Why Senator Durbin made a statement that was called an apology, no one knows.
Who is his political and legal advisor?

Senator Durbin is a wonderful patriot. He didnt vote against VA benefits for our fighting men and women. He didnt vote to rip Medicare and Medicaid. And, he will not do so. He is a solid leader, but, why he made a statement that sounded like an apology is to be understand later. He certainly did not lie about the shady goings ons in the Prison Camps. What has been going on with torture and hooding, malnutrition, and mental cruelty, and death, is a national disgrace and Senator Durbin was right.
The Republicans are calling him names at this very time. They are going to find out that America is on to their greed and corruption.

I think the other thread on this topic was enough, but I'll just repeat myself anyway.

Senator Durbin should be ashamed of himself, not for the content of the statement, but for selling his soul.
I said on the other thread that it was an insincere trial balloon which he accepts floating if he wants to keep his job as whip. Why else were the usual anti-war democrats so quiet?

If the statement was met positively, the other Dems would follow. If not, he apologizes and we'll hear the usual forgive-him-he's-a-great-guy crap. It didn't work, so he bends over and takes one for the party. That's not a leader or a patriot.

He didn't compromise himself by apologizing - he compromised himself when he made the statement in the first place.

Apologies don't mean squat ... politicians do it all the time ... it's just more rhetoric and meaningless drivel that keeps the salivating sheep tuned to FOX.

The dude calls our soldiers nazis and then compares himself to Abraham Lincoln, ya, he's the victim :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Saintte
Why Senator Durbin made a statement that was called an apology, no one knows.


I wrote the first letter to Durbin's office to give him my support and to applaud him for standing up in front of the entire nation and throwing the truth into the faces of the despicable Rightwing faction that is shredding the Constitution.

I am now writing a letter to Durbin's office to say "Shame on your cowardice, sir" in bowing to pressure from those fascist pigs in Congress masquerading as "Compassionate Conservatives".

As I knew would happen, once again an evil 'godless' Democrat had the audacity to speak out (truthfully) against injustice and wrongdoing on the part of the uber-Conservative faction and was resultingly forced (a couple of days later, after the Rightwing propaganda Ministry had time to do it's work) to eat shit and abase himself before the people he exposed.

___________________________

Is it possible that a country can look into the vacuous face of George W. Bush and see "greatness" and "goodness"? What kind of a country kills thousands in Afghanistan but admits to nothing, that looks the other way? What kind of a country takes advantage of a national tragedy to take away citizenıs rights, give more money to the rich, spread fear throughout the land and at the same time engage in the most boastful and self satisfied rhetoric? Thatıs what I see: lies, hatred, savagery, stupidity...........

I always wondered who the jerkoffs who actually wrote letters to the punk politicians were, now I know, and am not suprised

Originally posted by Freethinker
I wrote the first letter to Durbin's office to give him my support and to applaud him for standing up in front of the entire nation and throwing the truth into the faces of the despicable Rightwing faction that is shredding the Constitution.

I am now writing a letter to Durbin's office to say "Shame on your cowardice, sir" in bowing to pressure from those fascist pigs in Congress masquerading as "Compassionate Conservatives".

As I knew would happen, once again an evil 'godless' Democrat had the audacity to speak out (truthfully) against injustice and wrongdoing on the part of the uber-Conservative faction and was resultingly forced (a couple of days later, after the Rightwing propaganda Ministry had time to do it's work) to eat shit and abase himself before the people he exposed.
LMAO. Does it give you comfort to know that some green-pea working as an intern is disposing of your letter as we speak? Do you honestly think Dick Durban gives two shits about what you have to say? The man's a blow-up doll for his party - nothing more, nothing less.

after writing what I did about freethinker I have reconsidered and apologize. I was wrong to insult you for writing to your representative.

Originally posted by Travh20
after writing what I did about freethinker I have reconsidered and apologize. I was wrong to insult you for writing to your representative.
Yeah, but write them regarding real issues - bills, amendments, whatever - you don't send them a rant. The intern who opened it, A) realized it was coming from out of state, which, in all truth, doesn't affect Dick Durban, and B) determined it was a rant in which centered on a situation akin to crying over spilt milk. Senator Durban already did what he did and I doubt very seriously he gives two shits about what some yahoo in Mississippi thinks. Ergo, instant trash.

Originally posted by Freethinker
[B]I wrote the first letter to Durbin's office to give him my support and to applaud him for standing up in front of the entire nation .....B]

When Durbin patsied for his party I figured nobody was going to buy it. Was it PT Barnum or HL Mencken - "no one ever went broke by underestimating......"

Originally posted by The Praetorian
write them regarding real issues - bills, amendments, whatever - you don't send them a rant.

