to attend somewhere. You should watch her make some of her phone calls. She really gets into the conversation. She can sound so fresh talking to each voter.

And so I am making all these phone calls after phone calls and an hour into the phone calls I notice a copy of Vogue India on the desk. Somebody had just come in and I thought maybe they brought that along. What caught my attention was Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai were on the cover of the magazine. A dot com I was part of for a little while in 1999 a year later did an event in NYC, and Aishwarya was the featured person at that event. No, I was not in town at the time. Julia Roberts has called Aishwarya the most beautiful woman in the world. My regard for Abhishek goes via Amitabh Bachchan, my very favorite actor. (Brazil And Argentina: My Choices And Those Of My Favorite Actor) But Abhishek has done some great work in his own right. (Saavn's Great Business Model For Movies)



There is no American equivalent to the Gandhi family of India. There is no American equivalent to Amitabh, although Al Pacino comes close. In terms of what they mean to the Indian imagination.

Ends up Reshma is featured in the same issue of Vogue India, the issue for July. It is a great write up. I kept thinking, we need to scan these three pages and circulate them around.

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