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"Costly Slander, Cheap Redemption" (Durbin)
Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation website ^ | June 22, 2005 | Scott Swett

Posted on 06/22/2005 11:05:49 AM PDT by Mach9

Costly Slander, Cheap Redemption by Scott Swett, Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation

(6/22/2005) -

Eight days after viciously comparing the treatment of terrorist prisoners by American troops at Guantanamo Bay to Nazi death camps and Soviet gulags, Senator Richard Durbin offered a weepy semi-apology, expressing regret before his fellow Senators if his remarks "in any way cast a negative light on our fine men and women in the military." Senator Durbin loves and supports America's troops, you see. "They are the best," he gushed. "I never, ever intended any disrespect for them." No one asked whether his respect for the troops extends to their intelligence. Senators from both parties thanked their honorable colleague, and made haste to declare the controversy at an end.

That evening, hosting a Democratic Party fundraiser, Senator Durbin was introduced as a man who "has a backbone and tells it like it is." It would be difficult to come up with a less accurate characterization. Of course, if they'd called him "a man who tells grotesque lies to slander our troops, then cries and grovels when things get hot," he might not have gotten as much applause. It's instructive to note that after a week of refusing to recant while blaming "right wingers" for the controversy, the esteemed Illinois Senator folded his hand just hours after powerful Chicago mayor Richard Daley publicly called his charges "a disgrace." Even so, Durbin managed in his "apology" to pander to his party?s radical base -- the ones who think President Bush is Adolph Hitler and openly cheer for America's efforts in Iraq to fail -- by skirting any direct admission that his claims were false. As a poster noted at DemocraticUnderground.com, it was "a very nuanced and targeted statement, essentially distancing himself from the imagery, but not the facts."

Ah, yes, the facts. Some 15 to 30 million Soviets died in the gulag; 6 million Jews died in the Nazi death camps; 2 million Cambodians were murdered by Pol Pot's savage regime. But oddly, no prisoners whatsoever have died in Guantanamo under the brutal Americans.

The Islamic network Al Jazeera took a considerably less nuanced view of the situation, broadcasting Durbin's Nazi fantasies to the Islamic world around the clock, confirmation from a high-ranking American of what Islamic radicals -- and American leftists -- have always believed; that America is fundamentally a force for evil in the world. There can be little doubt that Senator Durbin has made it significantly easier for Al Qaeda to recruit new terrorists to kill more of the American troops he professes to respect and admire.

Now, with the controversy officially at an end, Mr. Durbin returns to the warm, collegial bosom of the Senate, where he retains his influential position as the second-ranked Democrat -- the Minority Whip -- and is unlikely to suffer any long-term political harm from having helped America's enemies by lying about our troops in a time of war.

Even that could be considered progress of a sort. Thirty-four years ago, John Kerry launched the political career that brought him within 100,000 Ohio votes of the White House by comparing the U.S. military to "the armies of Genghis Khan." Senator Durbin may not receive a comparable benefit from his own slanderous remarks. Last year's presidential campaign provided many people with an opportunity to take a long look back at the Vietnam era: to recall just how badly America's returning troops were treated in those days, and why.

Today we find a new generation of Americans in harm's way, fighting far from home once again in defense of freedom. But they also need defending -- particularly from the likes of Senator Richard Durbin, who seeks to poison their reputations even as he pretends to praise their service.

Scott Swett is executive director of the Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: aljazeera; durbin; durbinapology; gulag; hitler; kerry; military; vietnam
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Deja vu all over again. IS he redeemed?
1 posted on 06/22/2005 11:05:51 AM PDT by Mach9
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To: Mach9

The title says it all . . .


2 posted on 06/22/2005 11:07:16 AM PDT by cvq3842
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To: Mach9
"Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hanged."
---- Abraham Lincoln


Durbinladen's actions on the Senate floor were an act of sabotage against our military.

Apology NOT ACCEPTED Saboteur



Stop Dick Turbinladen Durbin before he aids our enemy again!
DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!!!!Contact your REPS

Tell them to prosecute this saboteur!!


Link to contact your senator


Link to contact your representative


ABC CBS NBC CNN its all the SAME, Propaganda.
Might as well call them all AmeriJazerra.
Show them how much Gravitas Hugh Bris has. Vote with your remote! Shut down the Alphabet channels.

He's Got A Plan
Zippo Hero
Seven Dead Monkeys Page O Tunes

3 posted on 06/22/2005 11:09:21 AM PDT by rawcatslyentist (Bite my shiny metal @$$)
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To: Mach9

Depends on the meaning of the word "IS"!

I vote "He!! NO!"


4 posted on 06/22/2005 11:10:35 AM PDT by hoosiermama
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To: Mach9

Why is it when wussies like Dirty Durbin get their a**es in a sling appears with a "weepy semi-apology"? These p*ssy legislators make me sick.


5 posted on 06/22/2005 11:10:38 AM PDT by lilylangtree
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To: Mach9
"Deja vu all over again. IS he redeemed?"

