We should ask Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) the same question once posed to Senator Joseph McCarthy by U.S. Army<\/p>\n head-counsel Robert N. Welch: \u201cHave you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?\u201d<\/p>\n Reid is back in the news for denigrating the peaceful supporters of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, a popular critic of the Bureau of Land Management policy, as \u201cdomestic terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n McCarthy in the 1950s became infamous for smearing his opponents with lurid allegations that he could not prove, while questioning their patriotism. Reid has brought back to the Senate that exact same McCarthy style of six decades ago \u2014 and trumped it.<\/p>\n During the 2012 presidential campaign, Reid slandered candidate Mitt Romney with the unsubstantiated and later-refuted charge that Romney was a tax cheat. \u201cThe word\u2019s out that he [Romney] hasn\u2019t paid any taxes for ten years,\u201d Reid said.<\/p>\n Later, when asked for proof, Reid offered a pathetic rejoinder: \u201cI have had a number of people tell me that.\u201d One wonders how many names were on Reid\u2019s McCarthyite \u201ctell\u201d list \u2014 were there, as McCarthy used to bluster, 205 names, or perhaps just 57?<\/p>\n When asked again to document the slur, Reid echoed McCarthy perfectly: \u201cThe burden should be on him. He\u2019s the one I\u2019ve alleged has not paid any taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n When the Koch brothers donated money that was used for political ads \u2014 just as liberal political donors George Soros and the Steyer brothers have done \u2014 Reid rushed to the Senate floor to question their patriotism: \u201cThese two brothers\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0are about as un-American as anyone that I can imagine.\u201d The charge of being \u201cun-American\u201d is also vintage McCarthyite slander.<\/p>\n Reid also has a bad habit of racial bigotry. He once praised fellow senator Barack Obama because he was, in Reid\u2019s words, a \u201clight-skinned\u201d African American \u201cwith no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.\u201d<\/p>\n When Reid was worried that he would not get enough Hispanic voters to the polls, he condescendingly lectured the Latino community: \u201cI don\u2019t know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican, okay. Do I need to say more?\u201d<\/p>\n Reid once singled out for damnation just one Supreme Court justice \u2014 Clarence Thomas: \u201cI think that he has been an embarrassment to the Supreme Court.\u201d<\/p>\n Reid has also brought back McCarthy\u2019s custom of vicious and sometimes profane insults.<\/p>\n During the 2008 presidential campaign, Reid announced: \u201cI can\u2019t stand John McCain.\u201d Of then-president George W. Bush, Reid said: \u201cPresident Bush is a liar.\u201d Reid claimed that fellow Mormon Mitt Romney had \u201csullied\u201d his religion.<\/p>\n When General David Petraeus brought proof to Congress that the surge in Iraq was beginning to work by late 2007, Reid declared, \u201cNo, I don\u2019t believe him, because it\u2019s not happening.\u201d<\/p>\n He elaborated on that charge by labeling Petraeus \u2014 at the time the senior ground commander of U.S. forces fighting in Iraq \u2014 a veritable liar. Reid alleged that Petraeus \u201chas made a number of statements over the years that have not proven to be factual.\u201d<\/p>\n When an African American and Democratic appointee to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, William Magwood, opposed Reid on the Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste-disposal-site controversy, Reid called him a \u201cfirst-class rat,\u201d a \u201ctreacherous, miserable liar,\u201d a \u201cs*** stirrer,\u201d and \u201cone of the most unethical, prevaricating, incompetent people I\u2019ve ever dealt with.\u201d<\/p>\n Like a pre-reform-era politician, Reid entered public service relatively poor and will leave it as a multimillionaire. He has granted lucrative favors to casinos and rich investors who hired his son\u2019s legal firm. While in office, he made considerable profits on private business and real-estate deals. Some of those who donated to his campaigns got favorable government treatment.<\/p>\n Reid recently paid his granddaughter thousands of dollars from his campaign war\u00a0chest to make jewelry gifts for his donors and friends. Only after a storm of criticism did he reimburse his campaign fund.<\/p>\n So how does Reid\u2019s reckless career continue with the Senate leader avoiding the sort of congressional censure that finally did in McCarthy? Why is there is no progressive muckraker to take on Reid the way that Edward R. Murrow once exposed McCarthy?<\/p>\n For the Left, Reid\u2019s utility as an attack dog (like McCarthy\u2019s utility to Republicans) outweighs the downside of his crude bombast.<\/p>\n His lurid, unsubstantiated charges against Romney were helpful in demonizing Romney as a rich grandee. His untruths about Petraeus helped shore up Democrats\u2019 anti-war credentials during the 2008 campaign. Environmentalists did not object to his character assassination of nuclear-power advocate Magwood.<\/p>\n Reid\u2019s viciousness also serves as a deterrent. Why tangle with the anything-goes Reid when it means endlessly replying to a litany of smears?<\/p>\n Part Tammany Hall\u2013style fixer, part pre\u2013civil rights Democrat, and part demagogic Joe McCarthy, Harry Reid is a throwback to a type of American politics better left forgotten.<\/p>\n Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and the author, most recently, of<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0The Savior Generals<\/a>.