Senator Regrets if Remarks Misunderstood (Durbin)

[Pirate Smile]

WASHINGTON - Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Friday that he regretted any misunderstandings caused by his comments earlier this week comparing American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to Nazis. The White House, Senate Republicans and others had called for an apology after Durbin's comments Tuesday.

Durbin made the comparison after reading an FBI agent's report describing detainees at the Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as being chained to the floor without food or water in extreme temperatures.

"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," Durbin said Tuesday.

On Friday, Durbin tried to clarify the issue. "My statement in the Senate was critical of the policies of this Administration, which add to the risk our soldiers face," he said in a statement released Friday afternoon. "I have learned from my statement that historical parallels can be misused and misunderstood. I sincerely regret if what I said caused anyone to misunderstand my true feelings: Our soldiers around the world and their families at home deserve our respect, admiration and total support."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050617/ap_on_go_co/guantanamo_durbin;_ylt=AmVjNLkOstNujMXbo3bxNdms0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2bW85OXIzBHNlYwNwbA--

[woosh]

1. Grow some balls

[TankLV]

13. Exactly!

What the hell is wrong with our current crop of dems?

Repukes NEVER apologize for the millions of lies, insults and other derrogatory comments they make!

Stop being wimps!

So now, the message we're left with is that Dems are wrong, and bunkerboy and the repukes are always right. Again.

Great. Just fucking great.

[maddezmom]

2. just read that and tried to call his office

Dear Sen. Durbin,

Just read on Yahoo you've issued an apology about your Gitmo comments. While I understand the need for doing so, I wanted you to know I applaud you for speaking the truth about the torture and abuse going on at the hands of a limited few in our military.

Thanks for all you do to help the upstanding folks in the military and for speaking out when the administration is covering up atrocities and sometimes for their own personal gain(ie Cheney).

I was struck after reading Larry DiRita and Scott McClellan's admonishment of your comments without directly addressing the issue you were speaking about...the report from an FBI agent. Then to top it all off, learning that Halliburton had won a new contract to build another prison in Cuba, it all came together.

best regards and keep up the good work...this transplanted Texan counts on folks like you to watch our back.

[Pirate Smile]

4. That is nice. I think politicians should just stay away from the Nazi

references. It never ends up good.

[MidwestTransplant]

19. Should just say facist or dictitorial.

[Protagoras]

26. Despots is my current favorite

it packs a nice punch.

[iamjoy]

31. Nazi Analogies Have Lost Their Punch

because some on the Left have overused them.

I think if you must compare what is happening to what happened in Germany in the 1930's, it is better to point ask: How could a nation of intelligent, reasonable and mostly educated people could allow their civil liberties to be stripped away and to "support" aggressive war and genocide, all in less than a decade?

Now, you could make a reasonable argument that such a question could be about Germany in the 1930's, or the U.S. in the first decade of the twenty-first century - although, our government has not truly engaged in genocide. But even the most well reasoned statements, questions or comparisons do not make it into sound bites. All that gets heard is, "There the Left goes again, calling the Right Nazis." Since we know this, it is better to avoid the Nazi comparisons all together.

Durbin's statement might have been more palatable and more effective if he had left out naming specific groups and just said words to the effect of, "If I didn't know, I would never have believed this was the United States doing these things, because our armed forces are the best in the world. These acts are more easily associated with totalitarian regimes who hate liberty, not the United States who is a leader of freedom in the world."

But, reasonable stuff like that doesn't get reported.

[hyphenate]

3. I don't think he needs to apologize for anything

but I'm sure those fucking assholes are threatening him in some way. If nothing else, they're likely making life in general miserable for him.

[janx]

14. He didn't apologize for what he said. He meant what he said. n/t

[IChing]

5. The Anti-Defamation League on Thursday had joined Repug lawmakers

The Anti-Defamation League on Thursday had joined lawmakers and other groups in calling for an apology

"Suggesting some kind of equivalence between (U.S. military) interrogation tactics demonstrates a profound lack of understanding about the horrors that Hitler and his regime actually perpetrated," the league said in a letter to Durbin that was posted to its Web site.