No.

6 posted on 06/22/2005 11:11:51 AM PDT by pigsmith
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To: lilylangtree

Because sadly, 49% of American voters agree with them and vote them into office. In Chicago, I'd put it at 98%.


7 posted on 06/22/2005 11:14:37 AM PDT by yobid
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To: yobid

Because sadly, 49% of American voters agree with them and vote them into office. In Chicago, I'd put it at 98%.

You got that right. The other day I was thinking to myself that maybe in the future I'll just follow a rule when voting that is, "If they're already in office I'm voting against them" regardless of who they are. I'm sick of all of them.


8 posted on 06/22/2005 11:16:58 AM PDT by hardworking (Hilldebeast - fooling some all the time, and striving to fool all just once)
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To: Mach9
It's too bad that Sen. Durbin forgot to include the comparison to "Genghis Khan"!

Sen. Durbin is just continuing in the 30 year tradition (since the end of the Vietnam War) of the Democratic Party--of giving 'aid and comfort' to the enemy in time of war.

His comments are no more outrageous than those offerred by Sen. Kennedy only a few months ago! Kennedy's unconscionable comments were no different, yet they received only a fraction of the current outrage that Durbin's anti-American comments have received.

9 posted on 06/22/2005 11:19:51 AM PDT by stockstrader
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To: lilylangtree
Aw come on lily....tell us what you really think! ~ lol

It is pretty amazing how these lying pieces of cr@p always put on a dry-eyed display of 'tears' every time they know they've been nailed.



10 posted on 06/22/2005 11:28:37 AM PDT by Zacs Mom (Proud wife of a Marine! ... and purveyor of "rampant, unedited dialogue")
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To: yobid

It grieves me to think that our own people have elected this person to the senate. There is a breach of trust between our representatives and their constituents. Even some of our own republicans in congress were quick to sweep this under the rug. As a professional soldier for the last 15 years, this truly saddens me. What saddens me more is his idea of what constitutes an apology. He obviously doesn't respect himself first, much less anything or anyone else. What a tragedy in American government today.


11 posted on 06/22/2005 11:29:56 AM PDT by Moose2496
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To: Zacs Mom

Remember how one of the RINO 7 (I think?) pleaded with tears in his eyes to not get rid of the filibuster. Made me sick.


12 posted on 06/22/2005 11:31:33 AM PDT by lilylangtree
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To: stockstrader
"Sen. Durbin is just continuing in the 30 year tradition (since the end of the Vietnam War) of the Democratic Party--of giving 'aid and comfort' to the enemy in time of war."


13 posted on 06/22/2005 11:32:43 AM PDT by Zacs Mom (Proud wife of a Marine! ... and purveyor of "rampant, unedited dialogue")
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To: Zacs Mom

"Arrested, exiled, AND hanged" is my only edit.


14 posted on 06/22/2005 11:35:34 AM PDT by Mach9 (.)
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To: lilylangtree

I figure someone must have conducted a poll somewhere that showed that if you whimper, blink your eyes real fast and swallow hard while you pretent to apologize 72% of the people will buy it!


15 posted on 06/22/2005 11:37:07 AM PDT by Zacs Mom (Proud wife of a Marine! ... and purveyor of "rampant, unedited dialogue")
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To: Howlin; eddie willers; cajungirl; wirestripper; Southflanknorthpawsis; Peach; prairiebreeze; ...

A "they're doing it again" ping...


16 posted on 06/22/2005 11:44:24 AM PDT by Interesting Times (ABCNNBCBS -- yesterday's news.)
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To: Mach9
"There can be little doubt that Senator Durbin has made it significantly easier for Al Qaeda to recruit new terrorists to kill more of the American troops he professes to respect and admire."

Durbin's shocking comments laid bare the heart of the man hiding inside the Senator's suit. No forced, half-hearted 'apology' will ever be able to negate the damage he did to America's image and the increased danger he placed our troops in with his inflammatory and treasonous indictment of our military.

The most infuriating aspect of the whole debacle is that Durbin will be allowed to continue to 'serve' our country in a position of power and authority while every American knows he spits on what we stand for, and while every terrorist repeats his words as a battle cry.

17 posted on 06/22/2005 11:45:01 AM PDT by TheCrusader
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To: Mach9

Hell no he isn't redeemed. All Durbin did was gripe about being "misunderstood", which places all blame at the feet of the people who didn't like what he said.


18 posted on 06/22/2005 11:53:43 AM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity ("A litany of complaints is not a plan." -- G.W. Bush, regarding Sen. Kerry's lack of vision)
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To: rawcatslyentist

It wasn't a real apology. He never said that he was sorry for saying it and that it should have never been said. He said that he was sorry if YOU took it in a way he didn't mean. So it is YOUR fault, not his.


19 posted on 06/22/2005 11:56:17 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (G-d is not a Republican. But Satan is definitely a Democrat.)
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To: Interesting Times


20 posted on 06/22/2005 12:04:18 PM PDT by E.G.C.
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