# Will Harry Reid be forced to step down? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 10, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394 "2010-01-10T15:39:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![kingbighair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/13edae/32.png) [@kingbighair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingbighair)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/281 "2010-01-15T16:41:19Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > Uh huh. And what about the record before 1968? It isn’t as if civil rights sprang into being on that date, right? > > I will freely admit that the Republican Party has not always acted well with regard to race - but I do not accept lectures from the Democratic Party on this score. Their history on racial matters is quite long, and plenty sordid despite some bright spots here and there. Instead of identifying them as named parties, think of them as ideological groups. When Democrats lecture Republicans, they are lecturing the ideological group that was and in some ways still is against civil rights, etc. Whatever party they identify with is irrelevant. ---
**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:** [January 15, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/282 "2010-01-15T16:46:40Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > Uh huh. And what about the record before 1968? It isn’t as if civil rights sprang into being on that date, right? Of course not - but the last forty years are more important than the preceding forty, for what I thought were obvious reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Anduril](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@Anduril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduril)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/283 "2010-01-15T16:56:35Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Thank you for providing the Biden example, **Anduril**. It shows that if a Democrat says something that comes off as a racist, he doesn’t get a free pass. Not that Biden had a real shot at being president anyway, but that blunder killed his campaign. Sure, but it did benefit a black candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Anduril](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@Anduril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduril)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/284 "2010-01-15T17:00:49Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Biden didn’t say anything offensive, so that’s another bad example. It was obvious to anyone with two brain cells to rub together that when he said Obama was “clean,” he was talking about Obama’s background being clean of scandal, not his physical hygiene. It would have been pretty stupid for anyone to get upset about that, and I assure you nobody gives a rat’s as what Al Sharpton thinks. And still he was taken to task over his comment. He’s a Democrat alright, but the accusations of racism benefited a black candidate, so that trumps everything. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/285 "2010-01-15T17:01:29Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > fter that, all the right wingers and racists in the Democratic Party switched to the Reoublican side, and remain there still. This is not true. Senator Fulbright never became a Republican, and he was pretty liberal. Same with Senator Byrd. Senator Eastland was no liberal but he sure never joined the Republican Party. When George Wallace left the Democrats he did not join the Republicans, and he later rejoined the Democratic Party. Once again you are making an absolute statement that cannot possibly be true, and that is easily disproven. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/286 "2010-01-15T17:22:18Z")
> [@Anduril](#): > > Sure, but it did benefit a black candidate. If there hadn’t been a black candidate, he wouldn’t have been able to make a comment about a black candidate 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:** [January 15, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/287 "2010-01-15T17:43:43Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > This is not true. Senator Fulbright never became a Republican, and he was pretty liberal. Same with Senator Byrd. Senator Eastland was no liberal but he sure never joined the Republican Party. When George Wallace left the Democrats he did not join the Republicans, and he later rejoined the Democratic Party. > > Once again you are making an absolute statement that cannot possibly be true, and that is easily disproven. Once again, someone is pouncing on what was obviously a figurative statement as if it was meant literally. Do you always take it literally every time somebody says “everybody” or “nobody” or “all?” If someone says “everybody like ice cream,” do you take it literally? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/288 "2010-01-15T17:53:07Z")
One has to do that with you, because of your track record in this area. But thank you for that clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Anduril](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@Anduril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduril)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/289 "2010-01-15T18:01:31Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > If there hadn’t been a black candidate, he wouldn’t have been able to make a comment about a black candidate in the first place. That’s only incidental. He could be talking about another black candidate campaigning for a different office and I’m certain he would be taken to task because he’s running against a black candidate. Had he been running against a White Republican, I don’t believe that there would be much fuss about it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/290 "2010-01-15T18:11:43Z")
