Hypocrisy or lack of Empathy?

Firstly consider this quote (color emphasis added):

“Clearly, we’ve got to find Mohammed Omar, we’ve got to find Osama bin Laden, and we’ve got to find other key leaders of the al-Qaida network, or we will have failed. We’re not safe until we have broken the back of al-Qaida, and we haven’t done that yet. I think the jury is still out about future success.”

This was hardly insurrection, although you would not have guessed that from the Republican leadership backlash. The House whip, Tom DeLay, called it “disgusting”. The minority leader in the Senate, Trent Lott, issued an instant statement, saying: “How dare Senator Daschle criticise President Bush while we are fighting our war on terrorism.” (source)

Now consider that we are still at war, and people are praying for the death of the president.  Are these people bat-shit crazy?  Are they totally incapable of seeing the hypocrisy of the situation?  This shows a total lack of imagination, of being able to put oneself in another’s shoes, and reinforces my belief that, inter alia, one of the characteristics of the right is a sad lack of empathy.