Reid Accepts Boxing Tickets -- Desperate GOP Rejoices

In an era where the word "corruption" is linked to "Republican" as readily as "Limbaugh" goes with "Oxycontin," it's no wonder that the right-wing gets positively giddy over the idea of any Democrat getting caught with his or her hand in the cookie jar. So the far-right bloggers and a mainstream media eager to gin up the Washington corruption epidemic to make it look less like a one-sided, GOP affair, are thrilled with the non-story about Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) accepting free tickets to some Las Vegas boxing matches.

They've been all over this like Fox News devouring a White House or Republican National Committee (RNC) press release.

It seems that Reid, who is a former Nevada state gaming commissioner and was once a fighter himself, accepted tickets to three professional boxing matches from Nevada officials. The GOP would have us believe, that these guys were hoping that Reid would -- for the price of a few ducats -- turn against his long-held commitment to establishing federal oversight of boxing.

Reid accepted the seats from the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) for fights in Las Vegas between 2003 and 2005 when, at the same time, he was advocating legislation to undermine the authority and fight-approval process of that same body.

"Anyone from Nevada would say I'm glad he is there taking care of the state's No. 1 businesses," Reid said when asked about the propriety of accepting the tickets. "I love the fights anyways, so it wasn't like being punished."

Pushing aside the fact that what Reid did was not illegal -- there is an exception in Senate rules for gifts from governmental agencies such as the NAC -- it's obvious that Republicans see the world in their own image and, when they hear something like this, assume the person's motivation to be as corrupt as their own desires would be.

But this attempt to paint the Democrats as equally corrupt is so stupid it doesn't even pass the most basic common-sense test.

For one, Reid has long believed that federal oversight (of state authorities) is necessary in the sport he loves so much and, over the last five years, has been at the forefront of efforts to legislate such control. While it's possible that the folks at the NAC really believed they could sway Reid with a few tickets, I'm sure they knew it was as likely as Ann Coulter becoming a Democrat. In fact, Reid continued to take actions that were against the NAC's interests after all of this alleged impropriety.

"This proposed commission, working closely with state athletic commissions, will establish guiding principles to effectively rid the sport of boxing from its maladies," Reid said at a 2001 boxing-reform hearing for greater federal regulation of boxing. "The commission would provide minimal protection for boxers who fight in states that currently have no or few standards, while looking to states such as Nevada to continue the practice of enforcing their already high and capable standards."

And the proof is in the pudding. Six months after accepting some free tickets in September of 2004, Reid voted to pass the Professional Boxing Amendments Act of 2005. Reid also cosponsored the Professional Boxing Amendments Act of 2003 which also was intended to foster greater federal control over the sport. Both measures went strongly against what the people who had allegedly influenced Reid wanted.

Leave it to a rube from tiny Searchlight, Nevada to not understand that when you take a bribe, you're not suppose to work against what your patron wants.

Meanwhile, look for the RNC to try to make this the same as the acts committed by their Rogues Gallery, which includes imprisoned GOP Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who was convicted after admitting to taking $2.4 million in bribes, a luxury yacht and a Rolls-Royce in return for political favors.

And let's not forget that the man they're trying to smear is the same Harry Reid who faced death threats while Nevada state gaming commissioner -- Reid's wife once found a bomb attached to one of their cars -- in an effort to rid his state's gaming industry of organized-crime influence.

Yeah, he sounds like a real crook, doesn’t he?

Look, knowing how the Republicans will invent things to vilify Democrats, much less leveraging something with even the slightest appearance of impropriety, perhaps Reid would be wise to turn down any future offers of free fight tickets. But the fact is, Reid was considering federal legislation that could have harmed a key industry in his state and one could easily argue that he was simply fulfilling a responsibility to attend a related event and speak to local people about their point of view -- even if, as Reid admits, it wasn't exactly hard duty for him.

And since the NAC is a taxpayer-financed entity, Reid effectively took the tickets from Nevada residents, which is not unreasonable, given that he was considering law on the same subject matter as the events he attended.

So what will the GOP come up with next?

My prediction: "Nancy Pelosi accepts free drink from bartender after leaving generous tip."

You can reach Bob Geiger at geiger.bob@gmail.com