April 19, 2007
Into Every Life, Some Reid Must Fall
Today's lily-livered belly crawling by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Caesar's Palace, 95%), flatly announcing that "this war is lost," should disqualify him from the "leadership" position he now occupies, say I... since he is no longer leading but deserting.
Reid triumphally pronounced defeat in a press conference he called shortly after leaving the White House and his discussion with President Bush. Reid particularly singled out the counterinsurgency strategy -- which of course he belittled as "the surge" -- as having been an abject failure... because there were some big bombings yesterday:
"Now I believe myself ... that this war is lost, and that the surge is not accomplishing anything, as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq yesterday," said Reid, of Nevada....
Well, who could argue with that? I also conclude that, since it was chilly yesterday, therefore global warming is false.
People of at least ordinary intelligence understand that both global warming theory and the counterinsurgency strategy must be evaluated after a reasonably long period of time: ten years or so for the former, six or seven months for the latter. In both cases, a single day is void of meaning.
I have had my suspicions about Reid from the git go. Consider the biography of Harry "Pinky" Reid. First, Reid is one of those politicians who has never held any other job in his life besides -- politics. And even at that, he has never held a political job that had any actual performance standards, no administrative job like governor or even mayor. He served as lieutenant governor; but of course, that has fewer administrative responsibilities than being a dormatory R.A. at UC Santa Cruz, or even being Vice President of the United States.
(Oh, but let me be precise here: Reid allegedly worked as an attorney for two years in the mid-1960s, between when he received his J.D. and when he first ran for the Nevada state assembly. No idea if he actually argued any cases -- unlikely -- or whether he simply clerked for some local judge or worked as a junior peon in a Searchlight law firm. And then, there is that odd, three-year gap between when he failed to be elected senator in 1974 and when he turned up as Nevada gaming commissioner in 1977, during which he must have done something. Maybe he worked as a Pai Gow poker dealer or pit boss at a craps table. But that about covers it.)
During Reid's entire, illustrious, forty-year political career -- as state legislator, lieutenant governor, Nevada state gaming commissioner, U.S. representative, and senator -- with attendant array of "leadership" positions -- he has never once distinguished himself, never stood out, never brought himself to public attention. I suspect that virtually nobody in America except for political junkies could name the majority leader... unlike his counterpart, the Squeaker of the House.
Even Reid's "scandals" have been little and insignificant peccadillos: some land deal trifle in Nevada, having contacts with Jack Abramoff, free boxing tickets, and earmarking a bridge that would marginally help his bottom line -- bagatelles all. He can't even be spectacularly corrupt. One might guess that no crook in his right mind would concoct a spectacular scheme that depended upon somebody like Harry "Pinky."
Reid is like Sir Joseph, the Lord Admiral in Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta H.M.S. Pinafore: a man who rose from "office boy to an attorney's firm" to "ruler of the Queen's Navee" without ever once having set foot upon the deck of a ship:
If you want to rise to the top of the tree,
If your soul isn't fettered to an office stool,
Be careful to be guided by this golden rule--
Stick close to your desks and never go to sea,
And you all may be rulers of the Queen's Navee!
One might also compare Sen. Reid to a eunuch in a harem: He is aware of something wonderful going on all around him, but he is unequipped by nature to participate.
But we crave more illumination from the majority leader from Searchlight:
"The (Iraq) war can only be won diplomatically, politically and economically, and the president needs to come to that realization," Reid said.... [Once we withdraw our troops in defeat, as Sen. Reid would counsel, then how strong of a diplomatic, political, or even economic "hand" does he think we would have?]
Reid said he did not think more U.S. troops could help. "I think it's failed, I say that without any question," he said of the troop increase.
The "troop increase," which is how Reuters avoids mouthing the words "new counterinsurgency strategy," has been under way for less than two months; and only half of the projected troops have yet been inserted. It will take several more months before we really have an idea how well it will work.
But even so, even with only a fraction of the force we intend to bring to bear turning red to pink and pink to white, and even including the attacks yesterday, the death rate in Baghdad over the past two months is dramatically lower -- about 40% lower than the two previous months.
And that also includes the annual Islamic religious celebration of massacring pilgrims on the road to Karbala, some of which spilled over into Baghdad (killing more people than were killed yesterday).
Good Lord, imagine being adrift in a lifeboat with Harry "Pinky" Mason Reid. He would announce that we were toast and suggest we capsize the boat -- within sight of the Port of Long Beach!
Reid is a reedy drudge, a drab, little man in a drab, little suit, toiling away in a drab, little office in the bowels of an ineffectual body of Congress, which has itself become a mere footnote in the march of destiny. Reid is Walter Mitty without the saving grace of imagination:
- He waves his abnormally small fist -- former amateur boxer! -- and announces "we killed the Patriot Act!" But of course, he did no such thing. All he managed was to delay its reauthorization for a short bit by filibuster; it was reauthorized intact a couple of months later.
- He bemoans that Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was replaced by Justice Samuel Alito, because that allowed to Court to uphold a federal law banning partial-birth abortion -- a law for which Reid himself actually voted!
- He cannot decide whether he is for or against immigration, for or against gun control, for or against abortion.
"Pinky" Reid is the Director, from C.S. Lewis's seiminal novel That Hideous Strength, the third of his Perelandra series: the man who was never quite awake yet never entirely asleep, never found in broad sunlight nor yet in starry night; always betwixt and between, never actually deciding anything -- but ruling N.I.C.E. (the National Institute of Coordinated Experiments) as a perpetually ambiguous demonstration of the philosophy of perpetual twilight.
