I had high hopes for Senate Majority leader Harry Reid. I remember reading an article in the New Yorker about him in 2006. It had some great examples of Reid exhibiting spine. Like this one:
In July of 1978, a man named Jack Gordon, who was later married to LaToya Jackson, offered Reid twelve thousand dollars to approve two new, carnival-like gaming devices for casino use. Reid reported the attempted bribe to the F.B.I. and arranged a meeting with Gordon in his office. By agreement, F.B.I. agents burst in to arrest Gordon at the point where Reid asked, “Is this the money?” Although he was taking part in a sting, Reid was unable to control his temper; the videotape shows him getting up from his chair and saying, “You son of a bitch, you tried to bribe me!” and attempting to choke Gordon, before startled agents pulled him off. “I was so angry with him for thinking he could bribe me,” Reid said, explaining his theatrical outburst. Gordon was convicted in federal court in 1979 and sentenced to six months in prison.
New Yorker: Minority Retort
Time and time again, Reid has refused to weild the power majority status gives him to stand up for Democratic party principles.
The latest BS from the majority leader's office is this:
REID: I'm saying that the United States Senate, Democrats and Republicans, do not want terrorists to be released in the United States. That's very clear.
QUESTION: No one's talking about releasing them. We're talking about putting them in prison somewhere in the United States.
REID: Can't put them in prison unless you release them.
QUESTION: Sir, are you going to clarify that a little bit? ...
REID: I can't make it any more clear than the statement I have given to you. We will never allow terrorists to be released in the United States.
WTF does that even mean?
Look if Reid can't stand up to a bunch of whiney Republicans blanching at the thought of their Cuban gulag getting shut down, he needs to go. If he can't figure out that an American prison in any of our 50 states is perfectly capable of holding bad guys picked up overseas as Gitmo, then he's as dumb as a sack of hammers.
Personally I don't think he's dumb and this is more likely to be a craven attempt at positioning for his next Senate race. But if he's that vulnerable, maybe we need to get someone who feels more secure articulating liberal values.
