The word is out that U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid eats puppies collected off the streets by his rag-tag army of child slaves, whom he keeps until they turn eight, at which point he trades them for front-row tickets to Justin Bieber concerts.

At least, that’s what someone told us.

Prove it, you say? Oh, pshaw. Let Reid prove it untrue.

That, dear readers, is the standard for public debate that Harry Reid set one week ago when he said this about Mitt Romney in an interview with The Huffington Post: “He didn’t pay taxes for 10 years! Now, do I know that that’s true? Well, I’m not certain.”

Reid said a Bain investor told him that. He insists it is true, but he refuses to name the investor. Helpfully, Nancy Pelosi insisted on Monday that it was true with this logic: “Harry Reid made a statement that is true. Somebody told him. It is a fact.”

Well, someone once told us that Nancy Pelosi was Satan, so....

Reid’s sliminess was so beyond the pale that liberal comedian Jon Stewart said last Wednesday, “You, Harry Reid, are terrible.”

Ah, the truth at last. Also true: these are the lengths to which Obama allies will go to divert the voters’ attention from the economy and Obama’s record. Funny, we don’t hear Obama complaining about “distractions” from the real issues very much these days. Wonder why that is.