There is a general consensus concerning Rep. Charles Rangel, former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and power broker by virtue of his 40 years of connections and many years of raising money for candidates and causes he favors: He should make nice with his congressional colleagues, find a way to settle the ethics charges that could lead to his expulsion and move ahead in his campaign for a 21st term.

But Rangel, this time around, is no general-consensus cat.

When Rangel did his Harlem shuffle dance at his birthday fundraiser in New York City's famed Plaza Hotel recently, he was Charles in Charge. In Washington on the House floor the day before, he seemed barely in control of his thoughts or his emotions as he castigated his fellow representatives, especially Democrats, for dragging their feet in resolving the ethics case that has been around for more than two years.

In both settings, I could not help seeing him as yet another black leader -- whether in politics, business or the cultural milieu -- who doesn't know when it is time to leave the stage. It is time for Rangel to do so when he can't acknowledge wrongdoing based on slipshod ethics resulting from years of developing a sense of entitlement. I won't call it corruption.

"If it is the judgment of people here, for whatever reason, that I resign, then, heck, have the Ethics Committee expedite this," he said in a speech to Congress that lasted more than 30 minutes, one that he said was given against the advice of his lawyers and others. "Don't leave me swinging in the wind until November. If this is an emergency, and I think it is to help our local and state governments out, what about me? I don't want anyone to feel embarrassed, awkward. Hey, if I was you, I may want me to go away, too. I am not going away! I am here!" Rangel said that some of the 13 ethics charges (pdf) reflect lapses in judgment, but not corruption. "If I can't get my dignity back here, then fire your best shot at getting me expelled."

In being "brazen" and "arrogant" on the House floor, says Mike Paul, a public relations specialist who markets himself as a "reputation doctor," Rangel was essentially daring his colleagues: "Do you have the balls to vote out a guy as powerful as I am at 80 years old, to kick me out of this House?" And George Arzt, a consultant and longtime political observer, says this is "pure Charlie," adding: "Charlie is just a hell raiser, and that's what he's known for. Maybe he feels that a deal would be more imminent if he did it this way."

Maybe he is being crazy like a fox, and in terms of image, his House-floor speech might have played well back home in Manhattan, especially central Harlem. There, Arzt says, what he hears most from black constituents is this: "He's a fighter, and if he goes down, he's going down fighting, and we like that."