Posted on 10/28/2006 4:58:05 AM PDT by PghBaldy
Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, has gotten into hot water lately - for good reason. How many ethical problems in Washington could be avoided if politicians first asked themselves, "Does this pass the smell test" and then accepted the answer?
Mr. Reid's latest gaffe involves the misuse of campaign funds. In three years, the senator gave out $3,300 in Christmas bonuses to the doorman and other staff at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, where he lives. Mr. Reid says his legal counsel considered the tips a legitimate campaign expense; his aides argue the Ritz-Carlton staff is often called upon to deal with visitors and political events for Mr. Reid.
But staff members of the Ritz-Carlton weren't working on Mr. Reid's campaign; they were doing their jobs. The senator's display of appreciation would have been more meaningful (not to mention appropriate) if it had come out of his own pocket instead of a campaign fund. The senator has since seen fit to reimburse his campaign.
Earlier this month, the senator also got into trouble over a deal involving land on the booming outskirts of Las Vegas. According to the Associated Press, Mr. Reid bought undeveloped property in 1998 for $400,000; one parcel he bought outright, another he bought jointly with Jay Brown, a former casino owner whose name has surfaced during investigations into organized crime. Mr. Reid sold the land to a corporation he co-owned with Mr. Brown in 2001 but neglected to report the sale on disclosure statements. In 2004, when the company sold the property to developers, Mr. Reid reaped $1.1 million. But he didn't bother to report the transaction until it was reported by the Associated Press.
Smarting from this month's negative publicity, Mr. Reid has dragged out the old red herring that the allegations against him are politically motivated. So? With his sloppy use of campaign funds and disclosure practices, Mr. Reid has made himself an easy target.
Instead of worrying about the political winds, Mr. Reid ought to first consult his own nose. Which, after all, knows.
Can you imagine if Senator Frist had done this? Dirty Harry should be in the slammer.
Can you imagine if Senator Frist had done this? Dirty Harry should be in the slammer.
Dingy Harry has all but disappeared from public view the last two weeks since this story broke....methinks he's not long for the Dem leadership..
Yeah, the double-standard is really, really sickening.
If this were a Republican it'd be on the Dem pimp media 24/7.
And the m.s.m ignores Reids illegal activities like the plague.
Bias? you make the call.
Dingy Harry's antics would not seem quite so starkly delineated, except he was so recently harping on the "culture of corruption" that the Republicans were supposedly indulging themselves in.
Yes, there are Republicans who have become corrupt while in Washington, and now serving sentences. There are Republicans who have been ACCUSED of corruption, who are now gone. But Dingy Harry lives on, seemingly untroubled that his words about corruption ring so hollow.
Harry is a Mormon. He should take his faith more seriously.
I'm really surprised this showed up in the Courant. I wouldn't use that paper to line a bird cage.
There is one reason and only one on why the AP (part of the DNC pimp media) even reported this: some people, high in the Defeatocratic Party want Reid out.
It's that simple. The AP would NEVER report a potential scandal about one of their own unless they want, for some reason, to see him buried.
Must have been pretty darn hard to find this at all. I mean, Harry has become the invisible man, no rabid pronouncements about Republican corruption, nothing heard from Harry at all. Oh I know Harry will escape serious MSM scrutiny, but at least we are spared the sight and sound of hypocritical Harry during the last days of the campaign. He's been rendered "embarassing".
Criticizing Reid is a 'freebie' for the Courant - unlike Foley, Reid's scandals have not been front-page news day after day after day. So the Courant can get away with a one-off editorial of Reid bashing, confident that it will have no measurable effect on voter sentiment, and that it will pose no danger of tarnishing the Democrat party as a whole. Yet, when the inevitable claims of bias by the Courant surface in the future, they can proudly point to this editorial as if it can make up for all of the unwarranted abuse that they have piled up on Republicans...
Am I being unduly cynical here? I doubt it - I know the Courant too well to take this editorial at face value...
A man of the people!
Any bets on how he pays for the digs. Reid is supposed to be worth a couple of million bucks, a pittance by senatorial standards.
Having read a little about him, he looks like a guy that didn't come from wealth, but has since figured out how to play the game in Nevada, very well. The family controls a law firm, influential due to Harry's positions over the years.
Since Nevada is 85% Federal land every time someone leases the land to mine or wants to use it for raising cattle they have to get a law firm to handle the dealing with the Feds. Guess which firm they go to. I would say the family's wealth is how Harry manages to get by so well.
it is not bias.....according to lib/dems when you question one of them...it is a smear tactic...just ask webb in va!!!!
Check this out from the Courant. I know it's cold here but not enough for he-- to freeze over.
Harry Reid's Flubs: He opened his mouth.
Need anyone say more?
On second thought HARRY... Please DO NOTHING...
Nevermind...
Interesting point. They also might want the nost teflon-ish leader for the Dems.
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