There is, however, one silver lining to the dark cloud Reid uses to rain defeatism and despondency on Gen. Petraeus's parade; this one nugget of information jumped out at me, perking me up immeasurably:
"I know I was like the odd guy out yesterday at the White House, but at least I told him what he needed to hear, not what he wanted to hear," he added. ["Him" means the president; that "him."]
It is indeed heartening to read, from Reid himself, that his delusion that we have already lost the war is not shared by his fellow Democrats in the House and Senate delegations; Reid was, as he put it, "the odd guy out."
Odd indeed; and thankfully, more or less out -- of the reckoning. And by his own withdrawal. I suppose that even footnotes must have their footnotes.
Hatched by Dafydd on this day, April 19, 2007, at the time of 3:02 PM
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Comments
The following hissed in response by: Addison Ingle
Well said, o mighty lizard.
The above hissed in response by: Addison Ingle ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://biglizards.net/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 19, 2007 5:02 PM
The following hissed in response by: Mr. Michael
The guy is insane. He really doesn't know the difference between right and wrong, and I'll wager that he doesn't understand the obvious results of his actions. His CV shows his back-bencher qualifications, and the fact that he has been elected Speaker shows the shallowness of the Democrat Party bench. You do a fine job of making that point.
So my question to you Dafydd: Why, after just pointing out what a non-entity loser this politician really is do you then lift him up by declaring that he is "the Senator from Searchlight"? I mean, you are a tad schizo here yourself, at one point tearing him down, and at another giving him accolades that I'm not sure he has earned.
Are you really that conflicted about the man, or am I misreading something here?
(web tech note: The pages at Big Lizards never finish loading... I can obviously post, and read all of YOUR posts, but my browser is studiously blinking away telling me there is more to come from this page... happens on the main page as well. Maybe a broken ad?)
The above hissed in response by: Mr. Michael at April 19, 2007 6:05 PM
The following hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh
Mr. Michael:
Why, after just pointing out what a non-entity loser this politician really is do you then lift him up by declaring that he is "the Senator from Searchlight"?
Er... Harry Reid is a senator in the United States Senate, he is the Senate Majority Leader, and he is from Searchlight, NV. That's why I called him "the majority leader from Searchlight."
Dafydd
The above hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh at April 19, 2007 7:22 PM
The following hissed in response by: Bill Faith
Dafydd, you put me to shame. I settle for a simple 50-words-or-less simple G.I. cussin' and you write a major essay saying all the things I couldn't find words for. Well done. I excerpted and linked.
The above hissed in response by: Bill Faith at April 19, 2007 7:55 PM
The following hissed in response by: Mr. Michael
Searchligth Nevada? Well I'll be... well, I'll be informed. Apologies and thanks!
The above hissed in response by: Mr. Michael at April 19, 2007 9:23 PM
The following hissed in response by: Rovin
It will take far more than a "Searchlight" to find out if there are any brain-cells left in Reid's crainium. Does this mean Harry has effectively
surrendered to our enemies? Where's his white flag?
This is a shameful day for people of the state of Nevada, and indeed the nation. Move over Benedict------you've got company.
The above hissed in response by: Rovin at April 20, 2007 7:15 AM
The following hissed in response by: Ruth H
Into each life some Reid must fall....
But too much is falling in mine..
la la la....
I refuse to listen to him or watch news about him,
it makes me ill.
What a little man, and I mean his character, it is almost non-existent.
The above hissed in response by: Ruth H at April 20, 2007 12:47 PM
The following hissed in response by: AMR
My son, on leave from Iraq, and I sit in front of the TV ranting and raving. We do not understand how anyone can believe that leaving Iraq will do anything but cause a massive massacre of people who have worked with us, for us or were just neutral. A slaughter that may surpass what occurred in SE Asia after we abandoned South Vietnam. Our enemies are as bad, if not worse, than Pol Pot. We can argue about whether or not we should be in Iraq, but we are there now and have an obligation to Iraqis and ultimately our own security to defeat our enemies regardless of where they are located. My only conclusion is that Senator Reid is doing this for a Democratic victory in ‘08. He is perfectly willing to sacrifice millions of Iraqis for political gain in the US elections. In no way is that patriotic; it is instead pathetic.
The above hissed in response by: AMR at April 20, 2007 6:33 PM
The following hissed in response by: DaveR
Reid is a cur.
But I am getting tired of Bush being softspoken and polite to curs. Bush needs to quit listening to whomever is telling him to be a diplomat - it isn't going to do anything but convince his opponents he is weakening. And frankly, as long as the curs are barking loud while the good guys are speaking deferentially, Americans of good faith are going to continue to feel that they are in the minority. We need strong voices speaking up for what most of us believe in, but all we hear through the media filter is defeatism. Bush has the power to shoulder past the media and talk to the country and I wish the hell he would use it.
Bush needs to get into a bare-knuckle brawl with the likes of Reid and the media, and tell America that we are winning a victory for humanity in Iraq, which means Reid and his party are losing!
Then when the media scream like little girls, he needs to tell them that if they want to lead the country go get elected to something, but until then - shove it!
Dammit, George, stand up and smack these bastards - that's all you need to do to get the country going on the right road.
ps. I'd buy THIS bumper sticker:
HARRY REID IS A CUR.
The above hissed in response by: DaveR at April 21, 2007 12:03 PM
The following hissed in response by: Bookworm
I do like your writing. The eunuch analogy had me laughing out loud.
The above hissed in response by: Bookworm at April 26, 2007 9:05 AM
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