Las Vegas Review-Journal Publisher Sherman Frederick lets Harry Reid know that they will not be intimidated into silence in an open letter published in Sunday’s edition:
Stop the childish bullying
This newspaper traces its roots to before Las Vegas was Las Vegas.
We’ve seen cattle ranches give way to railroads. We chronicled the construction of Hoover Dam. We reported on the first day of legalized gambling. The first hospital. The first school. The first church. We survived the mob, Howard Hughes, the Great Depression, several recessions, two world wars, dozens of news competitors and any number of two-bit politicians who couldn’t stand scrutiny, much less criticism.
We’re still here doing what we do for the people of Las Vegas and Nevada. So, let me assure you, if we weathered all of that, we can damn sure outlast the bully threats of Sen. Harry Reid.
On Wednesday, before he addressed a Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Reid joined the chamber’s board members for a meet-’n'-greet and a photo. One of the last in line was the Review-Journal’s director of advertising, Bob Brown, a hard-working Nevadan who toils every day on behalf of advertisers. He has nothing to do with news coverage or the opinion pages of the Review-Journal.
Yet, as Bob shook hands with our senior U.S. senator in what should have been nothing but a gracious business setting, Reid said: “I hope you go out of business.”
Later, in his public speech, Reid said he wanted to let everyone know that he wants the Review-Journal to continue selling advertising because the Las Vegas Sun is delivered inside the Review-Journal.
Such behavior cannot go unchallenged.
You could call Reid’s remark ugly and be right. It certainly was boorish. Asinine? That goes without saying.
But to fully capture the magnitude of Reid’s remark (and to stop him from doing the same thing to others) it must be called what it was — a full-on threat perpetrated by a bully who has forgotten that he was elected to office to protect Nevadans, not sound like he’s shaking them down.
No citizen should expect this kind of behavior from a U.S. senator. It is certainly not becoming of a man who is the majority leader in the U.S. Senate. And it absolutely is not what anyone would expect from a man who now asks Nevadans to send him back to the Senate for a fifth term.
If he thinks he can push the state’s largest newspaper around by exacting some kind of economic punishment in retaliation for not seeing eye to eye with him on matters of politics, I can only imagine how he pressures businesses and individuals who don’t have the wherewithal of the Review-Journal.
For the sake of all who live and work in Nevada, we can’t let this bully behavior pass without calling out Sen. Reid. If he’ll try it with the Review-Journal, you can bet that he’s tried it with others. So today, we serve notice on Sen. Reid that this creepy tactic will not be tolerated.
We won’t allow you to bully us. And if you try it with anyone else, count on going through us first.
That’s a promise, not a threat.
And it’s a promise to our readers, not to you, Sen. Reid.
Hat-tip: Grandma T
August 31st, 2009 at 8:24 am
Good bye Senator Harry Reid.
August 31st, 2009 at 8:28 am
Awesome. How big is this paper? Any and all help against Reid is a blessing.
August 31st, 2009 at 8:39 am
Well, Harry Reid’s fortunes are dimming…….yeah
Also, a piece about Pawlenty and 2012.
http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aJcczU_RQS.U
August 31st, 2009 at 9:00 am
#2,
It’s the biggest paper in Nevada.
August 31st, 2009 at 9:05 am
Thnaks Michael, that is really good news.
August 31st, 2009 at 9:05 am
Not surprising, but still…WOW! The sheer audacity and nerve of these lifeling politicians!
August 31st, 2009 at 9:51 am
August 30th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
http://race42008.com/2009/08/30/300-am-plus-a-few-senate-thoughts/comment-page-1/#comment-566331
August 31st, 2009 at 10:10 am
I saw this piece on Hugh Hewitt’s blog yesterday. He was using it to ask people to send money to Danny Tarkanian’s campaign against Reid. Not a bad idea, even if Reid is a coreligionist.
August 31st, 2009 at 10:49 am
Harry Reid has always had a problem with his mouth. It seems to have gotten worse in the last few years. Old age, perhaps?
August 31st, 2009 at 12:43 pm
This article make me happy. Don’t know what else to say.
August 31st, 2009 at 12:44 pm
make(s) me happy that is.
August 31st, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Palin has received 1,070 invitations since leaving office: “More than 950 requests for speeches have poured in f.. http://bit.ly/3YEWcL
August 31st, 2009 at 3:42 pm
http://www.fireharryreid.com/
August 31st, 2009 at 6:38 pm
I was astounded when I read this article but I’m very happy that people aren’t putting up with it anymore.
August 31st, 2009 at 6:38 pm
I was astounded when I read this article but I’m very happy that people aren’t putting up with it anymore.
August 31st, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Good show! If things don’t work out in Nevada, come to Georgia-we need more media with a “full set of ‘nads”. Anyway, perhaps all you good Nevada folks can help ole Harry exit stage left.