Friday, June 15, 2007 | 7:17 a.m.
WASHINGTON - Almost as dramatic as the political firestorm Thursday over the Senate majority leader calling Gen. Peter Pace "incompetent" was a mystery about whether Harry Reid actually uttered the word.
The day started with a lead story in the Politico, a Washington-based newspaper read by everyone who is anyone on Capitol Hill. The paper reported that Reid, during a conference call with liberal bloggers this week, criticized not only Pace, the departing Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, but also Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq.
Outrage ensued. The White House offered a comment before anyone asked for one. "It seems outrageous to be issuing slanders," press secretary Tony Snow said.
Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain of Arizona dashed off a news release calling the comment "incredibly disappointing" and "highly inappropriate and regrettable." But then the standard Washington political blunder story took a twist. Maybe Reid hadn't said any such thing.
The bloggers said they couldn't remember.
Not that it would surprise anyone if Reid did bad-mouth the Joint Chiefs chairman, who is on his way out after Democratic senators said they would oppose his confirmation for a second term because he bears some responsibility for failures in Iraq. Reid once called Bush a "loser" and a "liar." Just two months ago the Nevadan blurted out what many Americans were already thinking when he declared the war in Iraq lost - cementing his spot in war history and providing campaign fodder for years to come.
But in this case, the comment couldn't be confirmed.
So what? By midday what Reid did or did not say really didn't matter anymore, as truth had become whatever ricocheted across the cable news shows and in the blogosphere .
Reid has become a political lightning rod with his high-profile position and disinterest in diplomacy, a deadly combination in Washington , where even a glance or a nod become s a statement for the record.
Reid's office said it did not record the conference call with bloggers. The senator did little to clear up the situation when he faced reporters during a news conference.
Did you call Pace incompetent , he was asked .
"I talked to him in my conference room, just him and me , and I told him how I felt, that he had not done a very good job in speaking out for some obvious things that weren't going right in Iraq. I told him that to his face," Reid said.
When pressed, Reid offered: "You have to stand in line for people to criticize Pace."
And further: "I'm not going to get into what I said or didn't say . I think we should just drop it. The fact is, he's not going to be the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, for which I'm happy."
As for Petraeus, Reid offered a different take from what the Politico reported.
"I have high regard for Gen. Petraeus," he said, adding that he was disappointed to read the general's comments in the morning paper about how progress was being made in Iraq after the particularly bloody past three months. "I am waiting to see if Gen. Petraeus can be a little more candid with us."
As the day wore on, the blogs were on fire with entries from those who were on the conference call offering criticism of the Politico's reporting and trying to recall what Reid had or had not said.
But as for the word "incompetent?"
They said they couldn't remember.
Las Vegas' Hugh Jackson, who blogs at www.lasvegasgleaner.com, admits he tuned out a bit when Reid started talking about the war. Liberal bloggers are dissatisfied with Congress' inability to swiftly end the conflict.
"I do not remember Reid calling Pace incompetent," Jackson said by phone. "I can't say that he didn't say that, but I don't remember it.
"I don't even remember the name Pace," he said.
Other big-name bloggers across the country said about the same.
Finally, late in the day, the venerable www.dailykos.com posted this update from Bob Geiger, who had put it up about 5 p.m. at his own www.bobgeiger.com:
"Here's exactly what Reid said:
"I guess the president, uh, he's gotten rid of Pace because he could not get him confirmed here in the Senate Pace is also a yes-man for the president and I told him to his face . I laid it out to him last time he came to see me . I told him what an incompetent man I thought he was."
So, Geiger wrote, did Reid utter the word "incompetent" in the same sentence with Pace's name on the conference call?
Geiger says yes.
"What he told us on that call was that he had the character to tell one of the principles in this mess exactly what he thought right to his face," Geiger added.
"And, for that, the Senate majority leader should be applauded."
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