Sen. Dick Durbin made a colossal mistake. Incredible mistake. A mistake that could cost him dearly before all this is done.
His statement on the floor of the Senate concerning prisoners of war being held by Americans was about as stupid as anything I've ever heard in my lifetime watching politics. (It's not as stupid as some conservatives are misinterpreting it to be for their political gain, but it was incredibly stupid).
It probably also was wrong. Not treasonous; not particularly dangerous (except for him). Just incredibly stupid stupid stupid. He should know better. Comparing ANYONE to Nazis is really politically stupid. Even if you're comparing them to the W-imbecile nazis.
Unfortunately, I understand the sentiment. And when you realize he's talking about the W-admininstration's policies and not the torturers on the ground...
The way I read that lapse into politically-destructive rhetoric is this:
We should be better than our enemies. We MUST be better than our enemies. We ARE better than our enemies. If we expect to export democracy around the globe, then we MUST prove that democracy is better than what they (whoever 'they' is) have now.
If we stoop to their level, then we prove we're no better than they are. And then what's the advantage of democracy?
We have to be better than that. Just because THEY torture does NOT make it OK for us to torture. It just doesn't. As Americans, we ARE better than that. We ARE better than they are. And we MUST show that to the world. We always have been better and we always SHOULD be. Just a little torture may be OK for them, but it cannot be OK for us.
Just remember: 'If you sleep with pigs, you'll wake up covered in shit.'
And if you make unfair or inaccurate comparisons to pigs. apparently you will, too.
And so it goes.
2 comments:
People are missing the point behind Durbin's statements! He wasn't comparing US troops to Nazis, he was comparing the actions performed by PRISON GUARDS (who just happen to be US soldiers) that are condoned by our government.
The bastards working in the prisons that are abusing these detainees are NOT the US Troops that are risking life and limb on a daily basis. Especially at Gitmo!
I have no problem with Durbin comparing these arseholes to Nazis, because they ARE commiting torture-based atrocities that WOULD NOT BE TOLERATED WITHIN THE US (or at least I hope to god not!).
My friends, who are having to fight this unjust war in Iraq, are insulted not by Durbin, but by these depraved prison guards and interrogators. My buddies have to engage the enemy on a daily basis in hostile environments far from home -- not in a secure, fenced-off PRISON CELL!!
And all my anger goes double for the government bastard chicken-hawks who not only send our troops to die in Iraq, but also condone this sadistic behavior in these illegal prisons! It must be weird being gutless and living without honor!
I think the phrase, "You can tell a society by its prisons" goes beyond the author's initial intent, since I doubt he was considering super-secret, above-international-law prison islands...
I certainly can't disagree with nearly everything you say. And if you read Durbin's statement, who he was criticising was the Bush administration. No one deserves it more. You'll have to search long and hard to find a more corrupt, more morally bankrupt, more unjustifiably self-righteous administration than that of the W-imbecile.
Nevertheless, the way he stated it was still politically stupid.
A politician of Durbin's experience and intellect should have a better idea of how to say something like this so it won't blow up in his face.
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