Harry Reid Must Resign

In order for Democrats to continue to claim the mantle of being the party of ethical clarity, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) must resign from his leadership position and step down from the Senate.**** [see below because there's more to this line of thinking] Anything less would be nothing more than stupendous hypocrisy from Democrats who have been weilding the issue of corruption, ethical misdeeds, and the failure of leadership to police the ranks of ethical and potential criminal acts.

Well, the ethical lapses are from Reid himself. He couldn't be bothered reporting a $700,000 gain on a land deal with some of his cronies back home in Nevada. His name was thrown around when trying to get the deal approved, and that he was going to turn Nevada desert into a strip mall should raise some eyebrows among environmentalists who are usually opposed to such things. Claims that this was simple oversight are transparently and patently false.

Then again, the Democrats are already the party of ethical clarity. Harry Reid will continue to be the minority leader and the media will look the other way as the story barely makes a ripple, despite the fact that it is on at least the same level of the claims being made against Sen. George Allen (R-VA). It is perfectly clear that they're willing to tolerate and forgive the mistakes, omissions, and even criminal activity among their own caucus, but the GOPers who engage in similar behavior must be run out of town. That might work for the politicians seeking power, but it doesn't work for the taxpayers who are entrusting them with the responsibility of governing the country.

**** Substitute Senator Bill Frist or Rick Santorum or John McCain, and how quickly would media outlets take to make this front page news, and Democrats would be calling for scalps and those members to step down? I'm only calling for equal treatment. Either treat these rascals the same way and call for them all to step down, or accept that there is a double standard and report the double standard to let the public decide what to do.

The emphasis on this story as compared to the other current corruption/ethics/criminal probes in Congress is interesting not because the corruption exists, but because the political party preference is shaping how those instances are being reported.

Others blogging: Ace of Spades, Flopping Aces, Hugh Hewitt, Instapundit, Michelle Malkin, Ed Morrissey, AJ Strata, Blue Crab Boulevard.