Harry Reid: The Man, the Myth, the Legend

Posted by Nick Beaudrot

Via Neil the Ethical Werewolf, some good hero-worship for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid:

In July of 1978, a man named Jack Gordon, who was later married to LaToya Jackson, offered Reid twelve thousand dollars to approve two new, carnival-like gaming devices for casino use. Reid reported the attempted bribe to the F.B.I. and arranged a meeting with Gordon in his office. By agreement, F.B.I. agents burst in to arrest Gordon at the point where Reid asked, “Is this the money?” Although he was taking part in a sting, Reid was unable to control his temper; the videotape shows him getting up from his chair and saying, “You son of a bitch, you tried to bribe me!” and attempting to choke Gordon, before startled agents pulled him off. “I was so angry with him for thinking he could bribe me,” Reid said, explaining his theatrical outburst. Gordon was convicted in federal court in 1979 and sentenced to six months in prison.

The whole article is worth a read.

Mythologizing our leaders, and evangelizing that mythology to the general public, is something Democrats could afford to do more of. Think of it as a counterattack to Bush and his brush-clearing act; a bit of local color that shows our guys (and gals) are stand-up guys (and gals) too. Between this story and the dreaded cactus-eating rabbits of Searchlight, Nevada, Harry Reid is certainly the most colurful Senate leader the country's had in a long time.

Update: commenter davidS (that's not S as in Sirota) remarks, "Prison and then marriage to LaToya? Ye Gods!" I'm not sure if that's a step up or down either. Sort of the reverse of Mark Antony's situation, where he dumped Miss America Universe in order to wed J-Lo [preemptive strike: it's just snark, Amanda, don't panic; I'm not trying to perpetuate unrealistic standards of beauty or anything like that].