Wow... Both CNN and MSNBC Pimping The "Harry Reid Scandal" !!!

[WillyT]

I assume Faux News has been fanning these stubborn embers for some time now.

Maybe they all ought to do some reading first:

Sen. Harry Reid's raw (land) deal
Posted by Frank James at 5:30 pm CDT

<snip>

The tempest that’s been created over Sen. Harry Reid’s Las Vegas real-estate transaction puts me in mind of the famous poet’s famous line “There is no there, there.” In Reid’s case, the line could be adapted to say: There was no sale there.

For those who haven’t been following this tale, it all stems from a recent Associated Press story. The article reported that Reid, the Senate’s top Democrat as minority leader, may have run afoul of Senate ethics rules by failing to disclose on his ethics forms the 2001 “sale” of Las Vegas real estate he owned with a friend.

There’s only one problem. Reid of Nevada didn’t actually sell the real estate in 2001. What he did was transfer it to—get this—himself and the same friend he bought it with in 1998, a former casino lawyer named Jay Brown. (Read the point-by-point description provided by Reid's office. Download the point_by_point.doc))

The men transferred the real estate to a limited liability company, or LLC, they controlled called Patrick Lane LLC. Such transfers are very common and exceedingly legal. Indeed, many lawyers recommend the step to investors and small business people as a way to shield their personal wealth from liability, as in the event someone is injured or killed on the real estate.

<snip>

More: http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2006/10/sen_harry_reid_.html

Is this the media's lazy-assed version of "Fair and Balanced"??? Might as well sell 'em all to Murdoch for what good they do serving the American public.

:banghead:

[w4rma]

1. This should be the last hoorah for this story. There is nothing left to

report on it.

[aquart]

2. Tell them how pathetic they are.

[rodeodance]

3. abc evening news also just now.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

4. They Got Their Message Out To The MORONS!

Now all the MORONS will just name him in the same breath as Jefferson, and say this shows how corrupt the Democrats are as well.

It DOESN'T matter what the reality is, or the eventual outcome. The media has done it's job, and planted the seed in the tiny tiny repub MORON brains.

[SoCalDem]

5. As much as it pains me to SAY this,

Dems have GOT to be sure everything they do is totally above board. Every time a scummy republican gets busted for an outrageous affront, you can be SURE they will trot out something on our guys..

we can no longer afford even the APPEARANCE of corruption. These people are the upper echelon..they KNOW the rules.. hell they WROTE the rules. There is NO excuse for "oversights"....no matter whose side they are on.

[WillyT]

12. True... But How Do You Follow Rules That Don't Exist ???

<snip>

But the Washington Post, in an editorial today, took the Nevada senator to task for not making such disclosures. It also, mistakenly, said he no longer owned the land after 2001.

“… That Mr. Reid no longer owned the land, but instead had sold it for an interest in the Patrick Lane Corp, was not some mere ‘technical change,’ as the senator would like to brush it off. It’s an essential element of financial disclosure rules, the purpose of which is to know how and with whom public officials are financially entwined.”

The problem with the Post’s position is, once again, there was no sale. The two men still owned the property though in 2001 it wasn't owned in their names per se but in the name of a legal entity they controlled.

They were even paying property taxes on the real estate in rough proportion to their ownership stakes. The AP story says as much. Not even Democrats are willing to pay real-estate taxes on property they no longer own.

Another problem: there weren’t any ethics rules that required Reid to disclose who his partner was. So he’s being pilloried for not following a regulation that didn’t exist.

<snip>

I guess the Dems could develop their own "Bright Lights" framework for showing their 'above-boardness', and then maybe even invite the rePukes to join them, but I ain't holding my breath for that one.

:shrug:

[CatWoman]

6. ha!!!

[Gabi Hayes]

7. BAD girl...did you see the DS on this last night?

[CatWoman]

11. yup

:hi:

[Gabi Hayes]

8. When are dems going to start screaming bloody murder about Hastert's

land deal?

did you see the thread here on it?

[Gabi Hayes]

9. here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2417330

[KharmaTrain]

10. This Is Astroturfing...At Its Sleaziest

I put up a post about this as well. Josh Marshall thinks this is the work of Barbara Comstock...she planted the story with Solomon at the AP and just sat back and let the lie and spin outrun the truth. They've pulled this stunt with Reid before about the boxing tickets...put the story out of some alleged "impropreity"...it takes 24 to 48 hours for the story to get fully debunked, but in the meantime, the hate radio shows and blogs are smeared with an alleged scandal without having to explain why there is one.

Repugnicans are desperate to get a Democrat in trouble. They'd love to out a gay Democrat...too bad it's ok in the Democratic party to operate openly. They'd love to find a Democrat who hung with Abramoff (they tried to hang that on Reid as well) or anything that can be used as nullification for their own scandals.

It's the corporate media being lazy. It's a story that is intended to stir shit and the corporate media likes stories like that. The GOOP media slime machine is very, very good at planting stories and "working the refs"...claiming that by ignoring "the Reid scandal" somehow the "media is biased".

[Crunchy Frog]

13. Damn librul media.

:grr:

[and-justice-for-all]

14. I think the Repukes are trying WWAAYYY to hard here...

They are reseaching deep into the abbys of liars they pull from. What a bunch of morons..
THEY ARE DONE!

[Imagevision]

15. Politicians have ALWAYS been corrupt, when caught they should be

booted out regardless of the flavor, if they're going to be so stupid as to get caught? then they should be history! they can easily be replaced regardless of the party!