He summed it up pretty well in this article.

Has Tom Daschle lost a couple of screws?



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 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.

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.

Here's what Daschle told reporters:

"What happens when Rush Limbaugh attacks those of us in public life is that people aren't just content to listen. People want to act because they get emotional . . . and the threats to those of us in public life go up dramatically, against us and against our families, and it's very disconcerting."

Even if that were true, can a commentator be blamed for the actions of a few crazies?

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."

Limbaugh responded on the air: "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."

Thanks to talk radio and Fox News, Limbaugh said, "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:

"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: "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."

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.

There was a time when libs thought they could compete on talk radio. But after the likes of Mario Cuomo flamed out, they've more or less ceded the turf to Sean Hannity and Ollie North and Bill O'Reilly and like-minded folks in most cities.

Clearly, the Democrats have to find a better way to get their message out. Demonizing Limbaugh, it seems safe to say, is not it.

USA Today carries a wire report on Daschle's remarks.