Tha Appearance Of Impropriety
Harry Reid, after a couple of days of bobbing and weaving - and a heated defense from the left blogosphere - has finally admitted that his taking of free boxing tickets won't be repeated. As I said when I first posted on this, the appearance of impropriety costs you the moral high ground.
Reversing course, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid's office acknowledged Wednesday night he misstated the ethics rules governing his acceptance of free boxing tickets and has decided to avoid taking such gifts in the future.
The Nevada senator still believes it was "entirely permissible" for him to accept ringside seats for three professional boxing matches in 2004 and 2005 from the Nevada Athletic Commission but has nonetheless decided to avoid doing so in the future, his office said.
"In light of questions that have been raised about the practice, Senator Reid will not accept these kinds of credentials in the future in order to avoid even the faintest appearance of impropriety," spokesman Jim Manley said.
The announcement came after The Associated Press confronted Reid's office early Wednesday with conclusions from several ethics experts that the Senate leader misstated congressional ethics rules in trying to defend his actions.
It may or may not have been permissible under the applicable ethics rules. By now the water is so muddy it's a bit hard to see the bottom. But by trying to use the double-edged sword, the Democrats should have realized it would come back on them. Which is why I have always maintained this was a really bad strategy to try.
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The Real Ugly American.com » Blog Archive » Whats Wrong With Free Tickets? — Thursday, 1 June , 2006 @ 7:05 am
