Obama spox says Reid ‘fiercely independent’ — and the people shout “since when?”

In further explaining the split between President Barack Obama and Sen. Harry Reid over the Ground Zero mosque, White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said this: "Sen. Reid is a fiercely independent individual; it's one of his strengths as a leader of the Democratic Party."

I don't know where Bill Burton has been for the last several years, but I guarantee it has not been in Nevada. Because if he had an ounce of sensitivity to the relationship between Harry Reid and Nevadans, he would never accuse Sen. Reid of being "fiercely independent" of the White House.

In fact, that may be the issue that does in the senator in this election cycle -- his complete unwillingness to be independent. Since Obama became president, Sen. Reid has done nothing but carry water for the Obama agenda. When Nevadans said "no" to health care reform, Sen. Reid rammed it into law anyway. When Nevadans said "no" to immigration reform in the form of amnesty, Sen. Reid signaled he would see that it gets passed if re-elected. When Nevadans said "no" to cap and trade, Reid went Obama's way. There's been precious little daylight between Sen. Reid and President Obama since inauguration day.

And that's going to come back to haunt Sen. Reid. He's locked in a tight race with an opponent who stands against virtually everything Sen. Reid and President Obama stand for. If this election is a referendum on President Obama and his policies willingly enacted by Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Reid's not only going to need to put a lot more daylight between him and the president, he's going to have to mass inoculate Nevadans with some kind of amnesia drug.

Sen. Harry Reid fiercely independent?

"Since when?" Nevadans say.