[femme.democratique]

28. Why because Muslims aren't as valuable as Jews?

Bullshit. He was RIGHT ON in his comments, Naziism took years to grow into what it became, and America is on the same exact track...

[iamjoy]

32. There Is A Difference

The Nazis wanted to exterminate ALL Jews. Calling them a race, they wanted to wipe it out completely. In other words, if you had one grandmother born Jewish who converted to Christianity, Hitler would still have wanted to kill you.

We do not have a stated goal (I don't even believe we have an unstated goal) of wanting to eliminate all Muslims. Even the most radical Ann Coulter says we should "kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity" - it is still horrible, but not nearly as bad as the Nazis, who killed almost every one in whom they could find a trace of "Jewish blood." Strange though how little outcry there was about Coulter's remarks in the MSM or Congress, but let a Democrat say something controversial....but that's another discussion.

Look at some pictures from Concentration Camps before we jump on the Nazi comparisons. There are several naked pictures of prisoners. They were sent to work oustside in the snow with hardly any clothes. Plus, the Concentration Camp inmates were all emaciated because they were starved. This is not to say there are not atrocities in our prisons, and that the pictures from Abu Ghraib are not sickening.

But your comment about it taking years for the Nazis to become what they did is correct, and I have an earlier post about making more reasonable Nazi comparisons.

[Eloriel]

33. I saw something the other day that made me understand that theADL

has become rightwing as well.

I regret that he apologized. I too don't think it was necessary or appropriate. If you can't call a spade a spade, and if one of our most courageous Congresspeople backs down, it just shows how much ground we've lost, and, dammit, keep losing.

[Smarmie Doofus]

6. Absolutely nothing to apologize for. I caught a few minutes of...

Hannity with Gingrich today and it is painfully clear that the noise machine is trying furiously to make an issue of this nonissue.

I suspect they're troubled by the polls, the war, etc and are frantic for a diversion.

[wellst0nev0ter]

7. Relax, People, It's The Non-Apology Apology Repukes Have Perfected So Well

He didn't apologize for his statements, just if anyone was whining about it. In essence, it's an "eff you" to all those who took his statements out of context.

[cdsilv]

8. ...makes him look like a Wuss - n/t

[Pirate Smile]

11. Hopefully, it puts out the fire that was not going away. We want the

focus one Bush and the Republican's terrible poll numbers, Iraq, DSM, etc. Republicans want the distraction.

[WePurrsevere]

18. I read it exactly the same way...

it's a way to shut people up and still not say you're wrong... sort of like "I'm sorry if you think I'm pulling your leg" vs "I'm sorry for pulling your leg."

Heh! He sure has the gift of Blarney. ;)

[creeksneakers2]

9. The wingers flat out lied about what Durbin said

They've even been runnning doctored tapes. I'm sorry that Durbin didn't stay to fight this out. If this blew up big enough Dems could have attacked the RWs over distorting tapes.

[Chicago1]

10. Dick Durbin IS NOT exceptionally bright

I would support him on this one, HOWEVER, he has rejected intelligence that was sent to him which THOROUGHLY IDIOTIC on his part.

He DOES NOT THINK BEFORE HE TALKS AND THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIIME HIS FAT STUPID MOUTH SHOOTS OFF BEFORE HE THINKS ABOUT WHAT TO SAY!!!!

[maddezmom]

12. what intelligence are you refering to?

:shrug:

[Politicub]

16. Dude, have you been paying attention?

The intelligence for the Iraq war was sexed up at the request of one George W. Bush. The Iraq war was based on a pack of lies.

Durbin made a big mistake, a tragic one -- he placed his trust in Bush, his president, and was fucked. A lot of Americans feel the same way.

[Chicago1]

21. I have been paying attention

I always pay attention. Durbin doesn't think before he talks. He knows how this bunch functions and he needs to think before he speaks. Instead of setting himself up to be attacked by the other side, he opened his mouth.

He SHOOTS HIS MOUTH OFF BEFORE HE THINKS ABOUT WHAT IS APPROPRIATE TO SAY!!!

