Best defense for Harry Reid: He’s slow on his feet, inarticulate and malapropic

That's the breathtaking take-a-way from Brian Greenspun's weird defense of Harry Reid's "This war is lost" comment, which was the subject of last week's column.

Of course, it is first couched in personalized attack on me for daring to bring up the topic, but that's par for the course. Not just for Brian, but in many ways for many who try to explain the merits of Harry Reid's re-election. Truth is that whether you're trying to make the case for Harry's "power" in Washington, D.C., or his "effectiveness" in Nevada or his "leadership" on social, economic and foreign issues, the facts just don't bear out much of a compelling case.

So, distraction from the facts, or the making up of the facts, become the fall-back position for those who seek to make the "re-elect Harry" argument.

In Brian's case -- and I really do urge everyone to read every last word of his Sunday column and then go back and read every word of my column last week -- he says:

"Yes, Harry said 'the war is lost' when referring to the status of America’s efforts in Iraq. And, yes, that was just one more example of why Harry is well-known for thinking one thing and saying it so very different. In short, malapropism is one of Sen. Reid’s endearing strong suits. It is an affliction most of us wish he did not have.

"But, like all of us, Harry Reid is not perfect and so we have to cringe from time to time when he tries to say one thing and doesn’t quite get there. In this case, what Sen. Reid was saying was what many, many military experts, including Gen. David Petraeus, were saying, which was that President George W. Bush’s stubborn insistence that Iraq could be won militarily was bad strategy. What this country needed to do was have a political, social, economic and military strategy if we wanted to have a long-term victory in Iraq.

"So, Harry said it wrong. The fact is that President Bush changed his strategy and incorporated what Harry and others were urging him to do. Gen. Petraeus’ surge was based on that strategic shift, and the uncontrolled deaths and untold destruction of American lives have been significantly reduced ever since."

That's the best defense for Harry Reid?

Disconnect from the facts ... then tell us that Harry's kinda slow on his feet, inarticulate and malapropic statements .... but those qualities are what really what makes him so endearing. Bet we don't see that on a HR teevee commercial anytime soon. But I bet we might see it on a Sharron Angle commercial.

Ouch. If this is the best argument for Harry, then he's in way more trouble than even I think he is.