Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Camp Delta) refuses to apologize for his unhinged remarks likening American interrogators and Gitmo military staff to Nazis, Soviet gulag operators and genocidal maniac Pol Pot. (Radioblogger has the audio; Trey Jackson’s got video.)

Earlier today, as you know, White House spokesman Scott McClellan castigated Durbin.

What America needs is for President Bush himself to directly challenge Durbin on his treachery.

What President Bush should do is to call on Durbin to retract his remarks (not just apologize) and ask forgiveness from our troops and the American people.

Power Line’s Paul Mirengoff notes:

What’s unusual about Durbin’s lie is that it slanders his own country. Normally that kind of slander is uttered only by revolutionaries seeking the violent overthrow of the government. Yet Durbin purports to be part of a loyal opposition.

What possessed Durbin to do it? How, after harping constantly on the importance of our image to winning the war on terrorism, could he cast the U.S. in such a false light? It’s not likely that he intentionally set out to injure his country. Until I hear a better explanation, I’ll put it down to a kind of sickness or derangement brought on by hatred — of President Bush, the military, etc. — coupled with a very weak immune system (i.e. intellect).

Scott Johnson also minces no words:

Senators Leahy and Durbin are more fit to reconstitute the Democratic Party as a branch of the Peoples Temple than to hold high office. They are more fit to lead a doomsday cult devoted to drinking poison Kool-Aid than they are to serve as United States Senators.

Milblogger Matthew Heidt asks Durbin’s constituents: Illinois, Are You Going to Sit There and Let Your Senator Call Your Sons & Husbands Nazis? (And daughters and wives, too.)

Illinois resident Ellis Wyatt runs Dump Dick Durbin.

Jeff H writes A Letter to Senator Dick.

Hugh Hewitt predicts the MSM reaction:

Which way do you think the editorial writers at the bigs will go? My guess is a measured criticism for careless rhetoric, mixed with a Santorum reference, a call for more civility, a couple of nods to the bravery of the troops sent on a terribly difficult mission, and a demand to focus on the real issues, perhaps with a blast at right wing media. I can’t see any of the bigs coming to the conclusion that the vast, vast majority of Americans have, which is that Durbin is a pathetic and repulsive political hack who should exit immediately after a lengthy and detailed apology.

BTW: If you don’t “get” this, you are really far removed from the country’s center. It isn’t a Democrat-Republican, left-right thing. It is an American-anti-American thing. Period.

Exactly.

Rush is on a roll. Here’s his interview with an outraged Sen. Jeff Sessions.

The VFW is also livid:

“The senator was totally out of line for even thinking such thoughts, and we demand he apologize to every man and woman who has ever worn the uniform of our country, and to their families,” said John Furgess, the VFW’s commander-in-chief.

“Our soldiers put the needs of others first, just like generations of Americans before them,” said Furgess, a Vietnam veteran who retired as a colonel in the Tennessee Army National Guard.

“They answered the call to create our country, to save our Union, and to help free the world from tyranny. And in return, all they ever asked for was to be appreciated for who they are and what they do, and for the country to care for their minds and bodies if broken or care for their families should they die,” he said

“To link such selflessness to three of world’s worst regimes is reprehensible,” said Furgess, “and I call on every member of Congress and all 900,000 veterans in the State of Illinois to make their displeasure known to Senator Durbin.”

Make your displeasure known if you haven’t already.

Phone: (202) 224-2152 or (312) 353-4952

E-mail: dick@durbin.senate.gov

There is a war on. Durbin has shown us which side he’s on. Show him yours.

***

Update: Dave Logan called up a few Senators and asked for their positions on Durbin’s statement. Here are the results:

Ted Kennedy 202-224-4543….”Not quite sure, I’ll have to check on that.” Not quite sure?

Joe Lieberman 202-224-4041….”Mr. Lieberman has no comment at all.” Really?

John Kerry 202-224-2742….”Sen. Kerry doesn’t have a position on Sen. Durbin’s comments.” Why doesn’t this surprise me?

This is your United States Senate at work. Proud?

Dave is on to something here. Why not call your Senators and ask them where they stand?

Lorie Byrd at Polipundit has more links, including Betsy Newmark’s pointed questions for Durbin about how to treat the latest captured Zarqawi aide and John Hawkins’ new logo offering for the Democrat party, which calls to mind Mark Steyn’s incisive read on the losing politics of the Dems’ Bash-Gitmo strategy on Hewitt’s show Wednesday:

I think the politics of it is disastrous for the Democratic Party, because every time they stand up and they whine that some poor, little jihadist is having to have Christina Aguilera played to him really loudly, which, to be honest, I wouldn’t want. But every time the Democrats stand up for the cause of that, they identify themselves, in crude political terms, as the weak party, the spineless party, the supine party, and that didn’t work for them in 2002 and 2004. And there’s no reason to expect that to change next year.

More swarming…bRight and Early; Iowa Voice; always-must-read Captain Ed on the Democratic ping echo from John Kerry to Dick Durbin; LGF keeps an eye on the moonbats and Jeff G. mocks them brilliantly

MSM coverage…NY Times

What about the Washington Post? The paper ran an AP story on the controversy on Wednesday. But no original reporting of its own. I’ve searched both the website and Nexis. Am I missing something? Maybe they’ll be publishing a piece online later in the day? Interestingly, the paper did assign a reporter to write a piece on GOP Sen. Bill Frist defending his remarks about the Schiavo case, which was published on A17, 6/17/05.

Update:

House GOP letter to Nancy Pelosi at GOP Bloggers

Latest Fox polling: Americans support Gitmo

comments (3)   trackbacks (73)