Did Reid really put his hand around Pelosi's shoulders?

[question everything]

Just watched it on the Daily Show..

How boorish! As bad as when Bush was trying to "straighten" Germany's Angela Merkel shoulders..

[RB TexLa]

1. She should have given him the Rove response to touching

[Cha]

54. :)

DON'T TOUCH ME!

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. Lucky bastard

[Rosemary2205]

3. "I was so proud of us"

Gawd, Reid. Do you even know what a patronizing old fart you sounded like? Pelosi should have kneed you.

[ShortnFiery]

5. Reid needs to tell HIS WIFE to stop Lobbying or resign as Majority Leader.

IMO, Reid is, by far (especially with that condescending arm around our Speaker), NOT "the right stuff" for our Majority Leader of the Senate.

Dammit, we need a scrapper. I don't give a sh*t if he was a former boxer because when it comes to "getting in close" Reid always feign and falls down.

[OzarkDem]

26. Agree completely

He's a lazy, self-serving a**. And not very bright, either. He has failed to deliver on his scant promises again and again and again.

Any suggestions as to who should succeed him? Surely we have better leaders in the Senate.

[earthboundmisfit]

43. I wish Ted Kennedy was leader instead of Reid

What a great majority leader he would be! There'd be NO namby-pamby wishywashiness.

[bdamomma]

45. his face would be red all the time, he would call them out on their BS

that is for sure.

[Syrinx]

4. I didn't see it

But from your description, I don't understand the problem.

[ShortnFiery]

6. His arm around Pelosi's shoulder was intrusive and seemingly condescending.

He did NOT co-ordinate this with her but used this to hijack the conversation. Reid needs to go!

[DURHAM D]

8. If you see it you will get it - no questions asked. n/t

[krkaufman]

11. This. Plus he interrupted her comments, and *then* moved in and ...

... put his hand on her shoulder. Exceedingly inappropriate, I would think. Really need the video to capture the moment.

[Syrinx]

12. If someone can provide video, I will be glad to look at it

I don't find the Senator putting his hand on the Speaker's shoulder offensive at all. LOL. Not that I'm a big fan of Harry Reid. He's always seemed like a wimp to me.

[krkaufman]

41. I'm not a feminist, but it seemed rude (at best) to me.

If I were Nancy, I'd have been hard-pressed not to give Harry an elbow to the ribs -- or at least to tell him to wait a moment, to let me finish, before he made his point.

Not an issue really, beyond what Nancy may consider it.

[xultar]

22. I don't think it was inappropriate unless she thought it was. Lighten up people.

[Libby2]

23. Same here.

I didn't see anything wrong with it.

[treestar]

39. He might have done that to a male speaker, too

It might just be comradely.

It's not a massage, like * gave that poor German woman.

[spanone]

33. I saw it, I don't know what the hell people are talking about. It was absolutely nothing.

[kiteinthewind]

38. Agree! Don't we have more important issues that eating our own? nt

[loudsue]

49. She didn't look like she particularly liked it. It made me & my husband REALLY

uncomfortable. Reid interrupted her, and then, patronizingly, put his arm around her shoulder. It looked to me like he was trying to hold her back. She's the Speaker of the House, for krissake! She shouldn't put up with that!

I hope she gave him a piece of her mind afterward.

[Cha]

57. I personally would like it if

my Democratic co-worker would give me an arm around my shoulder..but I guess we have to ask Nancy Pelosi who is, according to what I've read, from a big ol' loving Italiana Familia! Touchy Feely, Kiss Kiss..

[bdamomma]

46. I think that is a good picture!! showing their unity perhaps.

[DURHAM D]

7. That was really weird - obviously Reid was trying to

stop Pelosi from saying something and she was pissed at his overly intimate and controlling move. He placed his hand on her shoulder as if to say "There, there little girl - let Daddy take over". The look on her face would stop an army - but he could not see her face. What an ass. He has made more than one mistake this week. Can not recall any that Pelosi has made.

Again, what an ass Reid is/was.

[krkaufman]

10. Yes, Reid needs to be put on a leash. His "war is lost" statement ...

... was unproductive, however honest.

[krkaufman]

9. Yes, Nancy needs to have a chat with Harry ...

... and tell him to keep his hands to himself. Whether Harry realized it or not, it was sexist and a power play. Nancy is not subservient to Harry. (Reid reminded me of Bush in doing that.)