There is no issue more *real* than America becoming a state that tortures captured prisoners.

It is abominable ---but not at all surprising--- that this is what we have become under the RepubliFascist leadership.

Also, there was no hint of "ranting" in either letter. I simply applauded Durbin in the first letter and then criticized him in the second.

______________________________

George Bush is a malignant idiot and a lifelong bully; a smirking sock puppet of a faction of superstitious megalomaniacs suffering from serious emotional and mental disorders, who believe (as did Adolph Hitler) that God actually approves of their murderous drive to dominate the globe.

Looks like Durbin was right ...

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0623UNgitmo23-ON.html

Now it's Rove's turn to apologize.

Should he? -- Will he?

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBLK7J3BAE.html

Originally posted by Lungdop Philing
Looks like Durbin was right ...

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0623UNgitmo23-ON.html

They keep bragging about the wonderful treatment of the detainees but they won't let the UN take a look. Doesn't make a lot of sense.

anyone that wants to go down there can. all durbin has to do is say he wants to go and he can go. there are congressional delegations down there every week. of course he is to much of a coward to go down there, he would just rather make all of his opinions off of hear say

Go here read this:
http://web.morons.org/article.jsp?sectionid=2&id=6345

"The issue isn't whether or not we are the same as the Nazis, the issue is that we aren't different enough." -Avi Schlaim

Originally posted by Lungdop Philing
Looks like Durbin was right ...


Yes, he was.

And every person capable of rational thought should have already figured out that he WAS right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Editorial: Durbin's message/U.S. must end prisoner abuse
--------------------June 21, 2005


Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., set off a firestorm last week when he compared U.S. treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo to practices employed by Nazis, Soviets, Pol Pot and their ilk. His remarks were condemned by the White House, the Pentagon, the Christian Coalition, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Newt Gingrich (who called for his censure by the Senate) and by the entire right side of the talk radio/television/blog world. The heat got so bad that, late in the week, Durbin apologized if his remarks had been "misunderstood." They weren't, and Durbin should not have apologized.

Instead, the senator should have hit back hard, just as the Amnesty International did when its comparison of Guantanamo to the Soviet gulag was attacked. By caving in, Durbin did just what the orchestrated right-wing smear effort required to succeed: It made him the story rather than focusing further attention on the outrageous violations of international law and human rights being perpetrated in Guantanamo and elsewhere in the name of the American people.

The comments that were criticized came late in a long, thoughtful speech on the Senate floor in which Durbin reflected on the United States' obligation to be better than reprehensible regimes of the past. He talked at some length about mistakes American presidents made in previous wars (repealing habeas corpus during the Civil War, interning Americans of Japanese descent during World War II, taking over the steel industry during the Korean War), and he urged President Bush to recognize and rectify his mistake in prisoner treatment during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Durbin's entire speech is too long to reprint, but lengthy excerpts can be found on the page opposite.

Durbin was spot on in his assessment of Guantanamo. That's why he was so roundly attacked. He told the truth. And his message is of vital importance; the United States is better than this.

The issue of whether Durbin's rhetoric crossed a line is small potatoes compared with the undeniable truth that American treatment of its prisoners has crossed many, many lines -- of morality, of international law, of practical benefit.

But instead of discussing what goes on at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and other prison camps, the right would prefer to get into a senseless argument about whether "we" are better than the Nazis or Saddam Hussein or the Soviets or Pol Pot or whomever a critic of Guantanamo might raise as a comparison. It's a tactic the group running Washington now has used again and again: They're quite deliberately changing the subject -- from Guantanamo to words spoken on the Senate floor.

It's not too late, as Durbin said of Bush in his speech: The senator should stop apologizing and keep up the criticism of the hellhole America's military has created at Guantanamo. He has no reason to be defensive; he's telling the truth. It's a truth Americans need to hear, and its tellers must resist intimidation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5467045.html

Originally posted by Freethinker
Yes, he was.
And every person capable of rational thought should have already figured out that he WAS right.


Should I go to the other thread and re-post the description of what real Nazis did to people?

If you, or Durbin, for that matter, said the guards were out of line, or mean, or insensitive, or cruel or violent, people might take notice. But you and Durbin go straight to Nazi and everyone rolls their eyes or gets angry. And, on top of that, those who don't agree aren't "capable of rational thought".

You diminish your own relevance.

Originally posted by Brooks
You diminish your own relevance.
Beautifully put, Brooks. You, like FT and Vile, can be incredibly eloquent when you want to be.

Originally posted by The Praetorian
Beautifully put, Brooks. You, like FT and Vile, can be incredibly eloquent when you want to be.

Unfortunately, I'll never write as well as they do, but fortunately I'm always right.