Flashback: Watch Harry Reid Accuse Rand Paul of "protect[ing]…terrorists, to cover up their gun purchases"

Was it only two years ago that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada), very much a Democrat, went rhetorically ballistic against Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), very much a civil libertarian, over the once-reviled-by-Democrats PATRIOT Act? Watch, and see if you can stifle the gag reflex:

Rand Paul then responded to the "scurrilous" charge:

Like so many civil liberties issues this past week, Reason covered the Reid-Paul PATRIOT dust-up in real time, including Senior Editor Jacob Sullum's column "Wait and Hurry Up: The artificial panic behind the rush to extend the PATRIOT Act." 

Comments

[Hugh Akston]

Harry Reid is a fucking scumbag.

[Andrew S.]

I hope you didn't need this video to remind you of that.

It's a shame that the Nevada GOP couldn't even run a half-competent candidate against him.

[ChrisO]

The Las Vegas casino workers unions were going to get Reid the numbers he needed, regardless of the opponent.

[Episiarch]

You can say that again.

[alan_s]

"Watch Harry Reid..."

No thanks.

[fish]

It's a shame that the Nevada GOP couldn't even run a half-competent candidate against him.

It's a shame that the Nevada GOP couldn't even run a half-competent candidate against him.

This just makes more sense!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Blame the party structure for how they they flesh out internal candidates. You're either a walking talking point regurgitator or you're crazy enough to take on the party system. Very few truly sane people are willing to take the system on from the outside, so quite often you're left with the nutjobs filling the void.

[hamilton]

Actually, it's a generic shame that the opposition parties for candidates like Reid, Boehner, Feinstein, Schumer, and that ilk can't find even somewhat reasonable candidates who could just put out a damn commercial or two of the aforementioned morons drooling on themselves in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body and coast to office that way.

It's a pity the country can't figure out how to react to "We have to pass it to see what's in it", or questions about an island overturning or snide-ass comments about drone-striking a kid or two. The reaction seems obvious:

(1) Vomit
(2) Vote for Other Guy

We get the government we richly deserve.

[Dweebston]

But if we don't vote for our guy, the other team wins.

[Cyto]

He's just about the only guy on their side, and the civil-liberties left is falling all over themselves to decry Rand Paul as a nut-job, and probably a racist nazi. As a group, people are just about too stupid to survive.

[Mickey Rat]

"...the civil-liberties left..."

What evidence do you have that such a group actually exists?