Harry Reid made this remarkably idiotic comment on the Senate floor December 7…

Specifically, Reid said…

Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all the Republicans can come up with is, “slow down, stop everything, let’s start over.” If you think you’ve heard these same excuses before, you’re right. When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said “slow down, it’s too early, things aren’t bad enough.”…
When this body was on the verge of guaranteeing equal civil rights to everyone regardless of the color of their skin, some senators resorted to the same filibuster threats that we hear today….

I don’t know why Republicans didn’t stage the Biggest News Conference Ever to remind American voters, specifically blacks, that it was Democrats who “dug in their heels” to hold on to slavery, and it was Democrats like sitting senator and former KKK member Robert Byrd who filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
It was then-Democrat Strom Thurmond who waged the longest filibuster in Senate history to stop the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The AP photo, left is of Thurmond exiting the chamber after his 24 hour, 18 minutes, 1-man racist foment.
And it was Democrat Gov. George Wallace who barred the University of Alabama from entry by black students in 1963. The photo, right, is of Wallace defying desegregation orders by Deputy US Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach.
Oy, where are the Republicans? Apparently Reid brazenly risked the obvious sucker punch because he gambled Republicans would be too genteel to respond.
And apparently Senate Democrats like Minority Leader Dick Durbin were happy to gamble on Reid’s comment because they win either way. If Reid gets away with it, good; if he doesn’t, the odds grow only better he’ll be defeated next November in his reelection bid, making way for Durbin to take his place and others to move up a rung.
Yes, there is another punch to be had. It was reported only 3 days ago…

… for the first time, opposition is above 50% and support is below 40%, a new poll commissioned by the Las Vegas Review Journal reveals.
The telephone poll of 625 registered voters found that 53% of Nevadans oppose the president’s attempt to provide a remedy for problems in the nation’s health care system. Support for the plan is at 39%.

So Reid’s grotesque comparison of opposition to government-run healthcare to support of slavery or opposition to black civil rights indicted the majority of his own constituents.
Reid’s poll numbers have gotten so bad even liberals are worried. From the Las Vegas Gleaner on December 7, which provides “progressive news and opinion from the heartland”:

Last week, yet another poll showed that if the election were held today Harry Reid would get beat by a wooden spoon, a box of rocks or even Jerry Tarkanian’s wayward son. Evidently a massive early onslaught of TV ads touting Reid’s impoverished youth as an illiterate urchin begging for crumbs and splashing through the open sewers of Searchlight has failed to move voters….

But… “If Harry Reid decided not to run again,” is an absurd premise.
“Should Harry Reid decide not to run again?” – well, that’s a legitimate question.
The case for Reid’s reelection routinely shopped by his campaign and his many gushing apologists invokes stunned disbelief that Nevadans could lose the most powerful Nevadan in the whole history of ever….

Of course, the argument in favor of a surprise Reid announcement that he is not seeking reelection is simple: Reid might not be able to recover, no matter how many jillions he spends, and if and when he goes down, not only would one of those Republican nitwits be Nevada’s senator, Reid could take the entire Nevada Democratic ticket down with him.

I think the only explanation for Harry Reid’s protracted act of political hari kari is that Obama has promised him an ambassadorship some place warm, like Doug Kmiec, who sold his soul for such a deal.