Tom Daschle says that he's been getting threats, and it's Rush Limbaugh's fault.

Looks like, out of desperation, they dug out the playbook from 1995, after Oklahoma City and their recent loss of the Congress. They figure demonizing "right-wing talk radio," and "angry white men" worked then, maybe it'll work now.

Unfortunately for their strategy, it looks to me like the "angry white men" have a (D) after their names. Terry McAuliffe, Michael Moore, Phil Donahue, Garrison Keillor...

"What happens when (radio talk show host) Rush Limbaugh attacks those of us in public life is that people aren't satisfied just to listen," the South Dakota Democrat explained. "They want to act because they get emotionally invested. And so, you know, the threats to those of us in public life go up dramatically, on our families and on us, in a way that's very disconcerting."

Simply amazing.

What does he call an "attack"?

Criticism? Pointing out actions that he'd prefer weren't publicized? Describing his actual behavior?

First he wanted "campaign finance reform" so that no one other than media could criticize him before an election. Now he doesn't want the media to be allowed to criticize him, or any other incumbent (at least not Democratic incumbents), either.

Ever.

Apparently he hates the First Amendment as much as he does the Second.

This sense of self importance would be laughable if it weren't so frightening and pathetic. Just how stupid does he think we are?

[Update a few minutes later]

Here's a story that expands on it, and has a lot more quotes. Apparently he compared talk-radio listeners to "fundamentalists in other countries" (read Taliban/Al Qaeda).

There are some quoted comments from Rush as well, which parallel mine.

[Update on Thursday morning]

Bryan Preston expands on the theme.

Well, if merely LISTENING to Rush Limbaugh makes people likely to kill, then what of reading Molly Ivins and Maureen Dowd?

Okay, okay, maybe that's not a fair comparison. What of watching violent movies and TV shows? Or playing, gasp, violent video games?!? If Limbaugh needs to be muzzled, then surely we can't actually have kids playing "Grand Theft Auto 3", can we??

Seems like they don't want people to have any say in what they do to the populace. Keep going down the road they wish to go down, and people will become more revolutionary, go figure. He probably thinks a little revolution every now and then is a bad thing too.....

Hey, who on talk radio talks fondly about vigilante activity like attorney Lynne Stewart? Kudos to Professor Volokh for letting his audience know what kinds of people appeal to many of this nation's college students.

Anyone sense the irony that these people call thmselves "Democrats"?