After sticking his foot so far down his throat, his shoelaces could still be seen dangling from his anal aperture, the
"No one, including the White House, can deny that the statement I read on the Senate floor was made by an FBI agent describing the torture of a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay. That torture was reprehensible and totally inconsistent with the values we hold dear in America. This Administration should apologize to the American people for abandoning the Geneva Conventions and authorizing torture techniques that put our troops at risk and make Americans less secure."
"And I remind the White House the Guantanamo Bay scandal has reached such a level of national embarrassment that Senators from both parties are calling for the closure of that facility."
(Emphasis added.)
He even went so far as to engage in a childish game of attack the messenger on the Senate floor!
"I have heard my colleagues and others in the press suggest that I have said our soldiers could be compared to Nazis. I'd say to the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, I do not even know if the interrogator involved here was an American soldier. I didn't say that at any point. To suggest that I am criticizing American servicemen, I am not. I don't know who is responsible for this. But the FBI agent made this report, and to suggest that I was attributing all the sins and all the horror and barbarism of Nazi Germany or Soviet Republic or Pol Pot to Americans is totally unfair. I was attributing this form of interrogation to repressive regimes, such as those that I noted. And I honestly believe the Senator from Virginia, who I respect very, very much, would have to say that, if indeed this occurred, it does not represent American values. It doesn't represent what our country stands for. It is not the sort of conduct we would ever condone. I would hope that the senator from Virginia would agree with that. That was the point I was making. Now sadly, we have a situation here, where some in the right wing media have said that I have been insulting men and women in uniform. Nothing could be further from truth. I respect our men and women in uniform. I have spent many hours, as I am sure the senator from Virginia has, at funerals of the servicemen who have been returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, writing notes to their families and calling them personally. It breaks my heart every day to pick up the newspaper and hear of another death. Now the total this morning, 1710. To suggest that this is somehow an insult to the men and women serving in the uniform, nothing could be further from the truth. But it is no credit to them or our nation for this sort of conduct to occur."
(Emphasis added.)
While these tactics went over quite well with the lunatic asylum wing of his own party, the public outcry kept growing over his incredibly moronic comparison of the conditions at Guantanamo Bay under the watch of our men and women in uniform with those experienced by the victims of the Nazis, Stalinists and Khmer Rouge. Among those applying the pressure were The White House, The Pentagon, Veterans groups, numerous Republican Senators, The Anti-Defamation League, The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Times and The Boston Herald, not to mention an endless parade of conservative bloggers, radio talk show hosts, opinion columnists and political analysts!
Finally, on Friday evening, Senator Dick issued the following non-apologetic apology:
"More than 1700 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and our country's standing in the world community has been badly damaged by the prison abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. My statement in the Senate was critical of the policies of this Administration which add to the risk our soldiers face."
"I will continue to speak out when I disagree with this Administration."
"I have learned from my statement that historical parallels can be misused and misunderstood. I sincerely regret if what I said caused anyone to misunderstand my true feelings: our soldiers around the world and their families at home deserve our respect, admiration and total support."
(Emphasis added.)
No wonder the Senator has not only picked up the latest Judge Elihu Smails Buffoon of the Week Award from Ankle Biting Pundits, he pinned the needle on the moron detector:
[Sen. Durbin] quite possible (sic) became the biggest buffoon ever in the history of this prestigious award, which as you can see from reading about past winners is no small feat.
Interestingly enough, no Democrat of any standing has yet seen fit to condemn Senator Dick's statements. The best they can muster is a universal "no comment." Please remember that each and every time you go to the polls for the remainder of your natural lives. This sort of thing is EXACTLY why I am no longer an "Independent" and wouldn't support a Democrat candidate for Congressional Washroom Attendant at this point!
******************************
As a citizen of the State of Illinois, I have had enough!
What follows is a copy of the letter I have sent to the Senator's e-mail address at:
dick@durbin.senate.gov
While I realize that it is highly unlikely that he will read it, I have also sent copies to my Congresswoman, Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL) and to the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. John Warner (R-VA), hoping, perhaps, that they might like to know my feelings on this matter.