<\/em>\u00a0You can reach him by e-mailing\u00a0author@victorhanson.com<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n \u00a9 2014 Tribune Media Services, Inc.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The senator is a throwback to a type of American Politics better left forgotten. by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/\u00a0National Review Online We should ask Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) the same question once posed to Senator Joseph McCarthy by U.S. Army head-counsel Robert N. Welch: \u201cHave you no sense of decency, sir? At […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[11,187],"tags":[165,870,937,918],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-1SS","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13172,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/optimism-inc-part-2-will-wokeness-finally-cannibalize-itself\/","url_meta":{"origin":7246,"position":0},"title":"Optimism, Inc. Part 2: Will Wokeness Finally Cannibalize Itself?","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Joseph McCarthy confers with Roy Cohn. Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ Private Papers Part 2: The First Russian-Under-Every-Bed Frenzy (prior to Adam Schiff) The Depression and the January 1, 1942 alliance with the Soviet Union had peaked American communist membership at 75,000. The treasonous Alger Hiss mentality in the State Department\u2014the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/McCarthy_Cohn.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2545,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/obamas-libya-venture-and-double-standards\/","url_meta":{"origin":7246,"position":1},"title":"Obama’s Libya Venture and Double Standards","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce S. Thornton FrontPage Magazine The champion of shameless chutzpah has always been the guy who murders his parents then throws himself on the mercy of the court because he\u2019s an orphan. But White House spokesman Jay Carney might be the new champ, given his response to the House\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Libya"","block_context":{"text":"Libya","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/libya\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7982,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/losers\/","url_meta":{"origin":7246,"position":2},"title":"Losers","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ NRO-The Corner 1. Barack Obama is now a toxic brand. Arrogance and incompetence are a fatal brew. If once his problem was his failed policies, now it is also his persona, especially the blame-gaming and sense of boredom on the job that borders on public\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Opinion"","block_context":{"text":"Opinion","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/opinion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/download-16.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":117,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-powell-tragedy\/","url_meta":{"origin":7246,"position":3},"title":"The Powell Tragedy","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson NRO's\u00a0The Corner Like many, I was confused not by General Colin Powell\u2019s endorsements of Barack Obama, but rather his recent remarks alleging Republican extremism and racism. His barrage was internally inconsistent and ultimately made little sense at all. Such unfounded charges are out of character with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Political Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Political Culture","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/american-culture\/political-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1893,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/conservative-felonies-liberal-misdemeanors\/","url_meta":{"origin":7246,"position":4},"title":"Conservative Felonies, Liberal Misdemeanors","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services Why in matters of stupid behavior do liberals and Democrats often get second and third chances from the media and general public not accorded to their conservative and Republican counterparts? We're seeing it now in the national reaction to Senate Majority Leader Harry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "January 2010"","block_context":{"text":"January 2010","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2010\/january-2010\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2464,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/spare-us-the-sermons-mr-president\/","url_meta":{"origin":7246,"position":5},"title":"Spare Us the Sermons, Mr. President","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 8, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services During the recent debt crisis, President Obama talked about the need for bipartisan compromise and, as in the past, urged civility. Giving ground and engaging in polite discourse, of course, can be noble aims. But, like most one-eyed-jack politicians, Obama has rarely embraced\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Debt and Deficits"","block_context":{"text":"Debt and Deficits","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/politics\/debt-and-deficits\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7246"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7246"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7249,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7246\/revisions\/7249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Senate](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/11984073815_67511ec4f7.jpg?resize=300%2C199&ssl=1\")