He once called President George W. Bush a “liar” and a “loser.” He suggested in public, based on rather obviously false rumors, that Mitt Romney paid no federal income taxes. He repeatedly used the Senate floor and the constitutional legislative immunity it confers to carry on a personal vendetta with incessant accusations of nefarious activities by Republican donors Charles and David Koch.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, whose boxing career ended decades ago, could not blame punch-drunkenness for his low conduct, nor for the demotion from majority leader that he earned from voters last November for misruling the upper chamber in such a public way.