Editorial: Boxing tickets no big deal in Reid's world

We're not inclined to make a big deal out of the Associated Press article this week revealing that U.S. Senator Harry Reid accepted free ringside tickets from the Nevada Athletic Commission to professional boxing matches while he was drafting federal legislation regulating the sport.

This is Nevada, after all, the land of mobster Bugsy Siegel and the wiseguys. We have a legacy of corruption to uphold in this state, and Sen. Reid is just doing his part to perpetuate the mystique. Besides, we're talking boxing and politics, which aren't exactly known for their squeaky-clean records or perfect adherence to the highest ethical standards.

We're reasonably certain that nobody Sin City is going to lose much sleep over a boxing promoter slipping a politician a couple of tickets to a prize fight in hopes of getting favored treatment back on Capitol Hill. It just goes with the territory, where influence peddling is not only condoned; it is expected. Reid told AP that Nevadans are glad that he was at the boxing matches taking care of the state's No. 1 business. Funny thing is he's probably right.

So what if the Senate ethics rulebook advises against lawmakers accepting gifts connected to legislation they are writing. Everybody knows it happens all the time: quid pro quo - you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. It's what makes the world go round. Nobody blinked an eye last fall when Reid accepted $5,000 from the Coushatta Indian tribe, a client of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, after the senator went to bat for them over a casino dispute with a rival tribe. He insists he never took any money from Abramoff himself.

OK. Fine. We have no reason to doubt the senator.

Think of it as grease - slimy stuff to kind of help keep things moving along the skids.

For Reid, the sticky part is reconciling these actions with his advocacy of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which he and his Democratic colleagues said was necessary to "protect the government from the Republican culture of corruption and quid pro quo politics" as if the GOP has a corner on the corruption market.

They crucified Republican congressman Tom Delay for accepting gifts from Abramoff, including paid golf vacations to Scotland, concert tickets and skybox seats at sporting events - not boxing matches, mind you, but sporting events just the same. Delay was subsequently forced to step down from his post as House majority leader while Reid remains the annointed one at his post as minority leader.

The laws of the universe say it's hard to climb onto your soapbox and blast your opponents for their "pay for play" politics, then hang out at the fights with your buddies on the Athletic Commission's dime without people noticing ... or remembering that those who throw stones best not live in glass houses.