More On Durbin
I knew it would take some digging, but I have some interesting things revolving around the Sen..er, idiot formerly known as "Dick" Durbin. Below are three excerpts from today’s Washington Times. I dragged these out of the article because NO ONE in Durbin’s party is holding him up to ANY scrutiny on his comments.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, came to the floor to defend his chief deputy and to lash out at press reports and the White House, which earlier in the day called Mr. Durbin's remarks "reprehensible."
"The noise machine of the far right never stops and it's gotten so much more in operation in the last few weeks," he said. "This is all a distraction by the White House." (Emphasis mine)
But Mr. Reid did not directly address Mr. Durbin's gulag comparison. He was followed by Sen. Robert C. Byrd, West Virginia Democrat, who spent more than 10 minutes recognizing Father's Day.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York Democrat, declined to comment, saying she had not heard Mr. Durbin's speech. When a reporter read the passage to her, she declined again.
The offices of Democratic Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut did not answer calls for comment.
They aren’t stepping up. They’re giving him a pass. This man compared this nation to regimes far bloodier and brutal than the United States—in it’s entire history—ever was. Further, yesterday on the floor of the Senate, Durbin attempted to spin. Too bad the Congressional Record speaks for itself.
"What I have said is, if you were asked, without being told where this might have occurred, as I said here directly in the RECORD, you might conclude that it was done by one of those repressive regimes because that was the kind of heavy-handed tactic they used, the kind of inhumane treatment in which they engaged. You would be surprised to learn that according to the FBI, it was something that occurred at Guantanamo in a facility under the control of the United States of America."
That is what he said yesterday, 16 June, 2005. BUT this is what he said on Tuesday, 14 June, 2005.
"If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime--Pol Pot or others--that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners."
While perusing the blogosphere yesterday, something jolted my memory. We can go back and track such stupid comments to this party. In 1971, two famous incidents occurred where two "prominent" people stepped up and made a similar comparison. On was done by then-Lt. John F. Kerry during the "Winter Soldier" hearing before the Fulbright Committee. The others were done by Parren Mitchell and John F. Seiberling during the Dellums Committee.
"They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, tape wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the country side of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country." –John Kerry
"We have begun hearings today to investigate the military policy used in Vietnam which appears to us to foster war crimes. We are concerned with such schemes as free-fire zones, search and destroy missions, mass resettlement of peasantry and the so-called "bodycount mania." Since the Dept of Defense [DOD] acknowledges the use of these tactics, we wish to illustrate graphically what happens when such tactics are translated into action. Vietnam has been called the ultimate model war of attrition where civilians die by the score for every combat soldier killed. Our interest here is in the suspect military policy, not in uncovering war tames, but it is likely that we shall hear testimony as repugnant to the nat'l conscience as My Lai." --Parren Mitchell
"[One] of the most shocking and depressing aspects of the disclosures of the German atrocities after World War II was the fact that so few citizens in that great nation raised their voices in protest or even took pains to learn the truth. This is understandable in a people living under the grip of a totalitarian regime; it is unthinkable in a human and civilized democracy. We must know the truth before we can deal effectively with our nations problems." –John Seiberling
And rather than standing up, and accepting responsibility for his actions, Durbin decided to lash out, and claim his words were "taken out of context." You gotta love it when a Democrat’s in trouble over things they’ve said, and they use the old "out of context" dodge.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., says right-wing media misrepresented comments he made about abuse of terror suspects, which he compared to Nazi abuses.
Saying he wasn't criticizing service personnel, he blamed the right-wing media for taking his words out of context. He said abusive treatment of prisoners was something most likely in "repressive regimes" than the United States.
This has nothing to do with any media bias (unless you count the MSM kind that has refused to fully address these comments). And I find that equally angering. The media dog-piled on Tom DeLay for his reminder to judges that they can be held accountable after the Schiavo issue that Congress attempted to step in on. The comments DeLay made were innocent. He wasn’t advocating violence against judges, but merely serving up a reminder that the Senate has the ability to remove judges who don’t act in "good Behaviour".
The way the media spun the story, people would have thought that DeLay had called for the hunting and execution of every judge in America. He didn’t. His comments, as I stated, were innocent, and only served to remind the judiciary who they ultimately answer to.
The MSM won’t touch Durbin with a ten-foot pole. They’re trying to turn away from him. Some of the MSM outlets on the right-center side (Washington Times, FOX News) have posted stories where they’ve addressed the issue in terms of reporting it. But they just don’t seem to want to push the issue on the democrat party. The Times did this morning, and it’s no surprise that the five prominent Democrats in the Senate they cited (Clinton, Reid, Byrd, Kerry, and Lieberman) had nothing to say. Reid didn’t even address the comments. He chose to pull a Durbin, and blame someone else, namely the White House. Right.
