THE SPINE OCTOBER 18, 2006
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Maybe there's no purpose in calling attention to an editorial in the New York Times. Either you get the hard copy of the paper every day ... or you can't get an editorial on the day it's printed, since it gets caught behind the maddening (but quite understandable) Times Select fence for 24 hours. On the other hand, sometimes when there's a link from one web site to another, you can jump the fence.
I don't really know what'll happen here. But "The Odor From Capitol Hill" is what the Times lede is called, and you can almost smell the reek simply by reading. It is about how ordinary big time corruption has become in Congress. You have to believe, moreover, that what we know is only an inkling of what goes on. The Republicans are the top hitters now, maybe because they value cash so much. Although I don't truly believe that Democrats really value it less. More important for the Congressional Republicans is that they have been the majority party for some years and, what with having a very partisan presidency helping them out, greed can appear much more attractive than the simple rules of honor.
There is something gratifying about watching the ever-so-sanctimonious Senator Harry Reid wiggling in the spotlight over patently dishonest ethics filings. It's amazing how the only items that filers leave out are the ones that might embarrass them. For the rest of the Democrats ... well, they're more or less like the Republicans.
It's also pleasant to see the, at least when ordinary ethics are being traduced, the Times can be non-partisan or, more to the point, bi-partisan in its outrage.
2 comments
It hasn't gotten to that point yet, but if scrutiny over the land deal leads to any more revelations about Reid's shady business partner, watch for Dick Durbin to make a play for Senate Democratic Leader. Durbin is far closer ideologically and temperamentally to the Dem base than is Reid.
- Claudiusmarcellus
October 18, 2006 at 1:10pm
Martin, you state: "There is something gratifying about watching the ever-so-sanctimonious Senator Harry Reid wiggling in the spotlight over patently dishonest ethics filings". The operative phrase here is, I think, "patently dishonest". You've made a fairly serious charge -- but the truth of the matter does seem to be particularly self-evident. What follows below is report by Paul Kiel over at the Talking Points Memo Coffee House where he makes the case that Reid did nothing unethetical or illegal with regards to the land transaction or the reporting thereof. If Kiel is correct, then what's your beef. Were you merely spouting off from your moral hobby-horse or did Kiel get something wrong. It would seem that if nothing else, Kiel's report would require that you explain your off-hand, condesending judgement of Reid. Otherwise, some one might think that you, yourself, are a bit "sanctimonious". (Or, from a grass roots perspective, "a horse rear-end".) Sincerely, The Barnyard Sage. (Below is the Kiel report. Go for it Martin. Show your spine. Cut him into intellectual suagage.) AP's Reid Story Doesn't Add Up By Paul Kiel - October 11, 2006, 11:10 PM Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) "collected a $1.1 million windfall on a Las Vegas land sale even though he hadn't personally owned the property for three years," the AP reports. Except that's wrong. Reid made a $700,000 profit on the sale, not $1.1 million. Also, the story, by the AP's John Solomon, makes it sound as if Reid got money for land he didn't own. But that's not the case. It's not the first time that Solomon has published a misleading story about Reid. This is the third such story by Solomon over the past six months. Each time, Solomon has hit Reid for taking actions which might create the appearance of ethical impropriety. But because Solomon writes for the most powerful news organization in the land, these very gray-shaded stories pack a wallop. It doesn't help that on numerous occasions, he has missed or distorted key details
- src
October 18, 2006 at 11:03pm