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That's What Friends Are For

NYTimes:

It was a dramatic but fitting start to an evening that brimmed with political defiance: about 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, as guests began strolling into the Plaza Hotel to celebrate Representative Charles B. Rangel’s 80th birthday party, former New York City Mayor David N. Dinkins turned to confront a heckler. “You know you are attending a party for a crook,” the man yelled.

At that, Mr. Dinkins, bastion of statesmanship and dignity, raised his middle finger at the man, displaying it for all to see, witnesses said.

Mr. Rangel himself seemed to capture the spirit of the event when looked out to the packed Grand Ballroom and shouted, “This damn sure ain’t no funeral, is it?” [. . .T]he state’s senior United States. senator, Charles E. Schumer, and the state’s attorney general and Democratic nominee for governor, Andrew M. Cuomo [. . .] showed up and spoke warmly about Mr. Rangel, steering clear of the ethics charges against him. “He has fought for New York through thick and thin,” Mr. Schumer said, as Mr. Rangel stood nearby on a stage. “We are so grateful and thankful for that.”

[S]igns of loyalty were everywhere. When Dionne Warwick turned to Mr. Rangel and began to sing “That’s What Friends Are For,” the entire crowd joined in with her.

(Emphasis supplied.) I'm with Charlie. Speaking for me only

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    I'm with Charlie too (5.00 / 2) (#2)
    by Jeralyn on Wed Aug 11, 2010 at 09:37:56 PM EST
    I saw your other post in which you kept saying you don't speak for TalkLeft, so let's make it offical, TalkLeft supports Charlie Rangel.

    At least you're consistent (none / 0) (#29)
    by diogenes on Fri Aug 13, 2010 at 09:28:53 PM EST
    Talk Left historically supports those charged with crimes, whether or not they are guilty of those crimes.  

    Parent
    I suddenly miss NY! (5.00 / 1) (#4)
    by nycstray on Wed Aug 11, 2010 at 11:02:28 PM EST
    and yes, I'm with Charlie.

    Poetry, NYC Style... (5.00 / 4) (#5)
    by squeaky on Wed Aug 11, 2010 at 11:42:33 PM EST


    A few years ago (5.00 / 2) (#6)
    by NYShooter on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 01:29:28 AM EST
    I moved to California. I had a gorgeous place in Manhattan Beach, right on the ocean, near Newport & Laguna Beach.  I worked in a nightclub, Cisco's, owned by Clint Eastwood, Dick Smothers, & John King. 24 hr./day party, after work everyone came to my place; the clothes came off, and all piled into the heated pool. The mist rising from the pool just added to the surreal ambiance.

    It was simply heaven; beautiful, warm days, cool, dry nights; breakfast with Eastwood, lunch with Smothers, and any one of a thousand babes, each one more beautiful than the next for dinner, and beyond.

    The people were so great; if you got lost and stopped to ask a home owner for directions, they would invite you in for tea and fruits while discussing the best way to get where you wanted to go. If the barbecue and pool were working in the back yard, you, more often than not, forgot where you were going in the first place.

    It was so great. As a matter of fact it was so great I couldn't wait to get outta there, and come back home to New York. When I landed at LaGuardia, I got down on my knees, took a deep breath of the dirty air, and couldn't stop smiling as the fire engines and cop sirens came blasting by. Even the screech of the subway wheels was music to my ears. The cab driver couldn't understand why I was laughing hysterically while he was ripping me out for not giving him my destination fast enough.

    It's true, home is where the heart is, and NY is my home. And people like Charlie Rangel make it so.  The other 49  will never understand, and the only reason we let them even exist is to always remind us why we " ♥ " N.Y. so much.
     

    There are New Yorkers and (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by gyrfalcon on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 08:25:28 AM EST
    then there are non-New Yorkers, for sure.  I was born in Manhattan and my family lived on the upper West side when I was a kid (during NYC's sort of "golden years" of the '50s) before moving to another state.

    Although I'm definitely not a New Yorker by temperament, there are aspects of it I still have and always will.  For example, the sound of stop-and-go traffic and car horns all night as heard from several stories up puts me in bliss and sends me immediately to sleep with a smile on my face.

