Forrest Gump: "Stupid Is As Stupid Does", Harry Reid: "Stupid Is As Stupid Says"

I am sure at some point in time, there were individual American politicians that evolved into statesmen and leaders. Leaders that were above petty spats and disagreements and were interested in finding the best path for America. Leaders who were tolerant and sensitive to the feelings and characteristics of others. Leaders who knew history and what positive lessons it could teach us going forward. Senator Harry Reid, head of the U.S. Senate, is not one of those leaders, he is just a politician. Consider his very public recent statements:

• The Associated Press reported today that Mr. Reid had apologized to President Obama for statements he made in 2008 but which have just recently been made public. These statements included his observation that then-Senator Obama was "light-skinned" and with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."
• Late last year at the opening of the D.C. visitors center (the one that badly and negatively missed both its budget and construction time frame), Mr. Reid was widely quoted as saying: "My staff tells me not to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway. In the summer, because of the high heat and humidity, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol. It may be descriptive but its true. But its no longer true, thanks to the air conditioning indoors. We have many bathrooms here as you can see."
• Last summer, rather than engage ordinary Americans who were noisily but peacefully protesting the health care reform bills being constructed, Mr. Reid instead decided to call them "evil mongers" who were "using lies, innuendo and rumor to drown out rational debate."
• In December, with his frustration mounting with opposition to the Senate health care reform bill he and a small cabal of supporters were constructing behind closed doors, Mr. Reid made references to those that opposed slavery, saying "there were those who dug in their heels and said slow down, its too early." With regard to women's rights, Reid insisted there were those that said slow down, there will be a better day to do that. Today isn't quite right." With regard to equal rights, he said that "some Senators resorted to the same filibuster threats that we hear today." Obviously, he is equating Republicans, all of whom currently in Congress oppose the current health care reform bills, with those demons in the past who opposed eliminating slavery, granting full rights to women, and blocking civil rights for minorities.

A few comments and observations:

• By thinking of Americans in stereotypical terms, Mr. Reid is not a leader. By viewing the President by his skin color and dialect, and implying that regular Americans smell and can use the visitors' center air conditioning and bathrooms (as if these Americans did not have air conditioning and bathrooms back home), he does not see people as individuals and celebrate diversity as much as stereotyping them according to some rather low standards.
• By calling Americans names rather than engaging in honest debate or trying to prove the worth of his legislating efforts, Mr. Reid is not a leader. By bad mouthing all those worried about the current health care reform bills and the negative financial and freedom impacts the bills will have on America, Mr. Reid has resorted to playground name calling, not a historic characteristic of a leader. He is neither tolerant or sensitive to the very people whose taxes make his lifestyle possible.
• By incorrectly blaming Republicans for just about every major civil rights problem for the past 150 years, Mr. Reid is not a leader. If memory serves me right, Abraham Lincoln, who helped free the slaves, was a Republican. When Republican Dwight Eisenhower first proposed Federal civil rights bills, it was a Democrat, Strom Thurmond, who filibustered against the effort. In the early 1960s, it was the Republicans who supported President Lyndon Johnson's equal rights efforts to a higher percentage than Democrats. A leader would know the history of the country and use it for good. Henry Reid distorts the history of the country for his short term, political gains.
• By resorting to name calling and stereotyping, Mr. Reid is not a leader. Could you imagine what the outrage would have been if a Republican politician had uttered Reid's words relative to President Obama? Nancy Pelosi would probably be on the warpath, looking for some sort of censure measure, just like she did for Joe Wilson who yelled out "liar" when the President was delivering his health care speech last summer. Which is worse, calling someone a liar or talking about their skin color and speech patterns? By speaking these thoughts, it will be another distraction from solving the nation's ills while the Democrats spend resources and time trying to minimize the words while the Republicans will waste resources and time tyring to maximize the words. A leader would have kept the nation focused, not divided.

There is a famous saying in the advertising business that goes something like the following: "I will know good advertising when I see it." Similarly, for statesmanship and leadership, "I will know it when I see it." And I do not see it with Harry Reid. Name calling, stereotyping based on skin color and speech patterns, insensitivity to other human beings, and distorting history is no way to be a leader, its only a way to exacerbate the divisions in the country and forestall the solving of the nation's problems. Sounds like a pretty stupid thing to do to me, Mr. Reid.

Perhaps Step 38 from "Love My Country, Loathe My Government" would help solve these types of problems inherent in the American political class. Step 38 would "require all Congressional members, the President and the Vice President to annually sign off on a shared value statement" to "help guide their behavior and interactions to create a political atmosphere more conducive to progress and freedom." As outined in the description of Step 38, these shared values could involve such exotic concepts as Respect, Trust, Commitment, Innovation, Integrity, and Teamwork. Not having such a process and statement does not seem to be working, as witnessed by Mr. Reid's statements, why not try having one? How much worse could it get?

Visit our website at www.loathemygovernment.com to order an autographed copy of the book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government -Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom and Destroying The American Political Class" and to sign up for the cause. The book is also available online at Amazon and Barnes And Noble.