And my other half brought up another important point: Where are the veterans that are serving in the Senate? Where are past members of the Senate that served? Why aren’t they out on point taking this stupid SOB on? I haven’t seen hide nor hair of Sen. McCain—a POW himself in the Hanoi Hilton, who endured torture and constant beatings at the hands of his captors. (Granted, this stopped when they found out who he was, but he still knows the difference between torture at the hands of the enemy, and humiliation.)
I’m ashamed that America is letting this man still serve in the US Senate. For all you Loony Lefty Moonbats: This isn’t a "vendetta" or an "ax to grind". This is all about an American senator that compared this nation and her troops to Nazis, Soviets, and the murderous brood of Pol Pot and his cronies. His words went around the world, as al-Jazeera posted it up on their website, and ran with it in their news reports. Amnesty International, I’m sure, is giddy that someone fell for their lies. This is purely pathetic, not patriotic. Durbin couldn’t define "patriotism", and if he tried to emulate it, he’d accuse our Founding Fathers of torture, I’m sure.
The pressure isn’t letting up on him. I’m almost positive that this weekend, the momentum will build. There are talking heads shows on Sunday that will put this subject up towards the front of the issue list. It should be the first thing out the door, and I want Democrats on the record as to where they stand. Spin or not, I don’t care. We hold our morons accountable, they can hold theirs accountable as well.
And here’s a strategy tip for the GOP in 2006 and 2008: Challenge your Democrat opponents to embrace or denounce the rhetoric of their colleagues. If they agree with the Democrat leader’s statements and positions, they can be hung by their own words. This party, for forty-plus years, has been against any war, and our troops. They don’t like wars (unless they start them, an then walk away from the responsibility to finish them) and they believe our troops are all war criminals. This nations doesn’t make "war criminals". It makes "rough men" that are willing to go out and "do violence" on the behalf of the nation, it’s citizens, and the freedoms we love and cherish.
I suggest Sen. Durbin either go back, and relearn history, or mind his "p’s" and "q’s", sit down, shut up, and let the adults in the Senate handle business. He is literally the epitome of the child that should be seen and not heard.
Publius II
ADDENDUM: On the subject of Democrats and their history of beating up this nation, I'm also reminded that on the One Year Anniversary of the "Abu Ghraib Scandal" (A completely media-derived and driven 'scandal') Ted Kennedy took to the floor of the Senate and compared this nation to the brutal, barbaric regime in Iraq under Saddam Hussein.
So, yes, I'm sorry for all the Democrats out there that look at their leadership and see hope. I can't see that at all. I see a once great and proud party in it's death throes; willing to do almost anything they can to tear down this nation and it's president.
UPDATE:
I posted up that there are a number of sites that are following Durbin's stupidity. The Boston Herald ran an editorial today calling for his resignation; at the very least, his censure is needed. (Marcie and I still stand firm. No censure. He goes. End of story.) Below is a number of site links. Go to them. They're equally as outraged as we are, and as you are. We don't have every site listed, but a couple, like Michelle Malkin and InstaPundit have more links. And pay attention to the commenters and trackbacks. They've got links there, too.
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/092559.php
WARNING: The Jawa Pundit has pictures posted up of real torture from the regime of Saddam Hussein, and he's taking on a Lefty Blogger from the DailyKos moonbat crowd.
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/004735.php
http://instapundit.com/archives/023653.php
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/002753.htm
I'll note here that this was Michelle's first post regarding Durbin, which was posted on 15 June (the day after Durbin's infamous remarks) She doesn't stop there, though.
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/002764.htm
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/002766.htm
(That one would be amusing if it weren't true, and Durbin won't recognize incidents of serious abuse from his own state--my home state!)
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/002767.htm
...And the blog roll just continues to grow...
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/002770.htm
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/002773.htm
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=16256_Durbin_Unhinged&only
http://powerlineblog.com/archives/010760.php
...And, of course, the BlogRoll isn't complete until we add Hugh Hewitt--the man we've dubbed "the King of the Blogosphere."
http://hughhewitt.com/
I put up his main link because none of his permalinks seem to be working right now. Scroll down through the Durbin stuff; there are plenty of posts revolving around the "esteemed" Imbecile from Illinois. And Hugh has many links within his posts, as well.
Go through the links, check the trackbacks, and check out the comments. There are plenty of people speaking out on this fool, and the commenters from many of the sites have posted additional links.
Don't be fooled by the MSM. People of America want Durbin's head as much as we do, or the blogosphere does. Call your people in Congress and demand that they take issue with this man. Call the Dem leadership and challenge them to stand up and hold Durbin accountable.
If Barbara Boxer can tell Howard Dean to "cool it", the Dems in the Senate can look at Durbin, and tell him "resign now." If the Dems really want to keep this moron as a "leader" in their party, then this is a party that can't be trusted, and has outlived it's usefulness.
