Reading through the news today, I cam across the following quotes from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid:

Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all the Republicans can come up with is, “slow down, stop everything, let’s start over.” If you think you’ve heard these same excuses before, you’re right. When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said “slow down, it’s too early, things aren’t bad enough.” When women spoke up for the right to speak up, they wanted to vote, some insisted they simply, slow down, there will be a better day to do that, today isn’t quite right. When this body was on the verge of guaranteeing equal civil rights to everyone regardless of the color of their skin, some senators resorted to the same filibuster threats that we hear today.”

There are four points that I want to cover with this: slavery, women, civil rights, and rush to action.

Slavery:  It is interesting that Reid starts his argument by saying “there were those who dug in their heels” in regards to recognizing the wrongs of slavery. He is trying to imply that it was the Republican’s who favored slavery and attempted to bar the abolishment of the practice. However, truth be told, it was the Democratic Party that supported the practice leading up to the Civil War. Democratic President James Buchanan sided with the Supreme Court on the Dred Scott Decision and the pro-slavery Southern Democrat movement pushed to expand slavery into the Kansas Territory. The anti-slavery camp, known as the newly-formed Republican Party, was bolstered by the support of Northern Democrats who were afraid of the surge of the Southern Democratic power, resulting in the sweeping victory of Abraham Lincoln in the Northern states in 1860.

Women:  This is another interesting reference point. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson endorsed the 19th Amendment on January 8th. On January 9th, the Republican-lead House of Representatives passed the Amendment, though the Democrat-led Senate delayed the vote until October, and then voted against it. It wasn’t until June 1919 that the Senate finally passed the Amendment, with the now Republican-led Senate passing the Amendment 56 to 25, with 75% of Republicans and 42% of Democrats voting in favor. So far, Reid is two-for-two with endorsements of the Republicans.

Civil Rights:  A century after the civil war, when the nation fought against itself over issues to include slavery, the nation found itself fighting over the equality of men, or in this case, blacks. While the North continued to be more favorable towards racial issues, the South continued the tradition of elevating one race over another. The tides were changing in the 1960s, however, and a strong movement was growing in Congress to outlaw segregation bring voting equality to all. In 1964, the Congress voted on the Civil Rights Act, passing with 70% or more in both Houses. The Southern Democrats fought against passage, but in the end 69% of Senate Democrats and 63% of House Democrats voted in favor of the Act. This was trumped by Republican support, with 82% of Senate Republicans and 80% of House Republicans voting in favor.

In the three examples cited by Reid, the Republicans are shown to be not only necessary for passing major legislation, but also led the cause. I doubt that Reid doesn’t know this history, so I can only guess that he was attempting to somehow cast their involvement in a negative light as to deflect the public attentions to this fact. But Reid makes one other error in his rant on the Senate floor. His constant repeating of “slow down, stop everything, let’s start over” mirrors the comments made by Congressional Democrats during the lead-up to the Iraq war. In fact, Senator John Kerry accused Bush of “rushing to war without a plan to win the peace.”

So, if Kerry was right that we should not rush into decisions, how can Reid be correct with his rush to a conclusion on the Health Care Reform debate? Maybe Reid is four-times wrong in one floor speech.

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