There will be no peace in the Senate while Harry Reid is Senate Majority Leader.

I believe that I have said THAT before, but it bears repeating.

It’s important to understand how much Mr. Reid’s tactics have changed the Senate. Not too long ago it was understood that any Senator could get a floor vote if he wanted it. The minority party, often Democrats, used this right of amendment to sponsor votes that would sometimes put the majority on the spot. It’s called politics, rightly understood. This meant the Senate debated national priorities and worked its bipartisan will. Harry Reid’s Senate has become a deliberate obstacle to democratic accountability.

It’s also becoming a (probably not deliberate) obstacle to Democratic prospects, which is why I’m not quite as infuriated about this as is, say, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial section.  Harry Reid’s antics were bad enough for Democrats when he was merely stonewalling everything that the House did, or cavalierly treating over forty of the most powerful people on the planet as meaningless.  But Reid’s recent decision to trigger the nuclear option on appointments is now embarrassing the White House itself. If the President’s nominees can’t even get floor votes – or can’t win them – then why make deals with the President at all?

Again, the end results suit me well enough; but then, I am a partisan Republican hack.  If I was a hardcore Obama supporter instead I imagine that I would be infuriated at Harry Reid right now.  And I would have reason to be.

Moe Lane

11 thoughts on “There will be no peace in the Senate while Harry Reid is Senate Majority Leader.”

  1. Too bad the left’s rage is so ephemeral.. I predict it will have faded so completely nobody will remember they were ever even slightly upset when Reid is up for election again.. in two years.
    .
    That’s the real problem with the left today, they can’t see things through.
    .
    Mew

    1. Their idea of progress is tearing down someone’s house and thinking highly of themselves for letting that person sleep in their barn.

      1. The results of their anger are commesurate with their general competence .. they can destroy, because that’s easy. Show me something the left *alone* built.
        .
        Mew

      1. Are you kidding? Moe’s a nerd. If you haven’t figured this out by now, then I don’t know what to say.
        .
        And to answer your question, I am a redneck geek and not a nerd.

  3. If Republicans retake the Senate, the urge will be to restore comity. This, IMO, would be a mistake.
    Viewed from a behavioral/economic stance, Senators are people motivated by incentives and disincentives. If comity is restored, it will essentially reward Reid’s bad behavior, or at least show him that there is no cost.

    This sort of behavior must be discouraged, so one could say that there is instead a moral imperative to NOT restore comity. Reid must be punished for his actions, or we’ll just get more of the same.

    Or, viewed from the angle of politics, Reid’s actions (not limited just to the “nuclear option,” but that’s the clearest example) amount to a declaration of political war. Everything has changed. One does not unilaterally disarm in the face of aggression.

    1. Neo-classical reference:
      Star Trek: Enterprise, Shadows of P’Jem
      Commander Sopek: “They’ve threatened the life of a Vulcan officer. We must discourage any such incidents in the future.”

    2. I totally agree. The GOP Senate should play hard ball, and if the press cries foul, say “Hey, this is the Harry Reid precedent.” But, I fear, the Go-Along-to-Get-Along Republicans will not only restore comity, but the filibuster as well. Paging Lee Attwater, paging Mr. Lee Attwater…

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