Posted on 11/21/2002 3:17:21 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
Media critic Howard Kurtz and his employer, the Washington Post, are hardly known as conservatives, so his column today takes on added heft. "Has Tom Daschle lost a couple of screws?" he asks.
Note that Kurtz wrote this before the former Senate plurality leader's latest rant.
"Did the normally mild-mannered senator accuse Rush Limbaugh of inciting violence?
"He came pretty darn close. There were cameras there. You can watch the replay.
"We can understand that Daschle is down, just having lost his majority [sic] leader's job and absorbed plenty of blame for this month's Democratic debacle.
"What we can't understand is how the South Dakotan can suggest that a mainstream conservative with a huge radio following is somehow whipping up wackos to threaten Daschle and his family.
'Mainsteam'
"Has the senator listened to Rush lately? Sure, he aggressively pokes fun at Democrats and lionizes Republicans, but mainly about policy. He's so mainstream that those right-wingers Tom Brokaw and Tim Russert had him on their Election Night coverage."
Kurtz repeats Daschle's claims, then goes on:
"It got worse. Daschle talked about fundamentalism in foreign lands becoming violent, then likened it to 'shrill tone' of 'Rush Limbaugh and all the Rush wannabees [sic].'"
Kurtz notes Limbaugh's response to his radio audience: "It's not just against me but it's against you folks, the entire audience. You all now are being characterized as unsophisticated barbarians. ... This is the continuation of a pattern. Every time the Democrats lose, either elections or a major issue, they blame me, they blame talk radio, and they blame you."
Rush: Leftists' Ideas 'Can't Win'
Limbaugh said that thanks to talk radio and Fox News Channel, "suddenly these liberal politicians have to fight in the arena of ideas, and they simply can't win there because evidence refutes liberalism. This is the first salvo in an attempt, I am certain, to try and discredit or even limit the freedom or the ability of people on talk radio by characterizing it as a violent, fringe activity. ...
"I'm sure Senator Daschle would love it if nobody were out there pointing out his hypocrisy and his contradictory nature on the farm bill, logging in South Dakota, and his support or lack of, for the president on something like that war on terrorism. However, that's not how free speech works."
Here's "a sample of some of Limbaugh's 'harsh' rhetoric" offered by the amused Kurtz:
"Guess who John F. Kerry is getting presidential candidacy advice from, ladies and gentlemen? None other than The Loser, Michael S. Dukakis. I don't think God is generous enough to give us another liberal Massachusetts Democrat to run against."
And this one: "Another interesting observation is a Sally Quinn piece from the Washington Post this past weekend titled, 'All Dough And No Mo'.' She's the only writer who called 'Bubba vs. Dubya' right. Before the election, the press billed it as a war between the two – but after the election, nobody reported how it went. Bubba just disappeared. Even though her column contains a whole lot of Barbra Streisand BS, she does mention that the ideas of Bush soundly defeated the non-ideas of Bill Clinton."
The Real Reason Daschle Is Mad
Kurtz concludes: "Golly gee. We've heard worse on 'Crossfire.'
"What really rankles Daschle, we suspect, is that conservatives seem to have a cheering section among the Fox/Rush/WashTimes/NYPost/WSJ editorial page gang. Meanwhile, the liberal organs of the liberal media, from Frank Rich to the New Republic, are ripping Daschle & Co. for forfeiting the election without a message."
Is it any wonder that more and more pundits are wondering why Daschle doesn't show the decency that Dick Gephardt did and step down from his failed leadership position?
I have time. The moose is showering now.
I heard the tiny tim interviewed on Albom this afteroon - he said he didn't listen to "such programs". He made it sound like they were too icky poo for him.
No one who has watched his behavior in the past wonders about that at all. Decency is just not in his nature.
The public is learning to realize that they've been spoon-fed what Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, and Peter Jennings (and Phil Donahue from his original network tv talk show) want them to hear - and they are seeing that they've been lied to and kept in the dark.
Recent reports are indicative that the Blacks are now starting to recognize that the Democrats have been using them, and as a result, they have been kept "in their place". They're finally starting to see that the result is in the actions - as exhibited by the Conservatives - and not in the rhetoric - as exhibited by the Liberals.
Only through open and honest discussion, brought about by the public debate, will we all be able to take control of our destinies!
After all, it was the likes of Daschle, Leahy, and other Democrat committee chairpersons who kept issues bottled up in committee which prevented the issues from reaching the Senate floor for the open debate that the electorate deserves.
I suspect Bubba and Hitlery will point him in the right directon --- out the window.
Dan
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