What's that you say? Did I hear Senator Dick
{Yawn}
Oh, you expected me to respond? Was I supposed to do that? In a timely fashion, huh? You don't say...
Well, seeing how Senator Dick took a full week to come up with a "heartfelt apology" {pffft}, why should I feel compelled to respond so swiftly to that gasbag?
Oh, alright! Here's what the nimrod said on Tuesday, June 21st, from the Senate floor (his voice cracking with {sob} emotion):
"More than most people, a Senator lives by his words, words are the coin of the realm in our profession. Occasionally words will fail us and occasionally we will fail words."
"On June 14, I took the floor of the Senate to speak about genuine heartfelt concerns about the treatment of prisoners and detainees at Guantanamo and other places. I raised legitimate concerns that others have raised, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, about the policies of this administration and whether they truly do serve our needs to make America safer and more secure, whether, in fact, some of the policies might, in fact, endanger our troops, or in some ways disparage the image of America around the world."
"During the course of that presentation, I read an e-mail from the Federal Bureau of Investigation that was discovered to exist last August, and has now been produced as part of the Freedom of Information Act. After reading the horrible details in that memo, which characterized the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo, I then, on my own, my own words, made some characterizations about that memo. I made reference to the Nazis, Soviets and other repressive regimes."
"Mr. President, I have come to understand that was a very poor choice of words. I tried to make this very clear last Friday that I understood to those analogies to the Nazis, Soviets and others were poorly chosen. I issued a release which I thought made my intentions and my inner-most feeling as clear as I possibly could."
"Let me read to you what I said. 'I have learned from my statement that historical parallels can be misused and misunderstood. I sincerely regret if what I said causes anybody to misunderstand my true feelings. Our soldiers around the world and their families at home deserve our respect, admiration and total support.'"
"Mr. President, it is very clear that even though I thought I had said something that clarified the situation, to many people it was still unclear. I'm sorry if anything that I said caused any offense or pain to those who have such bitter memories of the Holocaust, the greatest moral tragedy of our time. Nothing, nothing should ever be said to demean or diminish that moral tragedy."
"I'm also sorry if anything I said in any way cast a negative light on our fine men and women in the military. I went to Iraq just a few months ago with Senator Harry Reid and a bipartisan Senate delegation. When you look in the eyes of the soldiers you see your son and daughter. They are the best. I never, ever intended any disrespect for them."
"Some may believe that my remarks crossed a line. To them, I extend my heartfelt apologies."
"There's usually a quote from Abraham Lincoln that you can turn to in moments like this. Maybe this is the right one. Lincoln said, 'If the end brings me out right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, 10,000 angels swearing I was right wouldn't make any difference.'"
"In the end, I don't want anything that I may have said detract from the love for my country, my respect for those who bravely risk their lives each day for our security, and this Senate which I am so honored to serve as a member. I offer my apology for those offended by my words. I promise to speak out on the issues that I think are important to the people of Illinois and to the nation."
(Emphasis added.)
Senator, I have come to understand that you STILL think that this is just a matter of you being misunderstood by us numbskulls out here among the great unwashed. SOME may believe that your remarks crossed a line??? What about you, Senator? You don't say that YOU believe that they crossed the line, now do you? That only leads me to believe that you do NOT believe that they crossed the line!
If you don't get it by now, Senator, you most assuredly never will. The only reason you are offering this apology is because the pressure to do so became overwhelming. YOU still don't believe that YOU did anything wrong, only that SOME of US were UNCLEAR on what you said. Isn't that it, Senator? When you boil your statement down, isn't that the basic gist of the thing?
Quoting Abe Lincoln, huh? Senator, you are not even fit to mention the name of Abe Lincoln, nevermind quote the man!
Real, sincere, "heartfelt" apologies are offered without qualification. They are offered quickly, without hesitation or nuance, within hours or, at most, a couple of days of the original event (or of the offender learning of the undesirable consequences that his actions had on others). They are the result of a process of self-examination and reflection and are offered because the offender feels true remorse for his actions, they do not come strictly as a response to building pressure from external forces. The one offering that apology takes full responsibility for his own actions; he admits that he did, in fact, make a mistake; he expresses his regrets and then assures that it will never, ever happen again; and usually, because he has learned from his own mistake, he does not repeat it.
Sincere "heartfelt" apologies are never offered a week later, couched in nuances, after several attempts to stand by the original offending act with "no regrets" or insincere attempts at an "apology" by saying that you are sorry that people "misunderstood" you, and only after tremendous pressure made you realize that an apology was the only way to take the heat off yourself!
Sen. John McCain (RINO-MSM), may have been quick to accept your "apology" and say that we should just put all of this behind us, but I'm not so certain a whole lot of the rest of us feel that way.
I say that instead, we should all just put Dick Durbin behind us come 2008! That would be the best way to handle this whole sorry episode at this point. Save the tears Senator. You'll need them later.
******************************
NOT TO BE MISSED...
For the funniest take ever on this whole Durbin affair, check out Buckley F. Williams, who has quite the flair.
He channels the spirit of the great Dr. Seuss, and uses his stylings to cook Durbin's poor goose:
In the whole of the world there is none more speech frantic
Than Sir Richard of Durbin, Crown Prince of Bad Antics
From his perch high atop the United States Senate
Sir Richard screamed "foul" and then said that he meant it.
"Stalin and Hitler and also Pol Pot
Bad men I concur, but not compared to this lot
For Bush and his Gulag have surpassed them all
How? Take a seat and relax and let me recall."
Sir Richard leaned forward and commenced his tale
It was how do you say... oh yes... quite a whale.
"The temperature's cold no wait now it's hot
Is this how we treat our fellow humans? It's not.
And long before Thermometergate charges were filed
Came the news that the holy Q'aran was defiled.
Oh the horror, the shame, the cries for your mommy!
To place the Holiest of Books in a fecal tsunami!
But wait, that's not all, not by shots short nor long
These Army devils keep playing the most vile of songs!
This form of torture is too cruel to consider
Nastier still than the Doo-daddle-diddler!
Brittney Spears, Celine Dion and Manilow too
These poor fellows can't take it, quite frankly, could you?"...
And if you think that's good, he's just getting warmed up! Please, read the whole thing. You'll thank me later!
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