# Pitting Harry Reid and the Nevada Democrats **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 14, 2007, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847 "2007-03-14T03:53:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/1 "2007-03-14T03:53:06Z")
Since I’ve been vocal in castigating the Republicans for manufactured outrages like John Kerry “insulting” the troops or Barack Obama saying their lives were “wasted,” I have to speak up about an equal amount of stupidity and utterly phony indignation being demonstrated by Harry Reid and the Arizona Democrats, For those who may not know, Reid and the state crew of Dems in Arizona have decided to [back out](http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/03/09/nevada-democrats-cancel-debate-with-fox/) of a scheduled, Fox News sponsored Presidential debate in August. Why? Here’s what they said in their letter to Fox: > [@](#): > > comments made last night by Fox News President Roger Ailes in reference to one of our presidential candidates went too far. We cannot, as good Democrats, put our party in a position to defend such comments. > > In light of his comments, we have concluded that it is not possible to hold a presidential debate that will focus on our candidates and are therefore canceling our August debate. We take no pleasure in this, but it is the only course of action. Ailes must have really said something beyond the pale about one of the candidates, huh? Well it turns out the remarks that “went too far” were made about Barack Obama and here’s what he said: > [@](#): > > “And it is true that Barack Obama is on the move. I don’t know if it’s true that President Bush called Musharraf and said, ‘Why can’t we catch this guy?’ A lot of the left wing blogosphere is now pretending that Ailes called Obama a terrorist when the joke was clearly, CLEARLY about George Bush. Not only that, but it was a pretty funny joke (unlike Kerry’s). Harry Reid knows that. The Arizona Dems know it. They’re pretending to be offended and cancelling the debate under pressure from entities like MoveOn and Daily Kos, who ALSO know that Ailes wasn’t calling Obama a terrorist but who just wanted any excuse to pull the debate away from Fox. Now whether Fox is the best organization to sponsor a Democratic debate is a fair question (personally, it wouldn’t bother me. I think they’d be bending over backwards NOT to appear biased and give the Dems ammunition), but to use this joke as an excuse is completely disingenuous and hurts the credibility of the party. Come on, Dems. You’re acting like total douchebags. Knock it off. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/2 "2007-03-14T03:57:06Z")
agreed. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/3 "2007-03-14T03:57:48Z")
The whole ‘Obama sounds like Osama’ idiocy is beyond juvenile. The head of a ‘news’ network was a moron to perpetuate it in a public statement. In doing so, he showed disdain for the whole issue. It wasn’t ‘just a joke’. It was a deliberate jab, it was rude, and I’m glad the Dems pulled out. They’re serving notice that up with this kind of crap they will not put. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/4 "2007-03-14T04:01:07Z")
it was an anti Bush joke for fucks sake. god. aren’t we better than this? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/5 "2007-03-14T04:01:53Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] The whole ‘Obama sounds like Osama’ idiocy is beyond juvenile. The head of a ‘news’ network was a moron to perpetuate it in a public statement. In doing so, he showed disdain for the whole issue. It wasn’t ‘just a joke’. It was a deliberate jab, it was rude, and I’m glad the Dems pulled out. They’re serving notice that up with this kind of crap they will not put. [/QUOTE] It wasn’t a jab at Obama, it was a jab at Bush. He was calling Bush stupid. That’s what makes the Dems’ reaction extra ridiculous. Jon Stewart could have made this exact joke. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/6 "2007-03-14T04:04:09Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] It wasn’t a jab at Obama, it was a jab at Bush. He was calling Bush stupid. That’s what makes the Dems’ reaction extra ridiculous. Jon Stewart could have made this exact joke. [/QUOTE] I preferred the fake John Kerry standup joke. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/7 "2007-03-14T04:09:38Z")
Well said, Dio. And an honorable move on your part. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/8 "2007-03-14T04:13:18Z")
Ah **Diogenes**? The thing was organized by the **Nevada** Democrats. The Arizona Democrats were only partners on this, and reluctantly as it turns out: > **[Liberal, anti-war groups look to kill Fox sponsored Democratic debate -...](https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2007/03/05/daily55.html)** > > Liberal, anti-war groups look to kill Fox sponsored Democratic debate > [@](#): > > Alice McKeon a spokeswoman for the Arizona Democratic Party, said the Arizona party was a partner in the event and not the prime organizer. McKeon said the Arizona party was awaiting details on changes or cancellation of the event from their Nevada counterparts. > > State and national Democrats – including in Gov. Janet Napolitano’s office, the state party and Arizona congressional offices – generally take a dim view of Fox News and what they see as a conservative tilt. But I have to add that overall it was a good rant **Dio**. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/9 "2007-03-14T04:14:18Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Pitting Harry Reid and the Arizona Democrats [/QUOTE] **NEVADA** , dude! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/10 "2007-03-14T04:15:37Z")
