The ITT List
Friday Jun 24, 2005 10:00 am
Durbin Apologize?
Well thanks Dick. Thanks for stepping up and apologizing for your "very poor choice of words." Luckly, you don't appear to be alone:
Yup our Illinois senator was uniquely out of line.
Senator James Inhofe, Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (R-OK), characterized EPA staff as a "Gestapo bureaucracy."
Just last October, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), while speaking in opposition to stem cell research, said, "We certainly have all seen the rejections of Nazi Germany's abuses of science. As a society and a nation, there ought to be some limit on what we can allow or should allow."
Similarly, former Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX) was inspired by a Democratic tax plan to state, "Now, forgive me, but that is right out of Nazi Germany. I don't understand ... why all of a sudden we are passing laws that sound as if they are right out of Nazi Germany."
Even more shockingly, Representative Tom Cole (R-OK) had the audacity to tell local Oklahoma Republicans last March that a vote against President Bush's re-election was akin to supporting Adolph Hitler during World War Two. Adding injury to insult, consider that Senator Kerry earned at least 75% of the votes of American Jews.
Then there is the case of Representative Peter King (R-NY). In opposing a court's pro-choice ruling on the floor of Congress, King thought it appropriate to proclaim, "That, Mr. Speaker, is a modern-day equivalent of the Nazi prison guard saying 'I was just following orders.' It was all legal in Nazi Germany at the time."
Even House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex), like Santorum a key member of the congressional Republican leadership, termed the Environmental Protection Agency the "gestapo of government."
Perhaps the best case of Senator Santorum's selective outrage involves the very powerful conservative Republican powerbroker, Grover Norquist -- a figure few GOP politicians dare criticize. In October 2003, Norquist compared the estate tax to the Holocaust during an interview on National Public Radio. After some had taken note of Norquist's completely unacceptable rhetoric, a reporter gave Norquist a chance to retract his statements in a January 23, 2004 article in the Forward. Instead, he asserted that his original statements were "entirely reasonable," and he added a new wrinkle—a comparison of Democrats to Nazis. The Forward article quotes Norquist as saying, "The Nazis were for gun control, the Nazis were for high marginal tax rates. ... Do you want to talk about who's closer politically to national socialism, the Right or the Left?" Moreover, Norquist "told the Forward that he would not hesitate to use Holocaust comparisons in the future."
Yup our Illinois senator was uniquely out of line.
20 comments ·
Please Login to Comment register a new account »
To participate in discussions, please register an account.
SAVE 53% OFF
Comments
What DD should have done is drop his pants, turn around, spread his cheaks and said “HEY KARL ROVE - KISS MY A S S!
The Bush criminals go ballistic every time somebody notices that they are using Fascist or Nazi tactics to accomplish their goals. I guess they don’t realize that what you hate most in others is what you fear most in yourself. The Bush cabal are criminals and we need to assert that truth every day in every way possible.
Durbin only reinforces the concept of a weak and ineffective Democratic leadership. As a Democrat, I need strong leadership representing my interests. I need leadership that will state the truth and stick by it. I need leadership that will stand up to “the bully” and not back down. I am truly disappointed, yet not surprised, that Durbin caved.
On a personal level, the only good thing to result from the Bush presidency is that it has opened my eyes to the realities of our corrupt political system. Durbin’s sniveling apology for speaking the truth about crimes is a disgrace, but it isn’t surprising. He reports to the same paymasters as his Republican critics.
Durban’s volte face is exactly the kind of timidity the Democrats don’t need! Here was a perfect opportunity to stand up and force the issue of Republican international lawlessness and lack of respect for human rights. He could have stood by the comparison and gone further in accurately explaining how our policy in places like Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib undermine our credibility in the civilized world, make us more enemies, and counter-productively inspire more outrage and terrorism. It also makes a GENUINE war on terror more difficult for lack of cooperation of other vital sources! We are hated everywhere because of our policies! Durbin’s apology was surely misplaced.
9 million people tortured and murdered by Hitler. 5 million people killed by the Soviet gulags. 2 million people murdered by Naom Chomsky’s boy, Pol Pot. And the lefty thugs want to compare the admittedly harsh interrogation at Gitmo to all this??? Disgraceful. It’s a slap in the face to the soldiers. And here’s a clue that all of you can buy: These idiotic Bush=Hitler comparisons turned voters off. It’s one of the reasons the liberals lost. (Yes, folks, they really lost).
Hitler, the Soviet gulags and others had to start somewhere didn’t they? Also, your broad-brush description of non-conservatives, (or those disagreeing with Bush Administration tactics regarding Gitmo) being “lefty thugs” is a slap in the fact of our US Constitution and freedom of speech. “My way or the highway” really should have been bred out of most of us by the time we reach adulthood.
