1.   At the state Democratic convention in Springfield last month, he launched a withering assault on Moseley-Braun in a speech, but got a chilly reception.

2.   Dissatisfaction is mounting over the way the law is being carried out, and in recent weeks the commission has come under withering assault from Congress.

3.   He professes indifference to the withering assault from critics but answers it in kind, insisting he cannot be intimidated nor bullied.

4.   They have come under a withering assault ever since by newspapers controlled by Berezovsky and his allies.

5.   Republicans rejoiced at having held the House in the face of a withering assault by Democrats.