# Harry, you Dick!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 7, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357 "2009-12-07T20:29:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/1 "2009-12-07T20:29:08Z")
Harry Reid speaks of slavery and the healthcare debate in the same breath. [What a dick!](http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/07/reid-compares-health-care-reform-foes-slavery-supporters/) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/2 "2009-12-07T21:18:58Z")
Please elaborate. > [@](#): > > “I think it’s beneath the dignity of the majority leader,” Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said. “I personally am insulted.” I’d say it’s the antebellum slavery supporters who can’t defend themselves (on account of being dead) who should feel insulted, Senator. Or are you feeling insulted on their behalf? ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/3 "2009-12-07T21:26:11Z")
What’s the problem? This is a lot like the cases he cited. Just another bunch of conservatives digging in their heels on the wrong side of history. UHC is inevitable as is gay marriage, but conservatives are going to see how long they can prevent it from happening, Then the next time they’ll say “sure gay marriage was a good idea, but gay adoption affects more than the two parents”. It was Dems before, and Pubs now, but they are still the same bunch of race baiting, knuckle dragging morons. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/4 "2009-12-07T21:36:23Z")
Not surprisingly, the first link one gets when googling ‘“Tom Coburn” slavery’, has Coburn relating the campaign against slavery in the UK with his campaign against Pork Barrel spending. If we’re not going to allow hyperbolic historical comparisons in the US senate, US senators are going to have to scrap half their current talking points. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/5 "2009-12-07T21:40:57Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > What’s the problem? This is a lot like the cases he cited. Just another bunch of conservatives digging in their heels on the wrong side of history. UHC is inevitable as is gay marriage, but conservatives are going to see how long they can prevent it from happening, Then the next time they’ll say “sure gay marriage was a good idea, but gay adoption affects more than the two parents”. It was Dems before, and Pubs now, but they are still the same bunch of race baiting, knuckle dragging morons. The common denominator there is that both times it was Conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/6 "2009-12-07T22:02:53Z")
I can’t be the only one who chuckled at a thread involving Tom Coburn, Harry Reid, and someone being called a Dick. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/7 "2009-12-07T22:12:05Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Harry Reid speaks of slavery and the healthcare debate in the same breath. > > [What a dick!](http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/07/reid-compares-health-care-reform-foes-slavery-supporters/) Who instructed you to be outraged, Hannity or Limbaugh? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/8 "2009-12-07T22:18:33Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Who instructed you to be outraged, Hannity or Limbaugh I heard that _all_ the pro-rape Republicans are united in this faux-outrage, **Merijeek**. That’d include Limbaugh, Hannity and _others_ as well. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/9 "2009-12-07T22:20:10Z")
I like how the piece tries to imply Reid is some kind of hypocrite because _it was Republicans_ who ended slavery and _it was a Democrat_ who threatened to filibuster against civil rights. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/10 "2009-12-07T22:33:59Z")
LOL Fox News. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/11 "2009-12-07T22:35:00Z")
This is ridiculous. Reid was clearly drawing a specific comparison: in each case, one side was proposing a change, and another was resistin it. He doesn’t say, or imply, that opposing health care is morally equivalent to supporting slavery. Now, I think there are principled distinctions between the two cases, so that it’s correct to resist this version of UHC. But there’s no call for outrage. The correct response is to highlight the differences between the cases. It’s a weak and foolish argument on Reid’s part, but it’s hardly offensive. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Understander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3da27b/32.png) [@The\_Understander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Understander)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/12 "2009-12-07T22:35:21Z")
Hee hee hee… _then_ a Democrat. _chortle_ ---
**Author:** ![Sinaijon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Sinaijon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaijon)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/13 "2009-12-07T23:05:08Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Reid was clearly drawing a specific comparison: in each case, one side was proposing a change, and another was resistin it. He doesn’t say, or imply, that opposing health care is morally equivalent to supporting slavery. No, but invoking a comparison to slavery was an emotional appeal. More specifically, it was race baiting. He could have chosen Social Security, Medicaire, Welfare, or any other number of government programs, but instead he used slavery and civil rights. Oh, and woman’s suffrage, just to throw a bone to another base demographic. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/14 "2009-12-07T23:14:59Z")
> [@Sinaijon](#): > > No, but invoking a comparison to slavery was an emotional appeal. More specifically, it was race baiting. He could have chosen Social Security, Medicaire, Welfare, or any other number of government programs, but instead he used slavery and civil rights. Oh, and woman’s suffrage, just to throw a bone to another base demographic. Bullshit. He was not comparing slavery to healthcare. He was pointing out that, no matter how inconsequential or outrageous an issue is, opposing it just to oppose it is bad for the country. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/15 "2009-12-07T23:17:05Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > It’s a weak and foolish argument on Reid’s part, but it’s hardly offensive. Well, it _is_ Reid we’re talking about here, so that’s par for the course. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/16 "2009-12-07T23:23:39Z")
> [@Sinaijon](#): > > No, but invoking a comparison to slavery was an emotional appeal. More specifically, it was race baiting. He could have chosen Social Security, Medicaire, Welfare, or any other number of government programs, but instead he used slavery and civil rights. Oh, and woman’s suffrage, just to throw a bone to another base demographic. Did Social Security and Medicare draw the same sort of opposition that emancipation did? ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/17 "2009-12-08T00:44:13Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > I can’t be the only one who chuckled at a thread involving Tom Coburn, Harry Reid, and someone being called a Dick. I, being much less erudite, was laughing at “Harry…Dick.” ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/18 "2009-12-08T03:12:04Z")
> [@Sinaijon](#): > > Oh, and woman’s suffrage, just to throw a bone to another base demographic. Damn those greater than 50% of the population demographics. Maybe he should have talked about the backlash to adding restrictor plates on NASCAR cars. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/19 "2009-12-08T05:44:40Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Did Social Security and Medicare draw the same sort of opposition that emancipation did? [Chronology of Significant Events Leading to Enactment of Medicare](http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cphl/history/general/cornignappa.html) The fight is not new. We have been talking about health care for about a century now. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357/20 "2009-12-08T07:46:05Z")
Snicker. And you all want people in the government to be in charge of your healthcare… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-you-dick/520357.md?page=2)