A little bitterness is a healthy thing

Last night at the National Building Museum in DC, Senate Dems and other well-wishers gathered for one final sendoff for the former Dem leader in the Senate, Tom Daschle.

And while most of the revelers enjoyed amusing stories about Daschle’s tenure, and avoided even mentioning Senate Republicans (all of whom were invited, but none of whom showed up), one Daschle friend helped remind us that all is not yet forgiven.

…Max Cleland, whom party lore lionizes as the first Democratic senator to fall to Republican character assassination, in 2002, also delivered a poem that was hardly gracious. “This message to those who attack you,” he warned; “you reap what you sow, so watch your back. We’re still following the leader, and you can all go to hell.”

There it is, your quote of the day.

Considering that the GOP attack machine smeared this war hero, who left three limbs in Vietnam, as “soft on terrorism,” coupled by the fact that the Republicans ran TV ads during the 2002 race featuring pictures of Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, and Cleland, equating the three as equally dangerous to American security, I can’t say I blame him for holding a bit of a grudge.