    But the best part about NYC is the incredible, yeasty, ever-changing mix of ethnicities and accents.  Oddly, it's only really on display to the rest of us when there's some sort of incident, like the Hudson River plane landing or the Times Square bombing attept, and the TV news people hang out for days interviewing tugboat crews and food cart vendors and cabbies and bystanders and etc.

    Parent

    A slight correction (none / 0) (#8)
    by samtaylor2 on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 01:48:06 AM EST
    New York city is a wonderful place, but in truth it is just the farthest suburb of San Francisco, the greatest city of this wonderful country :)

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    Quick story.......samtaylor2 (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by NYShooter on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 06:54:19 AM EST
    About a decade ago my brother & family moved out West to Palo Alto, right by San Francisco. With the moving van still in the driveway I was helping them get moved in. All of a sudden my sister-in-law, Margaret, yelled, "what the He$$?!. I rushed into the kitchen where she was staring, in utter disbelief, at something in the back yard.

    I swear on my children, this is true: A little old lady, named "Melita," 85-90 yrs old, was sauntering across the backyard from her house to ours. ( We had a nice, big swimming pool out there. A peaceful smile across her lips, and a beach towel draped across her arm, as he walked to the pool, without so much as a glance in our direction.

    A neighbor was also there helping us and she explained that folks there just take for granted that one's home is really a community home and they would never think to "ask permission" to use something like a neighbor's pool.

    The neighbor, Lucinda, noticing we still couldn't get our eyes off the elderly "guest" as she lowered herself into the shallow end of the pool, and with our mouths open, faces aghast. "What," she asked? "what's the matter? "Melita's no trouble, she'll just do her 20 laps and then go back home."

    It never dawned on our new neighbor, Lucinda, that what we were staring at was the fact that Melita was stark, butt, naked! And the fact that it seemed so normal, so natural, it made us feel ashamed that we even thought, "whoah! What's that???"

    Yeah, California, a nice place to visit, ...........


    Parent

    LOL... (none / 0) (#18)
    by kdog on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 09:18:24 AM EST
    Talk about culture shock.

    The way we used the pool in the one "rich" house on my old block in Queens was wait half hour after the lights went out in their house on a summer night, hop the fence and raid the pool like a buncha vikings until you got chased away by an angry man with a baseball bat...but god bless him he never ratted you out to your parents:)

    Parent

    "With all due respect" ... (none / 0) (#9)
    by prittfumes on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 05:27:26 AM EST
    I agree with NYShooter. I don't live in NY or Cal now, but I couldn't help smiling broadly as I read this:
    It was so great. As a matter of fact it was so great I couldn't wait to get outta there, and come back home to New York.
    and remembered ...

    Parent
    As a kid (none / 0) (#11)
    by NYShooter on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 07:00:56 AM EST
    I never understood why students from Africa, S. America, Asia, and undeveloped countries elsewhere chose to go back home when their studies were complete. Why would they choose the squalor and poverty back home when we had "The Pot Of Gold" right here."

    I don't wonder any more.

    Parent

    Both great stories (none / 0) (#13)
    by lilburro on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 08:03:45 AM EST
    I was just in New York this weekend, and you're right, home is where the heart is.  I couldn't get over the honking (it was my first time driving in NYC).  I felt like I aged five years driving down 2nd Avenue.  I do like New York, don't know if I could live there...I'm getting used to the urban south, where having an evening (or, uh, afternoon) drink is the paramount goal.

    Parent
    I've lived in, (5.00 / 1) (#17)
    by NYShooter on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 09:03:42 AM EST
    or visited just about every nook and cranny of our country, and all of them are fabulous. Sometimes it's the geography, others, the people. Yet, no one can explain the primal urge to return to "that special place" that resides in our hearts....and I won't even try.

    But, if you're going to drive in NYC, you should know a couple of things. There's a big difference between dangerous, erratic, chaos, and logical, systemic, chaos. What outsiders must understand is that there's a method to the madness to driving in the City.

