Jan 04 2009
Harry Reid Benefits From Gaza Invasion
The House Majority Leader, Harry Reid, is no doubt relieved that the media is concentrated on Israel’s strikes against Hamas. If it weren’t for the invasion, Reid would be smack-dab in the middle of the murky stew that is the Chicago political system. Reid, has stated unequivocally that he and other House Democrats will not seat Governor Rod Blagojevich’s choice to fill Barack Obama’s Senate seat. That stance was controversial enough, but it seems the good Senator has a huge interest in what’s cooking in Illinois, which means he has a conflict of interest when it comes to the current nomination to fill the seat.
On the 300+ hours of recorded phone calls from Governor Blagojevich’s office, Reid can be heard “pressuring” the Governor not to give the seat to Jesse Jackson, Jr. among others. Senator Reid’s assistant, Jim Manley, won’t release the names of the other candidates disparaged by Reid, but they will no doubt surface as the scandal deepens and widens. Manley says that there is “no need to embarrass the people mentioned in the conversations.” More likely, Reid and his people need time to get their cirsis management plan in place, because there is going to be a crisis in the Democratic Party that stretches from Washington D.C. to Chicago.
Sooner or later, the screaming masses will tire of the invasion of Gaza. The Israeli’s have already indicated they intend to be there a while. They’ve surrounded Gaza City and are securing the perimeter. Once the media tires of pictures of tanks, protesters and dead children, and they will tire of it, the cameras and questions will turn to something more palatable: the Jerry Springer-like atmosphere in the Democratic Party. And the timing will be perfect; a war weary, economically depressed populace will be looking for someone to vilify for the whole mess. Hang on Harry, the stew’s a boiling and you’re what’s for dinner.
