Rep. Charlie Rangel

U.S. Representative Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) has served nearly 36 years in the Congress. His life story is rather interesting. Rep. Rangel served in the Korean War, which is very respectable. He is a gutsy, plain-speaking guy, and willing to risk arrest for various political protests. Not the kind of politician the Humble Patriot prefers, but certainly preferable to the legion of slick, fickle legislators who do not really stand up for anything.

For the last few years, Rep. Rangel has promoted legislation that would return conscription (the draft) to the United States Armed Forces. He gives two reasons for such a change: First, if the children of members of Congress and the Executive Branch had children serving in the military they would be less likely to get us into wars like Iraq. Also, he thinks that a draft would make our military more representative of the American public. In a letter to the New York Times in 2002, Rep. Rangel claimed, "A disproportionate number of the poor and members of minority groups make up the enlisted ranks of the military, while most priv­ileged Americans are underrepresented or absent." That statement is false, by the way. Check out some demographics on military recruits in this study by the Heritage Foundation.

Yesterday Rep. Rangel was interviewed on Fox News Sunday, where he essentially repeats the insults of John Kerry (or Jon Carry) from a few weeks ago. Here is the video of his interview by Chris Wallace, courtesy of Power Line Blog:




Wow, Rep. Rangel is planning for some House investigations to prove that American soldiers are uneducated and stupid. During my ten years of service I have come across some military members who are uneducated and stupid. Perhaps some feel they were duped into an enlistment due to a lack of choices or whatever. However, the majority of the enlisted troops I encounter are bright and smart. Many are well-educated. There are many different reasons for our Nation's children to enter military service as they also enter adulthood, but there is a common thread. Most of them want to serve this great Nation because they cherish the freedoms our Nation protects.