Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid was dodging punches again Tuesday, this time trying to justify his acceptance of free admission to high-profile professional boxing matches in Las Vegas.

The ringside "credentials" were provided between 2003 and 2005 by the Nevada Athletic Commission, which regulates the state's prize fights. At the time, Sen. Reid, a Nevada Democrat, was pushing legislation that would have given the federal government ultimate regulatory authority over the boxing industry. He was allowed to sit in an area set aside by boxing promoters for the commission, which then reserves the seats for elected officials who express an interest in the commission's role overseeing a fight.

Because Sen. Reid exerts so much effort jabbing at a "culture of corruption" that he maintains is exclusive to the Republican Party, the GOP is all too happy to throw a roundhouse or two when he backs himself into a corner.

However, on a scandal scale of 1 to 10, these free fight nights rate about a 2. The idea that Sen. Reid, who has raised and handed out millions of dollars in campaign contributions during his lengthy career in office, somehow sold his office in exchange for a few good seats to boxing matches is pretty silly.

But an elected official with genuine integrity has enough common sense to recognize when he has received something of value and when it's appropriate to provide adequate compensation for the perk. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wrote a check for a credentialed seat at a fight he attended with Sen. Reid.

On Tuesday, while answering local reporters' questions about his attendance at boxing matches, Sen. Reid couldn't make those simple acknowledgements. And his defense of those freebies was an embarrassment.

Sen. Reid, himself a former boxer and boxing judge, said he needed to attend the fights to understand boxing regulations. He compared his attendance at the fights to taking an informational tour of a water facility. And he maintained that because he was elected by Nevadans, he should be able to attend events subject to state regulation free of charge, while elected officials from outside Nevada should be expected to pay.

Sen. Reid would have us believe that watching Bernard Hopkins and Oscar de la Hoya pummel each other was a more instructive chore than face-to-face meetings with members of the athletic commission. He'd have us believe that if he stood outside the MGM Grand and offered tickets to a water treatment plant, he'd have to fight off buyers willing to pay thousands of dollars. Even worse, he'd have us believe that state elected officials are entitled to complimentary access to high-profile events to serve state interests -- Cirque du Soleil, "The Phantom of the Opera" and the 2007 NBA All-Star Game, anyone?

Sadly, there aren't enough rocks alongside the Las Vegas Beltway to stone all the elected officials who've been comped in a generous way. Sen. Reid's "credentials" are about juice -- juice that gets him and other elected officials into the front row at sold-out events without waiting in line or spending a penny.

And as long as he and other politicians remain unashamed to use it, they deserve partisan beatings until all that's left of their juice is pulp.