# 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:** 17
**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 17, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/321 "2010-01-17T04:36:04Z")
If you guys are afraid of sticks, I guess I can’t convince you not to be. Maybe it’s because you haven’t been around sticks before, or don’t understand them. Maybe you’ve seen too many movies where people get hit by scary sticks. I don’t know. I don’t know what it has to do with this thread anyway. ---
**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 17, 2010, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/322 "2010-01-17T04:52:35Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > If you guys are afraid of sticks, I guess I can’t convince you not to be. Maybe it’s because you haven’t been around sticks before, or don’t understand them. Maybe you’ve seen too many movies where people get hit by scary sticks. I don’t know. Ask Rodney King. > [@](#): > > I don’t know what it has to do with this thread anyway. Absolutely nothing. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/323 "2010-01-17T05:20:05Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > If you guys are afraid of sticks, I guess I can’t convince you not to be. Maybe it’s because you haven’t been around sticks before, or don’t understand them. Maybe you’ve seen too many movies where people get hit by scary sticks. I don’t know. > > I don’t know what it has to do with this thread anyway. Well, one of the Black Panthers was carrying the weapon and, for some really strange reason, you tried to downplay the significance of it: > [@](#): > > Funny that rednecks can go to their teabag rallies packing guns, but a black guy with a stick is “intimidating.” > [@](#): > > 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. > [@](#): > > It was a stick, dude. A baton is a stick. > [@](#): > > A night stick is still just a stick. It’s nothing. It’s really weird that you guys are terrified of guys with sticks, but not guys with guns. And have been attempting to defend that nonsense for almost a whole page now. Only no one is buying it. You’re having one of your episodes where you make an “unfortunate” statement then decide to defend it to the end. Chill. Have a drink. Get some shut-eye. Tomorrow is another day. ---
**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 17, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/324 "2010-01-17T15:23:03Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > There was no “intimidation” or “threats.” It was a fucking guy with a stick. No matter hjow much righties want to try to trick it out and draw Dracula fangs on it, at the end of the day, it was a guy with a stick who threatened nobody. The Panthers were just a little worried that rednecks would try to fuck with Obama voters. > > Meanwhile, there are teabaggers with guns skulking around outside areas where the President is speaking, and holding up signs calling for assassination and violent revolt, but that’s not intimidating or threatening at all. Teabaggers… is that your favorite phrase now? Can we start calling Barney Frank and his buddies ass-reamers? Seriously, no matter the convoluted origin of TB being associated with those people, my side would never get away with it. ---
**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 17, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/325 "2010-01-17T15:54:09Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Teabaggers… is that your favorite phrase now? It’s a word, not a phrase, but yes. I enjoy this application of the word at the moment. They called themselves that first, so what’s the problem? > [@](#): > > Can we start calling Barney Frank and his buddies ass-reamers? Of course you can. This is America. It’s not really analogous, since “teabagger” is a political deprecation, not a homophobic one, but you are permitted by the US Constitution to use homophobic language if you wish. > [@](#): > > Seriously, no matter the convoluted origin of TB being associated with those people, my side would never get away with it. What do you mean by “get away with it?” ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/326 "2010-01-17T17:26:14Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > This is America. It’s not really analogous, since “teabagger” is a political deprecation, not a homophobic one, but you are permitted by the US Constitution to use homophobic language if you wish. So “teabagger” (the way you intend it) is not homophobic, but “ass-reamer” is? You’ll have to explain that one two me. As far as I understand, both acts are done by some homosexuals and heterosexuals. Is that not right? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/327 "2010-01-17T17:56:06Z")
Whether or not it is a homoerotic practice, I am not qualified to remark. What I do know that as a part of popular culture, especially amongst online gamers, “to teabag” suggests repeatedly dipping victorious junk over the face of a fallen foe, as a gesture of humiliation to a degree that is, to use the vernacular, “awesome”. A young man of my acquaintance compalined to me in terms of the darkest woe that while playing Halo online, he had been “tea-bagged” by a 12 year old girl from Petaluma. Naturally, her junk would be of an entirely different configuration, inappropriate for “dipping”. And, for many of us and under age-appropriate circumstances, a wholly welcome gesture of cordial affection. Indeed. Which is to say regardless of its origins, its current use has far surpassed those original definitions. ---
**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 17, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/328 "2010-01-17T19:41:13Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > So “teabagger” (the way you intend it) is not homophobic, but “ass-reamer” is? You’ll have to explain that one two me. As far as I understand, both acts are done by some homosexuals and heterosexuals. Is that not right? That is not correct. Men and women alike can suck a pair of balls. ---
**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 17, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/329 "2010-01-17T19:50:40Z")
Incidentally, calling Barney Frank an “ass-reamer” is a pure shot at his sexual orientation and nothing else. “Teabagger” is only a deprecation of political beliefs. There is a distinction between denigrating beliefs and behavior, and denigrating purely physiological characterics (such as race, gender or or sexual orientation) over which a person has no control. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/330 "2010-01-17T20:18:41Z")
