At a meeting of the Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid thought he'd try out a couple of jokes. About Asians. "I don't think you're smarter than anybody else, but you've convinced a lot of us you are," he said at the end of his speech. The audience laughed politely.

Later, as Reid bumbled off stage, he tossed off some more great material. "One problem that I've had today is keeping my 'Wongs' straight," he said, eyes unblinking. He apologized in a statement to Time this morning: "My comments were in extremely poor taste and I apologize. Sometimes I say the wrong thing."

Time notes that Reid's "comedy" may have fucked up the one thing Reid was supposed to accomplish at the meeting: get the Chamber of Commerce to endorse the Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor in Nevada. The group picked the Republican.