Freshman lawmakers' 1st lesson in corruption

Charles Hurt - Inside Washington

WASHINGTON -- For newly elected members of Congress arriving here on Capitol Hill, this week was a little like getting your learner's permit and pulling out onto the highway just in time to watch a horrific accident with crumpled steel, shattered glass and the certain thud of death.

No, that profound and haunting lesson was not part of the "New Member Orientation Program," but the gross spectacle of Charlie Rangel's trial and conviction for a dizzying array of ethical failures.

Warily, these freshmen go to their classes and learn their way around the sprawling Capitol ever mindful of the anger that voters across the country harbor for exactly the kind of blind arrogance displayed so long by the likes of Charlie Rangel.

"It is a reminder of why we are here, what we are supposed to be doing and what will happen if we don't," said Michael Grimm, the Republican who defeated Rep. Mike McMahon this month to represent Staten Island and part of Brooklyn.

"It would be very easy to get carried away with not just the pomp but the power. It is certainly eye-opening," said Pat Meehan, a Republican from Pennsylvania.

As a former US attorney, Meehan made a name for himself prosecuting public-corruption cases in Philadelphia.

These freshmen, awestruck and wandering around a little lost, say they are not openly talking with one another about Rangel's scandal even though news of it dominates the town.

The very concept of so flagrantly abusing the sacred power granted by voters is a little too vulgar for them to discuss in polite company.

Even Republicans -- who make up the vast majority of the new class -- agree that Rangel's sins are not partisan in nature. Republicans in the past have been just as guilty.

This awareness instills a deep humility among the new GOP lawmakers as they embark on a monumental effort to change Washington before it changes them.

"This election was no glaring endorsement of us," Meehan said soberly.

churt@nypost.com