The Audacity of Hypocrisy

The response by Democrats to the recent news that New York Democrat Charlie Rangel "forgot" to disclose $600,000 in assets on his Senate financial disclosure form -- nearly doubling his net worth -- reveals the depth of their hypocrisy. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) refused to remove Rangel as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, saying she wants the Ethics Committee to investigate him.

But Rangel is already under investigation for a disclosure last September that he failed to report income from a vacation property in the Dominican Republic. And that investigation was supposed to be wrapped up 9 months ago according to a deadline established by Pelosi herself. Her failure to pressure investigators to produce a report suggests she was simply hoping people would forget about it, and that the problem would fade away. No such luck.

Contrast this with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate CIA operatives for "possible" wrong-doing regarding the interrogation of known terrorists. This despite the fact that he previously agreed with President Obama who said...

This is a time for reflection, not retribution. Nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past. For those who carried out... these operations within the four corners of legal opinions or guidance... provided from the White House, I do not think it's appropriate for them to be prosecuted.

Holder had said, "It would be unfair to prosecute dedicated men and women working to protect America for conduct that was sanctioned in advance by the Justice Department." Yet, he now has no qualms about reversing that position in what can only be described as a blatant political move to once again try and find fault with the previous administration. Bush-bashing it seems, is a popular sport in Obamaland.

It is certainly fair game to question Holder's motives, who is acting with the tacit approval -- if not at the specific direction -- of President Obama. If Holder is motivated by a sincere sense of justice to find the truth and uncover "possible" wrong-doing, then why isn't he appointing a special prosecutor to look into Chairman Rangel's questionable activities?

The fact that the House Ways and Means Committee is the chief tax-writing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, and has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs and other revenue-raising measures, only adds to the hypocrisy. Rangel is responsible for the committee that imposes taxes on others, yet it is far from clear that he has paid his own taxes. If he failed to report nearly half his assets on a Senate financial disclosure form, did he likewise fail to report them to the IRS?

The ignominy of the Democrats here, is demonstrated by the fact that while they ignore the potential abuse of power by one of their own self-serving partisan power-brokers, they malign the integrity of patriots who acted selflessly to defend our country from the very real threat of terrorist attacks in the wake of 9/11 during a time of war. They ignore the injustice of a questionable politician illicitly seeking to save his personal wealth, while ignoring the justice of unquestionable heroes legitimately seeking to save American lives.