Waiting for the IMPEACHMENT WHILE THE SCANDALS KEEP UNFOLDING
America's Work Stories
http://usaworkstories.blogspot.com
[e-mail]

[confludemocrat]

30. Shoots off his mouth? Was he right to criticize or not?

"instead of setting himself up to be attacked by the other side"
Fainthearted nonsense here. When the hell haven't these people attacked on virtually anything that sounds like fundamentally questioning the criminal behavior of the Bush admin. in front of the world?

He clarified his remarks and didn't retract them and do you not concede at least that he has a point? If you do and he has spoken out then you should instead be giving credit rather than piling on right wing echo-chamber style.

[Straight Shooter]

15. Smooth move, now that the new Abu Ghraib photos/videos are on their way.

Senator Durbin will be vindicated.

However, I'm in total agreement with another DU'er who said, if you don't want to be compared to Nazis, then don't f*cking TORTURE people.

[Mass]

17. Good statement

He does not say he apologizes.

He says he was misunderstood (he was not comparing our soldiers with the Nazis) and says he supports the troops fully.

Of course, AP shows that as an apology, but there is nothing surprising here.

[dArKeR]

20. I'm calling him just as I did Reid and ask, "You're finally standing up

telling the truth, growing a spine so why are you apologizing?" [phone]
http://durbin.senate.gov/contact.cfm

[rfkrfk]

22. this is a vital issue for '06 and '08, along with ...

shrub's dubious Tang service
and Kerry's Viet Nam medals.

[robcon]

23. I'm glad he cleared that up

Like the Amnesty International use of "gulag," Durbin's use of "Nazi/Stalin/PolPot" cheapens the actual history behind those words.

[AX10]

36. And when the Republicans compare us to them (nazi/stalin/pol pot)...

why is there no outrage the???

[AngryAmish]

24. Regret nothing

Destroy them all.

[Protagoras]

25. How about saying "It's Regretible that you are so stupid

so as to misunderstand what I so clearly said"

[AngryAmish]

27. It is regrettable that Bush is Hitler

[KansDem]

29. Right, not Nazis, just a few Katzenjammer Kids...

Ja, dann getzen wir die elektroden und putzen der auf dem wiener!

[AngryWhiteLiberal]

34. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

When dealing with a concerted Repuke "outrage" event, NEVER SHOW SIGNS OF WEAKNESS or appear to reverse your position!!!!!!!!!!

Durbin has lost any position of strength he may have had. The new Abu Gharib pictures are coming out soon that would have backed up his position.

JB

[mandomom]

35. Does Chris Wallace apologize?

Nah, he'll probably crow about his journalistic artistic turn of phrase.

http://monkeysponge.blogspot.com/2005/06/now-thats-classy.html

Not even believable that this man still has a job, even at FOX.

[CityDem]

37. Don't Cave

I hope Durbin comes back next week and hits them harder. It's time to expose the Nazi's running this country.

[reality based]

38. When the new Abu Ghraib photos are released

Durbin ought to read his recent remarks verbatim into the Senate record and spit in old John Warner's eye. And the rest of us ought to tell John Stewart and anybody who thinks they have the exclusive franchise on Nazi references to go lie in shit with Chris Wallace. The way you implement "never again" is to call out the fascists before they have the nerve to run their Kristallnacht, not after when it's too damn late.

[glitch]

40. Very well said

"The way you implement "never again" is to call out the fascists before they have the nerve to run their Kristallnacht, not after when it's too damn late."

[Qanisqineq]

39. Someone on FAUX News said there was no need to apologize

at least that's what my husband said. Sorry I couldn't say who or when, but it was this morning. He was pretty surprised to hear a FOX news person saying this. He said they also reported that George's approval rating is 37%.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

41. Democratic Party politicians need to stop bending over every time....

...the GOP whines about something.

Fight back, or get the heck out of the way so that others can do it for you.

[rodeodance]

42. sadly, with the use of the term N.-the focus is the word not the issues-

same thing happened with the term Gulag with amnesty International used it. the issue was ignored--.