[Cameron27]

20. You can bet Nancy will call him out on this

if she thought it was inappropriate. (I didn't see it, so I don't know what it looked like.)

[marions ghost]

27. well ...one thing I remember

from a photo op in the oval office was Reid putting his hand on Dubya's shoulder (the courtesy call after the November elections). In that case it was meant to be good old boy (we're all in the same club now) gesture. Chimpy didn't react, but I'm sure he recognized it as one of HIS favorite moves.

Reid probably meant this in a friendly way towards Pelosi (I don't think he has a history of sexist behavior) -- but he needs to realize that the hand on the shoulder runs the risk of being overly friendly, and women in positions of power particularly don't like it. It does feel controlling if you're not used to it. We haven't gotten far enough away from the grim old days of keeping women in their place to make it seem like a compliment--ie. that she's just one of the boys.

Reid and Pelosi seem to have a good working relationship. She'll probably give him a word to the wise in private. Right now group solidarity is paramount.

[krkaufman]

40. Yes, it needn't be a public affair. I'm sure Nancy will let Harry know ...

... where the boundaries are.

[Exiled in America]

13. Wait - I'm confused........

So setting aside the weird, out of place hand shoulders thing -

Isn't Reid the guy I read headlines about every single day standing up to Bush? Isn't Reid the guy who is finally telling the truth, refusing to back down, not bending to the pressure of the White House to be the weak willed spineless democrats they have come to expect?

What's with everyone wanting him to go?

I'll tolerate a lot of idiosyncrasies and bad tact for a senate leader who has guts and tells the truth to power.

[w4rma]

14. Mountains and molehills. (nt)

[still_one]

15. Reid was interupting Pelosi to make a point, and show unity between the house and the Senate

To read anything more into it is wrong and misleading. The daily show tried to imply a NOT so funny inuendo.

What bush did was rub merkel's shoulders, nothing of the sort happened here.

Again it was just to show unity on Iraq between the two houses.

[question everything]

51. No, he interrupted her in mid sentence

I just posted the video

http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/player.jhtml?ml...

in a very patronizing manner.

[Syrinx]

58. why did you have to post the video in a patronizing manner?

[Apollo11]

59. Harry Reid = "Uncle Mc-Feely-Hands"

I strongly agree with Jon Stewart!

"OMG - The United States Senate is being run by my drunk uncle Mc-Feely-Hands!"

Plus - I hate the way Reid interrupted Pelosi in mid-sentence.

She was making a very serious statement about the War in Iraq.

He jumped in there with a really dumb remark about his personal pride!

From now on, Harry Reid will always be "Uncle Mc-Feely-Hands"!

[still_one]

16. WRONG, Reid was making a point to show unity between the house and Senate on Iraq

To read anything more into it is wrong and misleading. The daily show tried to imply a false and NOT so funny inuendo.

[bdamomma]

47. this looks like they are united in their fight

and the last couple of days you can see Nancy has been pissed off about the Iraqi Bill.

[acmavm]

17. The things some people find to bitch about is absolutely amazing.

[MrSlayer]

18. Come on.

Had it been speaker Kucinich or any other member of the house he would have done the same thing.

[marions ghost]

31. right

and I agree that Reid meant it as a solidarity gesture, even a complimentary solidarity gesture. No biggie.

But you have to realize that it wasn't so long ago that men could get away with putting their hands on women in all kinds of controlling ways and they could get away with saying anything they wanted to women in workplace situations. Women who have gone as far as Pelosi in their careers are very sensitive to what is appropriate and what it not. If it feels invasive, then it is.

Maybe one day women and men can lightly touch each other without there being anything more to it. We're not there yet. The handshake is about as far as friendly contact should go right now.

[acmavm]

19. The things some people find to bitch about is absolutely amazing.

[wake.up.america]

24. What's wrong with that? I put my arms around a lot people.

[annabanana]

21. . . . this is helpful

NOT!

This thread is LOADED with concern trolls. . . (at least they're nekkid ones)

[zippy890]

30. yes, and not very good ones at that

[monmouth]

25. Much ado about nothing...n/t

[Apollo11]

28. What I find offensive

is people calling other people trolls, just because they express a different opinion.

I haven't seen the video, but something about the still photo above looks wrong to me.

If it was a male colleague - I don't think Harry would have put his hand there.

It looks like he considers himself the senior partner in that relationship.

