Since I’ve been critical of Tom Daschle before, it’s only proper I give him credit where credit is due. In a Senate floor Senate floor statement today, Tom blasted the Bush attack machine for its continuing insistence on putting the President above anything else. One part was especially well put:
The purpose of government isn’t to make the President look good. It isn’t to produce propaganda or misleading information. It is, instead, to do its best for the American people and to be accountable to the American people. The people around the President don’t seem to believe that. They have crossed a line–perhaps several lines–that no government ought to cross.
Since Tom faces what may be a tough reelection battle in a heavily Republican state, it’s great to see that he’s not letting that detract from hitting the Bushies where they need to be hit.
Tom’s comments somehwat echo Paul Krugman’s column last Friday. He noted Bush’s particular “vision” of how things should operate:
Before the war, it was your patriotic duty to trust the president’s assertions about the case for war. Once we went in and those assertions proved utterly false, it became your patriotic duty to support the troops — a phrase that, to the administration, always means supporting the president. At no point has it been legitimate to hold Mr. Bush accountable. And that’s the way he wants it.
We need to keep pointing out just what unethical lying bastards control the White House. The Center for American Progress is among those keeping a close eye on how Bush and his people continue to lie and mislead. The most recent Progress Report, called White House Tailspin, further documents just what Daschle and Krugman are saying. If you don’t receive the Progress Report already, sign up for it.
