Apology Not Accepted, Senator Durbin
Senator "Dick" Durbin slandered our troops last Tuesday by comparing them to Hitler, the Soviets, and Pol Pot, and all their thugs. It was slander—outright and true. The actual truth that Sen. Durbin refuses to acknowledge is that the United States does not act like any of those regimes. Her troops do not act that way. WE do not torture or abuse POWs, illegal combatants, or terrorists. They are treated with respect, equally. Yes, there have been lapses. Abu Ghraib is one of them. (Yes, both Thomas and I have stated the scandal is media-contrived and driven. That is true. But it is likewise true that the military feels these people crossed the line, somewhere; that is a line we have yet to locate.) But we are not monsters or war criminals. We stand for freedom and liberty, not torture or repression.
But Durbin apologized yesterday, or so he thinks. I do not accept it, nor do any member of the armed services that I know, personally. I have read it time and again over the last 24 hours, and I feel that an answer is needed for it. Bloggers call it fisking. I call it a beating.
Mr. President, more than most people, a Senator lives by his words.
Brother, you said a mouthful, and you are living by yours. It was more than clear what you meant when you said what you said.
Words are the coin of the realm in our profession. Occasionally, words will fail us, and occasionally, we will fail words. On June the 14th, 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.
Whereas some aspects of the president’s "plan" to protect the nation are failing miserably (Immigration, anyone?) overall, the efforts are succeeding. This can be determined not only in our progress in Afghanistan and Iraq, but how vitriolic the rhetoric has become over these efforts. You say you raised legitimate concerns about the treatment of unlawful combatants at Gitmo, but aside from a Leftist organization, a former Secretary of State that did not get along with certain aspects of the administration, and a US magazine that ourgith lied about abuses, where is the legitimacy in your concerns? I see none. Nothing that you allege has been substantiated. Further, sir, no one has died at Gitmo. By my rough assessment, Hitler, the Soviet premiers from Lenin through Khruschev, and Pol Pot are responsible for almost fifty million dead people.
Allow me to put that in perspective. They killed as many people in their time as exist and live in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Sobering, is it not?
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 a 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, make some characterizations about that memo. I made reference to the Nazis, to the Soviets, and other repressive regimes. Mr. President, I've come to understand that was a very poor choice of words. Last Friday, I tried to make this very clear, that I understood that those analogies, to the Nazis and Soviets and others, were poorly chosen. I issued a release, which I thought made my intentions and my innermost feelings as clear as I possibly could.
Senator, you emoted quite clearly on Friday that you were not backing down, and that you stand by your allegations. The allegations, sir, were that our troops were committing war crimes. There was no misunderstanding of your words. America heard them. "A poor choice of words"? You think? I am sure our troops appreciated hearing that a sitting US senator took to the floor of the Senate to impugn them, their efforts, and their tactics. Senator, your party has gone back to the days of Vietnam in it’s tactics to break down the morale of this nation. A Rasmussen poll released today shows that the majority of America, once again, disagrees with you, and they believe that treatment of detainees at Gitmo is just fine. I suppose you and your party will ratchet up the attack now, to bring it closer to where you believe this country really is. Silly man; you were wrong in November, and you still are wrong.
Let me read to you, Mr. President, what I said in that release last Friday. 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. 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.
Senator, I love how you just will not come out, and be honest: You think the people still upset at you are stupid because we don’t buy your false regret. You regret nothing, and if you did, this apology would have been accepted. But you do not mean it. You meant what you said on June 14th. You did not mean what you said on June 21st. One was a calculated effort to make a statement, and try to remind us that you are still there. The other was you deciding that maybe you did screw up. But the apology lacked any sincerity. It was forced and contrite; you were clearly peeved at even having to do it.
I'm sorry if anything I said caused any offense of pain to those who have such bitter memories of the Holocaust, the greatest moral tragedy of our time.
"Moral tragedy"? Senator, you really know nothing of history do you? That was a clear and concise plan—established at the Wannssee Conference—for the extermination of an entire race. What was tragic is so many in Germany were unaware of what was happening, and the world turned it’s back on the truth.
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, on a delegation, bipartisan delegation, the President was part of it. When you looked in the eyes of those soldiers, you see your son. You see your daughter. They're the best. I never, ever intended any disrespect for them. Some may believe that my remarks crossed the line. To them, I extend my heartfelt apologies.
They did cross the line. I am not typing for my health, here. And I refuse your apology. So do many within the military, and their families. It does not wash, Senator.
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, ten thousand angels swearing I was right wouldn't make any difference.
Talk about guts. First, the quote is taken completely out of context. Second, it is ironic that Durbin cites Lincoln. Lincoln was a Republican president, constantly under assault from the "copperhead" Democrats, and lived under a constant state of threat from Confederates and other radicals. The Democrats kept fightin him—tooth-and-nail—as Lincoln fought the war, and attempted to hold the whole Union together. Sound familiar?
In the end, I don't want anything in my public career to detract from my love for this country, my respect for those who serve it, and this great Senate. I offer my apologies to those who were offended by my words. I promise you that I will continue to speak out on the issues that I think are important to the people of Illinois, and to the nation. Mr. President, I yield the floor.
Too late, Senator. You already have. And I do not want you to yield the floor, I want you to yield your position as Minority Whip. You are a disgrace to you state, a blemish on the Senate, and a stigma on the nation, as a whole. I do not choose these words lightly. They are the best way I can describe this man, and his party.
