The man's an established liar, a bizarre obsessive, a remorseless slanderer -- but you already knew that. He's also, unsurprisingly, an exquisite hack. Ever since voters demoted Prince Harry in November, his views on various Senate protocols and precedents have undergone a remarkable and dramatic evolution. He who grinningly
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Sen. Reid yesterday: "The filibuster is an indispensable tool of the minority"
— STEW (@StewSays) January 8, 2015
In fairness, filibuster-related hypocrisy is hardly uncommon among partisans, although certain manifestations of these expedient flip-flops are uniquely hilarious in their flagrancy and transparency. Reid's more egregious shamelessness comes in the form of his recent attacks on Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whom he accuses of strong-arming the legislative process by limiting amendment votes on the Keystone Pipeline bill:
I've never seen debate shut down as aggressively as when Sen. McConnell refused to allow Dems to debate their own amendments for just 1 min. — Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) January 26, 2015
This is rich. Richer, in fact, than Reid himself has become during his tenure as a supposed "public servant." The minority leader hopes Americans will forget that until very recently, he held McConnell's title. For the full duration of calendar year 2014, Harry Reid permitted precisely 15 amendment votes* on all legislation taken up by the United States Senate. Total. Prior to Reid's tweet above, the new Republican-controlled Senate had already surpassed that number in
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Casey spox says he still supports Keystone XL project, but voted no tonight because he wants Dems to be able to offer more amendments
— Jonathan Tamari (@JonathanTamari) January 26, 2015
That would be Sen. Bob Casey, Democrat of Pennsylvania, who voted for cloture on Keystone two months ago when it was (forcibly retired) Sen. Mary Landrieu's bill, and on which...zero amendments
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*I had a Twitter exchange with one of Reid's aides earlier in the week, who argued that this statistic was artificially gamed by Republicans. I explained why his point was weak, while others noted that the moves he's complaining about are now being used by his own party. Ultimately, I said, no one can successfully spin the 'three weeks vs. all of 2014' amendment scorecard, pointing out that even Huffington Post correspondents are laughing at Democrats' preposterous faux umbrage.
Editor's Note: A version of his item is cross-posted at HotAir.com
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