Ignorance of the law is no excuse unless, of course, you write the laws.
I should probably stop being surprised by the legal and ethical transgressions of our elected officials, just as I should stop being surprised by the transgressor’s colleagues defending him. Sometimes, however, the method used to skirt responsibility amuses me, such as Charles B. Rangel’s claim of ignorance with regard to his most recent ethics committee investigation.
The panel did not find that Rangel knew about the sponsorship, only his staff did, but it concluded Rangel should have known about it. On Friday, the panel released documents showing that Rangel’s aides wrote memos to the congressman, indicating that corporate sponsors were footing the bill. But Rangel denied seeing any of them.
“It said he did not knowingly violate House rules, so that gives him some comfort,” Pelosi said.
Next time I get pulled over by a policeman perhaps I should just explain that I had my eyes closed, so I cannot be held responsible. Or if the IRS informs me that I’ve miscalculated my taxes I can (completely honestly) claim ignorance. I’ll post back here how successful a politician’s defense is when used by the average citizen.
At least I’m not surprised by Rangel’s response, in which “the New York Democrat berated the panel’s leaders on the House floor.” It’s good to know that being indignant and prideful in the face of one’s own misdeeds is still the preferred damage control method of our political elites:
Rangel snapped at reporters: “Why don’t you ask me if I’m going to stay chairman of the committee in light of the fact that we’re expecting heavy snow in New York?”
In a statement later, Rangel was defiant and unrepentant. He called the committee’s report “ill-considered, unprecedented, unfair to Congressman Rangel, and wrong on the facts and the law.”
On the upside, at least the United States of America has multiple parties, each motivations to expose the others; President Obama has abandoned his support of Rangel; and the freedom of the press to report on political scandals without fear of assassination is obviously a tremendous boon to the freedoms that we do enjoy.
