Durbin just another spineless wimp

[truth_is_extreme]

>>And you wonder why Americans don’t trust Democrats on national defense? You pathetic ninnies cannot and will not defend yourselves.<<

Enough said.

http://badattitudes.com/MT/archives/002637.html

[autorank]

1. Oh, that was harsh. Rummy, Bush, the torturere should appologize.

[tuvor]

2. Funny, I just finished reading this.

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/06/more-on-durbin.html

And welcome to DU! :hi:

[LandOLincoln]

9. Thanks for the link, and here's something I'm going to post

every time I see a post like the OP above:

"The American people will trust the Democratic Party to defend America, when they believe that Democrats will defend other Democrats."

--Wes Clark

[LittleClarkie]

30. Meanwhile

here we are: knife, fork, salt, pepper, and a bib with a picture of a Democrat on it. Bon appetite.

[Radical Activist]

3. Two Democrats up for re-election voted against the war in Iraq

Wellstone and Durbin. So you don't know what the fuck you're talking about when you call Durbin a spineless wimp.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

6. He caved

I feel for him, but I'm horribly disappointed in him. Can you imagine Paul Wellstone backing down like that?

No, he would never have, not over a matter of goddamned language.

I wonder - if Durbin had compared Guantanamo to the Inquisition, do you think the rightwingnuts would have rushed to the defense of Torquemada?

And that blogger is right - where were the Democrats?

Weasels.

[Radical Activist]

8. Did he cave on a vote?

Did he cave on something that makes a difference? No. Just words. It doesn't matter.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

10. Yes, it matters

It matters hugely because it's another brick in the wall of the Democrats bending over and allowing themselves to be bullied and pushed around, the Democrats not standing with each other against the opposition, and another Democrat not having the courage of his convictions, staying with what he said, and keeping the Guantanamo issue at the fore, instead of allowing them to make him the issue.

It matters. More than ever.

[Radical Activist]

13. blah blah blah

he didn't apologize for criticizing the behavior at Guantanamo, and there's no doubt that Durbin will keep talking about it. Wake me up when we're talking about more than words.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

14. Shame on you

How terribly rude of you. How utterly shameful that was.

[Radical Activist]

20. I think your beer drinking cat

really elevates the tone of DU and gives it a sophisticated atmosphere.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

22. Why, thank you

It does counteract the sourpusses and seems to bring out the best in everyone, unless, of course, they're seriously troubled.

Now, go spread joy, you little munchkin, and don't forget to wash your hands when you're done.

[lady lib]

28. It matters because every time someone on the left caves

it teaches the RW that their behavior (massive hateful e-mail campaigns) works and encourages more of it.

Edit: And the cat makes me smile!

[OldLeftieLawyer]

29. Operant conditioning

Why shouldn't they keep doing it? It works.

I despair.

[tuvor]

16. It wouldn't matter if there were no right-wing spin.

Just a thought.

[truth_is_extreme]

12. oh I do

Durbin is part of the problem.

Instead of apologizing, he should have stood for his beliefs, and for failing to do that, he's another Bush slave in the Democratic Party, a spineless wimp.

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JHBowden]

23. Durbin is not up for relection in 2006.

eom

[Radical Activist]

26. he was up for re-election when the vote took place. n/t

[zulchzulu]

4. Oh...stop it!

He did what he had to do. If you listen to his "apology", he doesn't take what he said back...he just apologizes for offending those who "didn't hear it but..."

I wish he had ignored the obvious drumbeat from the MSM, but his original statement still stands in history.

[lady lib]

5. Did you call or e-mail Durbin's office to voice your support

before he apologized? I didn't because I assumed other people would. Shame on me -- and everyone else who didn't bother.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

7. Don't start that, and don't do it to yourself

That's his job. He gets paid to do it. Your "support" is friendly enough, but bullshit. His job is to speak the truth and stand his ground.

What? He doesn't get enough email, he folds?

That's nonsense. You didn't err. Durbin did.

[LittleClarkie]

15. Perhaps if the Chicago Tribune or Mayor Daley had supported him

he wouldn't have been compelled to say he was sorry for the way he phrased his dissent.

But please note, he didn't take back WHAT he said. Just HOW he said it, and the comparisons he drew. He stood by the accuracy of the report itself.

I think it was the bitch slap from his own party in Chicago that was the final straw for him, personally.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

19. We'll never know, will we?

I know he didn't retract what he said. He apologized for the Nazi language. And, as soon as he did that, he made himself the story, took Guantanamo off the table, gave the rightwingnut spin machine more power, and rendered himself impotent on this matter.

In politics, as in so many other things, it's not always what you say, but how you say it. Durbin used an unfortunate comparison, and, in doing so, he set himself up for the fall he's now taken.

I deplore it all, but, still, where were his Democratic colleagues to stand with him and not to allow this kind of thing to stick? Where was his resolve? Whatever caused him to do what he did will certainly have one realistic effect: Guantanamo will continue to fester with no outside interference.

After all, this is the administration that managed to get Amnesty International to retract their "gulag" description of Guantanamo.

We're doomed.

[LittleClarkie]

11. Nancy Pelosi has taken up where Durbin left off

I heard her being attacked on RW radio last night.

Make sure she knows she has friends, eh?

[gulliver]

17. Durbin is hugely unimpressive.

Mel Torme without the voice and sense of humor.

[LittleClarkie]

21. What does that have to do with anything at all

He is a good man, and a good Senator. He's been doing good work up to this point. One apology does not make him a zero overnight. That's not fair or right.

I'd say more, but it would get me deleted.

[gulliver]

27. Sorry. I've never been a fan of his.

I just always found him to be a panderer on the tube. Maybe he has done some good things, and if so, I apologize. I found the Nazi comment quite stupid. He may have saved Gitmo for Halliburton.

[JHBowden]

24. That's bullshit.

Durbin is one of the best liberals in the Congress. He's much better than Obama, but people here seem to hate Obama too.

[Dr Fate]

25. I'm ashamed of many Democrats. When we will ever get it?

These Repubs are 2nd rate school yard bullies- when we will stand up to them on the big stuff?

[Moderator]

31. Locking

The flamebait worked.