The Pol Pot Regime was in no way ever supported by Noam Chomsky. Furthermore, Bush is dealing with constraints on his behavior that Hitler and Stalin didn’t face and that is a world that had gone through the horrors of WWII and now was keeping a vigilante watch on the fate of people under the control of arrogant powers through modern media. Bush, much to his dislike, is also operating within the confines of a democratic society whereby the smarter of his supporters realize he has NO real mandate even from members of his own party
“Hitler, the Soviet gulags and others had to start somewhere didn???t they? “
“Furthermore, Bush is dealing with constraints on his behavior that Hitler and Stalin didn???t face ...”
So the point here is what? That in some alternative universe Bush would unquestionably be a murderous dictator? Well, in another alternative universe Bush could be Albert Schwitzer (see Bono’s comments on Bush, Aids and Africa).
Speculation and prejudice aside, Durbin equating the humiliations at Gitmo with death in the millions didn’t connect with anyone whose politics weren’t already left, left.
What is this passage excerpted from? I’d love to read the whole text, and give credit where it’s due when I pass it on to friends.
Hey Scott,
How many people have been murdered by Bush’s boys Augusto Pinochet, Alfredo Strossner, Manuel Noriega, the Shah of Iran, The Saudi Royal family, The Al-Sabah family, and countless other Bush/CIA installed puppett thugs around the world?
Bush said it himself “If this thing were a dictatorship it’d be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator.” - To congress 12/18/05
In answer to the queries from clark miller, there is no alternative universe posed here. Bush is constrained by the fact that he does not have the leeway to do what Stalin and Hitler did. The US is a transparent democracy and one which holds people including leaders legally accountable for their actions. The world also has the capacity to hold leaders accountable and expose their misdeeds in ways unavailable 60 years ago. Furthermore Bush is not a dictator and doesn’t have total control. Although I believe that neither he nor any of his administration have a lot of respect for democracy in the sense that most people think of it-that is I believe him to hold reactionary Federalist beliefs that democracy must be severely restricted to a narrow elite who function as an accountable benevolent authoritarian dictatorship-he is obliged to follow certain rules which he views as quaint and unnecessarily cumbersome and intrusive on his executive perogatives.
Steve said:
“. . . The US is a transparent democracy and one which holds people including leaders legally accountable for their actions. . . .”
WHAAAAATT!!! WHEN?
Hey Lefty,
Everything is relative! Compared to the 20th Century’s most notorious dictators, the US deserves to be considered transparent and accountable. At least to the extent that they are prevented from committing the excesses of Hitler and Stalin! Don’t you agree!!??
Scott,
Noam Chomsky never supported Pol Pot’s regime. If you had dared to investigate the issue further, you would have realized that Noam Chomsky was critical of the media’s coverage of the Cambodian government’s atrocities. He was upset that before Pol Pot fell out of favor with the U.S., his atrocities were scarcely mentioned in the media. But afterwards, they became headline news all over the nation for years. Meanwhile, there was hardly any coverage of the massacres in East Timor by the U.S.-backed Indonesian government.
I did not hear channey say sorry when he told vermount senator to get fucked, i did not hear rove say sorry, saying liberials would rehab terrorist.
Give the neo-conn’s some of their own shit but don’t say your sorry.
bush’s poll ratings are at 45%, congress is at 33% and dropping.
That’s why republicans are so scared right now, they don’t know what to do.
18 months to go and we can vote in a democratic house and maybe gain a couple more seats in the senate.
Why is it that a dyed in the wool libertarian(myself),would be more inclined to agree with the opinions of a person calling themself “Lefty”? Whether Lefty realizes it or not,Lefty is more in line with traditional Republican values than all of the sheep that I’ve heard bleating about supporting the current corrupt and criminal administration that is in power at this time. I would like to know when all of these misled people will finally realize that they are being hoodwinked by very well organized thugs.These thugs are also known as Neo-Cons,these people are not Republicans,in fact they are corporate-controlled Fascists.They are intent on destroying our beloved Constitution of the United States in favor of a global Oligarchy under their Elitist control. They are definitely not Republicans.They really need to be impeached and prosecuted for high crimes an misdemeanors,and certainly not supported just for the sake of party loyalty.
Anybody see ‘Bamboozled’?
Should really look familiar. I totally agree with Dr.D. If we can’t figure out that we’re being hoodwinked, bamboozled, then our fate is sealed.
turbian -durbin is a damn traitor like all the rest of the democrats-he should be shot like they used to do with traitors. all you scumbag anti- american liberal a-hoes can all go to hell. Liberals are a disgrace to this country.
The liberals are the REAL heros for standing up to clerico-fascists like the Bush administration and their supporters who lie and want to destroy US democracy and the US reputation all over the world. Durban actually paid undeserved homage to the US by saying that gulags and violations of human rights were below the dignity of the US and its democratic tradition. Most of those who hate Durban don’t understand the issues at stake and the history of the Middle East anyhow. They are merely fascist warmongers who want to vent on anyone speaking the truth. If you want to attack traitors, why not the likes of Karl Rove who illegally outed CIA agents to the press for political partisan advantage.
——-