Personally I would like to see Hillary as majority leader in the Senate.

That would also open-up the way for a Gore-Obama ticket in 2008!

[question everything]

50. Excellent analysis. Thank you

The video really showed how patronizing it appeared.

That people here cannot see this... wonder whether they would not have any problems with Clarence Thomas telling Anita Hill about a pubic hair in his coke.. or something.

Do we really need to remind people, on this board, in this year that a man does not touch a woman unless they have established these close relations?

I think that this is the video

http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/player.jhtml?ml...


The expression on her face said it all. She could not stand it, yet was not going to react..

[camero]

29. He was probably just telling her

"Don't worry. We won't impeach Bush because we're all in this together."

[hiaasenrocks]

32. The horror.

Forget the crisis called Iraq that they're trying to fix. Forget all the other Democratic principles they're attempting to implement.

Let's focus on how Harry touched Nancy. Jesus Christ, you'd think that people on our side wouldn't be in the business of creating "shiny objects" that distract. That's BushCo's job, isn't it?

[ourbluenation]

44. true that.

[undeterred]

48. She should report him to the Speaker of the House or the Senate Majority Leader.

[question everything]

52. Yea, and while there, forget the recent supreme court

about who's business it is to get inside a woman's body, forget about the disappearance of the middle class, about outsourcing jobs, and lack of retirements, and of affordable school activities.

I've got news for you: most voters care about issues that are close to them, that they can relate to them. This is why previous elections with their abortion and gay marriage carried their votes. This is why the hypocrisy of the Republicans, with the text messaging the page boys carried the day.

The war in Iraq is far from the lives of most Americans. This is why 32 people killed in this country carries so much weight as opposed to the same number of people killed every day in Iraq, thanks to our intervention.

If you do not realize this, I do hope that you are not a consultant to any of our candidates. Every day issues is what get voters interested and care.

[bigtree]

34. around her shoulder?

Since when is that wrong? I've seen the Speaker touching folks. Is that wrong as well?

[Democrat 4 Ever]

35. The Wednesday morning meeting of the Circular Fire Squad is now in session.

If it were inappropriate at least Pelosi didn't grimace and throw his hands off her like Merkel did DimSon. Maybe she understood that he didn't mean anything by it and enjoyed the show of solidarity between the House and Senate. I'm sure Pelosi set Reid straight if SHE thought it was wrong for him to touch her.

And Reid needs to go, please, you are kidding right? I think people here forget we have only the slimmest of a majority and it requires, whether we like it or not, some semblance of political maneuvering to get anything done. Do I wish we had 60 Senators and we could go out day after day with guns blazing, sure. But we don't and that is the hand that is dealt Reid, Pelosi, and every other Dem who is trying to get the DimSon train wreck policies back up on the tracks and moving.

We are our own worst enemy when we buy into the Edwards' $400 haircut, Gore's big ass house, Reid's touching Pelosi dust-ups as political discourse. There are kids dying, people suffering horrible injuries, kids not getting fed or educated, people are losing jobs, the sick aren't getting treatment due to lack of health care and this is what we focus on? That is what repugs do. They throw sand into any discussion and miss the real issues. I'm just saying...

[blondeatlast]

37. Nothing like a flamefest before the OP's bedtime. Let's see if he

starts his morning with burnt toast--I kinda doubt he will.

[Bake]

53. It's apparently OK is Nancy does it, but not if Harry does it.

Doesn't look like JK minded too much. Or Chuck.

Some people just need to lighten the f**k up.

Bake

[twenty4blackbirds]

60. mutual touching != arm around shoulder

[blondeatlast]

36. Another fine job, QE (sarcasm). Post it right before bedtime?

[question everything]

55. What an intelligent, to the point comment

Is this what you are doing on these pages? Scanning posts to express your opinion?

A lot easier than actually contributing to a discussion but, oh, the latter would require some working brain cells.

You may want to read some other comments on this thread, on how some put a bit of thought into their opinion. That is, if you can tell the difference between and opinion and a spit.

Oh, just noticed your name. Sorry, this explains everything.

[marlakay]

42. I felt sorry for her...

you could tell she was seething and forcefully polite. Her eyes were blinking as bad as Bush's when he's lying. I think Nancy is one smart lady and knows they have to work together. I bet next time she talks to him alone on the phone she told him off.

[orleans]

56. yes he did. AND IT REALLY BOTHERED ME! n/t