Note to self: Never, ever play poker with Harry Reid.

[smoogatz]

He played Bush like a two dollar fiddle. His statement re the Miers nom:

“The radical right wing of the Republican Party killed the Harriet Miers nomination. Apparently, Ms. Miers did not satisfy those who want to pack the Supreme Court with rigid ideologues.

“I had recommended that the President consider nominating Ms. Miers because I was impressed with her record of achievement as the managing partner of a major Texas law firm and the first woman president of the Texas Bar Association. In those roles she was a strong supporter of law firm diversity policies and a leader in promoting legal services for the poor. But these credentials are not good enough for the right wing: they want a nominee with a proven record of supporting their skewed goals.

“In choosing a replacement for Ms. Miers, President Bush should not reward the bad behavior of his right wing base. He should reject the demands of a few extremists and choose a justice who will protect the constitutional rights of all Americans.”

[rkc3]

1. Link Please.

I'd like to send this to several friends.

[smoogatz]

3. Raw Story has it.

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Democratic_leader_Right_wing_killed_Miers_1027.html

[rkc3]

5. Thanks a ton.

[KoKo]

8. CNN showed his speech where he said it, too.

That's where I heard it.

[hlthe2b]

2. I agree... Now I hope he's got another

strategy in his bag of tricks to prevent someone even more odious from getting through.

[texpatriot2004]

4. Give em hell Harry

www.giveemhellharry.com

[Canuckistanian]

6. Wonder what Limbaugh will make of this?

He supported Miers right up to the bitter end. Now he's shown to be on the side of "Dingy Harry".

[KoKo]

7. The thing is though it wasn't the Radical Right that took down Miers...it

was the "mainstream conservatives" and the "neocons" like like Krystol who took her down. So, why does Reid make a big deal that it's the "radical right." It isn't the truth. :shrug:

[smoogatz]

9. Stay away from the Hold 'Em table.

Because it sets up whoever Bush nominates next as an obvious sop to the rad right, that's why. It puts Bush in an even deeper bind, and makes him look even worse--no matter who he nominates.

[DURHAM D]

11. Don't know what distinctions you are making - I would

call it the radical right, others call them the movement conservatives. At any rate, it is the neoconcs and uber-Christian factions of the rethugh party that took her out. No Senator was on record saying that he/she would not vote for Miers so this is a triumph of the party hacks. I don't know what "mainstream conservatives" actually would be.

What I like about today is that all of the Dems that have given interviews have all said it was the "radical right" faction of the Rethug party that caused this. Everyone (for a change) is reading from the same page and that is essential for the evening news cycle if it is going to penetrate the minds of the casual observers.

[FreedomAngel82]

28. Which is very good!

Sounds like Reid's "war room" is coming along great! He's doing a great job. :toast: To Harry!

[walkon]

13. George Will is irrelevant to the process

as are all "mainstream conservatives". The radical right is made up of PNACers and rabid christians and neither faction was with the BFEE on Miers. Dobson was "bought" to help pull the findies in. Didn't work. Now will the BFEE install a truly evil force rather than an incompetent yes gal? What are the chances?

[FreedomAngel82]

29. Right on Dobson

I don't think he knew crap either. I think Rove just called him up to do the "nudge nudge, wink wink" stuff cause he hardly gave any information out. :eyes:

[rockymountaindem]

14. But the point is Reid tricked them into questioning Bush.

Seriously, they've been following Bush blindly for years. Wouldn't you think they'd have faith in the Bush crowd to nominate a pick to their liking?

But then Mr. Reid comes along and says "We Democrats are OK with Miers", causing the radical Repubs to say "Maybe there's something wrong with her after all". Would they ever have done that if the Democrats hadn't offered mild support? Vociferous, grandiose opposition only makes the other side more determined to win.

Reid's new slogan should be "Harry Reid: Killing 'em softly"

[yodermon]

19. Exactly.

and it's a function of Bush's brain being out of the picture.
When the shrub is on his own, he can be easily taken to school by the Democrats.

[FreedomAngel82]

30. Yes

Reid knew that the democrats wouldn't have had enough votes to get her out so he had to come up with something. And don't forget that he mentioned she was a trial lawyer too who they supposivley hate for whatever reason.

[William Seger]

20. "Mainstream conservatives" are a bunch of sheep...

