Vincent J. Curtis
16 Nov 2016
In a previous posting headlined, “Why Hillary is so
Polarizing” I wrote about the need for pluralism and tolerance, civility and
decency in the public life of a peaceful society. The characteristics were essential to a
peaceful, orderly society.
In America, there is Harry Reid (D-NV), the Senate Minority Leader
and leader of the Democrats in the Senate since 2007. With his long service at the head of the
Senate Democrats, there is no doubt that he represents a dominant faction
within the Democrat party. He is not
civil. He is not tolerant, or accepting
of plurality.
From his perch at the head of the Senate Democrats, with the
civil protection of that body around him, Reid has lied on the floor of the
Senate to advance his political causes.
In particular, he lied about the tax returns of Republican presidential
candidate Mitt Romney, and this conduced to the re-election of Democrat
President Barack Obama. Afterwards, when
confronted with his lie, Reid, amused, said, “Well, he didn’t win, did he.”
The toxic Harry Reid has had no small part in the
viciousness, the partisanship, and the gridlock in Washington, D.C. since his
election to the Senate in 2001. His
rapid elevation to Whip and then to Leader was rapid, indicating his high
popularity among his fellow Democrats. They
selected him because of his viciousness and ruthlessness towards his political
enemies.
Reid is not a poor man.
He started out poor, but the rise in the Reid fortune has been dated by
Rush Limbaugh from the time Reid became the Chair of the Nevada Gaming
Commission. Reid says he was a pretty good
young lawyer, and intimated he got his wealth through his private legal work,
which is pretty good when you’ve only worked in the private sector for a couple
of years. The rest of the time, by
Limbaugh’s account, was spent in some government job or other.
About two years ago Reid was viciously beaten in his home
over the Christmas break. He reappeared
in Washington bruised and with dark sunglasses covering a blackened eye that
stayed blackened for months. Reid lost
the sight of that eye. Reid said his
injuries were due to an accident with exercise equipment at home, but he didn’t
sue the equipment company for negligence until questions started getting asked,
and he hasn’t pursued the case. What
happened is that thugs Reid knew came to collect on a debt, most likely a
political debt. In retirement, and unable
to pay any more political debts, Reid is going to hunker down in a bunker somewhere
and await the grim reaper.
But before his final departure, Reid had to pump his last
load of bile into the public domain.
Trying to hold on to his partisan credentials, Reid said this of Donald
Trump in the aftermath of Trump’s surprising election as president:
Harry Reid:
“The election of Donald Trump has emboldened the forces of
hate and bigotry in America. White nationalists, Vladimir Putin and ISIS
are celebrating Donald Trump’s victory, while innocent, law-abiding Americans
are wracked with fear...”
“African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Muslim Americans,
LGBT Americans and Asian Americans [..] children waking up in the middle of the
night crying, terrified that Trump will take their parents away.”
“We as a nation must find a way to move forward without consigning
those who Trump has threatened to the shadows. Their fear is entirely rational,
because Donald Trump has talked openly about doing terrible things to them.”
“If this is going to be a
time of healing, we must first put the responsibility for healing where it
belongs: at the feet of Donald Trump, a sexual predator who lost the popular
vote and fueled his campaign with bigotry and hate.”
A sign of Reid failing hold on Senate Democrats is that Joe
Manchin (D-WV) dared to publicly rebuke his leader Reid as follows:
Joe Manchin:
“Senator Harry Reid's statement today attacking
President-elect Trump is wrong! It is an absolute embarrassment to the Senate
as an institution, our Democratic party, and the nation.
As difficult as it is for anyone to lose an election, the
American people have spoken and Donald Trump is our President-elect. Senator
Reid’s words needlessly feed the very divisiveness that is tearing this country
apart.
Now, more than ever, it is time for us all to come together
as Americans. We must as Secretary Clinton and President Obama so graciously
said, have an open mind and give President-elect Trump the chance to lead."
"Unfortunately, there
are some who forget that at times like these it is wrong to put party and
politics above our country.”
It is satisfying that Harry
Reid lived to see everything he worked for destroyed and repudiated by the American
people. During his uncivil leadership, the Democrat party sunk to its lowest ebb in political fortune since the 1870s. He will disappear from the scene
unloved and unlamented. He will live in
fear of retribution by his business associates for the rest of his miserable
life.
Until the Democrat party purges itself of the vicious partisanship championed by Reid and others in the party, it deserves to sink even lower in the public estimation. Civility and decency needs to return to American public life, and intolerance of pluralism needs to disappear. The Harry Reid character needs to be purged from the Democrat party.
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