A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

As we know, Harry Reid has a history of putting his foot in his mouth. He has chosen to do it again, and in doing so, he has made it clear that he has contempt for people far more accomplished than he:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "incompetent" during an interview Tuesday with a group of liberal bloggers, a comment that was never reported.

Reid made similar disparaging remarks about Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said several sources familiar with the interview.

This is but the latest example of how Reid, under pressure from liberal activists to do more to stop the war, is going on the attack against President Bush and his military leaders in anticipation of a September showdown to end U.S. involvement in Iraq, according to Democratic senators and aides.

Reid, who was bashed by Republicans for suggesting earlier this year that the Iraq war was "lost," is lashing out at top commanders while putting the finishing touches on a plan to force a series of votes on Iraq designed exclusively to make Republicans up for reelection in 2008 go on record in favor of continuing an unpopular war.

Reid, the senators and aides said, does not expect any of the Iraq measures to pass but hopes the effort will drive a deep enough wedge between wavering Republicans and Bush that, by September, Republican senators will break with the president and help end the war.

So now, derogatory commentary about people serving our country in uniform--brilliant leaders like Petraeus and Pace--is entirely acceptable merely because the Senate Majority Leader wants to win a political contest. And he does not care whose reputation he has to smear in the process.

Never mind the fact that Petraeus was given a job to do in nine months that he should have been given a couple of years--at least--to accomplish. Never mind that save vague allegations that Peter Pace "never stood up to Rumsfeld"--whatever on Earth that means--Reid has nothing except his own fevered imaginations to support his juvenile namecalling, behavior that he has chosen to put on display merely to satisfy a bunch of bloggers who couldn't adequately shine the shoes worn by Chairman Pace or General Petraeus.

Harry Reid is not a particularly intelligent man and in order to hide his inadequacies, he makes a big show of looking down on others. He is not a particularly classy man and so he tries to ensure that others are mired in the muck along with him. He is not a particularly eloquent man so he tries to win plaudits for "tough talk" when in fact, he should win scorn and derision for the fact that neither his words nor his wit are exactly rapier-sharp. His utterances and public appearances are cringeworthy. His "leadership" is nothing short of mortifying.

And ridiculously enough, the White House doesn't appear to have either the courage or the competence to take Reid on. Newt Gingrich--an entirely more talented figure--got slammed and slimed by the Clinton White House almost as soon as he ascended to the Speakership. How a mediocrity like Reid escapes criticism from the White House is as mystifying as it is appalling.