Is herein remixed with responses to some statements.
New York Times (NYT) My comment (M.C)
NYT;- WASHINGTON — It was not enough for Senator Harry Reid to just dismiss Republican offers as “vexatious” or “kid’s stuff” or “one cockamamie, can’t-pass idea after another.” He called the White House and asked it to issue a veto threat, which it promptly did.
M.C;- Senator Reid has read the situation and clearly identifies that what the G.O.P is trying to practice or do is not a democratic maneuver neither is it a republican (as applies in true democracy) manipulation, Oh! no, it is nothing short of taking the American people and the American government hostage as they try to enforce their form of rule which is a government of the G.O.P by the G.O.P and for the G.O.P. Their actions are completely anti-American no more no less.
It was not enough for Mr. Reid, the majority leader, to accuse his counterpart in the House, Speaker John A. Boehner, of being dragged around by a tribe of rogue “banana Republicans.” He leaked a series of e-mails between their offices in an attempt to humiliate the speaker.
M.C;- There is no reason to try to or attempt to humiliate a person who is already being humiliated albeit publicly by his compadres.
With Congress locked in an intractable budget dispute that kept the federal government shut down for a second day on Wednesday, Mr. Reid is not only acting as the public face of the no-compromise posture of Democrats on Capitol Hill, he is the power behind the scenes driving a hard-line strategy that the White House and Congressional Democrats are hoping will force Republicans to crack.
M.C;- The strategy is not to cause or force the Republicans to crack but rather to expose their anti and un-American antics to the general American populace. The G.O.P is not about America, American welfare or the American people but about a caucus of individuals kept on ensuring that America does not successfully transform into a society of "equals" where individuals can dare to dream and trust that their government's got their backs.
His tactics have been unapologetically aggressive, even when measured by the fast and loose rules of engagement in a political climate so bitterly polarized.
M.C;- I wonder whose move has been more aggressive. The Republicans came up with this aggressive plan and strategy cripple the government, not for the purpose of making any changes that would benefit the average American but for the purpose of showing the general American populace that the G.O.P still has some level of power and influence over what goes on in the US. It was also a design to make the Mr. Obama look bad in the press and to the American polity. It was a calculated effort to drop his already plummeting approval rate even faster.
Advisers and Senate colleagues say that Mr. Reid, of Nevada, who at 73 is more wily and scrappy than his stooped posture and shuffling walk suggest, is animated and outraged to a degree they have rarely seen in his 25 years in the Senate. And unlike previous high-stakes budget talks — when he was eclipsed by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader — Mr. Reid is now in command.
M.C;- Mr. Reid always had command and was never really eclipsed by the vice president but rather gave room to both Messrs Biden and McConnell because he assumed that Mr. McConnell would be reasonable enough to understand the position of the Democratic party.
Though he has faced seven years of Republican attempts to frustrate his agenda at every turn, this latest fight, which he believes could have been stopped if the party’s leaders had only stood up to their more junior members, has convinced him that he has no viable Republican partners on either side of the Capitol.
M.C;- It is clear to the American people that the Republicans have neither the interest of American nor of her children
Mr. Reid’s passion and pique come from his conclusion that this fight is about something more fundamental than spending resolutions.
M.C;- This fight is definitely more about wresting the health security, financial independence and the nation in general out of the hands of the limited few who are poised to sit upon the destinies of many, depriving them of their rights in a country that ought to be the beacon of all that is right in the world.
“He is not going to let this crisis make us give away something that is part of what we believe in,” said Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, and a member of Mr. Reid’s leadership team. “He feels passionately that if we allow our country to be run by hostage-taking — ‘I feel passionately about an issue, and I’m going to shut down the government unless I get my way’ — it is bad for today, it’s bad for tomorrow, it’s bad for democracy.”
M.C;- This is why Messrs Obama, Biden and Reid are defiant and have bluntly refused to negotiate with the Republicans, also PLEASE do not forget that America does not NEGOTIATE with TERRORISTS. Yes, you read that right, this political move made by the G.O.P as calculated as it may look, is nothing short of cold blooded terrorism and hostage taking.
