No Wisdom From Solomon On Reid

I’m sure that, any day now, AP reporter John Solomon will break the story that Senator Minority Leader Harry Reid used political campaign funds to tip his gardener or pay for his dry cleaning, and that will generate more screaming headlines.

Let’s see what we have so far, OK?

- Reid gets blamed for accepting boxing tickets with John McCain and not paying for them, when it turns out that the Nevada Boxing Commission would not have been able to accept payment anyway since the tickets were gifts (McCain paid, but the amount was donated by the commission). (my link)
- As of a few days ago, we find out that Reid made a nice tidy profit on a land deal when he formed an LLC for a property he owned with a business associate (perfectly legal), while Solomon reports that Reid didn’t own the land, even though the LLC has no other assets but the land and Reid paid taxes on the property. (my link)
- Now, we find out that Reid used $3,300 of campaign funds to pay Christmas bonuses for the support staff at the Ritz-Carlton where he lives in an upscale condominium even though federal election law permits campaigns to provide "gifts of nominal value."

Let me communicate some news of my own to John Solomon:

Right now, Iraq continues to deteriorate, the Taliban is resurgent in Afghanistan, Dubya signed the torture bill today, no Republican has taken the fall yet for the Mark Foley scandal (though Foley has resigned, of course), and North Korea is threatening war over UN-imposed sanctions at the behest of the United States.

THAT is what people care about at the moment, Mr. Solomon; a questionable $3,300 expenditure for tips to condominium employees doesn’t even appear on the radar of anyone but the most rabid partisan.

Update 10/18: The fine people at Media Matters for America are truly doing God's work.