And I disagree. But you’re shadowboxing in any case. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/291 "2010-01-15T18:15:07Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > One has to do that with you, because of your track record in this area. But thank you for that clarification. A valid criticism, to be sure, given your spotless record of unbiased non-partisanship. Fair and balanced, to coin a phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/292 "2010-01-15T19:05:24Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Do you think that everytim there’s a large public reaction by the black community to a racially charged comment by a public figure, that none of them ever form they’re own opinions? That black people all are just morons who wait to be led around by Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. I don’t think most of them give two shits what those guys think. I know for a fact that white liberals don’t. Do you afford the same courtesy to “righties” when it comes to Limbaugh, Hannity et al? If you do, then Limbaugh espousing “race hucksterism” doesn’t make any difference because most people don’t give two shits what he says. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/293 "2010-01-15T19:12:54Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Do you afford the same courtesy to “righties” when it comes to Limbaugh, Hannity et al? If you do, then Limbaugh espousing “race hucksterism” doesn’t make any difference because most people don’t give two shits what he says. Hannity, yes. Since Limbaugh is the de facto spokesperson and/or policymaker currently for the Republican party, less so. When a significant Republican can publicly criticize Limbaugh without later coming back to Rush begging for forgiveness, let me know. ---
**Author:** ![Paleface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f19dbf/32.png) [@Paleface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paleface)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/294 "2010-01-15T19:14:46Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > But all you’ve done is confirm your own bias. To advance a “double-standard” argument you need to come up with actual, real world examples, not just ones from inside your own head. Hey, I got another one. Remember when Attorney General Eric Holder made the decision to not prosecute members of the New Black Panther Party, who were intimidating voters on their way into the polls? Suppose the same defendants were klansmen dressed in full regalia, carrying weapons and using racial epithets in an attempt to intimidate voters. Think the Holder Justice Department would have chosen to not prosecute? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/295 "2010-01-15T19:34:29Z")
By the way, I think it’s clear by now that Reid’s not going anywhere now. Maybe he’ll lose in November but if he were going to be forced out, it would have happened already. This scandal got some attention for two days or so but it’s been forgotten by most of the country due to the earthquake in Haiti. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2010, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/296 "2010-01-16T11:13:54Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > By the way, I think it’s clear by now that Reid’s not going anywhere now. Maybe he’ll lose in November but if he were going to be forced out, it would have happened already. This scandal got some attention for two days or so but it’s been forgotten by most of the country due to the earthquake in Haiti. Maybe that’s what God had in mind? ---
**Author:** ![Paleface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f19dbf/32.png) [@Paleface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paleface)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/297 "2010-01-16T13:49:32Z")
Come on, now. Don’t ignore this one. > [@Paleface](#): > > Remember when Attorney General Eric Holder made the decision to not prosecute members of the New Black Panther Party, who were intimidating voters on their way into the polls? > > Suppose the same defendants were klansmen dressed in full regalia, carrying weapons and using racial epithets in an attempt to intimidate voters. Think the Holder Justice Department would have chosen to not prosecute? ---
**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:** [January 16, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/298 "2010-01-16T17:26:59Z")
The Black Panthers weren’t “intimidating” anybody. They were just standing around, as is their right. It wasn’t their fault if some white people are afraid of the mere sight of a few black men. The Panthers did nothing illegal. That whole thing was complete, race-baiting bullshit contrived by the right wing media. Funny that rednecks can go to their teabag rallies packing guns, but a black guy with a stick is “intimidating.” ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/299 "2010-01-16T17:45:21Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The Black Panthers weren’t “intimidating” anybody. They were just standing around, as is their right. It wasn’t their fault if some white people are afraid of the mere sight of a few black men. The Panthers did nothing illegal. That whole thing was complete, race-baiting bullshit contrived by the right wing media. > > Funny that rednecks can go to their teabag rallies packing guns, but a black guy with a stick is “intimidating.” You’re kidding, right? They were there to intimidate people. Try reading a little. Listen to what they were saying. And one of them was holing a weapon. That is illegal, so you’re wrong there. The cops took him away. He didn’t return to the scene. And he has some restrictions put on him still. So you’re either wrong here or lying about things. You pick. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/300 "2010-01-16T18:59:11Z")
He was holding a stick. Teabaggers go around brandishing guns at people and holding signs calling for assassination and armed rebellion, but the black guy with a stick is “intimidating people.” Uh huh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394.md?page=16)