Harry Reid Slugs the Far-Right Bully

Like virtually every Democrat, like most independents, like a strong majority of Americans, I am fed up with the bullying anarchism of the Tea Party right in the House of Representatives.
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

Like virtually every Democrat, like most independents, like a strong majority of Americans, I am fed up with the bullying anarchism of the Tea Party right in the House of Representatives, which could, as I charged in my latest column, drive America into a default that would crash the markets.

Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Majority Leader who acts like a majority leader, is mad as hell and not taking it any more. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), the Speaker who does not always act like a Speaker, and who is goaded and bullied by the junior senator from Texas and Tea Party anarchists in the House, has so far submitted to the blackmail of the bully and caused a shutdown of the government of America.

Not so for Harry Reid. He is fighting back. I stand with Reid. America should not negotiate with terrorists, and Democrats should not negotiate with Tea Party radicals and anarchists who practice the legislative blackmail to shut the government down and threaten to drive the nation into default. No way.

There will be a place for negotiations, after the government is reopened and after a clean debt-ceiling increase is enacted and after the bullies are put in their place.

Reid, the former boxer who knows how to take a punch and throw a punch, is fighting back and standing tall and doing the business of the nation and speaking for a majority of our people. The real battle in Washington is Reid versus the far right bully. The leader is leading. The boxer is fighting. The man of the Senate is standing up for the traditions and values and dignity of the Senate and the good of the country and the credibility of the Congress.

President Obama is right. Get the government working again, pass a clean debt-ceiling bill and then negotiate going forward. In the meantime, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States says our national obligations must be honored. The president has authority to unilaterally extend the debt ceiling without the bullying of the Tea Party anarchists or the bizarre and destructive obstruction from the Banana Republicans in the House of Representatives.

The American people stand with us. The president should act on the debt ceiling -- unilaterally if needed. The majority leader of the Senate and former boxer from Nevada is mad as hell and not taking it anymore, and on this great matter he speaking for the people of the nation.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot