[ad_1]
I didn’t recognize the “917” New York number that called me.
But there was no question about who phoned after they left a message.
The caller on the voicemail was utterly unmistakable.
They didn’t say their name.
They didn’t have to.
“Chad, you’re the only one who missed me,” croaked the voice.
FORMER NY DEMOCRATIC REP CHARLIE RANGEL DEAD AT 94
It carried the sleekness of a stone crusher working over basalt in a West Virginia quarry.
The voicemail was from the late Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y. And he was essentially calling to assure me that he wasn’t dead.
After all, I was apparently the only member of the congressional press corps who noticed that the New York Democrat hadn’t voted nor been anywhere near the U.S. Capitol in several weeks.
There was no article in Roll Call. Nothing in Politico. No statement from his office.
Rangel just wasn’t around.
Former Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y. — a man whose tenure on Capitol Hill I have many fond memories of — died Monday. He was 94. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
So I called and wound up speaking to his communications director Hannah Kim and chief of staff George Henry.
I inquired if Rangel was all right. They assured me he was. But they didn’t quite give me the full story. That was for Rangel to do.
And then Rangel himself called — from his sickbed — so I could hear his signature jackhammer-chopping-through-the-asphalt-of-Manhattan voice to prove to this reporter he was still among the living.
“I wanted you to hear it from me,” said Rangel.
EX-REP. CHARLIE RANGEL, 94, QUESTIONS WHETHER BIDEN BELONGS IN NURSING HOME, NOT WHITE HOUSE
It was 2012. Rangel was out because of a back injury and a viral infection, which made it difficult for him to stand for long periods of time. From 2008 through late 2010, I dogged Rangel through the halls of Congress on a daily basis as the veteran congressman grappled with an ethics scandal. The ethics case culminated in the House censuring Rangel, permanently smudging his record as…
[ad_2]
