Waaaaaaa...Durbin Apologies

GotZoom

Senior Member
Apr 20, 2005
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Cordova, TN
Sniff..sniff....I'm so misunderstood.

WASHINGTON - Under fire from Republicans and some fellow Democrats, Sen. Dick Durbin apologized Tuesday for comparing American interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp to Nazis and other historically infamous figures.

"Some may believe that my remarks crossed the line," the Illinois Democrat said. "To them I extend my heartfelt apologies."

His voice quaking and tears welling in his eyes, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate also apologized to any soldiers who felt insulted by his remarks.

"They're the best. I never, ever intended any disrespect for them," he said.

The apology came a week after Durbin, the Senate minority whip, quoted from an
FBI agent's report describing detainees at the Naval base in a U.S.-controlled portion of 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," the senator said June 14.

The comment created a buzz on the Internet and among conservative talk radio hosts, but Durbin initially refused to apologize.

"This administration should apologize to the American people for abandoning the Geneva Conventions and authorizing torture techniques that put our troops at risk and make Americans less secure," he said the day after his initial comments.

By last Friday, Durbin was trying to clarify his comments, yet the White House and top Republicans including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist refused to relent. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in an interview scheduled for broadcast Wednesday on Fox News radio's "The Tony Snow Show," tried to equate the comment with actress Jane Fonda calling U.S. soldiers war criminals during a visit to North Vietnam in 1972.

On Tuesday, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley — a fellow Democrat — added his voice to the chorus of criticism, saying, "I think it's a disgrace to say that any man or woman in the military would act like that."

Durbin said in his apology: "I made reference to Nazis, to Soviets, and other repressive regimes. Mr. President, I've come to understand that's a very poor choice of words."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050621/ap_on_go_co/guantanamo_durbin_3
 
What a 'non-apology'. I do hope this was his last term.
 
The only reason "Turban Durbin" apologized is because the ADL tightened his dirty head scarf.
:arabia:
 
He's just so misunderstood!!!!!!!!!!! :baby4:

sounded more like a clarification mixed with a bit of back peddle.......Im not impressed are any of you??
 
I think what Dick Durbin said has made people mad because he told the truth. We have had troops (albeit a small group) engaging in activities frightfully similar to those used by repressive regimes. Donald Rumsfeld has condoned and supported torture (of course he denies this but his actions, or lack thereof speak much louder than any words). This administration's record is shameful, all Durbin did was point that out. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so blunt, but the truth hurts.

acludem
 
acludem said:
I think what Dick Durbin said has made people mad because he told the truth. We have had troops (albeit a small group) engaging in activities frightfully similar to those used by repressive regimes. Donald Rumsfeld has condoned and supported torture (of course he denies this but his actions, or lack thereof speak much louder than any words). This administration's record is shameful, all Durbin did was point that out. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so blunt, but the truth hurts.

acludem

That a fact? Can you provide evidence of "torture" (bumping into them in the hall defines torture for the left) where the perpetrators of such are not either charged awaiting trial or already convicted for their unacceptable behavior?

It is an absolute travesty of the truth that you lefties attempt to dishonestly portray crimes committed by individuals as SOP for the military.

Durbin is an idiot. This isn't an apology. It's an effort to try and convince everyone he didn't say what he did.
 
GunnyL said:
That a fact? Can you provide evidence of "torture" (bumping into them in the hall defines torture for the left) where the perpetrators of such are not either charged awaiting trial or already convicted for their unacceptable behavior?

It is an absolute travesty of the truth that you lefties attempt to dishonestly portray crimes committed by individuals as SOP for the military.

Durbin is an idiot. This isn't an apology. It's an effort to try and convince everyone he didn't say what he did.

And he only "apologized" when he realized he wasn't helping himself or his party politically.
 
The truth is, our current Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez sent out a memo defending torture and giving legal grounds for it. Donald Rumsfeld has taken absolutely NO responsibilty for what happened at Abu Graib and other prisons ( I suppose the pictures were doctored, right?) Instead he shifted blame onto other people. He sent out the Gonzalez memo defending the use of torture tactics, he hired private companies to interrogate troops and allowed torture to be used to soften them. This is the truth. I'm sorry it hurts, but it's the truth. Durbin told the truth. I realize that the right can't deal with it.

acludem
 
acludem said:
I think what Dick Durbin said has made people mad because he told the truth. We have had troops (albeit a small group) engaging in activities frightfully similar to those used by repressive regimes. Donald Rumsfeld has condoned and supported torture (of course he denies this but his actions, or lack thereof speak much louder than any words). This administration's record is shameful, all Durbin did was point that out. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so blunt, but the truth hurts.

acludem

That's quite a lot of allegations....where is the proof??

