Harry Reid, Smear Merchant

No sooner had I finished a post on Nancy Pelosi’s unpopularity as the most visible Democrat in Congress than I came across this bizarre outburst by Harry Reid:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Friday that John Roberts misled the Senate during his confirmation hearings by pretending to be a moderate — and that the United States is now “stuck” with him as chief justice.

“Roberts didn’t tell us the truth. At least Alito told us who he was,” Reid said, referring to Samuel Alito, the second Supreme Court justice nominated by President George W. Bush.

I recall with pleasure the ease with which Justice Roberts dealt with the rather pathetic Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. But Ann Althouse makes the more basic point:

1. Senator Reid, you need to quote the transcript of Roberts’s confirmation hearings. What, exactly, are the lies you are talking about? I want citations, so I can check your assertion that Roberts was deceptive. Until I see the relevant quotes, my position is that you, Senator Reid, are the liar.

2. Apparently, the judges whose opinions track your political positions are, in your book, the “moderates.” That is the lesson I think you are trying to teach people. It is a lesson that undermines the integrity of law. It goes right along with Barney Frank’s recent, despicable assertion that Justice Scalia is a homophobe.

3. We’re stuck with Harry Reid.

John Roberts is so far above Harry Reid that this sort of contretemps is frankly pitiful. Reid may or may not be stupider than, say Joe Biden; but he embarrasses Roberts by belonging to the same species. This photoshop comes from one of Althouse’s commenters; I’m not sure whether he or someone else did it. In any event, it fits the case. Click to enlarge:

pelosi_reid_gothic61.jpg

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