My Brother Harry Reid

a METI event — From an event at the Jordanian Embassy a number of years ago, in honor of BYU’s Islamic Translation Series (later, the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative, or METI). From left to right: the late Elder Neal A. Maxwell, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; then Ambassador Marwan Muasher; Senator and Mrs. Harry Reid; then BYU President Merrill J. Bateman; and some weird interloping vagrant who must have wandered in off the street (Photo used courtesy of BYU)

To say that I disagree with former Senator Harry Reid on many political issues would be to put the situation very, very mildly. I am, as I’ve explained multiple times, a serious political conservative with libertarian leanings (especially on economic issues). Moreover, Senator Reid has said and done many things that have left me wondering how on earth he could justify them.

But, for all that, he’s an active and committed Latter-day Saint, and I’ve read — and been personally told (by, among others, two then-serving LDS Republican senators) — that Senator Reid, of all the Latter-day Saints in Congress, was probably the most helpful to the Church on matters such as foreign restrictions on missionaries and with regard to other issues where Church leaders sought assistance from government officials, and, whenever he could help, the most supportive of Church initiatives in Washington DC.

So I’m saddened to say that I’ve heard certain stories of really shameful treatment of Brother Reid by fellow Latter-day Saints. They’ve been painful to learn about. I’ve never heard him say anything on the topic, though, until now:

“Reid: No group is harder on me than fellow Mormons”

In that light, I was quite pleased to read the following:

“Senator Harry Reid Receives Distinguished Public Service Award”

My brother Harry Reid