That was then, this is ... oh %$30!!

Drollest news story of the day:

Daschle's demise came as he was becoming a late-night talk show gag line and a YouTube star. A recently posted video reprised a 1986 congressional reelection campaign ad in which Daschle (who just bought a 2008 BMW convertible) is shown driving his 1971 Pontiac while a narrator intones:

"Among Washington's BMWs and limos is this: Since 1971, the old Pontiac has served its owner well. Sure, it's rusted, and it burns a little oil, but after 15 years and 238,000 miles, Tom Daschle still drives his old car to work every day. Maybe he's sentimental. Or just cheap. Whatever the case, isn't it too bad the rest of Washington doesn't understand that a penny saved is a penny earned?"

Daschle and his transformation should be the emblematic cautionary tale of American elite culture in the last twenty years.

no body's reputation survived the Bush Years.