Harry Reid is simply a contemptible human being.
I won’t belabor Reid’s initial quote about the Koch brothers, as it has already been oft-repeated by now. Let’s instead take a look at Reid himself.
The following exchange (below) on MSNBC was particularly intriguing, ’cause when even they admit a prominent progressive has crossed the line, that individual is pretty much sunk:
Harry Reid has long been a pathetic weasel of a man, and he’s become increasingly more weasel-ish. For a government official to use the power of his publicly elected position to vilify two private citizens is, to me, far more un-American than anything these men could ever dream of doing.
What’s more, the Kochs are hardly the demonic right-wing caricatures which they’re purported to be by the Left:
(via the National Review’s Charles C. W. Cooke): “…even the lightest of research reveals them to be in favor of gay marriage, of drug legalization, of reforming and expanding the immigration system, of withdrawing troops from the Middle East, of cutting defense spending, of curbing the NSA’s overreach, and of helping to balance the budget by raising (some) taxes — all of which, it presumably doesn’t need spelling out, are positions that the Democratic party purports to support.
Among the “shadowy” groups to which the Kochs have contributed are the ACLU (which received $20 million from the duo to support its work against the PATRIOT Act), a variety of cancer-research foundations, and a wide range of museums, musical venues, and art galleries…”
Yeah, they’re monsters.
Reid’s real motivation for making this particular charge at this particular time is less about the Kochs and far more about himself. His comments last week infuriated a wide swath of people, including many of his own party’s constituents.
So what’s a demagogue to do when his own demagoguery backfires on him? Easy: pick another target to take the “heat” off of you, making sure it’s one which you know will automatically appeal to your base.
Voilà! I give you the Koch Brothers, already a major subject of the Left’s worst fever dreams.
But don’t allow Reid’s habitual cravenness to distract you from the very subject he seeks to avoid: him. So as a service to anyone who has forgotten some of the many, many, many offensive, ridiculous or just plain hateful things Senator Reid has uttered, I offer you:
THIS.
and THIS.
And finally this:
Please kick this man out of the Majority Leader’s chair in November, gang: that would be one of the MOST “American” actions I could imagine.
Two Heads are Better Than One 
Reid serves only one purpose: be a complete sphincter to divert attention to HIM and take the spotlight off of the REAL problems with EVERY Leftist policy that is crippling this country. A vile man serving a MUCH needed position in the Democrat Party….
Reblogged this on That Mr. G Guy's Blog.
This is what works for the left.
Reblogged this on Defy The Narrative.
Reid keeps harping on the Koch brothers and their contributions to the political process, which by the way is their constitutional right. If Reid is going to get upset about money and politics, then what about the $4.4 billion that unions had spent on politics from 2005 to 2011 alone, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Center for Responsive Politics’ list of top all-time donors from 1989 to 2014 ranks Koch Industries No. 59. Above Koch were 18 unions, which collectively spent $620,873,623 more than Koch Industries ($18 million). Even factoring in undisclosed personal donations by the Koch brothers, they are a rounding error in union spending.
If Reid is going to get hot under the collar about the link between outside groups and politicians, then what about the unions who today openly operate as an arm of the Democratic Party. Reid and the press despise the Kochs, but even they aren’t stupid enough to claim they are owned by the GOP. The vast majority of conservatives groups, including the Koch-supported Americans for Prosperity, back candidates and positions that challenge the Republican line. And every conservative 501(c)(4) is so terrified of the hay the media and regulators would make over even a hint of coordination with the GOP, they keep a scrupulous distance.
However, the unions, as 501(c)(5) organizations, are technically held to the same standards against coordination with political parties. Yet no Democrat or union official today even troubles to maintain that fiction. Hundreds upon hundreds of the delegates to the 2012 Democratic convention were union members. They were in the same room as party officials, plotting campaign strategies. The question therefore is how much of that $4.4 billion in union spending was at the disposal of the Democratic Party—potentially in violation of a gaggle of campaign-finance rules?
As for Mr. Reid’s complaint that some “rig the system to benefit themselves,” that was undoubtedly a reference to the overt, transactional nature of union money. Nobody doubts the Kochs and many corporations support candidates whom they hope will push for free-market principles. Though imagine the political outcry if David or Charles Koch openly conditioned dollars for a politician on policies to benefit Koch Industries?
In the past months alone, unions demanded an exemption to a tax under ObamaCare; the administration gave it. They demanded an end to plans to “fast track” trade deals; Mr. Reid killed it. They wanted more money for union job training; President Obama put it in his budget. Everybody understands—the press matter-of-fact reports it—that these policy giveaways are to ensure unions open their coffers to help Mr. Reid keep the Senate in November. The quid pro quo is even more explicit and self-serving at the state level, where public-sector unions elect politicians who promise to pay them more. If the CEO of Exxon tried this, the Justice Department would come knocking. The unions do it daily.
Democrats hope to make a campaign theme out of conservative “dark” money, something else Mr. Reid knows about. In addition to other spending, unions have been aggressively funneling money into their own “dark” groups. One of these is the heavyweight 501(c)(4) Patriot Majority USA. Patriot Majority doesn’t disclose its donors, though a Huffington Post investigation found it had been “fueled” in 2012 by $2.3 million in union donations. Amusingly, Patriot Majority used its undisclosed money on a campaign to expose the Koch brothers’ “front” groups. Oh, and Patriot Majority is run by Craig Varoga, a former aide and close ally of . . .Harry Reid.
The unions have had a special interest in funding attacks on conservative groups, since it has led to the IRS’s regulatory muzzling of 501(c)(4) speech. Under the new rule, conservative 501(c)(4)s are restricted in candidate support; unions can do what they want. Conservative groups are stymied in get-out-the-vote campaigns; unions can continue theirs. Conservative outfits must count up volunteer hours; not unions.
So now, in addition to a system in which organized labor spends “unlimited money” to “rig the system to benefit themselves” and “buy elections,” (to quote Mr. Reid), Mr. Obama’s IRS has made sure to shut up anyone who might compete with unions or complain about them.
Supporters of campaign-finance rules never want to acknowledge that their maze of regulations serve primarily as a tool for savvy politicians to manipulate and silence opponents. For proof, they need only listen to Mr. Reid—who is pretty savvy, and who didn’t misspeak after all.
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