By now, nearly everyone has probably heard about Harry Reid calling the president a “loser.” I’d like to take a moment, however, to do a quick compare-and-contrast for some of my friends on the right who believe Reid’s comment is serious and a sign that the Dems’ rhetoric has gone off the deep end.
Reid made the remark while discussing the filibuster issue with about 60 Del Sol High School juniors, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Web site.
“The man’s father is a wonderful human being,” Reid said in response to a question about Bush’s policies. “I think this guy is a loser.”
Clearly, Reid made a mistake. What did he do about it? Reid immediately called the White House to apologize.
Aides said Reid realized right away that he had overstepped. He at first tried to call Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. but when he could not reach him because the presidential party had headed to bed, the senator talked to deputy chief of staff Karl Rove. Reid later called the Review-Journal to say he had “apologized for what I said.”
Reid told Rove that he wanted to express his regret, and asked Rove to pass that on to the president, the aides said.
Reid’s emotion got the better of him and he said something he shouldn’t have. He recognized his mistake and acted quickly to express regret. Let’s take a moment to note how Reid’s conduct differs from that of the Vice President.
Vice President Cheney on Friday vigorously defended his vulgarity directed at a prominent Democratic senator earlier this week in the Senate chamber.
Cheney said he “probably” used an obscenity in an argument Tuesday on the Senate floor with Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and added that he had no regrets. “I expressed myself rather forcefully, felt better after I had done it,” Cheney told Neil Cavuto of Fox News. The vice president said those who heard the putdown agreed with him. “I think that a lot of my colleagues felt that what I had said badly needed to be said, that it was long overdue.”
Cheney cursed Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) on the Senate floor, directly, telling him to “go f— himself.” He not only refused to apologize, he went on Fox News to say his vulgar outburst made him feel better, which therefore made it acceptable. (You know that right-wing motto, if it feels good do it….) Any thoughts on what the GOP response would have been if Reid announced that his calling Bush a “loser” was something that “badly needed to be said” and was “long overdue “? Somehow, I suspect it wouldn’t have gone over well.
Let’s also not forget that the rest of the GOP defended Cheney’s attack on Leahy. Scott McClellan responded to questions by saying, “These things happen from time to time.” Bill Frist said he didn’t hear Cheney, but said in response to the VP’s remarks, “It’s a political season right now, where partisan feelings and emotions have come to the surface itself.”
So, last year, the Vice President was fully justified in telling a respected senior senator to go f— himself because he was upset about the senator’s political beliefs. Harry Reid, in contrast, called Bush a “loser,” and went out of his way — immediately — to apologize and express remorse.
For every right-wing blogger who took Reid to task over the weekend, saying the left’s rhetoric has gotten too extreme, I think it’s fair to say we still have a long way to go.