Posted on 06/18/2005 6:27:39 AM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
THE RHETORIC from top national Democrats continues to deteriorate so that it now has fallen beneath cheap shots, beneath demagoguery, all the way to the realm of the dangerously unhinged.
Dangerous, because the Al Jazeera Arab-language news station has been posting the remarks to stir up even more anti-American fervor in the Middle East.
The most recent remarks at issue, and the most outrageous, came Tuesday night from Illinois' Sen. Richard Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in Congress' upper chamber. Speaking on the Senate floor about the Guantanamo Bay prison camp for terrorists, Mr. Durbin began by reading an e-mail from a FBI agent, and then said: "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."
So now American soldiers are being likened to Nazis and genocidal maniacs -- and by a U.S. senator, no less. And on what basis? Not much. Not one single verified account of torture there. A few copies of the Quran accidentally allowed to get wet. Some other examples, perhaps, of prisoners in a hot place being treated like -- well, like prisoners in a hot place.
But Pol Pot? A gulag? Those are horrendous comparisons.
Yet when a host of Republican senators, including Alabama's Jeff Sessions, criticized Sen. Durbin's remarks, Mr. Durbin took to the Senate floor not to apologize, but to defend and repeat his comments.
Then the Democrats' official Senate leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, had the gall to blame the flap on "the noise machine of the far right" and called it "all a distrac tion by the White House."
Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Joseph Lieberman, given several opportunities to refute Sen. Durbin's remarks, refused to comment.
Sen. Reid, however, cannot so easily blame Republicans for a controversy of his party's own making, especially since he, too, defended Sen. Durbin.
And it wasn't just Republicans complaining. The commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, John Furgess, said, "The senator was totally out of line for even thinking such thoughts, and we demand he apologize to every man and woman who has ever worn the uniform of our country."
The biggest paper in Sen. Durbin's home state, the Chicago Tribune, blasted Illinois' "cover-
age-hungry senior senator" for the comments and noted he had "displaced the ever-present microphone long enough to insert his foot in his mouth."
What's worse is that the Durbin remarks have become par-for-the-course among the increasingly shrill Democratic leadership. Party chairman Howard Dean, for instance, says something outlandish just about every week. Sen. Ted Kennedy has in recent years accused the Bush administration of "bribery" of foreign leaders.
And in 2004, Democratic candidates, senators and former senators have accused Republicans or Bush of "reopening Saddam's torture chambers," of "viciousness," of being "the most dishonest president since Richard Nixon," of being "the most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever seen," of running a "right-wing slime machine," of being "a phony through and through," and of having "declared war on the middle class."
Politics is one thing. But some of these statements are beneath politics, indeed beneath contempt.
And when they inspire foreign terrorists, as Sen. Durbin's may do, they border on blood libel.
Anyone know how long it took the paper to come to that no-brainer of a conclusion?
I think it's safe to say that Dick and George have been providing plenty of headlines for aljazeera.
Who is this FBI agent?
Two(2)days, I believe.
"Politics is one thing. But some of these statements are beneath politics, indeed beneath contempt."
Nothing will come of this. I'll be surprised if he even gets formally censured. Hope I'm wrong. However, National Security seems to be at the bottom of the "To-Do" list for nearly ALL of our elected representatives. It's votes and careers and re-election and money above all else.
That's the true outrage, IMHO. I don't feel truly represented. I don't necessarily feel "safe" these days with this kind of cr@p going on, and our borders wide open.
I feel as if we're being set-up for something bigger than 9/11.
The liberals think they know what they're doing. The democrats in Washington try to lose the war to gain power and the idiots who follow them think the islamokazis really do want to be friends. The Amazing thing is that the islamokazis will slaughter liberals first.
Owl_Eagle
(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,
Interesting comment. Care to elaborate?
US senator stands by Nazi remark
Thursday 16 June 2005, 21:38 Makka Time, 18:38 GMT
"US Senator Dick Durbin on Wednesday refused to apologise for comments he made on the Senate floor referring to Nazis, Soviet gulags and a "mad regime" like Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge in Cambodia."
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/796AA4AC-531C-4E6F-B855-7FBC52506824.htm
A few strange comments from that poster.
Yes indeed. One can do a search and see some very interesting comments. P.S. Like your tag line.
I thought there was a distict ozone aroma around that one. It appears that we were right, he's toast now.
The difference is Dick's headlines are anti-american because, after all, Dick is a dick.
We will know that the end of the world is just around the corner when the NY Times notices and condemns a comment as stupid (but solidly leftist) as Durbin's. LOL.
Congressman Billybob
Too bad they didn't let us play with him for a bit. ;-) Oh well, I'm sure another one will show up soon.
Excellent editorial. These people are dangerous.
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