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Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Dick Durbin and The GOP Shell Game
Posted by Tim TagarisPay no attention to the what is really un-American and threatening the troops, the torture of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. Forget about the scores of Republicans, including leadership in the Senate who have compared Democrats (one in the last month), and the New York Times, to Hitler. Don't think about George Bush on the verge of subverting the will of the Senate, and the people, by threatening a recess appointment for John Bolton because he doesn't have the votes to get out of the Senate. Never mind those record oil prices. Editing documents that portray a culture of environmental abuse and warnings for the future--pffft. And the list goes on.
But never mind that, focus your guns on Dick Durbin who was telling the country, that as a country, we are better than this. Watching Newt Gingrich call for censure this weekend, my blood boiled as I wished the Senator from my native land, Illinois, would just fight back. The Minneapolis Star Tribune gets it right.
Durbin was spot on in his assessment of Guantanamo. That's why he was so roundly attacked. He told the truth. And his message is of vital importance; the United States is better than this.Oh the irony of a Republican Party feigning outrage at Senator Durbin fresh on the heels of a failed attempt to consolidate all political power in their own hands. But they have done it again; the GOP has effectively gotten the media to take it's eye off the ball.The issue of whether Durbin's rhetoric crossed a line is small potatoes compared with the undeniable truth that American treatment of its prisoners has crossed many, many lines -- of morality, of international law, of practical benefit.
Posted at 01:23 AM in Illinois | Technorati