The Bunny ;)
Senator "Dick" Durbin slandered our troops last Tuesday by comparing them to Hitler, the Soviets, and Pol Pot, and all their thugs. It was slander—outright and true. The actual truth that Sen. Durbin refuses to acknowledge is that the United States does not act like any of those regimes. Her troops do not act that way. WE do not torture or abuse POWs, illegal combatants, or terrorists. They are treated with respect, equally. Yes, there have been lapses. Abu Ghraib is one of them. (Yes, both Thomas and I have stated the scandal is media-contrived and driven. That is true. But it is likewise true that the military feels these people crossed the line, somewhere; that is a line we have yet to locate.) But we are not monsters or war criminals. We stand for freedom and liberty, not torture or repression.
But Durbin apologized yesterday, or so he thinks. I do not accept it, nor do any member of the armed services that I know, personally. I have read it time and again over the last 24 hours, and I feel that an answer is needed for it. Bloggers call it fisking. I call it a beating.
Mr. President, more than most people, a Senator lives by his words.
Brother, you said a mouthful, and you are living by yours. It was more than clear what you meant when you said what you said.
Words are the coin of the realm in our profession. Occasionally, words will fail us, and occasionally, we will fail words. On June the 14th, 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.
Whereas some aspects of the president’s "plan" to protect the nation are failing miserably (Immigration, anyone?) overall, the efforts are succeeding. This can be determined not only in our progress in Afghanistan and Iraq, but how vitriolic the rhetoric has become over these efforts. You say you raised legitimate concerns about the treatment of unlawful combatants at Gitmo, but aside from a Leftist organization, a former Secretary of State that did not get along with certain aspects of the administration, and a US magazine that ourgith lied about abuses, where is the legitimacy in your concerns? I see none. Nothing that you allege has been substantiated. Further, sir, no one has died at Gitmo. By my rough assessment, Hitler, the Soviet premiers from Lenin through Khruschev, and Pol Pot are responsible for almost fifty million dead people.
Allow me to put that in perspective. They killed as many people in their time as exist and live in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Sobering, is it not?
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 a 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, make some characterizations about that memo. I made reference to the Nazis, to the Soviets, and other repressive regimes. Mr. President, I've come to understand that was a very poor choice of words. Last Friday, I tried to make this very clear, that I understood that those analogies, to the Nazis and Soviets and others, were poorly chosen. I issued a release, which I thought made my intentions and my innermost feelings as clear as I possibly could.
Senator, you emoted quite clearly on Friday that you were not backing down, and that you stand by your allegations. The allegations, sir, were that our troops were committing war crimes. There was no misunderstanding of your words. America heard them. "A poor choice of words"? You think? I am sure our troops appreciated hearing that a sitting US senator took to the floor of the Senate to impugn them, their efforts, and their tactics. Senator, your party has gone back to the days of Vietnam in it’s tactics to break down the morale of this nation. A Rasmussen poll released today shows that the majority of America, once again, disagrees with you, and they believe that treatment of detainees at Gitmo is just fine. I suppose you and your party will ratchet up the attack now, to bring it closer to where you believe this country really is. Silly man; you were wrong in November, and you still are wrong.
Let me read to you, Mr. President, what I said in that release last Friday. 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. 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.
Senator, I love how you just will not come out, and be honest: You think the people still upset at you are stupid because we don’t buy your false regret. You regret nothing, and if you did, this apology would have been accepted. But you do not mean it. You meant what you said on June 14th. You did not mean what you said on June 21st. One was a calculated effort to make a statement, and try to remind us that you are still there. The other was you deciding that maybe you did screw up. But the apology lacked any sincerity. It was forced and contrite; you were clearly peeved at even having to do it.
I'm sorry if anything I said caused any offense of pain to those who have such bitter memories of the Holocaust, the greatest moral tragedy of our time.
"Moral tragedy"? Senator, you really know nothing of history do you? That was a clear and concise plan—established at the Wannssee Conference—for the extermination of an entire race. What was tragic is so many in Germany were unaware of what was happening, and the world turned it’s back on the truth.
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, on a delegation, bipartisan delegation, the President was part of it. When you looked in the eyes of those soldiers, you see your son. You see your daughter. They're the best. I never, ever intended any disrespect for them. Some may believe that my remarks crossed the line. To them, I extend my heartfelt apologies.
They did cross the line. I am not typing for my health, here. And I refuse your apology. So do many within the military, and their families. It does not wash, Senator.
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, ten thousand angels swearing I was right wouldn't make any difference.
Talk about guts. First, the quote is taken completely out of context. Second, it is ironic that Durbin cites Lincoln. Lincoln was a Republican president, constantly under assault from the "copperhead" Democrats, and lived under a constant state of threat from Confederates and other radicals. The Democrats kept fightin him—tooth-and-nail—as Lincoln fought the war, and attempted to hold the whole Union together. Sound familiar?
In the end, I don't want anything in my public career to detract from my love for this country, my respect for those who serve it, and this great Senate. I offer my apologies to those who were offended by my words. I promise you that I will continue to speak out on the issues that I think are important to the people of Illinois, and to the nation. Mr. President, I yield the floor.
Too late, Senator. You already have. And I do not want you to yield the floor, I want you to yield your position as Minority Whip. You are a disgrace to you state, a blemish on the Senate, and a stigma on the nation, as a whole. I do not choose these words lightly. They are the best way I can describe this man, and his party.
The Bunny ;)
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 4:56 PM
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