... herded along and told exactly what to think on every issue by authoritarian demagogues who exploit their fears and prejudices. And those demagogues are indeed radical. They're attacking the entire theory of government on which our country was based: liberal democracy.

[FreedomAngel82]

27. The radical right wanted

someone who would come out and say she was against Roe V Wade etc. and she didn't. Bush folded to them.

[CottonBear]

10. I heard him say that live on CSPAN this morning.

Harry Reid is playing hardball. :)

[woodsprite]

12. Can you imagine a poker game with Reid, Fitzgerald and Conyers? n/t

[msanthrope]

16. I would not want to tbe the fourth on that table. n/t

[Wordie]

21. Or is he playing chess? (Seems capable of thinking many moves ahead) nt

[Robeysays]

36. Hmmmmmmm...

he's probably already got the next nomination in the bag too.

[FreedomAngel82]

31. Oh gosh

I wouldn't want to be on that table!

[deadparrot]

15. Very impressed.

Admittedly, I wasn't sure what to make of his statements in support of Miers at the beginning of all this. I didn't necessarily think they were genuine, but I wasn't sure if he was willing to be so sneaky as to fool the highest levels of power in the WH.

I'm pleasantly surprised. :)

Looks like Bush got Punk'd!

[indigo32]

18. Bush got Punk'd

he certainly did LOL

[Robeysays]

37. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

"O... you guys, you got me good!"


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[FreedomAngel82]

32. Reverse psychology

I at first was a little pissed off but than I thought about it and read some other people's points and than knew what he was up to. Reid is so brilliant at this game! I'm glad he's on our team! Finally someone who can play hardball for real! Imagine if we do take back the House and Senate next year and impeach Bush and Pelosi is our president and she picks Reid as her VP. My that would be an amazing team!!

[nashville_brook]

17. he used the force.

quiet types like Reid are like that. :)

[FreedomAngel82]

33. Reid reminds me a little bit of

Yoda!

[nashville_brook]

35. me too -- a tall yoda.

:)

[Orion The Hunter]

22. Nice work Harry

Way to prevent the Republicans from trying to blame the Democrats or even the Senate for this one...it's all the fault of their own party (or at least the elitist and ridiculously religious right parts of it).

[FreedomAngel82]

34. Yep

This is why they were quiet for the most part. Why jump in when you're already hanging yourself?

[BlueIris]

23. I am still SO CONFLICTED ABOUT HARRY REID. But I gotta give it up

for this move. Well played, Senator.

[Politicub]

24. Harry Ried rocks my world

He is exactly the right man for the time. He would so clean my clock at the poker table!

[k j]

25. Note to self: Never, ever play poker with Harry Reid.

My thoughts exactly. B-)

[FreedomAngel82]

26. Reid is the best

I'm glad he's the minority leader. He's doing great!!

[BlueIris]

38. Kick. Thanks, Mr. Minority Leader! nt

[krkaufman]

39. Umm, excuse me, but Harriet Miers wasn't qualified for the job...

... and Reid admitting that he recommended her makes him look as incompetent as Bush. I'm thinking he'd be pretty damn easy to bluff.

Further, Reid failed to fully-capitalize on the radical Right's blocking Miers' appointment to the Court, by not underscoring the Right's refusal to allow an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor for the President's judicial nominee. Reid had an excellent opportunity to make a preemptive strike against the Right's certain threats of the "nuclear option" should the Dems look to filibuster the next nominee.

Harry Reid isn't much more effective than Tom Daschle. Reid is mainly benefitting from Bush Admin failures, and has done little to take the offensive.

[depakid]

40. He's not even as effective as Daschle

The man hasn't done one thing to try to stop the far right agenda, and has even crossed party lines to vote for the bankruptcy bill!

Hell, he hasn't even put up a fight- he bluffed once about shutting down the Senate over the filibuster, and then backed down, allowing three of the most extreme judges to ever be nominated to receive lifetime appointments. The Republicans witheld documents on Roberts- and he did nothing about it.

He zero credibility. And he has ZERO victories. At this point, he has the worst record of any minority leader in history- and he can't even show enough leadership to put some discipline into his own party, and get them to take principled stands on the issues that come up.

It just boggles the mind that DU'rs somehow see this guy as anything but a failure.