What if Sen. Harry Reid is right and senile? The 77-year-old Washington Post columnist David Broder has been widely denounced as senile for calling 67-year-old Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) a "bumbling" "embarrassment" for his recent anti-war remarks.
But what if Broder is wrong about the war, but right about Reid? A person who knows most of the Senators, but, as far as I could tell, doesn't have strong partisan biases, told me that Reid appears pretty ga-ga. Reid, who was once an amateur boxer, is, I'm told, very dependent on his aides to keep him on track and feed him his lines. My source thought it was time for somebody to mention in public that Reid seems more senile than anybody else in the Senate.
Now, I just have one source for this, and I don't know (or care) enough about political personalities to be able to evaluate this claim, so don't take this too seriously ... unless more evidence turns up. Perhaps, I'm wrong and I'm baselessly slandering this poor man. On the other hand, Reid is the Senate Majority Leader and, in exchange for his enormous power, he can put up with with some perhaps overly-skeptical inquiry.
If true, this would mostly be an issue for the Democrats to worry about, not the public at large. Originally, I had incorrectly assumed that Reid, as Senate Majority Leader, is third in line behind Cheney and Pelosi to succeed to the Presidency, so this would be an issue for the whole country. But, I was wrong. Instead, the succession falls upon the Senate's President Pro Tempore, who, by custom, is the senior senator in the majority party. So, third in the chain of succession is 89-year-old Robert C. Byrd, who, I'm told, is quite sharp compared to Reid.
This ends my rare attempt at reporting/gossip-mongering. Back to my regularly scheduled sourceless opinionizing...
My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer
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12 comments:
Didn't Reid have a stroke not so long ago? Strokes can diminish someone's verbal skills without affecting their actual reasoning ability.
Reid built his reputation in the Senate on his encyclopediac knowledge of the Senate's arcane rules, procedures, and traditions, and how to cannily employ them for maximum leverage. That suggests someone of no small mental acuity, even if his verbal skills were scrambled by his stroke.
Random neurons fire,this is the result:A)wasnt here that the idea of Dick Cheney being mentally deficient was 1st proposed? A Vanity Fair article a while back seemed to be picking that up and running wiht it,as do the endless jokes about Cheney and guns; B) Not much written about the Supremes,in general,but occasionally you hear about some of these guys being flat out NUTS. Ancient,senile and drooling,with their august opnions being written by pimply,virgin law clerks! Thurgood Marshal was especially known for this,he was out of his gourd,but resolute in staying on...but all he did was sign off on everything Brennan said anyway!!
Harry Reid does not appear nuts, or senile. Just someone who is beyond his competence politically in the national arena. Just like GWB is beyond his political competency in the national arena.
Broder was correct. Reid saying the War is Lost was disastrous. It appeared to most Americans as siding with the enemy and pining for defeat.
Iraq is far more complex than the Kossites and Paleocon idiots like Buchanon think. Decades of "death to America" Muslim shouting and terror attacks, plus nightly news showing Muslims blowing up our guys but mostly innocent civilians have led most Americans to find Muslims and Iraqis as savage barbarians who should be nuked into oblivion.
Thus the Iraq War is not popular. Not because people pine for defeat at the hands of Al Qaeda (who we are fighting there) or Iran (same) but because we'd like them all dead so we can go home. "Rubble doesn't make trouble" is the result of all this media offensive coupled with decades of Muslim terror against the US.
Reid, a Casino-fixer and corrupt empty suit (he's got a couple of Nevada land deal scandals quietly perking along) is simply out of his competence. Like Nancy Pelosi visiting Baby Assad in a head scarf he projects weakness, submission to Muslim terrorists and enemies, and general wimpiness in a time of violently proliferating Muslim threats.
Weakness in America is never popular and Reid pencilled himself in as Mr. Weakness with his "War is Lost" comment. Mostly to satisfy his Kossite Defenders BDS passions.
Bush is tremendously vulnerable in Iraq, but not on the "let's lose and go home" side. Rather on the "Nuke em on our way out" or whatever variant can be constructed.
Defeat is never popular in America.
From CNN in 2005:
Senate Democratic leader Reid has mild stroke
(CNN) -- Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid suffered a mild stroke earlier this week and underwent tests, but he was not hospitalized and "feels fine," his office said Friday.
The Nevada Democrat experienced lightheadedness Tuesday evening and was diagnosed with having a transient ischemic attack after seeking medical attention, his office said in a statement.
Reid, 65, was in Searchlight, Nevada. his hometown, when the episode occurred, The Associated Press reported.
"Senator Reid feels fine. There are no complications or any restrictions on this activities," the statement said. "His doctors have recommended that he take advantage of the summer congressional recess for some down time."
A transient ischemic attack is a brief interruption of the blood supply to a part of the brain. It can be a warning sign that a person is at risk for a more serious stroke, according to the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
About one-third of people who experience such an attack will eventually suffer a more serious stroke, although the risk can be reduced by treating underlying risk factors, which include high blood pressure, heart disease, carotid (neck) artery disease and diabetes, according to the institute.
... Muslims blowing up our guys but mostly innocent civilians have led most Americans to find Muslims and Iraqis as savage barbarians who should be nuked into oblivion.
Thus the Iraq War is not popular. Not because people pine for defeat at the hands of Al Qaeda (who we are fighting there) or Iran (same) but because we'd like them all dead so we can go home. "Rubble doesn't make trouble" is the result of all this media offensive coupled with decades of Muslim terror against the US.
The Iraq war is unpopular because we wish all the A-rubs dead? That is a confused non-sequitor.
Here is alternative view:
Islam delenda est, but the Iraq war has been revealed to be a tactical blunder in that long, necessary war.
Has anybody elese seen the YouTube piece comparing Bush Jr. speaking now to L'il George debating Anne Richardson twenty or so years ago?
Inference: the POTUS hisself is undergoing premature senility.
Our Prez sure did speak much better English when his hair was brown.
Sorry I can't provide the link.
No David, GWB's project of democracy, freedom, and noble purple fingered Iraqis finds no takers in America. By and large, Americans find Iraqis, Iraqi democracy, and Muslims in general not worth a warm bucket of spit much less the lives of Americans.
Making Richard Holbrooke's project of war with Russia over forcing Kosovo from Serbian hands to "make Muslims love us" a non-starter despite Joe Biden and other Democrats dreams. Much less troops in Darfur.
On the other hand, a candidate who seriously suggested wiping out whole Muslim nations automatically in case of our cities being nuked (to respond to Brian Williams hypothetical) would find a lot of takers.
Groveling obsequiousness, surrender and defeat, particularly turning over Iraq to Al Qaeda and Iran will find few takers IMHO.
Steve Sailer, you really missed the boat here. David Broder wasn't denounced for offering his own negative opinion on Harry Reid. He was denounced for misrepresenting THE PUBLIC's opinion of Reid, and for stating that THE PUBLIC equates Reid with Alberto Gonzales. These are not opinions that can be debated, rather they are lies that can easily be refuted. Polls reflect the unsurprising fact that Alberto Gonzales is a political albatross who is lowering the public's respect for the Bush White House and the Republican Party. And polls show the obvious fact that the public is enjoying Reid's denunciations of the Bush Administration's ineptitude and corruption.
Defeat is never popular in America.
Precisely. Losing the Iraq War is the main reason that Republicans lost the 2006 elections, and will lose again in 2008.
I think that Harry Reid needs to address the alarmingly high suicide rates among white men, who are more than twice as likely to kill themselves than black men.
Robert Byrd in line for the presidency? So would ALL of the government agencies be relocated to West Virginia if he becomes President?
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