    If you're in the far right lane of a 10-12 lane boulevard or avenue and have to make a left turn up ahead, you must be bold. Turn on your left directional and just start crossing across the lanes. They will let you in, but you must be assertive. Everybody is in the same boat and everyone has to make those same maneuvers. Disregard the horns and middle finger salutes; that's just part of our culture &  custom. It's meaning is, "If you're going to go, go already! Don't be timid and fiddle faddle around; stick your nose into traffic and punch it! NYC is not Boston. There, if you put on your directional and try to make a lane change, those Bean Dogs, of course, will speed up, honk their horn, and will attempt to commit a murder/suicide. New Yorkers are not suicidle, everyone has to make those same 12 lane maneuvers but you have to show them you know what you're doing. The rule is, if you can stick your nose into a lane, you own it. But you have to act like you own it. And, of course, when another car sticks its nose in front of you, don't speed up, just let him in. It's o.k. to flip him the bird if it makes you feel better. Believe me, if you drive like you own the city, your fellow drivers will appreciate it, and possibly even let you live should you break down and require assistance.

    Well that's all for today's lesson except just one quickie you must learn. All the outsiders always complain that City drivers are always swearing and blowing their horns even when you step on the gas the instant the traffic light turns green. Well, contrary to what you've been taught, by the time the light turns green you should be a block and a half down the road already. The trick you have to learn is to turn your radio to a station and a volume where you can discern a faint "click-click" as the traffic light is relaying from Red to Green. The instant you hear that first "click," Pedal to the Metal, Bro or you'll need reconstructive ear drum surgery from the bombastic noise explosion you'll cause as everyone pulls out to pass you while you stupidly sit there thinking that you have to wait for the green light to go.

    Follow these simple, sensible rules and you too will grow to " ♥" New York.


    Parent

    Hahah (none / 0) (#22)
    by lilburro on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 10:33:58 AM EST
    yes, I definitely found those principles to hold true as I tried to get off the Manhattan bridge and onto Canal  Street.  I couldn't believe I had to cross 4 completely uninterrupted lanes of traffic but I managed.  Driving in NYC was quite an experience.  I don't have the energy to do it with any frequency though.

    Parent
    the first time I drove in NY (none / 0) (#23)
    by CST on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 10:54:33 AM EST
    I had to go from Far Rockaway Queens to NJ (near the GW bridge).  It was late at night, in the pouring rain, and it was also my first time driving a stick-shift outside of a parking lot.  Terrifying, and I missed every single turn the first time around.  But there's nothing like a crash course to make every time after that seem like a walk in the park.

    Parent
    oh my god (none / 0) (#25)
    by lilburro on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 12:17:29 PM EST
    I would've just found a nice dry place to have a panic attack.  I hate driving in the rain at night.

    Parent
    I had to drive to Boston (none / 0) (#26)
    by ding7777 on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 02:35:00 PM EST
    and the AAA Triptik had NYC on the route.  I detoured via Scranton, Pa rather than drive to, thru, or around NYC

    Parent
    There are times when perfect manners (5.00 / 2) (#14)
    by scribe on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 08:15:53 AM EST
    and dignity, such as Dinkins has, demand you throw your beer in the other guy's face.

    Or flip him off.

    This is New York, after all, where all this is raised to a high form of art.

    And yes, I miss Noo Yawk, too.  Sometimes I listen to WFAN on the internet, just to hear Mets fans cry or, as the New Yorker article said, "the sound New York makes when it's talking to itself."

    I still say he's shady... (5.00 / 1) (#16)
    by kdog on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 08:58:01 AM EST
    he's a congressman for god's sake...but you guys are makin' me realize he is the best kind of shady...NYC Shady:)

    I mean there is shady that still gets some good work done for the people, and there is pants on fire shady with no good work being done.  Many districts do far worse than Charlie Rangel.

    Well, Charlie has been (5.00 / 1) (#19)
    by brodie on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 09:28:45 AM EST
    getting more sympathy points chez moi than a few weeks back when I saw him primarily as a corner-cutting old pol who'd stayed too long in office.  The age factor and the tendency by this House Ethics Comm'ee to go after members of the Black Caucus rather disproportionately have altered my perspective.  Plus probably the way these charges have been allowed to drag on for weeks, which is unfair to Rangel.

