<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Largely because I disagree with your assessment of Daschle.  He's a piss-poor  public speaker but for two years, he's kept the Dems pretty solid in blocking a range of Bush legislation and judges.  With a not terrific hand, he's actually blocked quite a bit of the damage Bush has tried to do, from Sutton and Estrada to ANWR to the December Bush tax cut to the bankruptcy bill.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I think that's all pretty praisworthy in my book</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>As for the column, check out the Progressive Populist-- it runs twice a month at <A href="http://www.populist.com">www.populist.com</A> :)</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=rhisiart@earthlink.net href="mailto:rhisiart@earthlink.net">R</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=lbo-talk@lists.panix.com href="mailto:lbo-talk@lists.panix.com">lbo-talk@lists.panix.com</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, March 30, 2003 5:57 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Daschle eats his words, and then some</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#008000 size=2>nathan, it's interesting how you continually put an intellectual face -- and rationale if one could call it that -- on incompetence, weakness, corruption, failure and stupidity.   you find "reason" where there is none.  strategy among the hopeless and confused.  and sense among the senseless.   you should be writing columns for a newspaper somewhere; an embedded journalist for the fools paradise set.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#008000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#008000 size=2>R</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#008000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #008000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=nathanne@nathannewman.org href="mailto:nathanne@nathannewman.org">Nathan Newman</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=lbo-talk@lists.panix.com href="mailto:lbo-talk@lists.panix.com">lbo-talk@lists.panix.com</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, March 30, 2003 11:23 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Daschle eats his words, and then some</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV>----- Original Message -----<BR>From: "RE" <<A href="mailto:earnest@tallynet.com">earnest@tallynet.com</A>><BR><BR><BR>>But Daschle does seem to think that unless he apologizes he will be in<BR>>trouble, so he believes someone is paying attention.     It's just not<BR>clear<BR>>to me if he is being overwhelmed by public opinion's vagaries, or allowing<BR>>himself to be overwhelmed in a masochistic, stupefying gesture.   In that<BR>>respect I wish he'd just keep his mouth shut in the first place, rather<BR>than<BR>>say "Look at me, I'm powerful, and even I have to crumble and apologize."<BR><BR>Actually I think it was more strategic than that, laying the political<BR>marker that Bush had screwed up the diplomacy then signing off for the<BR>duration.  And he never apologized for the analysis, only for the timing--<BR>which in many ways is a great way to appear to apologize while not<BR>withdrawing the substance of the criticism.  When things go bad, despite<BR>official Dem support for the troops, the GOP won't be able to then say that<BR>it was really a bipartisan position.<BR><BR>Daschle and the Dems are trying to have their cake (criticize Bush) and eat<BR>it too (appear supportive of the troops). There may be better strategic ways<BR>to do it, but I think people are overemphasizing the apology and not enought<BR>the substance of the criticism.<BR><BR>-- Nathan<BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>