The Trouble with Harry

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Forgive us for using the name "Harry Reid" and "ethics" in the same sentence. But it's the only way we can address the former's lack of the latter -- for the second time in four days.

On Sunday we editorialized on the Senate minority leader's smarmy Las Vegas land deal in which he pocketed a cool $1.1 million for the sale of property he hadn't personally owned for years. Mr. Reid will be "amending" his financial disclosure forms, don't you know.

Now comes word that Mr. Reid illegally has been using campaign money to mete out Christmas bonuses for staffers at his tony Ritz-Carlton condo. He calls it a "clerical error," don't you know.

These aren't the first ethics questions for Harry Reid, always quick out of the starting blocks to offer sound bites about the Republicans' "culture of corruption." The Los Angeles Times and New York Post have reported on another questionable Nevada land deal.

Oh, and Reid implies that The Associated Press, which broke the latest stories, somehow is working in concert with Republicans. The Associated Democrat Press? Please.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote: "We must hold a man amenable to reason for the choice of his daily craft or profession. It is not an excuse any longer for his deeds, that they are the custom of his trade. What business has he with an evil trade?"

Well, Harry Reid, what's your answer?