Harry Reid is the Senate equivalent to Alan Colmes.

[backscatter712]

I mean that they both have the same job - professional punching bag (OK, Colmes is leaving Hannity and Colmes soon, but my point stands.) To put it more politically incorrectly, they're both playing the game to deliberately be allowed to be bitch-slapped.

Alan Colmes lets himself be shouted down by Sean Hannity every day, because that's what he's paid to do - look like an effete, milquetoast pantywaist so that all liberals are tarred with that brush.

Harry Reid does the same thing - he makes a few ineffectual mumblings to make himself look like he's on our side, but when important votes come up, and the bell rings for the big floor fight, Reid takes a dive, again making himself, and all Democrats look like effete, milquetoast pantywaists.

It's Bitch-Slap Politics, and Reid is constantly sabotaging us by playing the bitch.

Even if we still lose the cloture votes, if Reid was a decent leader, working for our side, he'd be rallying our guys, throwing press conferences, making speeches and statements loudly and relentlessly calling the Republicans out for their attacks on the poor and working class, for sparing no expense in saving banking buddies, but refusing to allocate a fucking dime to save working-class jobs; or for refusing to do what's needed to end the war in Iraq, or for refusing to lift a finger to help regular folks with health care, etc. etc. etc. Politicians are good at making noise and raising their hackles and blustering and fighting, and Reid could be at least making a little noise chastising the Republicans for blocking bills and being obstructionist.

But no, we're not gonna see that. Reid's the nice guy that finishes last. He won't make those kinds of noises - he'll just accept defeat with his tail between his legs. This play's very well-choreographed.

To be blunt, Reid has about the same amount of loyalty to the Democratic Party and to progressive causes as Joe Lieberman. That's right, Reid's a traitor to the Democratic Party.

That is all.

[MrModerate]

1. With regard to Reid, I've move from anger . . .

to despair. What do these spineless "conservative" dems think the millions of people were voting for? More of the same?

[bluecollarcharlie]

2. Whaddya expect..

...the man has no testicles. And he's as weak as water. He's like that kid in the old Charles Atlas comic book ads only he has no desire to get off the beach and learn how to fight. Must love the taste of sand.

[yurbud]

3. if there was only one republican left in Congress, the Democratic "leadership" would figure out a

way to surrender or lose to them.

Somehow, when Democrats were in the minority, they couldn't block anything, not even unconstitutional actions and war crimes.

The GOP gets their asses handed to them in an election and it doesn't change the deference the Democrats show them one bit.

Of course the real problem is that maybe half the Democrats in Congress serve the same Wall Street and corporate interests as the GOP, so there is rarely a progressive majority even when there's a Democratic one.

[JDPriestly]

4. Kicked and recommended, although I think Reid is loyal to Democratic causes.

He is just a coward, not a traitor.

[yurbud]

6. one fig leaf for Reid: as long as the psychotic, crack smoking monkey has a gun in his hand

you don't want to make any moves to upset him, particularly if you have suspicions about 9/11, Paul Wellstone, etc.

Once Bush is out of office, that last little fig leaf will be gone, and Reid will entirely own his timidity.

[yurbud]

5. I actually wrote a poem about Reid's surrender monkey behavior once:

Ballad of the Dry Powder

When we fought King George, Colonel Harry Reid was sent to gaurd a mountain pass.
He had twenty men, the high ground, and a good view of all possible routes of attack,
but just one small keg of gunpowder for all their muskets blasts.

Each soldier would have powder to let just ten bullets fly.
General Washington gave thought to this when he bid them good-bye.
He said, "Take care boys, and keep your powder dry!"
He would soon regret those words for they led good men to die.

One night as Reid's boys were sitting around the campfire at their post up in the pass,
a grizzly bear got scent of them and into their camp crashed.
Johnny grabbed his musket and aimed at the bear's boulder of a head,
but before he squeezed the trigger, Col. Reid jumped up and said,
"Stand fast! Our bullets are for Redcoats, save our powder for them instead!"
Johnny held his fire and the bear tore out his throat.

As the bear began to eat him, the other soldiers grabbed their guns,
but Reid said, "Fight him if you must, but no bullets should let fly!
Washington has ordered we must keep our powder dry."

So they turned their muskets round and swatted with the butts,
they pulled their Bowie knives and they tried to slash his guts.
The bear just took the beating, but he would stand the cuts.
He turned on his attackers clawing flesh and chewing heads.
By the time that he was finished, half Reid's men were lying dead.

Reid thought it a victory for that keg was tight and dry.
Every bit of powder meant another Redcoat boy would die...

http://professorsmartass.blogspot.com/2007/05/poem-for-dem-surrender-ballad-of-dry.html">the rest...

If I rewrote it now, I'd have Reid looking for Redcoats to surrender to even after the Revolutionary War was over.

[BlueManDude]

7. Reid is toast when he's up again anyway.

[backscatter712]

8. God, I hope so!

Nevada needs to upgrade to a better Democrat...