Poor Harry Reid: Even when he agrees with the Republican Party, he still gets slammed.
As some of you readers may know, Reid recently came out against the building of a mosque not far from Ground Zero in New York City, breaking ranks with President Barack Obama, who said recently at a White House dinner held to honor the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that the mosque should be allowed to go forward, out of respect for freedom of religion. It’s sadly left to cynical pundits such as myself to wonder how freedom of religion can at once be used to justify a zoning decision in New York City while at the same time never raising the perfectly rational question: Why is there a dinner to honor any religious holiday held at the White House?)
(BTW, for a more principled defense of the idea of the mosque, read Christopher Hitchens‘s brief essay on Slate.)
Reid’s defiance of Obama on the issue puts him squarely within the Republican mainstream, including the reported views of Sharron Angle, his GOP opponent, who apparently believes the mosque idea is offensive to the families of Sept. 11 victims. But if you thought a rare bit of agreement would forge at least a one-day truce, you haven’t been following along. The National Republican Senatorial Committee’s ever-vigilant spokesman Brian Walsh dispatched this subject-changing statement:
While it’s commendable that Senator Reid now agrees with Republican Sharron Angle that we should respect the wishes of 9/11 families, it’s regrettable that he hasn’t demonstrated this same independence from President Obama on the critical issues facing America during the last 19 months. Whether it was his backroom deal-making during the health care debate or his decision to ram the stimulus boondoggle into law, Harry Reid has consistently stood up for the liberal elite’s agenda in Washington instead of for taxpayers in Nevada. Under his watch as the Democrat Senate Leader, Nevada’s unemployment has skyrocketed to 14.2 percent, while families and small businesses face the prospect of the largest tax increase in American history at the end of the year. It’s clear that Harry Reid recognizes the desperate political straits he’s facing with the election less than 90 days away, but his positioning on this issue fools no one.
Almost perfect, save for two things. One, if it’s “commendable” that Reid agrees with Angle, how can it be “desperate” and “positioning” just four sentences later? Is Walsh really saying that Reid is prostituting his real feelings for cheap political gain? Shocking, but very possibly true. Which brings us to this point: It’s actually not commendable to make decisions of this nature based on people’s feelings, because — as Hitchens notes above — this is precisely the argument that Islamic fascists use when threatening violence against those who “offend” their faith.
Perhaps Reid will take from this a lesson, one useful for all Democrats: Republicans want to win in November, and they give no quarter in the fight to do so. Acquiescence, even if it is heartfelt, is just another weapon to be turned against you.
UPDATE: Now comes word that the mosque may actually be moved from the site because of the controversy.
UPDATE 2: Further evidence, as if any were needed, that Reid is wrong on this issue. (Also evidence that feeling-based decision making and guilt-by-association are alive and well.)
Tags: Harry Reid, Sharron Angle
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