# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 18
**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, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/341 "2010-01-17T23:33:59Z")
The Panthers didn’t try to threaten or intimidate anybody, and they aren’t a racist organization. Comparisons to the Klan are asinine. I also fail to see how a black guy getting arrested for carrying a stick demonstrates a double standard, especially since rednecks are allowed to stand around outside Presidential appearances waving guns around and threatening to muder the President. ---
**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, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/342 "2010-01-17T23:35:22Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > …Another example can be seen in my GD thread (moved to the Pit) about the action of Dem thug Michael Meehan. If those actions equate to “thuggery”, then what a vice-principal of a Jr. High schools sees every day must be equivalent to massacre and mayhem. ---
**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, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/343 "2010-01-17T23:36:42Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > 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. Nobody has yet been able to show an example of this imagined 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, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/344 "2010-01-17T23:44:56Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Excuse me, but this thread isn’t exclusively about race. Please reread the OP. The OP discussed only Harry Reid and Trent Lott, and “ethnic things.” Since then other examples of double standards have included Don Imus, Robert Byrd, the Black Panthers, and the relative positions of Democrats and Republicans on civil rights. Double standards have come up but it has almost always been in the context of race. So with all of that in mind, if you wish to discuss the Meehan incident, [please continue in your own thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=547668) _That goes for everyone else who wants to comment on that incident, too._ ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/345 "2010-01-18T00:00:16Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The Panthers didn’t try to threaten or intimidate anybody, and they aren’t a racist organization. Comparisons to the Klan are asinine. You’ve got to be kidding me. Even the Southern Poverty Law Center has The New Black Panther Party designated as hate group. And when the SPLC designates a group on the left as a hate group, you can be sure they’ve got plenty of hate. You might want to do a search and read a little of what they have to say. But the name alone might give you a clue, don’t ya think? If not, Google a little. Sheesh. > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I also fail to see how a black guy getting arrested for carrying a stick demonstrates a double standard, especially since rednecks are allowed to stand around outside Presidential appearances waving guns around and threatening to muder the President. It demonstrates that there are people on the left—like you—who profess to care about civil rights, etc., but when you’re faced with an incident of the those on the left breaking the law and acting like assholes, you go out of your way to excuse or minimize the behavior. It’s pathetic. And he didn’t get arrested for carrying a stick. He got arrested for voter intimidation—carrying a weapon and acting in a threatening manner at a polling place. Or do you think the laws on the books should be abolished? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/346 "2010-01-18T00:03:59Z")
I’m not familiar with the New Black Panther case, but wielding a nightstick near a polling place is a pretty clear case of intimidation. You’re not even allowed to carry some kinds of _signs_ near a polling site and a nightstick is a weapon. ---
**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 18, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/347 "2010-01-18T00:10:46Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The Panthers didn’t try to threaten or intimidate anybody, and they aren’t a racist organization. Comparisons to the Klan are asinine. The New Black Panthers are very much a racist organization, and its leaders have advocated the genocide of whites, violence against the government, and said that Jews secretly control the world. And having a weapon in plain view in or in front of a polling place is by its very nature intimidation, which is why it’s a violation of the Voting Rights Act. ---
**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 18, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/348 "2010-01-18T00:34:35Z")
I can’t help you guys if you’re afraid of sticks. Maybe you should go to the gym or something. Maybe buy some pepper spray. Me, personally, I’d high five the guy on the way in. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/349 "2010-01-18T00:42:57Z")
**Diogenes the Cynic** , do not make this a personal matter. Please dial it back. ---
**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 18, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/350 "2010-01-18T00:51:03Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I can’t help you guys if you’re afraid of sticks. Maybe you should go to the gym or something. Maybe buy some pepper spray. Me, personally, I’d high five the guy on the way in. A stick, when it’s designed to be used as a weapon, is called a club. In this particular case, the person was carrying a baton, which is a weapon and used to inflict non-lethal damage on another person. This is the reason they’re often carried by law enforcement officers, and why they’re banned for civilian use in some jurisdictions. This is also why carrying them in or around a polling place on election day is a violation of the Voting Rights Act. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/351 "2010-01-18T02:41:53Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I can’t help you guys if you’re afraid of sticks. Maybe you should go to the gym or something. Maybe buy some pepper spray. Me, personally, I’d high five the guy on the way in. Okay. So you’re pro voter intimidation. By those on the left, anyway. Gotcha. ---
**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 18, 2010, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/352 "2010-01-18T03:05:15Z")
I don’t think it’s been demonstrated that there was any intimidation. There was a fear that black voters might be harrassed at the polls, so the Panthers were doing a community service. I guess sticks are illegal outside polling places, but otherwise, they broke no laws, and threatened nobody. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/353 "2010-01-18T04:21:41Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I don’t think it’s been demonstrated that there was any intimidation. Evidently, other people see the actions in the video and what was reported by people like Bartle Bull as being intimidation. Fortunantely, some of those people are in law enforcement and the guy is getting a little slap. Too little, I think, but its something. > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I guess sticks are illegal outside polling places, but otherwise, they broke no laws, and threatened nobody. So other than breaking voter intimidation laws, they broke no laws. Uhh, okay. Glad you came around. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/354 "2010-01-18T04:41:08Z")
I wonder, have the victims of this dreadful intimidation come forward? Is the federal government ultimately liable for any emotional scars or traumatic stress disorders they may well have suffered, being glowered upon by a black man with a full-auto assault baton? How many victims were there, by the way? Was it just conspiracy to brandish, or was there a count of Samuel L. Jackson scarey-ass eyeball? ---
**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 18, 2010, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/355 "2010-01-18T11:55:24Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I wonder, have the victims of this dreadful intimidation come forward? Is the federal government ultimately liable for any emotional scars or traumatic stress disorders they may well have suffered, being glowered upon by a black man with a full-auto assault baton? How many victims were there, by the way? Was it just conspiracy to brandish, or was there a count of Samuel L. Jackson scarey-ass eyeball? Nobody’s whining about being victimized… that’s your side’s favorite technique. I guess we have a new standard though…as long as it is applied across the board. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/356 "2010-01-18T14:52:08Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > I guess we have a new standard though…as long as it is applied across the board. The Left has **DtC** , the Right has Beck and Limbaugh. I’d be more than happy to see the same standard–those with fringe opinions ignored by everyone else–if you could get the Right to go along with that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/357 "2010-01-18T17:01:50Z")
So, what am I, chopped liver? I’m just as lefty as **Doggyknees** , how come he gets all the attention! Snotty little _prima donna_, he’s probably bragging about this on Facebook right now! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/358 "2010-01-19T04:18:45Z")
Let’s keep this in perspective. Reid said Obama was electable, despite being African-American, because he is “light-skinned,” and because he does not speak with a “Negro dialect”. Every bit of which was and is absolutely true. Someone physically and culturally resembling Jesse Jackson never could have made it to the late primaries, regardless of his record or his politics. (What, ya think the Pubs are ever gonna run Alan Keyes on the presidential ticket? When monkeys fly out of your ass! And he’s not one bit stupider or crazier than Sarah Palin, either.) That’s just how it is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394.md?page=17)