American Warmonger

Gingrich Calls for Censuring Durbin

Everyone has heard what Durbin said. I have no need to repeat them here. By now you have read something that has polarized you on a topic once again. Either this whole deal has been "blown out of proportion" and Bush really is a Nazi, or you believe that Dick Durbin's comments were completely unjustified and out of line. To help you understand what his statements really meant let me clarify a few things:

1. Claiming someone's actions are like or similar to a person or persons of vile and infamous note is a direct insult. We are defined by our actions. If you state one's actions are deplorable you have attacked the person.

2. No amount of saying how much you really love and support the troops changes the reality of the knife in their back. I would rather you just kill me and get it over with than shake my hand with your right while you plunge the knife with your left. Call it a misunderstood statement. Claim we're ignoring the substance, but what has been said can have no sugar coating.

3. Making accusations of anything in a congressional forum is the same as filing a lawsuit. You have made an official declaration and better have the facts to back up your story, not just a report in which you can't even tell if it was a statement from an FBI agent or if it was just a report from an FBI agent. Doesn’t an FBI agent write all the reports from the prisoners? When an official speaks in a congressional forum he speaks to the world that something is fact and has tangible evidence to back up your claim.

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This being said you should be able to ascertain this writer's opinion on this particular issue. I feel that Dick Durbin made a statement in an official capacity that stated torture similar to that which happened by the most heinous of persons has gone on at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Not just that, but you make the official claim that it was not only authorized, but directed by the senior most official of the United States.

Isn't someone going to do something? Isn't someone going to stand up and let people know they need to stop name calling? When is it going to stop? How far can a congressman go before someone throws the foul flag? When is enough enough?

Today a small group of senators have taken a stand to claim their absolution from Durbin's statements. They are asking for congress to make a declaration that Durbin's statements do not speak for the whole of congress but his voice alone. So, without further blathering, let the quotes begin:

"He should certainly apologize," Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "There's no comparison whatsoever."

Yes, McCain asked for an apology from Durbin. I'm not defending him, but the quote is there....of course, this quote is there too:

I think on balance the argument has got to be, the weight of evidence has got to be that we've got to adjudicate these people's cases, and that means that if it means releasing some of them, you'll have to release them. Look, even Adolf Eichmann got a trial. We are signatories to numerous agreements on human rights against torture, universal declaration on human rights, et cetera. So that means that we have to do something with these people, and I hope we can move that process forward very soon.

I have two things to say:
1. When is McCain going to officially switch parties?
2. I would like to officially join Blogs for McCain's Opponent now.

Lets see what Newt Gingrich had to say:

And in an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," Gingrich argued that Durbin's words had damaged the U.S. abroad. On the English-language website of the Arabic news channel Al Jazeera, an article about Durbin's remarks was listed Sunday as one of the site's most-frequently e-mailed items.

"You cannot … have a public official quoted throughout the world by our enemies describing the U.S. in these terms," Gingrich said. "It puts every young American in uniform at risk."

So Al-Jazeera's most e-mailed comment on Sunday was Durbin's quote. Sort of tells me that he caused a stir in the terrorist ranks. Anyway, that's a fight for a different post. Let's get back to censure:

Here's the link to the document Newt was passing around the senate on Friday: LINK

By his statements equating American treatment of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay with the behavior of the evil regimes of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and Pol Pot’s Cambodia, Senator Richard Durbin has dishonored the United States and the entire U.S. Senate. Only by a vote to censure Senator Durbin for his conduct can the U.S. Senate restore its dignity and defend American honor.

Senator Durbin’s comparison, sadly, is despicable.

Now, many people have misunderstood the meaning of censure. It is not the removal of someone from power. They are not trying to boot him from Congress. It does not even mean that the person loses any seniority. It means that the Senate, as a whole, is disavowing themselves from the disparaging statement that was made. If Durbin felt compelled to, he could sign the censure himself. In fact, if it went to censure and he signed it would be the ultimate official apology money could buy. Yes, that would be cool but lets face facts. It's not going to happen.

As Gingrich has said, this vote would also establish a character reference of where people stand in Congress. It should not be a partisan issue. It should be a bi-partisan issue. Whether you believe Durbin's words were misunderstood or not, the true censuring is against the belief that our men and women in the United States are no better Nazi in a death camp.

Posted by aakaakaak at June 21, 2005 12:46 AM