"Call Someone Else" Harry Reid

Several years ago my brother Gerry half-jokingly relayed what his first words would be if he learned that one of his siblings or close friends had, for some crazy reason, killed someone. “I’ll bring the saw; you get the acid,” he said.

I liked that response.  It’s what I would expect from a brother or close friend, and hopefully what they would expect from me. You stick by each other in time of crisis.  No matter what.

Anthony Weiner needs friends like that now.  And he doesn’t seem to have any, save, perhaps, Matt Damon, for whom I now have some grudging respect. Damon pointedly said today that a fundraiser he had planned for Weiner was postponed and not cancelled.  He would be there should Weiner want to reschedule.

Contrast that with how quickly Weiner’s former colleagues jumped ship on him. Nancy Pelosi scheduled ethics hearings almost before Weiner’s excruciating Monday news conference was over, and this today from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) as quoted by The Associated Press:

“Asked what he would do if Weiner called for advice, [Reid] replied he would tell him ‘call somebody else.’”

“Call someone else.”  That’s what Harry Reid would say.

It is a quote I may never forget.  It is right up there with Reid’s “The war is lost” remark during the most trying period of the Iraq War.

I haven’t seen eye to eye with Anthony Weiner since I worked in the New York City Council close to 20 years ago, when he was a member, and Weiner can call me for advice any time.  I would tell him that, after doing everything possible to save his marriage, he should find new friends.

I am always amazed at how quickly some politicians, on both sides of the aisle, throw their colleagues overboard in times of crisis.  Weiner may have done some unfortunate things – and yes he lied about them – but that doesn’t make him disposable cargo on the SS Democrat.

Weiner didn’t kill anyone.  He doesn’t need acid and a saw. But I’m sure could use a friend with a set right now, and grumpy old Harry Reid doesn’t have one. Never did.