To say it was the most reckless thing Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has ever said might be underestimating his reputation of irresponsibility, but it had to be close.  In attempting to shame Senate Republicans for not supporting a plan to destroy the quality and affordability of healthcare in the United States, Reid made the following statement:

"Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all the Republicans can come up with is, 'slow down, stop everything, let's start over.' If you think you've heard these same excuses before, you're right.  When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said 'slow down, it's too early, things aren't bad enough'...When this body was on the verge of guaranteeing equal civil rights to everyone regardless of the color of their skin, some senators resorted to the same filibuster threats that we hear today."

Who is advising this man? 

There are so many reasons this statement is foolishly unwise, it is tough to know where to start.  First of all, Reid might want to remember that it was the Democratic Party that was the Party of slavery.  While Lincoln and the Republicans fought for the abolition of this terrible practice, it was Reid's progenitors that bitterly clung to the racist institution of enslavement.  Mr. Reid, it's best not to reference the cowardly effort to perpetuate slavery when that legacy belongs to your own party.

Secondly, Reid's comment about the civil rights filibuster is undoubtedly a reference to Strom Thurmond's famous 1957 effort against that legislation.  But at the time Thurmond led the filibuster, he was a Democrat.  His switch to the Republican Party wouldn't happen until several years later.  In fact, over 80% of those who filibustered in an effort to kill the civil rights legislation were of the same party as Harry Reid.  Mr. Reid, it's best not to reference the cowardly effort to prevent civil rights advancements when that legacy belongs to your own party.

Next, it evidently hasn't occurred to Mr. Reid that the consequence of this healthcare legislation would be to restrict the freedom of choice to individuals.  It would require government approval of healthcare decisions, government approval of health insurers, an individual mandate that doesn't allow a person the option to choose not to purchase some government approved insurance, and (as nearly all of its supporters recognize) is a step towards the complete abolition of the private insurance industry.  That means socialized medicine.  Mr. Reid, it's odd that someone who favors stripping people of their freedom of choice in something as significant as their health and well being (making individuals completely at the mercy of government for it) would be referencing slavery at all.

But what makes Reid's slavery remark most incoherent is that he apparently fails to recognize that there is but one issue in modern American politics comparable to slavery, and it has nothing to do with legislation currently before Congress. There is only one other similar issue where the basic rights of man are being denied by those in power, and that's the issue of abortion. And it is Reid and his Democratic party that have taken the slaveholders' position.  Mr. Reid, it is you who boldly stands in the shadow and proudly walks in the footsteps of the plantation owners.

Remember, those plantation owners were the "pro-choicers" of their day. They believed that anyone should have the choice to own another human being and do with them whatever they pleased. And when the abolitionists spoke up and said that every human had value and should be granted unalienable rights, the pro-choice slave owners scoffed. That is exactly what Harry Reid and the Democrats in Washington are doing right now with regard to innocent life in the womb. 

In the name of choice, they are saying that it's okay for one human being to own another human being and do with them what they please - even if that means killing them. And when the human rights advocates known as "pro-lifers" speak up and say that every human has value and should be granted unalienable rights, Reid and his Party scoff.

Mr. Reid, there is but one party and one Senate leader that is comparable to the slavery advocates, and you needn't look further than a mirror to find him.