The Honorable Richard Durbin
United States Senate
Dear Senator Durbin:
Sir, you are a disgrace to your office, your constituents, your state, your country and the governing body in which you so callously serve! You have shamelessly defamed the men and women serving our country in every branch of the United States Armed Forces all over the world and effectively made their jobs more difficult as the result of your reckless partisan rhetoric designed to do nothing more than garner political points within your party's most ardent anti-war circles against an Administration with whom you and your party find yourself at odds in a struggle for political power and influence. Your intentions were neither noble nor excusable! Whether or not it was your original intent to stain the reputation of our military is completely irrelevant! Your behavior was reckless, thoughtless and without justification.
You have also simultaneously managed to belittle the atrocities committed by three of the most tyrannical and murderous regimes in world history in your effort to smear the President and done immeasurable harm to our nation's efforts in the War on Terror. In so doing, you have gift-wrapped a precious piece of anti-American propaganda to our country's enemies in the form of a sound-byte that has received extensive play on al-Jazeera Television! Thanks, Senator! Thank you so much!
To aggravate matters further, you steadfastly stood by your incredibly ridiculous statements for almost three days, and now you have issued a less than satisfactory and wholly insincere "apology" designed to do nothing more than take some of the political heat off of yourself! Disgusting! You think you were misunderstood? You weren't misunderstood Senator, we heard you loud and clear in your own words and in full context! Apology not accepted. What was clearly warranted in this matter was a full retraction and a sincere mea culpa - you have utterly failed to deliver either!
As a direct result of your actions, you have now become a national laughingstock, which, as our duly elected representative to the United States Senate, reflects rather poorly upon us, the citizens and voters of the State of Illinois. I sincerely hope your colleagues in the Senate move to censure you for your reprehensible behavior immediately!
As for you, Senator, what do you intend to do about the situation? It seems to me the honorable thing to do would be for you to resign from your office so that the people of Illinois could have the opportunity to be represented by someone who is not a complete and utter embarrassment such as you have, by your own words and actions, now become! However, I have little faith that your resignation is forthcoming, since I have yet to see any hope that there is one single shred of decency or honor left in you.
I am looking forward to working hard towards your humiliating defeat in any attempt at re-election in 2008. Hope you are proud of yourself!
******************************
More:
Iowahawk has a wickedly funny satire piece entitled:
From the Desk of Senator Dick.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you fellow Illinois blogger Ellis Wyatt and a site I will soon be adding to my blogroll:
Dump Dick Durbin
Jay Tea from Wizbang! writes about the devolution of political debate:
Shouting into the Abyss
If you can't increase the volume of your argument, increase the intensity. Ratchet up the rhetoric. Push everything into the extreme, and hope that the sound and fury of your words will overshadow the lack of substance.
from PoliPundit (in chronological order):
Durbin-Dean (Alexander K. McClure)
Hitler, Gulags and the Torture Rhetoric Issue (Lorie Byrd)
More on the Gitmo Comparisons (Lorie Byrd)
Malice Against the Republic (DJ Drummond)
Senators Call on Durbin to Apologize (Lorie Byrd)
The Kids Are Alright (DJ Drummond)
Jack's Verdict (DJ Drummond)
from the man who literally wrote the book on blogging (just scroll through):
Hugh Hewitt
from Power Line (in chronological order):
Mo' Better Kool-Aid
Durbin Feels the Heat
Tunes, Tools, Knaves and Fools
Newt Says: Censure Durbin
from Michelle Malkin (in chronological order):
The Treacherous Dick Durbin
Durbin Watch: MSM Reax
Durbin Watch: History Lessons
Durbin Watch: Cheney and More
from Captain's Quarters (in chronological order):
Durbin: US Operates Death Camps (Without the Death)
Dick Durbin: The Ring of Familiarity
Durbin Oddly Silent About the Torture Closer to Home
Durbin: I'm Sorry You Didn't Comprehend My Genius
Nazi Alert for Senator Durbin
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UPDATE Even More on Senator Dick:
a brilliant piece from from Mark Steyn:
Durbin Slanders His Own Country
from the Washington Times:
Durbin's Gitmo Remarks Draw Fire Back in Illinois
and as always, more great threads from my friends at PoliPundit:
Steyn on Durbin (PoliPundit)
Dick Durbin's Homestate Problems (Alexander K. McClure)
Durbin's Comparisons (Alexander K. McClure)
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