The thing is, having a _Democratic_ debate on Faux News is idiotic; it’d be like hosting the Republican debate on Air America. Why would any sane Democrat agree to this in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/11 "2007-03-14T04:23:48Z")
Gahhh :smack: Nevada Nevada Nevada Nevada. I knew that. I don’t know where the hell Arizona came from. Could someone report this thread to a mod and ask them to change the thread title. Sorry about that. I’m a dumbass. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/12 "2007-03-14T04:43:50Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] A lot of the left wing blogosphere is now pretending that Ailes called Obama a terrorist when the joke was clearly, CLEARLY about George Bush. Not only that, but it was a pretty funny joke (unlike Kerry’s) [/QUOTE] Really, not ‘clearly’ at all. If you read the rest of his ‘jokes’, they are simply regurgitations of the same old sameolds that the righties have spouted pretending they’re ‘humour’. He was speaking to his own kind and playing to them. Nice attempt at dissembling, but he intended it as a hit on Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/13 "2007-03-14T04:47:52Z")
From the time it was announced that the debates were going to be held on Fox there has been an uproar. No, I don’t think they should have agreed to have the debates on Fox but they should have just pulled out. It was stupid of them to think there wouldn’t be drama about it. Here’s what some bloggers are saying "Over the past three weeks or so, the progressive movement – bloggers, [Moveon.org](http://Moveon.org), grassroots activists, filmmakers – pressured the Nevada Democratic Party to drop Fox News as the host of a presidential debate in August. In pursuing this short campaign, we made two basic arguments that were eventually accepted by party leaders. First, we argued that Fox News is not a news channel, but a propaganda outlet that regularly distorts, spins, and falsifies information. Second, Fox News is heavily influenced or even controlled by the Republican Party itself. As such, we believe that Fox News on the whole functions as a surrogate operation for the GOP. Treating Fox as a legitimate news channel extends the Republican Party’s ability to swift-boat and discredit our candidates. In other words, Fox News is a direct pipeline of misinformation from the GOP leadership into the traditional press…" Rest of the article > **[Republican Propaganda Is Not News](https://www.politico.com/story/2007/03/republican-propaganda-is-not-news-003109)** > > Opinion face-off: Liberal blogger Matt Stoller says Democrats were right to cancel a debate co-sponsored by Fox News. There are many reasons why the debates shouldn’t be held on Fox including Murdoch’s admission that his corp _tried_ to manipulate the media regarding Iraq. They should never have agreed in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/14 "2007-03-14T05:02:46Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] **NEVADA** , dude! [/QUOTE] No no! Feel free to let Arizona have him! ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/15 "2007-03-14T06:40:32Z")
[Here’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4Trvr9rTCk) a clip from the speech from YouTube, in case seeing him say it helps make it clearer. At first I had a hard time reading it any other way that **Quiddity** does, but then I looked for the transcript of the speech and thought **Dio** ’s made more sense. Now I’m not sure either way, but that might have more to do with the fact that I need to get some sleep than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/16 "2007-03-14T06:40:59Z")
I agree with your criticism of Reid and the Democrats on this issue. But you thought his joke was funny? Dude, come on! ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/17 "2007-03-14T07:00:31Z")
[QUOTE=GIGObuster] Ah **Diogenes**? The thing was organized by the **Nevada** Democrats. [/QUOTE] I was wondering how “Harry Reid and the Arizona Democrats” went together . . . This reminds me of when I moved to Phoenix and my best friend wrote a song with the line, " . . . why’d your punk ass have to move to Nevada?" :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/18 "2007-03-14T07:08:23Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Gahhh :smack: Nevada Nevada Nevada Nevada. I knew that. I don’t know where the hell Arizona came from. Could someone report this thread to a mod and ask them to change the thread title. Sorry about that. I’m a dumbass. [/QUOTE] \ Done. \ ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/19 "2007-03-14T07:13:50Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Gahhh :smack: Nevada Nevada Nevada Nevada. I knew that. I don’t know where the hell Arizona came from. Could someone report this thread to a mod and ask them to change the thread title. Sorry about that. I’m a dumbass. [/QUOTE] For six years now, I have disagreed with almost everything you say, but yet you are one of my favorite posters. C’mere, you big lug! * * * Politically speaking, I got nothin’. I’ve been spending all my political information cost/time lately thinking about who would make the best primary candidates for either side. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847/20 "2007-03-14T12:04:22Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] I was wondering how “Harry Reid and the Arizona Democrats” went together . . . This reminds me of when I moved to Phoenix and my best friend wrote a song with the line, " . . . why’d your punk ass have to move to Nevada?" :smack: [/QUOTE] …“Why’d Your Punk Ass Have to Move To Nevada”, by _Harry Reid and the Arizona Democrats_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-harry-reid-and-the-nevada-democrats/395847.md?page=2)