HE GIVES US HELL, ALL RIGHT

Harry? Harry, is that you? Oh wait, the sign says that this fellow is suspending panhandling, to focus on the national economy. That can't be our Harry.

by Noah

The other day I received a sponging-for-reelection money e-solicitation from Sen. Harry Reid, under this banner --


It started out:

Friends [quite an assumption there -- Noah],

I've said it before: the Republicans have made me their top target. [God knows why! -- Noah again]

Then he blathered on about how he's a "force for change," a phrase whose meaning has apparently been redefined by people like him.

Nowadays, the only Democrat that's gonna get money from me would have to be a progressive, ActBlue kind of Dem, not the usual Repug in Dem clothing, so I wasted no time in replying to His Royal Spinelessness.

Senator Reid:

Sorry, but your party is also a party of no change and "no, we can't," as in "no, we can't get the votes for a public option." You guys don't even want us to have the same government health care that you have and will have the rest of your lives. Hell, Baucus and Schumer just sat on their fat asses and laughed as they had single-payer advocates arrested. You could practically see the crisp Franklins from the K Street Bribery Squads sticking out of their pockets. Joe Stalin would have cheered them on.

Until there is a public option (and one that isn't a watered-down, crossed-fingers-behind-the-back one), or, better yet, single-payer, I don't see why I should support or vote for Democrats anymore. Your party seems to think we have no choice but to vote for you. Well, I'll either support third-party candidates or just stay home. What's the difference? Now I hear even President Obama is open to abandoning the public-option concept. Might as well have given Bush a third term.

I'm sick of the sell-outs and sick of the corruption and bribe-taking. I'm tired of the smirks and the laughter coming from inside the Beltway. Tired of being played. You guys either have no idea or just don't care. The Senate is the worst of all. I'll give the Repugs credit, though. At least they have a spine. You're givin' us hell, all right. A Republican-lite is still a Repug.

Given the choice, Americans will vote for the truth-in-advertising model. Change is a hell of a lot more than a cynical campaign slogan, but I guess you're hoping there are just enough fools outside the Beltway to get you another term. You need to go visit America. Take some of your buddies with you. I wonder if they can comprehend it.

I heartily encourage all readers to give 'em all hell -- by phone, by e-mail, by fax, by buttonholing them if they dare walk the streets of your town, even by carrier pigeon, complete with well-aimed droppings! Just do it.

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