Ugh: Daschle: "I'm saddened, saddened that this president failed so miserably at diplomacy that we're now forced to war. Saddened that we have to give up one life because this president couldn't create the kind of diplomatic effort that was so critical for our country."
- House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert: "Those comments may not undermine the president as he leads us into war, and they may not give comfort to our adversaries, but they come mighty close."
- New York Post Editorial: In point of fact, they do give comfort to America's enemies.
The American people are rightly incensed by the Democrats' outrageous rhetoric.
- House Majority Leader Tom DeLay: "Is Tom Daschle the official Democrat hatchet man or just a taxpayer-funded pundit?"
"Fermez la bouche, Monsieur Daschle." (That translates roughly as "Shut your mouth, Mr. Daschle.")
- Sen. Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania Republican: "I think Senator Daschle clearly articulated the French position ..."
- White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer: "He's essentially blaming President Bush for the fact that we may be on the verge of war."
- Rush Limbaugh: [That was] Senator Tom Daschle's vicious attack - the "politics of personal destruction" - against President George W. Bush ...
If I were Daschle, I'd be ashamed to act this way. Every politician in Washington said "we are now united" after those attacks [of 9/11], but it seems some of them were only mouthing words.
- Jonah Goldberg: [Diplomacy failed when] French showed their cards: opposing Bush is more important than their integrity. It's sad to say, but it looks like Daschle is holding the same cards.
- National Review's Kathryn Jean Lopez: You know, I found the lack of partisanship right after Sept. 11 uncomfortable. But Tom Daschle isn't being partisan. The guy's just lost his mind.
- Hugh Hewitt (in the Weekly Standard): SENATOR TOM DASCHLE'S attack on President Bush on Monday was unprecedented for the leader of the opposition party in Congress, but high-profile Americans have a long history of getting it wrong on matters of war and peace. Most famous among these is Charles Lindbergh ...
Lindbergh's efforts were not without harm.
[Historians deal] with Lindbergh in a footnote. A future historian of the war to liberate Iraq may not be so generous with Senator Daschle. ... At some point the American public deserves to have the proponents of vulnerability at home and indecision abroad rebuked.
- Republican National Chairman Marc Racicot: [Called Daschle's remarks] "divisive and brazen political posturing."
"It is disheartening and shameful for Senator Daschle, who has previously advocated and authorized the use of force in Iraq, to now blame America first."
- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist: "Our men and women literally are in a countdown before fighting is initiated, and any remarks that their lives in some way have been compromised by the president of the United States is irresponsible."
- Tucker Carlson (CNN Crossfire co-host) : According to Tom Daschle we are going to war not because Saddam possesses and has used weapons of mass destruction, not because Saddam has trained and harbored terrorists, not because of Saddam's existence threatens the entire civilized world. No. American troops will die because George W. Bush couldn't convince France and Germany to what? Daschle didn't even say. Maybe he'll explain further the families of fallen American Soldiers.
[Carlson reads a letter to Crossfire] "As a U.S. Army retiree and war veteran, I was furious when I heard what Daschle had to say yesterday. He would say or do anything for his party's political gain and to make President Bush look bad. Yesterday, Daschle did it by spitting in the face of our sons and daughters who serve and are ready to fight a war."
- Sen. James Inhofe (R - Oklahoma): "I call on Senator Daschle to apologize."
- Michael Barone (USN&WR): Like a vulture hovering over the battlefield, Daschle is seeking gains from deaths in war.
NOTE: We're still waiting for Andrew Sullivan to weigh in on this issue.
posted by Quiddity at 3/19/2003 04:39:00 AM 