Publius II
I knew it would take some digging, but I have some interesting things revolving around the Sen..er, idiot formerly known as "Dick" Durbin. Below are three excerpts from today’s Washington Times. I dragged these out of the article because NO ONE in Durbin’s party is holding him up to ANY scrutiny on his comments.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, came to the floor to defend his chief deputy and to lash out at press reports and the White House, which earlier in the day called Mr. Durbin's remarks "reprehensible."
"The noise machine of the far right never stops and it's gotten so much more in operation in the last few weeks," he said. "This is all a distraction by the White House." (Emphasis mine)
But Mr. Reid did not directly address Mr. Durbin's gulag comparison. He was followed by Sen. Robert C. Byrd, West Virginia Democrat, who spent more than 10 minutes recognizing Father's Day.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York Democrat, declined to comment, saying she had not heard Mr. Durbin's speech. When a reporter read the passage to her, she declined again.
The offices of Democratic Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut did not answer calls for comment.
They aren’t stepping up. They’re giving him a pass. This man compared this nation to regimes far bloodier and brutal than the United States—in it’s entire history—ever was. Further, yesterday on the floor of the Senate, Durbin attempted to spin. Too bad the Congressional Record speaks for itself.
"What I have said is, if you were asked, without being told where this might have occurred, as I said here directly in the RECORD, you might conclude that it was done by one of those repressive regimes because that was the kind of heavy-handed tactic they used, the kind of inhumane treatment in which they engaged. You would be surprised to learn that according to the FBI, it was something that occurred at Guantanamo in a facility under the control of the United States of America."
That is what he said yesterday, 16 June, 2005. BUT this is what he said on Tuesday, 14 June, 2005.
"If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime--Pol Pot or others--that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners."
While perusing the blogosphere yesterday, something jolted my memory. We can go back and track such stupid comments to this party. In 1971, two famous incidents occurred where two "prominent" people stepped up and made a similar comparison. On was done by then-Lt. John F. Kerry during the "Winter Soldier" hearing before the Fulbright Committee. The others were done by Parren Mitchell and John F. Seiberling during the Dellums Committee.
"They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, tape wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the country side of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country." –John Kerry
"We have begun hearings today to investigate the military policy used in Vietnam which appears to us to foster war crimes. We are concerned with such schemes as free-fire zones, search and destroy missions, mass resettlement of peasantry and the so-called "bodycount mania." Since the Dept of Defense [DOD] acknowledges the use of these tactics, we wish to illustrate graphically what happens when such tactics are translated into action. Vietnam has been called the ultimate model war of attrition where civilians die by the score for every combat soldier killed. Our interest here is in the suspect military policy, not in uncovering war tames, but it is likely that we shall hear testimony as repugnant to the nat'l conscience as My Lai." --Parren Mitchell
"[One] of the most shocking and depressing aspects of the disclosures of the German atrocities after World War II was the fact that so few citizens in that great nation raised their voices in protest or even took pains to learn the truth. This is understandable in a people living under the grip of a totalitarian regime; it is unthinkable in a human and civilized democracy. We must know the truth before we can deal effectively with our nations problems." –John Seiberling
And rather than standing up, and accepting responsibility for his actions, Durbin decided to lash out, and claim his words were "taken out of context." You gotta love it when a Democrat’s in trouble over things they’ve said, and they use the old "out of context" dodge.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., says right-wing media misrepresented comments he made about abuse of terror suspects, which he compared to Nazi abuses.
Saying he wasn't criticizing service personnel, he blamed the right-wing media for taking his words out of context. He said abusive treatment of prisoners was something most likely in "repressive regimes" than the United States.
This has nothing to do with any media bias (unless you count the MSM kind that has refused to fully address these comments). And I find that equally angering. The media dog-piled on Tom DeLay for his reminder to judges that they can be held accountable after the Schiavo issue that Congress attempted to step in on. The comments DeLay made were innocent. He wasn’t advocating violence against judges, but merely serving up a reminder that the Senate has the ability to remove judges who don’t act in "good Behaviour".
The way the media spun the story, people would have thought that DeLay had called for the hunting and execution of every judge in America. He didn’t. His comments, as I stated, were innocent, and only served to remind the judiciary who they ultimately answer to.
The MSM won’t touch Durbin with a ten-foot pole. They’re trying to turn away from him. Some of the MSM outlets on the right-center side (Washington Times, FOX News) have posted stories where they’ve addressed the issue in terms of reporting it. But they just don’t seem to want to push the issue on the democrat party. The Times did this morning, and it’s no surprise that the five prominent Democrats in the Senate they cited (Clinton, Reid, Byrd, Kerry, and Lieberman) had nothing to say. Reid didn’t even address the comments. He chose to pull a Durbin, and blame someone else, namely the White House. Right.
