• The Night's Most Ironic Moment  Reporter Walter Shapiro describes the scene:

Jerry Nadler, whose Manhattan congressional district borders Rangel's, was the only speaker who had the bravery (or foolhardiness) to actually refer to the ethics committee charges. "I read all the report," Nadler said before offering his personal verdict, "If this were a court of law, most of this would be thrown out -- it wouldn't stand up." That was enough to prompt loud cheers from the crowd at the Plaza. But what no one seems to have noticed (and after nearly two hours of oratory, few were listening that closely), Nadler dismissed most but not all of the charges against Rangel, implying that some of the accusations have merit.

• Al Sharpton Came Out Swinging At one point in the night, Sharpton grabbed the microphone and turned towards the press: "I want to address the media... Don't turn your cameras off. Don't put your notepads down... You have started and executed a political execution, but stay tuned for the political resurrection."

• Rangel's Supporters Were Brave to Show Up, says Joe Scarborough on MSNBC: "That was very touching because... when somebody gets in trouble in politics, everybody scatters so I've got respect for the people that showed up. Regardless of the fact that he's guilty as hell."

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• What a Guy, writes JammieWearingFool: "Nice to see this crook shaking people down to the very end. Under the guise of celebrating his 80th birthday, which actually occurred a couple of months ago, the corrupt Democrat hack used the occasion last night to glom some money for his legal defense and re-election."