Senator Dick Durbin grows some stones, apologizes
Senator Dick Durbin (Dem - Ill) has been in the news recently for his statements comparing the treatment of the war detainees at Guantanamo to the terrorist victims of the Holocaust, the Communists (hey -- what's 100 million people dead?) and Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge.
Talk about a misguided attempt at moral equivalence...
Today as reported by the
Washington Post, he apologized:
Durbin Apologizes for Remarks on Abuse
Senator's Comparison to Actions of Nazis and Soviets Had Drawn Wide Condemnation
Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) yesterday offered a tearful apology on the Senate floor for comparing the alleged abuse of prisoners by American troops to techniques used by the Nazis, the Soviets and the Khmer Rouge, as he sought to quell a frenzy of Republican-led criticism.
Durbin, the Democratic whip, acknowledged that "more than most people, a senator lives by his words" but that "occasionally words will fail us and occasionally we will fail words." Choking up, he said: "Some may believe that my remarks crossed the line. To them, I extend my heartfelt apologies."
And the apology was accepted graciously:
During a later vote, Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho) shook Durbin's hand and thanked him for apologizing. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said of the apology: "It was good for the troops, and it was good for Senator Durbin."
McCain said the lesson is "Watch your words."
"It's a very partisan atmosphere," he said. "Things have a great resonance."
The Democratic party needs to get back to its roots and take care of its constituents. It has spent too much time trying to block and divert the work of the standing President of the United States -- prolonging the nomination process of key people, playing parliamentary tricks... Their actions are a key reason why I left their party. I want a party who will represent me, not act like a senile Tyrannosaurus Rex whose brain is dead but whose body is still thrashing and destroying.
Posted by DaveH at June 21, 2005 11:10 PM