I, for one, will go so far as to say that brandishing a billy club outside a polling station probably constitutes intimidation. Which is why I’m glad that the person who was brandishing a billy club outside a polling station has been charged and is going to be prosecuted. What’s the problem again? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/331 "2010-01-17T20:30:16Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > I, for one, will go so far as to say that brandishing a billy club outside a polling station probably constitutes intimidation. > > Which is why I’m glad that the person who was brandishing a billy club outside a polling station has been charged and is going to be prosecuted. > > What’s the problem again? From what I can tell, the guy should also have been either teabagged or ass-reamed, depending on your political slant. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/332 "2010-01-17T21:53:57Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > Which is why I’m glad that the person who was brandishing a billy club outside a polling station has been charged and is going to be prosecuted. He’s not going to be prosecuted. The only thing that happened to him was that he was enjoined against displaying a weapon within 100 feet of a polling place in Philadelphia in the future. That’s why people are so upset; because two of the people involved didn’t get any punishment at all, and the third only got an injunction against doing something (brandishing a weapon in front of a polling place) that was already illegal. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/333 "2010-01-17T22:09:54Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > He’s not going to be prosecuted. The only thing that happened to him was that he was enjoined against displaying a weapon within 100 feet of a polling place in Philadelphia in the future. That’s why people are so upset; because two of the people involved didn’t get any punishment at all, and the third only got an injunction against doing something (brandishing a weapon in front of a polling place) that was already illegal. Actually, as far as I understand it, there were three entities involved, not three individuals: the two guys in the video and the shithead racist organization itself. But the rest is correct. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/334 "2010-01-17T22:11:56Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > From what I can tell, the guy should also have been either teabagged or ass-reamed, depending on your political slant. I’m not so sure. I understand that there are some people who like to be on the receiving end of that sort of thing. Not that there’s anything wrong with that… ---
**Author:** ![Paleface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f19dbf/32.png) [@Paleface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paleface)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/335 "2010-01-17T22:25:13Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > Can you not see the significant differences between two situations? No > [@](#): > > Even in your hypothetical you have the Klan members actively verbally assaulting and trying to intimidate voters. In the real life case, where there reports of the Black Panthers verbally assaulting anyone or acting in a menacing manner? Yes > [@](#): > > Is there any reason to believe anyone was intimidated? And “yes” again. Perhaps you should study up on a subject before you jump in with a pre-conceived notion. ---
**Author:** ![Paleface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f19dbf/32.png) [@Paleface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paleface)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/336 "2010-01-17T22:28:51Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > This thread is straying farther and farther away from Harry Reid, but I wonder how often prosecutors dismiss charges when the defendants or their attorneys never file motions. The New Black Panthers episode was brought into the thread to further illustrate the double-standard. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/337 "2010-01-17T22:30:41Z")
> [@Paleface](#): > > The New Black Panthers episode was brought into the thread to further illustrate the double-standard. These two situations don’t have anything in common, though. Unless you’re just complaining about any conceivable situation where white people might be getting the shaft. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/338 "2010-01-17T22:41:12Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > These two situations don’t have anything in common, though. Unless you’re just complaining about any conceivable situation where white people might be getting the shaft. It was an attempt to show the double standard of the left concerning race. If you slight blacks in any way shape, or form and your a Rep, you’re toast. But they will bend over backwards and contort themselves into knots (case in point in this thread: **Dio** ) to absolve those on the left of any wrongdoing. This was from Post 297, but it was cited from a previous post: [QUOTE=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? [/QUOTE] Another example can be seen in my GD thread (moved to the Pit) about the action of Dem thug Michael Meehan. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/339 "2010-01-17T22:47:30Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > It was an attempt to show the double standard of the left concerning race. If you slight blacks in any way shape, or form and your a Rep, you’re toast. But they will bend over backwards and contort themselves into knots (case in point in this thread: **Dio** ) to absolve those on the left of any wrongdoing. By the same token, a few people here are twisting themselves into knots in an effort to prove Reid “should” (by Democratic standards) be disciplined. Both tactics are pretty well devoid of intellectual credibility. > [@](#): > > Another example can be seen in my GD thread (moved to the Pit) about the action of Dem thug Michael Meehan. [Modding] That thread had nothing to do with race and has no connection to this thread. Please keep them separate. [/Modding] ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/340 "2010-01-17T23:00:27Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > By the same token, a few people here are twisting themselves into knots in an effort to prove Reid “should” (by Democratic standards) be disciplined. Both tactics are pretty well devoid of intellectual credibility. Oh, I agree. I think going after Reid for this is not only nonsensical, but stupid and counter productive. But Dio seems to be going for some Gordian World Record. [Modding] That thread had nothing to do with race and has no connection to this thread. Please keep them separate. [/Modding] Excuse me, but this thread isn’t exclusively about race. Please reread the OP. It’s about a double standard of the left and how they treat their own. The thread I mentioned shows more of the same, even if that wasn’t its intent. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394.md?page=18)