Dems Rally For Rangel Birthday Bash
The New York Times reports:
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, former 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, a paragon of statesmanship and dignity, raised his middle finger at the man, displaying it for all to see, according to witnesses, whose accounts were confirmed by the former mayor.
In the past few weeks, Mr. Rangel’s birthday fund-raiser, billed by its organizers as a splashy tribute to a titan of New York politics, seemed to have become an embarrassing debacle.
Democratic lawmakers agonized about showing up. Republicans threatened to turn an R.S.V.P. into a campaign issue. And Mr. Rangel, whose actual birthday is June 11, all but pleaded with would-be guests to make an appearance.
But in the end, the party was a potent display of support and loyalty for the lawmaker, who faces numerous ethics charges, including accusations that he hoarded rent-stabilized apartments and dodged taxes on a Dominican villa.
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