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R.I. Sen. Whitehouse slams GOP critics of health-care overhaul
The rhetoric was harsh on both sides. Republicans accused Democrats of making deals to rush through a complex bill that a majority of Americans oppose. Democrats accused Republicans of fear-mongering and obstructionist tactics that set new lows for political discourse.
Through it all, some of the most biting oration during Sunday's session of the U.S. Senate came from Rhode Island's own Sheldon Whitehouse.
In a prepared speech that has gained attention across the country, the state's junior senator likened Republican opponents of health-care reform to an "aggrieved minority"–one whose "malignant and vindictive passions" have created a toxic atmosphere in the Senate and could lead the country down a road to atrocities like those perpetrated by Nazis and Southern racists.