Charlie Rangel
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) speaks at Capitol Hill in Washington, November 15, 2010. Reuters

At 83, Harlem Democrat Charlie Rangel is old enough to have participated in the Selma civil rights marches, and has been representing New York's 13th congressional district for more than four decades (he's now serving his 22nd term). He hasn't stopped making waves in all that time, either. In an interview with the Daily Beast published on Friday, Rangel likened the Tea Party to anti-civil rights protestors he faced when he marched as a young man, saying they were "the same group we faced in the South with those white crackers and the dogs and the police". The representative also indicated that many of the Republicans that the Tea Party swept into power were motivated by race in their opposition to giving undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship.

"Every white son of a gun from Europe has found a way to get here, and these barriers I think have a lot to do with color and the awkwardness or the uncomfortableness that a lot of whites feel about people of color," Rangel said.

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He added that House Republicans were committing "sabotage" in their rejection of a comprehensive immigration reform bill. "Terrorists couldn't do a better job than the Republicans are doing."

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He showed himself a bit more affectionate when it comes to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), though. Boehner, he says, "is basically a nice man, but he would rather be speaker than challenge that part of his party. And the proof is that nobody is asking him to support Democratic ideals, but just release his members and not demand that they have this ridiculous loyalty."

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In response to a query on why black congressmen, who historically have opposed immigration laws which allow in greater numbers of people from abroad, are now getting behind an immigration reform bill which would provide legal status and a path to citizenship, Rangel struck back at the very premise of the question. "You are not going to go back to Abe Lincoln now and that bullshit are you? Blacks were tied to Abe, who freed the slaves, and so we followed the Republicans".

Rangel went on to call for more to be done from all segments of society to help the downtrodden, especially churches.

"It has to do with whether or not in God we trust. I don't know how much God played a role in the country, but it is everywhere ... And I used to be an altar boy so that I can say, if you are talking about Jews and Christians and probably Muslims and Mormons, [there's] the whole idea that... we are supposed to help the aged and provide health care and give kids a break and do all of these good things. What are we Democrats fighting for? We are not fighting for salvation and going to heaven. But we are fighting for Medicaid, Medicare, health care, education, jobs, helping old folks. And I'll be damned, besides same-sex marriage, I don't hear the voice of the church. As a matter of fact, the pope is talking he can't judge gays. Well, damn it to hell, ask for another message from God. Here we were born. I mean, why is there a silence on old folks and a silence on poverty and a silence on kids?"

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