Saturday, March 28, 2015

WISHING A NOT-SO-FOND FAREWELL TO ‘DINGY HARRY’ REID…


Well it only took 30 years, eight of which where we had to tolerate him as the Senate Majority Leader, but we are finally getting rid of ‘Dingy Harry’ Reid.  Now while I would have much rather preferred that we had been able to watch him go down in a resounding electoral defeat, in same manner that we were able to rid ourselves of that other scumbag Tom Daschle, and not in a manner of his own choosing, the fact is at least he is finally going, though, sadly, he is not yet gone.

And while we’re told that the announcement took many by surprise, I have a rather difficult time believing that.  It’s simply is not how Democrats operate.  This is a rather significant development so I find it difficult to believe that most didn’t know it was coming, especially those in the White House.  And while it may be claimed that it was brought on by his coming out on the losing end of a confrontation with a piece of exercise equipment, might there be more compelling reasons behind the decision.

So here are what I think are 10 real reasons behind ‘Dingy Harry’s’ decision to quit the Senate:

1.  We’re hearing how it is that ‘Dingy’ would facing what consider to be a difficult re-election battle next year. According to a "Crystal Ball" report from the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, "We identified Reid as probably the most vulnerable Democratic incumbent in this Senate cycle."  Sad, retirement allows ‘Dingy’ to avoid the spectacle of a humiliating defeat, something I would derive a great amount of enjoyment from watching.

2.  And it also assumed that ‘Dingy Harry’ feared that another campaign in Nevada would take away money and attention from Democrat candidates in other states. "We have to make sure that the Democrats take control of the Senate again," he said in a statement he posted online. "And I feel it is inappropriate for me to soak up all those resources on me when I could be devoting those resources to the caucus." 

3.  We’re told that ‘Dingy Harry’ is being held responsible for the Democrats' net loss of nine Senate seats in November. Republican Mitch McConnell, ‘Dingy's’ successor as Majority Leader, attributed the GOP surge partly as a rejection of Reid.  Well I’m sure about that, and if McConnell’s performance doesn’t take a turn for the better it won’t be all that long before he’s likely to be in ‘Dingy’s’ current position. 

4.  He was chastened by his difficult re-election fight in 2010. At one point he was down by 11 percentage points in a poll against Republican Sharon Angle, considered a weak and controversial candidate.  Angle helped out ‘Dingy’ by, among other things, claiming that Dearborn, Michigan, was under Sharia law and saying the 9/11 hijackers had entered the U.S. from Canada.  Angle still won 14 of Nevada's 17 counties.

5.  ‘Dingy’ is said to be battling back from injuries that he claims to have been the result of a fall on New Year's Day.  A fall which left him with broken ribs and impaired vision in his right eye. He still wears darkened glasses to protect the damaged eye.

6.  He's reacting to fallout from this week's inspector general findings. Reid's retirement announcement came just days after an inspector general said he used his influence to lobby a Homeland Security Department official for special treatment regarding visas for investors in a casino property in Nevada. Back in 2005, Reid earmarked a spending bill to provide funds for a bridge that would make land he owned more valuable. A year later, it was reported that Reid used campaign funds to pay for $3,300 in Christmas gifts to the staff at his condominium.

7.  ‘Dingy Harry’ is 75, which while is not all that much older than Hitlery Clinton, if he did chose to run for re-election next year he would be 83 years old when his sixth term expired.

8.  His hometown newspaper had come out against him. The Las Vegas Review-Journal last year castigated ‘Dingy’ for his comment that "five white men" on the Supreme Court ruled that businesses don't have to provide birth control if doing so would violate the employer's religious beliefs. One of the five was Clarence Thomas, who is black. The newspaper accused ‘Dingy’ of "race-baiting" and using "outrageous rhetoric."

9.  Despite Democrats' losses in November, ‘Dingy’ can still retire felling a sense of accomplishment. He has been a devoted ally and willing participant in Barry’s drive to “fundamentally transform” this country.   He succeeded in protecting Barry’s deportation amnesty policy from Republicans who tried to end it through the spending process, and more recently he blocked an anti-human trafficking bill because it contained language barring federal funds from being spent on abortion.

10. And on the more human side, ‘Dingy’ will be able to spend more time with his family.  He’s a father of five, last year sold his home in Searchlight, Nevada, and bought a condo near Las Vegas so he and his wife could be closer to their grandchildren. Retirement will enable ‘Dingy’ to spend more time with his family in Nevada instead of splitting his time between Washington and his home state.  And with a net worth that’s upwards of $10 Million he’s set himself up quite well.

Now I suppose while this may sound cold to some, but it is my very fervent hope that ‘Dingy’s’ retirement comes to be a relatively short one.  Because not only has he continued to stand by as Barry has done his best to destroy our country, he was, and still is, an active participant in that endeavor.  And while I don’t really blame him for a being a partisan, because we have those on both sides of the political aisle, I do blame him for putting his politics far, far, above the needs of the country. 

Every single time ‘Dingy’ had an opportunity to do the right thing and to stand with the American people, he took a different path.  The objectives of his party, and of this president were what he owed his allegiance to, on everything from Obamacare to massive, unsustainable increases in spending that had the net result of crushing the middleclass and increasing the speed of the downward spiral that this country has been on for the last 6 years.  So I hope that his retirement is a brief one! 

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