Is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid nuts or just desperate, as his mammoth health bill bogs down in debates over abortion and a public option that even some of his fellow Dems are wishing would go away?
First Reid accused the Republicans of being the people who promoted slavery back in the 19th century (Memo to Harry from your sixth-grade teacher: Abraham Lincoln was not a Democrat!).
And now, after making his fellow senators work all last weekend in the hope of ramming something through, the majority leader is…making his fellow senators work all next weekend!
Here’s the transcript (from Politico) of what Reid said:
IT APPEARS THAT WE CERTAINLY WILL HAVE TO BE IN THIS WEEKEND AGAIN. I THINK EVERYONE WOULD ACKNOWLEDGE THE HISTORIC TIME LEGISLATIVELY THAT WE’RE NOW INVOLVED. WE’VE TRIED TO GET TO THIS POINT WITH HEALTH CARE LEGISLATION FOR ALMOST 70 YEARS AND WE’RE THERE. WE CAN SEE THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL.
The only problem: Some of Reid’s fellow senators might have a different definition of “historic time.” Hanukkah begins on Dec. 12–right in the middle of the “weekend” that Reid says the Senate will have to be “in” (as in “cooped up inside the Capitol”). Of course, maybe Reid was referring to the Feast of Lights when he said “the light at the end of the tunnel.”
I’m waiting to see whether Reid plans to trap his fellow senators inside the Capitol over Christmas, too. Maybe he can have President Obama come over for another pep talk–and a carol sing.