Charlie Rangel: Crackers From The Tea Party Scared Of Black People

Congressman Charlie Rangel’s “crackers” comment about Tea Party members compared the political climate of today with that of the pro and anti-desegregation camps of the civil rights movement, but the Harlem politician also took some time out to praise certain Republicans.

Charlie Rangel’s cracker comment was part of a lengthy Daily Beast piece on the 83-year-old House rep., one who has seen a bit more of history unfold than some of the new Tea Party recruits in Washington.

And at his age, Rangel speaks a bit more forcefully and with no lack of exhaustion from dealing with half a century of, in part, sticky race relations. Like an older, no more time for BS grandparent, Charlie observes that obstructionists in government have done more damage to the American way of life than Al Qaeda, and adds:

“It is the same group we faced in the South with those white crackers and the dogs and the police. They didn’t care about how they looked. It was just fierce indifference to human life that caused America to say enough is enough. ‘I don’t want to see it and I am not a part of it.’ ”

Rangel’s “crackers” comment was followed with a bit of a history lesson, when he said:

“What the hell! If you have to bomb little kids and send dogs out against human beings, give me a break.”

Not all Republicans fall into Rangel’s cracker caucus however, and the Harlem rep seems to favor GOP members from his own region — he adds:

“Chris Christie, who is a big Northeasterner, and people only go for Christie because he is reasonable. He says something nice about the president helping out Jersey and now he is on the hit list by Republicans. And now my friend Peter King is on their hit list. Peter King, a Republican, is considered a goddamn communist.”

Charlie Rangel’s crackers in the Tea Party interview is extensive, and you can read it over at The Daily Beast.