Now that’s what we’re talking about.

Just a day after we criticized U.S. Sen. Harry Reid for being too timid to advance a real Democratic agenda in Congress, The Associated Press’ John Solomon weighed in with a long story about Reid accepting free boxing tickets from the Nevada Athletic Commission.

And, in a twist that must have brought broad smiles to the faces of editors at the Review-Journal, the newspaper dug up a nice AP photo of a saintly looking Reid in front of a podium labeled “Honest Leadership. Open Government” to accompany the AP story, which they put on Page One.

Nice.

It seems Reid accepted tickets on three occasions, and that they were worth between “several hundred and several thousand dollars each” at the very same time Nevada boxing commissioners were trying to beat back a piece of federal legislation co-sponsored by Reid that would, among other things, create a federal boxing commission.

The bill, which was also co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. John McCain, ultimately failed. But McCain, who attended one fight with Reid, insisted on picking up the cost of his $1,400 ticket. U.S. Sen. John Ensign also accepted free tickets, but had recused himself from the issue since his dad worked at Mandalay Resort Group, and that company hosted prize fights.

We know what you’re thinking. Does the AP story contain embarrassing quotes? Oh, you know the AP story contains embarrassing quotes. Let’s take a look:

* “Anyone from Nevada would say I’m glad he is there taking care of the state’s No. 1 businesses,” Reid said. Well, senator, we at Various Things & Stuff aren’t from Nevada, but we’ve lived here for 12 years and we think taking free tickets from a state agency — or anybody for that matter — who is trying to influence legislation is unethical and wrong. Plus, how the hell are you “taking care” of the state’s business by sitting and watching a prize fight? Unless the business you’re “taking care of” is saving a few Benjamins, that is.

* “I love the fights anyways, so it wasn’t like being punished,” Reid added. No, the punishment should come from the Senate Ethics Committee, where ringside seats are free.

* “People who deal with me and have over the years know that I am an advocate for what I believe in. I always try to do it fair, never take advantage of people or purpose,” Reid said. But in this case, Reid did take advantage, at least of an athletic commission desperate for face time with him on an issue its members were concerned about. Add to that the fact that Reid is well-off enough to have paid for the tickets out of his own pocket, or that his PAC is well-heeled enough to have paid for the tickets, and you have one hell of a bad situation that could easily have been avoided. (That goes for Ensign, too. It’s still unethical to take free stuff, even if you’re not voting. Your constituents don’t get free stuff; neither should you.)

* Reid’s only concern is “…the willingness of the press … to take these instances and try to make a big deal out of them.” Oh, so it’s John Solomon’s fault? The AP’s fault? It’s not the fact that Reid has made ethics a key avenue of attack against Republicans, and has shown rank hypocrisy himself on those issues, right?

Here’s a clue: You can’t slam Republicans for being whores for lobbyist Jack Abramoff when you yourself have taken money from him while writing letters in support of his clients. You can’t complain about a Republican “culture of corruption” while at the same time taking free prize fight tickets from a state agency that wants to lobby you on legislation. You can’t jump on the bandwagon when the press unearths Republican scandals and then bitch when it turns its searchlight toward your own ethical foibles.

Why? Because there really is a Republican culture of corruption, a coziness and influence over the party from corporate America that is insidious to our democracy. And we need somebody to stand up to it, somebody who has clean hands and a passionate understanding that the way the system presently works is broken, and that it needs fixing.

With today’s story, and other revelations in the past, we know that Harry Reid is not that person.

If only he knew it.

UPDATE: We at Various Things & Stuff have learned — by reading the Las Vegas Gleaner — that Reid’s office has deployed a lengthy response to Solomon’s AP story. To read it, as well as the Gleaner’s take on the piece, which differs from ours, check out this link.