So Harry Reid Nearly Strangled Letoya Jackson's Husband

[liberalpragmatist]

And here's another story from Reid's tenure as chairman of the gaming commission: A man named Jack Gordon, who later married LaToya Jackson, tried to give Reid a $12,000 bribe. Reid let the FBI videotape Gordon offering him the bribe, and then, according to a Las Vegas Review-Journal account, he "put his hands around Gordon's neck and said, 'You son of a bitch, you tried to bribe me.'" That's right, Senate Democrats are being led by a man who once tried to strangle LaToya Jackson's future husband-manager. You call that boring?

http://slate.msn.com/id/2111392/

Also...

Reid may not be the most colorful figure in Washington, but his career is far more interesting than that of the average senator. In politics, Nevada is the next best thing to Louisiana. To take just one example, is there another U.S. senator who has been part of the inspiration for a character in a Martin Scorsese film? (A character played by Dick Smothers, no less.) In Casino, Robert DeNiro's character melts down in front of the Nevada Gaming Commission after the commission denies him a license to operate a casino. The scene is loosely based on a December 1978 hearing when Reid was the commission's chairman, and some of the dialogue spoken by Smothers is taken directly from Reid's words during the hearing. (The rest of the scenes involving Smothers, who plays a composite politician known only as "Senator," have nothing to do with Reid.) OK, it's lackluster Scorsese, but at least it's not Gangs of New York. And there are other Reid echoes in Casino: Joe Pesci's character refers to a "Mr. Cleanface," which gangster Joe Agosto said was his nickname for an in-his-pocket Reid, but a five-month investigation of Agosto's claims cleared Reid of wrongdoing.

Sure, Reid can sap these stories of some of some of their innate interest. "Well, it's true that when I served with the Gaming Commission that I had a number of threats on my life," he told me during a brief interview earlier this week. When talking about taping the windows in his house to protect his family from the threat of shattered glass, he used the same tone that he used to discuss the importance of Senate procedure. But no matter what tone you use to discuss the fact that your wife once discovered a bomb wired to one of the family cars, it's not boring.

Posted at Dailykos, too. Again, it doesn't have a bearing on his Senate leadership. But it's pretty interesting nevertheless.

[autorank]

1. Damn, I love this guy. That's just great.

I've been sticking up for him based on some research and a lot more intuition about his "mild demeanor" hiding one tough hombre. Well this caps it! Maybe that's why Frist looks so pale lately (haha).

[liberalpragmatist]

3. You know, I think he'll be good

I'm taking a wait-and-see approach, but he's been pretty tough in the past and led the Senate judicial filibusters. I also don't think he comes off as a pansy like Daschle (good guy, with definitely some victories, esp. under Clinton, but really not good in the face of a Republican onslaught the past couple of years and way too soft-spoken).

[autorank]

5. He's got a "modified Irvin"...I'm just a simple guy from Nevada.

Hold on to your wallet.

[Must_B_Free]

2. if only we could see her tit

oh wait, she's the one with the snake in playboy?

never mind...

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Interesting story!

[librechik]

6. thanks for the link--this cheered me up

I had a mental picture of Reid doing to Delay what he did to Latoya Jackson's husband...

[NewYorkerfromMass]

7. I'm telling 'ya all, his stand on the Estrada nomination was awesome

It was an awesome display of resolve. He stood in the way of Bush like it was his last stand.