Mr. Reid’s tendency to speak without inhibition or filter has created no shortage of complications and may have so alienated Republicans that they see no incentive to work with him (M.C;- because he calls a spade a spade and would not use technicalities to strip the truth of it's vitality and power).
On Wednesday, Republican press offices, including Mr. Boehner’s, and Tea Party groups circulated remarks from Mr. Reid in which he appeared to be dismissive of cancer-stricken children. (In fact, he was ineloquently making a point about the need to fund the entire government, not just parts that Republicans have selected for special appropriations bills as a way to ameliorate the effects of the shutdown.) (M.C; - The G.O.P is already well known as a group that majors is distorting the facts for the sole purpose of scoring cheap points)
Mr. Reid’s strategy to break Republicans depends on keeping his caucus unified, which is no small feat in a party as Balkanized as the Democrats can be. His colleagues said he understood all along that the only way Democrats could come out on top in a spectacle as politically harmful as a government shutdown was if they held together. With negotiations continuing, Mr. Reid declined to be interviewed.
So far, he is the only leader in Congress not to lose any of his members as the pressure rises. Mr. McConnell and Mr. Boehner, of Ohio, are both facing resistance from Republicans who represent states that have a mix of conservative and liberal voters. Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader in the House, has also lost some members of her conference who hail from Republican-leaning districts and are reluctant to appear as if they are siding with President Obama.
“From the first time we talked about this, he said, ‘We are not giving in,’ ” said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, who is one of Mr. Reid’s top lieutenants. “He had an instinctive understanding that this would work as long as Democrats didn’t fall for the bait. We haven’t, and we won’t.”
But Mr. Reid, an amateur boxer in his youth, is more than a smart strategic thinker, Mr. Schumer added: “Harry is a tough guy, and if you cross him he won’t forget it.”
Mr. Reid rebuffed Mr. McConnell last week after the Republican leader called him and urged him to try to strike a compromise with Mr. Boehner. His firm answer was no. Though Mr. Reid did meet with Mr. Boehner, Mr. McConnell and Ms. Pelosi on Wednesday at the White House, he had initially persuaded the president not to hold a similar meeting last week because he was concerned it would appear too accommodating.
Mr. Reid, no one’s idea of a polished, pressed and scripted Washington politician, seems to relish playing such an aggressive hand. At no point was this more evident than this week, when Mr. Reid’s office leaked a trove of e-mails between its staff and Mr. Boehner’s to Politico, a Web site and newspaper devoted to political coverage.
The release of the e-mails, sanctioned by Mr. Reid, was an attempt to embarrass Mr. Boehner for publicly supporting the elimination of health care subsidies for members of Congress and their staffs despite the fact that he and his advisers had privately negotiated a deal to preserve those benefits. The deal later fell apart. The move infuriated Mr. Boehner’s aides, who said they found it particularly destructive coming in the middle of a policy fight that will ultimately have to involve Republicans in some way.
“I’m sure he’s very proud of himself,” Kevin Smith, Mr. Boehner’s communications director, said of Mr. Reid.
Those close to him say that when Mr. Reid says things about Republicans like “they have lost their minds,” he means it (M.C;- when you speak the truth, you ought to mean it don't you think?). He has stood on his podium on the Senate floor every day this week and vowed to not negotiate with Tea Party “anarchists” and “extremists,” despite advice from his advisers that the word “unreasonable” polls better with voters. (M.C.;- Mr. Reid understands very well and knows clearly that it is not in the policy or interest of America to negotiate with terrorists, extremists and anarchist)
Mr. Reid’s upbringing in tiny Searchlight, Nev., where he grew up in a shack, is never far from his mind, even when he is speaking from his mahogany desk in the Senate chamber.
“He is unique in this city,” said Jim Margolis, a longtime adviser. “And you see it in so many different ways. Is he the best TV talking head? No. He’d be the first to tell you that. Should he smile more? Yes. Should he say goodbye on the phone when he’s done talking to you? Probably. But those are things you’d assume are part and parcel of a polished figure in Washington. That is not Harry Reid.”
M.C; - In essence you mean to subtly indicate that Mr. Reid is neither polished nor adequately civil.
Mr. Reid, Americans are strongly behind you, keep up the fight !