corrente

The Death of a Thousand finally takes its toll on Dick Durbin:

"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."

A thousand tiny mindless insects, biting with a thousand tiny fascist talking points, finally shut him up and paved the way for the collective amnesia so essential to allowing Bush to ooze out of all responsibility for the abbatoir he has unleashed. Arise, ye patriots! Let your chests swell with pride at the mighty deed ye have accomplished:

"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."

Meaning, I guess, that no further denigration of Lynndie England nor Charles Greider shall pass our lips, lest we be accused of thinking badly--merely thinking badly--of ANYone who wears a uniform. In fact, let's have all charges dropped and sentences commuted right now, and forget all this nonsense. Let's finally open up a good old-fashioned can of whupass on those Gitmo critters, and start yanking fingernails and gouging eyeballs straightaway. If we can do no wrong, then we can do anything.

And you can thank Hugh Hewitt for helping to crush Durbin's impertinent treason. He knew what you like. He knew what you hate. And he told you all about it so you didn't have to think too hard:

"The American electorate does not believe the conditions at Guantanamo are "torture." They do not agree that the criminal conduct of Abu Ghraib is illustrative of the American military. They do not worry that we are being overly inclusive about the population at Gitmo. They do not believe that any part of what America been about since September 11 is in any way connected with the Nazis, the Stalinists, or Pol Pot.
They are disgusted over this slander of the military, and they deserve a vote on whether Senator Durbin's argument deserves anything except complete and quick condemnation by responsible members of both parties intent on supporting the war, the military, and the country's defense."

Imagine my embarassment to discover that, since none of this reflects my own opinions, I must have left my American citizenship on the train last week. What will save me? Well, knowing the bovine American public's romance with inertia, it's unlikely that they are getting too worked up over Durbin's comments about this, fringe elements and embryophiles aside. But that doesn't stop Hugh, as he quotes from last Thursday's Al-Jazeera story on the Gitmo hearings, saying it:

"...reinforced the obvious and undeniable consequence of Durbin's recklessness: An enormous propaganda gift had been given by Durbin to jihadists everywhere, not to mention anti-Americans of every stripe."

The article in question, if read by a normal human being, actually does nothing of the kind, but rather even-handedly portrays arguments being put forward by detractors and apologists for the detainment camp. It doesn't matter...Hewitt's intent is to make clear that it's "anti-American" to object to one's nation's descent into tyranny, and he uses the bogeyman of the numberless enemy to scare us into silence about it. He quotes his soulmate from Arizona for backup:

"Arizona Republican Jon Kyl would not allow Durbin to slip away. Kyl blasted Durbin for the "consequences when enemies of the United States seize on even the flimsiest of things to take to the streets and riot . . . "
"Words have consequences." Kyl added. "It is irresponsible and it should not be engaged in, and it should not be countenanced."

In one magnificent blow for freedom, Kyl exonerates the decades-long policies of his masters and their precursors for any responsiblility for the current anti-American world climate, and implies that any criticism of them borders on traitorism. Not even Tom Daschle, on the eve of the war, was hounded by a maelstrom of frothing lunatics like this.

Later: Dogpile On Durbin: The Binge Drink of The Right