    The House leadership needs to step up and quickly resolve this situation in a fair and expeditious manner.  Waters too.  Then leadership needs to probably revisit how they handle ethics matters.  The trial by public opinion route doesn't seem ethical at all.

    But what do you think happens (none / 0) (#21)
    by jbindc on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 10:15:39 AM EST
    If the House has sham trials and both are found guilty and reprimanded?  Or worse, they have sham trials and both get acquitted?  Think the R's won't have any fun with that one??  And really - do you think acquitting old Charlie is rely going to convince people he did nothing wrong?!  

    What they need is an independent body to investigate and, if necessary, to oversee any trials.

    Parent

    Mecca for this westcoaster. (5.00 / 1) (#27)
    by oldpro on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 06:31:07 PM EST
    Always thrilling to visit NYC.

    As for Charlie...I am sad for him and for his friends, of which I count myself one.  This ending is not worthy of his lifetime of brave service.  It is, however, what almost always happens - sooner or later - to electeds at every level...the careless cornercutting enabled by that sense of entitlement, so reinforced by the lobbyists and adoring public fans of any celebrity.

    Maxine.  Charlie.  Breaks my heart.

    I Love New York (none / 0) (#1)
    by msaroff on Wed Aug 11, 2010 at 09:24:51 PM EST
    I don't mean the heckler, but in what other city in the US would a former mayor flip off an a__hole?

    Respect for elders... (none / 0) (#3)
    by JamesTX on Wed Aug 11, 2010 at 10:35:51 PM EST
    Fascinating (none / 0) (#7)
    by Cream City on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 01:39:57 AM EST
    if a terrible, flawed transcript.  But I'm bookmarking it for the revised version to come.

    More to the point -- again, fascinating.  I had not known that Rangel's call for a draft in Iraq had such a historical context dating back to the Vietnam era, the lottery, etc.

    Thanks so much for the find.

    Parent

    I heard that tape (none / 0) (#28)
    by JamesTX on Fri Aug 13, 2010 at 01:39:44 AM EST
    when it first came out. I always remembered it. What a ride. Charlie is an important piece of history. He was in the middle of everything that defined what we lost in 1980.

    Parent
    Makes me wish I was from NY! (none / 0) (#12)
    by ruffian on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 07:05:55 AM EST
    Grandfather was- does that count?

    NY is alright (none / 0) (#20)
    by CST on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 10:06:25 AM EST
    I've spent more time there than any other city I've never lived in.  It's funny to me when NYers always claim to have "everything" though.

    There is one glaring thing missing for anyone who cares.  Peace and quiet.  And no, despite what many NYers say, you cannot really find that in Central Park.  Not even the deserted areas.

    I went to Philly for the first time the other day and I really liked it.  It was comfortable, it felt more like home than NY ever could, despite the fact that I am much more familiar with NY.  And finally it occurred to me what the problem with NY is.  NYC will never let you forget you're in NYC.  You can never just "be".  Everything about it screams at you "NYC".

    That being said - I certainly enjoy hanging out there, and I've grown strangely comfortable with it over time.  In other words, I like NY, but I don't think I'd ever love NY.

    Visit but not live there, (none / 0) (#24)
    by brodie on Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 10:58:14 AM EST
    check.

    I've also admired and enjoyed some colorful and interesting New Yorkers over the years.  Some of their sports stars, imported or home grown.  A few pols I've liked -- Mayor Lindsay and Allard Lowenstein come to mind.  A personal hero of mine, RFK, was a famous honorary "New Yorkite".  

    I remember Howard Cosell fondly for the most part.  Robert Caro, my favorite historian, is from Brooklyn.  Sotomayor and Kagan -- two things I like so far about this disappointing admin.  

    Woody Allen.  Or at least most of his pre-1990 flicks.  Annie Hall still an all-time favorite, as is the now-awkward-to-watch Manhattan.  And Mariel Hemingway, someone I've seen around L.A. a few times shopping for organic foods, is still a babe, just no longer a 17 yo babe ...

    Parent