Posted on 06/09/2002 5:14:34 AM PDT by unbiasedtruth
Published Saturday
June 8, 2002
Tim Giago: Sen. Daschle is hardly the ogre Limbaugh's complaints suggest
BY TIM GIAGO
|
|
| KNIGHT RIDDER/TRIBUNE INFORMATION SERVICES |
RAPID CITY, S.D. - Rush Limbaugh seems to have an unhealthy fixation on the Senate majority leader, Tom Daschle, D-S.D. Limbaugh just can't seem to understand how a Democrat can be elected to the Senate from a state that is mostly Republican.
One factor in the equation escapes Lim- baugh. When Daschle won his Senate seat, he took it by a very narrow margin. However, he took the majority vote on all nine of the Indian reservations in the state, and Indians almost always vote for the Democrat.
When he ran for re-election, Daschle had proved to the people of South Dakota what he could do for them, and he was a shoo-in. The people of South Dakota usually give men or women a chance to prove themselves, and then it doesn't matter what party they belong to, because, to the average voter, they are then just South Dakotans.
Limbaugh doesn't know Daschle. If I were to believe one-tenth of the garbage about Daschle spewed by Limbaugh, I would think Daschle is one of the nastiest individuals in the Senate. Several of the talking heads on the 24-hour news channels also have leveled some pretty outrageous charges against the senator.
Last Saturday, I met with Daschle at the home of "Louie Boy" and Melvina Winters on the Pine Ridge Reservation. They have turned their home into a shelter for Indian children, and over the last 20 years more than 4,000 Lakota kids have found a home and a family there. They call their shelter Wakanyejo Tisopaye O'tipi, or, as it is known on the reservation, "the Children's Home."
Daschle has made it a practice to visit "Louie Boy" and Melvina and, of course, all the children housed there, whenever he is anywhere near the reservation. Last week, Daschle had his wife, Linda, along. Daschle had some good news. He got an appropriation of $150,000 for them to build a new house. Daschle asked Louis, "How far will this $150,000 take you?" Louis explained all the things he hoped to do with the money, but when I looked at Daschle, we both knew this was far too little to accomplish all those things.
This ogre of a politician, at least in the eyes of Limbaugh, stooped down to pick up some of the little children. He knelt down in front of a badly damaged child seated in a wheelchair, and even though he knew the child did not understand him, he spoke softly to her. He hugged "Pebbles," the daughter of Louis and Melvina. She had served as one of his interns in Washington and had returned home to the reservation to get married and to carry on with the work started by her parents.
When Daschle pulled up in front of the dilapidated modular home Louis and Melvina had cleaned up and repaired to serve as a shelter for the children, all the children greeted him and Linda with signs they had made thanking him for his help. Daschle took the time to take pictures with the elders and the children.
His aides kept checking their watches, because they knew he had to speak at the grand opening of the SuAnne Big Crow Boys and Girls Club that was to take place in a few minutes. Daschle had helped to bring the various government agencies, from HUD to USDA, together to raise the money to build the club for the young people of the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Just before he was whisked away, Daschle gave all the children hugs. Someone said, just loud enough for Daschle to hear, "The senator must be operating on Indian time today." Daschle just smiled.
Standing at the lectern in the field behind the $6.1 million SuAnne Boys and Girls Club, Daschle talked about the dream of a young lady who died at age 17 and about the determination of her mother, "Chick" Big Crow, to see that her daughter did not die in vain. SuAnne died in a car crash while on her way to the Miss South Dakota Basketball selection meeting. Her dream was to build a place where the children of the reservation could come to be safe and to have fun. She called her dream "Happy Town."
Though he seldom mentions it, Daschle was largely responsible for securing the funding to build the center.
In South Dakota, Daschle has to walk a very thin line at times. He lives in a very conservative state. Race relations between Indians and whites have never been good. In fact, at times they have been so bad that he often risks his political future by working with the Indian people. An aide of former Sen. George McGovern once told me that George would try his best to help the Indian people, but he had to keep it under his hat for fear of political reprisals.
I went to school at Holy Rosary Indian Mission with "Louie Boy" Winters. I am very proud of what he has tried to do for the poor children of the reservation. They have helped save the lives and the futures of so many hurt, lost, homeless and frightened children. 
The writer is editor of The Lakota Nation Journal, a weekly newspaper.
He is also too "troubled" to be a Senator.
I think the reporter made up this part. If he knew Tommy as the rest of us know Tommy, he would know that Tommy wouldn't have to kneel.
I guess that according to this author, anyone who takes money from productive citizens (taxes) and gives it to unproductive citizens, is a nice guy.
That answer seems simple enough to me...Obviously, the state is mostly Democrat...Rush, 1+3 doesn't equal 7...
Like certain other politicians, Tom does nothing without first analyzing the potential benefit to himself. If kneeling in front of a "damaged" child and exploiting the feelings of others might earn him a "compassionate" photo-op, he'll do it. He'll do it because he knows there are people like the writer of this article who are willing to be fooled by his act. And he knows he can always go wash his hands afterwards and forget the unfortunate necessity of actually touching those he believes are beneath his notice.
Daschle has made it a practice to visit "Louie Boy" and Melvina and, of course, all the children housed there, whenever he is anywhere near the reservation.
This ogre of a politician, at least in the eyes of Limbaugh, stooped down to pick up some of the little children. He knelt down in front of a badly damaged child seated in a wheelchair, and even though he knew the child did not understand him, he spoke softly to her.
When Daschle pulled up in front of the dilapidated modular home Louis and Melvina had cleaned up and repaired to serve as a shelter for the children, all the children greeted him and Linda with signs they had made thanking him for his help. Daschle took the time to take pictures with the elders and the children.
Just before he was whisked away, Daschle gave all the children hugs.
Her dream was to build a place where the children of the reservation could come to be safe and to have fun. She called her dream "Happy Town."
I went to school at Holy Rosary Indian Mission with "Louie Boy" Winters. I am very proud of what he has tried to do for the poor children of the reservation. They have helped save the lives and the futures of so many hurt, lost, homeless and frightened children.
Yes its all about the children. He is the Majority Leader of the US Senate, not the Majority Leader for "See how I can hug your children, it means I care. To hell with the rest of the country. As long as you can hug cripple children, what does it matter that he's an obstructionist.....none of this is mentioned and this is what Limbaugh attacks him on. Not on his ability to molest...I mean hug children.
Even Hitler kissed babys.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.