Bad legal strategy is not "throwing an election"-- he could have conceded a month earlier. Why assume malevolence when incompetence is sufficient explanation?
-why do we still ignore the fact that not one senator, including the great white hope Paul Wellstone, -signed the -petitions of the black caucus?
Because they cut a deal on control of committees that flipped control to the Democrats once Jeffords jumped, thereby blocking rightwing judges for two years, blocking Bush's second tax cut of December 2001, blocking the bankruptcy bill, and a longer list that I've posted before. So they avoided a useless symbolic vote on the election in favor of real power.
-why do we ignore the votes in favor of the patriot act and of allowing shrub to wage war?
The final vote on the Patriot Act was craven, but anyone who followed the amendments up to final passage know there were serious partisan divisions on a range of votes. Why ignore all those votes?
-- Nathan Newman
----- Original Message ----- From: Nathan Newman To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2003 12:03 PM Subject: Re: Daschle eats his words, and then some
I'm not sure what you expect- Daschle is from one of the more conservative states and still denounced Bush's failures and has only apologized for the timing of his remarks. Daschle hasn't even been a particularly strong antiwar person-- he voted for the resolution last fall-- so what's the point?
We do this game all the time-- ignore the two-thirds of House Dems who voted against authorization for war, ignore Gore's denunciation of the war leadup, downplay critical remarks on the war even from Dems who voted for the fall resolution-- then claim, see there is no difference.
-- Nathan
----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com>
[So Nathan, can you tell us how this is anything but revolting?]
Daschle Says His Iraq Criticism of Bush Ill-Timed Fri Mar 28, 6:52 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle labels as ill-timed his charge that President Bush (news - web sites) "failed so miserably at diplomacy that we're now forced to war."
Daschle said in Washington on March 17: "I'm saddened, saddened that this president failed so miserably at diplomacy that we're now forced to war." He voiced his criticism just hours before the president gave Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) an ultimatum to leave Iraq (news - web sites) in 48 hours or face a U.S.-led invasion.
"I don't think the timing of those comments were necessarily the best," Daschle was quoted as telling reporters from his home state of South Dakota on Thursday. "I had no idea when I said them what the timing of the military operation would be." A Daschle aide on Friday confirmed the senator's remarks.
In response to a wave of Republican criticism, Daschle said the next day he stood by his remarks. A Daschle aide said on Friday the senator still stands by them.
In speaking with South Dakota reporters on Thursday, Daschle saluted Bush's execution of the war as well as the U.S. troops fighting it.