Know what else hurts, the fact that there are politicians and media people in this country that are so desperate for power that they will put our country and our military's efforts in peril just to try and make the president and the administration look bad by making unprovable allegations knowing full well the press will run with it day after day whether it's true or not hoping the dumber elements of society will beleive it if they hear it enough.

Durbin is no hero, he's a dupe.
 
acludem said:
The truth is, our current Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez sent out a memo defending torture and giving legal grounds for it. Donald Rumsfeld has taken absolutely NO responsibilty for what happened at Abu Graib and other prisons ( I suppose the pictures were doctored, right?) Instead he shifted blame onto other people. He sent out the Gonzalez memo defending the use of torture tactics, he hired private companies to interrogate troops and allowed torture to be used to soften them. This is the truth. I'm sorry it hurts, but it's the truth. Durbin told the truth. I realize that the right can't deal with it.

acludem

Gonzalez defended using duress, not torture. Rumsfeld doesn't need ot take responsibility for the criminal acts committed in Abu Ghraib if SecDef directives prohibit it. The individuals, acted of their own accord, and have been punished for it.

The truth is, you left-wingnuts will take ANYTHING and try to twist into the the Administration perpetrating some evil.

And it just busts my balls that you squeal until you're hoarse how you support the troops and turn right around and do your damnedest to destroy their morale with a bombardment of half-truths and/or plain lies.
 
Comparing isolated cases of abuse, real or imagined, against enemies captured on the battlefield, to regimes that horribly maimed, tortured, and killed millions of innocent people is obscene. It is out-of-control rhetoric of the worst kind, and people who think that Durbin is correct in anyway for his comparison are participating in some of the worst political blathering I've seen in quite awhile.

The supposed illegal acts committed at Gitmo are worthy of investigation. The people involved should be punished accordingly and the U.S. military should continue to work in making sure that the things that go on in places like Gitmo meet the standards our nation has set.

However, to compare a US Military Instillation that has been accused of keeping people standing for too long, playing bad music, mishandling a Koran, or leaving people in solitary so long that they have to soil themselves to regimes that killed MILLIONS OF PEOPLE or tortured CHILDREN for no reason other than their parents owning a radio is sick.

Be upset about the actions of a small number of US soldiers in Gitmo. Demand that the United States expect and require more. But do not insult the nation, the troops, and all of the people who suffered and died under the regimes that Durbin references.

Not only is it deeply hurtful to the people above...but it makes you look like a prize ass.
 
acludem said:
The truth is, our current Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez sent out a memo defending torture and giving legal grounds for it. Donald Rumsfeld has taken absolutely NO responsibilty for what happened at Abu Graib and other prisons ( I suppose the pictures were doctored, right?) Instead he shifted blame onto other people. He sent out the Gonzalez memo defending the use of torture tactics, he hired private companies to interrogate troops and allowed torture to be used to soften them. This is the truth. I'm sorry it hurts, but it's the truth. Durbin told the truth. I realize that the right can't deal with it.

acludem

I am amazed at this fantasy world you libs live in. These prisoners have been treated with nothing but respect. heck they get treated better than I do. We are treating these terrorist prisoners of war better than the Democrat party is treating minorities, and you have the audacity to compare our treatment of them as anything similar to what the nazis or pol pot did. You realize that if we really did live in a nation of nazis or communist thugs, you would be dead. Do you even understand that. The Nazi's gassed prisoners. we are offering them all they need to worship as they wish. Pol Pot took dissenters out to fields and brutally killed them all. We give these prisoners some of the finest meals on earth. Heck we treat them better than our own troops. Our troops are out in immense heat day in and day out hunting these guys down, so we can be safe. These prisonors sit in air conditioning. And you have the audacity to say we are treating them anything like pol pot or hitler or the soviets with their gulags????

