A Black Conservative's Viewpoint on Senator Durbin
On June 15, 2005 on the Senate floor during a debate on an Energy Bill, Senator Richard "Dick" Durbin (Dem-Illinois) said the following about a memo written by and FBI Agent's assessment of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp Detainees (Gitmo):
"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. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners".
Conservatives have been pounding Senator Durbin for his comments. Senator Durbin's remarks are definitely qualify him for the "thoughts of a stupid idiot" award. He is, unfortunately, flanked by many in the Democrat Party who agree with him with regard to the military.
I have been bothered by Conservatives who compare Senator Durbin's remarks to those of Senator Trent Lott (Rep-Miss). What Senator Lott said was not similar to what Senator Durbin said. Senator Lott said the following in December 2002 at a 100 year Birthday Bash for the late and former U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond (Rep-South Carolina):
"When Strom Thurman ran for President, we voted for him! We're proud of it! And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all of these problems over all of these years either."
As you can see, there is no real comparison between the two statements. Now take a look at the following quote:
"It has often been said that the man and the moment come together. I do not think it is an exaggeration at all to say to my friend from West Virginia that he would have been a great Senator at any moment. Some were right for the time. Robert C. Byrd, in my view, would have been right at any time. He would have been right at the founding of this country. He would have been in the leadership crafting this Constitution. He would have been right during the great conflict of civil war in this Nation. He would have been right at the great moments of international threat we faced in the 20th century. I cannot think of a single moment in this Nation's 220-plus year history where he would not have been a valuable asset to this country. Certainly today that is not any less true."
The above comments were made on April 17, 2004 following Senator Byrd's (Dem-West Va.) 17,000th vote as a member of the U.S. Senate. Senator. Chris Dodd (Dem-Conn) is the orator of those remarks about the former high ranking Klansman.
Now that is an apples to apples comparison!
The persistent Conservative protest has yielded an apology (albeit somewhat half hearted) from Durbin. Something that rarely happens from a Left-Wing Liberal. My wonder is why these same Conservatives didn't see the desire to be as angered by Dodd's diatribe as they were about Durbin's. These same Conservatives were livid at Durbin, but were only irritated at Dodd. These same Conservatives didn't call for the resignation of Dodd but they want Durbin's resignation forthwith.
I must admit that I have been somewhat desensitized by the systemic inability of leading Conservatives to confront Left-Wing Liberals on issues where Conservatives have the advantage to discuss race and racism. Senator Durbin is a hopeless partisian deserving of the his public scorn, but so was Senator Dodd.
"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. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners".
Conservatives have been pounding Senator Durbin for his comments. Senator Durbin's remarks are definitely qualify him for the "thoughts of a stupid idiot" award. He is, unfortunately, flanked by many in the Democrat Party who agree with him with regard to the military.
I have been bothered by Conservatives who compare Senator Durbin's remarks to those of Senator Trent Lott (Rep-Miss). What Senator Lott said was not similar to what Senator Durbin said. Senator Lott said the following in December 2002 at a 100 year Birthday Bash for the late and former U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond (Rep-South Carolina):
"When Strom Thurman ran for President, we voted for him! We're proud of it! And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all of these problems over all of these years either."
As you can see, there is no real comparison between the two statements. Now take a look at the following quote:
"It has often been said that the man and the moment come together. I do not think it is an exaggeration at all to say to my friend from West Virginia that he would have been a great Senator at any moment. Some were right for the time. Robert C. Byrd, in my view, would have been right at any time. He would have been right at the founding of this country. He would have been in the leadership crafting this Constitution. He would have been right during the great conflict of civil war in this Nation. He would have been right at the great moments of international threat we faced in the 20th century. I cannot think of a single moment in this Nation's 220-plus year history where he would not have been a valuable asset to this country. Certainly today that is not any less true."
The above comments were made on April 17, 2004 following Senator Byrd's (Dem-West Va.) 17,000th vote as a member of the U.S. Senate. Senator. Chris Dodd (Dem-Conn) is the orator of those remarks about the former high ranking Klansman.
Now that is an apples to apples comparison!
The persistent Conservative protest has yielded an apology (albeit somewhat half hearted) from Durbin. Something that rarely happens from a Left-Wing Liberal. My wonder is why these same Conservatives didn't see the desire to be as angered by Dodd's diatribe as they were about Durbin's. These same Conservatives were livid at Durbin, but were only irritated at Dodd. These same Conservatives didn't call for the resignation of Dodd but they want Durbin's resignation forthwith.
I must admit that I have been somewhat desensitized by the systemic inability of leading Conservatives to confront Left-Wing Liberals on issues where Conservatives have the advantage to discuss race and racism. Senator Durbin is a hopeless partisian deserving of the his public scorn, but so was Senator Dodd.
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