Again, take a look at Senator Daschle's big "meanness" speech earlier this month:
Remarks by Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle at Kansas State University’s Landon Lecture Series Monday, May 10, 2004: “Can We Talk? Free Speech and Civil Discourse in Turbulent Times"Thank you, President Wefald....
What disappointed many of us wasn’t just the outcome of the 2002 elections. It was also the startling meanness in many of the races. Most disturbing was the calculated decision by Republican operatives to use September 11 as a political weapon in the elections. In my state, South Dakota, my fellow Senator, Tim Johnson was running for re-election. Out of 535 members of Congress, Tim Johnson was the only member who actually had a child fighting in uniform in the war on terrorism. His son Brooks is a staff sergeant in the Army’s 101st Airborne Division. He has served in Iraq, Bosnia and Kosovo. In the fall of 2002, while Brooks Johnson was fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan; Republicans ran TV ads in South Dakota comparing Tim Johnson to Osama Bin Laden.
Everyone should applaud the bravery of Brooks Johnson. He was on the front lines fighting for freedom. Anyone who questions his patriotism or compares him to Osama bin Laden should be flogged, at least rhetorically. Everyone agrees on that point. But Daschle's statement that Senator Johnson was "compared" to Osama bin Laden is simply false. That never happened. It's a myth. And the media should make this clear. If they don't, Daschle is getting away with a big whopper.
Here's more from the speech:
There is nothing inherently wrong with partisanship. To the contrary, pride in one’s party and the principles for which it stands can be admirable. But it should be principled. It should acknowledge – as Senators Dole and Kassebaum and others do – that there are things that matter more than political parties; there are lines we should not cross, regardless of the advantage we think it might give our party. Demonizing those with whom we disagree politically does not serve the interests of democracy. It does not resolve differences. It inflames passions and deepens divisions.
Well, yes, agreed. So why didn't Daschle condemn Johnson for Taliban remark? The text of what Daschle said is high-minded. But Daschle's unwillingness to criticize Johnson makes the whole speech ring hollow. Here's more:
America has real enemies in this world. Creating false enemies among us to score political points does not make us safer; it makes us more vulnerable. And trying to bully and intimidate others into silence or compliance does not lead to progress. It leads to increased polarization and, eventually, paralysis.
Yes, like scoring points with a line about the "Taliban wing of the Republican Party." As for intimidation, see this long article about Daschle's "Sopranos-style" stifling of dissent in South Dakota. After such reports, in addition to some of Howard Dean's rhetoric, Gore's blow-up yesterday, Kerry's statement about the Bush administration as a "bunch of lying crooks," the DNC Chairman's "AWOL" comment, Michael Moore's "deserter" statement, etc, which Daschle didn't denounce, one doubts Daschle's consistency and sincerity.
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