And my other half brought up another important point: Where are the veterans that are serving in the Senate? Where are past members of the Senate that served? Why aren’t they out on point taking this stupid SOB on? I haven’t seen hide nor hair of Sen. McCain—a POW himself in the Hanoi Hilton, who endured torture and constant beatings at the hands of his captors. (Granted, this stopped when they found out who he was, but he still knows the difference between torture at the hands of the enemy, and humiliation.)
I’m ashamed that America is letting this man still serve in the US Senate. For all you Loony Lefty Moonbats: This isn’t a "vendetta" or an "ax to grind". This is all about an American senator that compared this nation and her troops to Nazis, Soviets, and the murderous brood of Pol Pot and his cronies. His words went around the world, as al-Jazeera posted it up on their website, and ran with it in their news reports. Amnesty International, I’m sure, is giddy that someone fell for their lies. This is purely pathetic, not patriotic. Durbin couldn’t define "patriotism", and if he tried to emulate it, he’d accuse our Founding Fathers of torture, I’m sure.
The pressure isn’t letting up on him. I’m almost positive that this weekend, the momentum will build. There are talking heads shows on Sunday that will put this subject up towards the front of the issue list. It should be the first thing out the door, and I want Democrats on the record as to where they stand. Spin or not, I don’t care. We hold our morons accountable, they can hold theirs accountable as well.
And here’s a strategy tip for the GOP in 2006 and 2008: Challenge your Democrat opponents to embrace or denounce the rhetoric of their colleagues. If they agree with the Democrat leader’s statements and positions, they can be hung by their own words. This party, for forty-plus years, has been against any war, and our troops. They don’t like wars (unless they start them, an then walk away from the responsibility to finish them) and they believe our troops are all war criminals. This nations doesn’t make "war criminals". It makes "rough men" that are willing to go out and "do violence" on the behalf of the nation, it’s citizens, and the freedoms we love and cherish.
I suggest Sen. Durbin either go back, and relearn history, or mind his "p’s" and "q’s", sit down, shut up, and let the adults in the Senate handle business. He is literally the epitome of the child that should be seen and not heard.
Publius II
ADDENDUM: On the subject of Democrats and their history of beating up this nation, I'm also reminded that on the One Year Anniversary of the "Abu Ghraib Scandal" (A completely media-derived and driven 'scandal') Ted Kennedy took to the floor of the Senate and compared this nation to the brutal, barbaric regime in Iraq under Saddam Hussein.
So, yes, I'm sorry for all the Democrats out there that look at their leadership and see hope. I can't see that at all. I see a once great and proud party in it's death throes; willing to do almost anything they can to tear down this nation and it's president.
UPDATE:
I posted up that there are a number of sites that are following Durbin's stupidity. The Boston Herald ran an editorial today calling for his resignation; at the very least, his censure is needed. (Marcie and I still stand firm. No censure. He goes. End of story.) Below is a number of site links. Go to them. They're equally as outraged as we are, and as you are. We don't have every site listed, but a couple, like Michelle Malkin and InstaPundit have more links. And pay attention to the commenters and trackbacks. They've got links there, too.
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/092559.php
WARNING: The Jawa Pundit has pictures posted up of real torture from the regime of Saddam Hussein, and he's taking on a Lefty Blogger from the DailyKos moonbat crowd.
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/004735.php
http://instapundit.com/archives/023653.php
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/002753.htm
I'll note here that this was Michelle's first post regarding Durbin, which was posted on 15 June (the day after Durbin's infamous remarks) She doesn't stop there, though.
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/002764.htm
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/002766.htm
(That one would be amusing if it weren't true, and Durbin won't recognize incidents of serious abuse from his own state--my home state!)
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/002767.htm
...And the blog roll just continues to grow...
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/002770.htm
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/002773.htm
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=16256_Durbin_Unhinged&only
http://powerlineblog.com/archives/010760.php
...And, of course, the BlogRoll isn't complete until we add Hugh Hewitt--the man we've dubbed "the King of the Blogosphere."
http://hughhewitt.com/
I put up his main link because none of his permalinks seem to be working right now. Scroll down through the Durbin stuff; there are plenty of posts revolving around the "esteemed" Imbecile from Illinois. And Hugh has many links within his posts, as well.
Go through the links, check the trackbacks, and check out the comments. There are plenty of people speaking out on this fool, and the commenters from many of the sites have posted additional links.
Don't be fooled by the MSM. People of America want Durbin's head as much as we do, or the blogosphere does. Call your people in Congress and demand that they take issue with this man. Call the Dem leadership and challenge them to stand up and hold Durbin accountable.
If Barbara Boxer can tell Howard Dean to "cool it", the Dems in the Senate can look at Durbin, and tell him "resign now." If the Dems really want to keep this moron as a "leader" in their party, then this is a party that can't be trusted, and has outlived it's usefulness.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 12:04 PM
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