It's people like you who trivialize true evil that make it possible for that evil to exist in this world. Ironically, the people who actually perpetuated all those evils in the world are the ones you share your ideology with. When are you going to wake up and realize socialism is one of the greatest evils the world has ever known?
 
Avatar4321 said:
I am amazed at this fantasy world you libs live in. These prisoners have been treated with nothing but respect. heck they get treated better than I do. We are treating these terrorist prisoners of war better than the Democrat party is treating minorities, and you have the audacity to compare our treatment of them as anything similar to what the nazis or pol pot did. You realize that if we really did live in a nation of nazis or communist thugs, you would be dead. Do you even understand that. The Nazi's gassed prisoners. we are offering them all they need to worship as they wish. Pol Pot took dissenters out to fields and brutally killed them all. We give these prisoners some of the finest meals on earth. Heck we treat them better than our own troops. Our troops are out in immense heat day in and day out hunting these guys down, so we can be safe. These prisonors sit in air conditioning. And you have the audacity to say we are treating them anything like pol pot or hitler or the soviets with their gulags????

It's people like you who trivialize true evil that make it possible for that evil to exist in this world. Ironically, the people who actually perpetuated all those evils in the world are the ones you share your ideology with. When are you going to wake up and realize socialism is one of the greatest evils the world has ever known?

You should read Radical Son by David Horowitz. A bit old by now, but a terrific guide of sorts as to how these people think. Acludem might be like him, knowing he's wrong but unable to come to terms with it.
 
Well gosh, where was all the Republican outrage when Rick "Man Marries Dog" Santorum compared Democrats to nazis with regards to the filibuster of Dubbyuh's lunatic fringe judicial nominees?

When are the members of both houses of Congress, both Republican and Democrat, going to remember that their first duty and loyalty lies with the Constitution and the American people rather than to their party or their president? Rather than pursuing the business of actually running the country they have spent the last few months engaging in pointless partisan bitching and sniping. Congress is more like a sand-box full of spoiled, snotty children than the august deliberative body the Founding Fathers envisioned.
 
acludem said:
The truth is, our current Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez sent out a memo defending torture and giving legal grounds for it. Donald Rumsfeld has taken absolutely NO responsibilty for what happened at Abu Graib and other prisons ( I suppose the pictures were doctored, right?) Instead he shifted blame onto other people. He sent out the Gonzalez memo defending the use of torture tactics, he hired private companies to interrogate troops and allowed torture to be used to soften them. This is the truth. I'm sorry it hurts, but it's the truth. Durbin told the truth. I realize that the right can't deal with it.

acludem

The Memo defined it legally and did not set policy, the policy was defined by other means and did not include approval of the levels that, per Gonzalez' legal opinion, it could have reached. Those being prosecuted, for a large part, were actually less aggressive than what Gonzalez said could be defined as legal according to the Treaties we had signed. Therefore this whole Gonzalez set the policy tripe is exactly that, tripe. A legal opinion from an attorney does not set policy, it didn't in this case and it won't in the future.
 
theim said:
You should read Radical Son by David Horowitz. A bit old by now, but a terrific guide of sorts as to how these people think. Acludem might be like him, knowing he's wrong but unable to come to terms with it.

Im actually reading that one now.......And it is an eye opener even for someone like me who didn't think I would be shocked by any of it.
 
Typical spineless politician. Can't stand the heat, so they back down. Stand up for what you believe in!
Jerk. :whip:
 
Bullypulpit said:
Well gosh, where was all the Republican outrage when Rick "Man Marries Dog" Santorum compared Democrats to nazis with regards to the filibuster of Dubbyuh's lunatic fringe judicial nominees?


are getting to be too much. But Dick "The Turban" Durbin should be stripped of his leadership position, centured by the Senate, and then thrown out on his ass by the electorate of Illinois. And if you agree with his comments Bully then your out of your head just like Dickie..
 
Kathianne said:
What a 'non-apology'. I do hope this was his last term.

Unfortunately it won't be. Illinois is full of lib Demos who think almost exactly he does....I reference the last election Bush 29 Kerry 71 in Illinois I believe.
 
OCA said:
Unfortunately it won't be. Illinois is full of lib Demos who think almost exactly he does....I reference the last election Bush 29 Kerry 71 in Illinois I believe.
Tell me about it! I live here!
 

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