panda ponders

I was not expecting an apology from Sen. Durbin and he didn’t give one. I missed the Rush Limbaugh show yesterday and on the chance you did too … I am quoting him because it is very good. I do not make a practice of mass quoting anyone but this time .. this is just too good. Rush also compares, toward the end of this long quote, the reaction to the joke that Trent Lott made at a birthday party that was a poor choice but not maliciously meant .. and ended his career to reaction of Dick Durbin’s malevolent remarks from the Senate floor and is in the government record for all time. The reactions are completely different, from fellow Senators to the MainStreamMedia. (As always, this link will only be available free until the next Rush show.)

RUSH: He hasn’t taken any of that back. He just said he’s sorry “if” anybody was offended by it, but he didn’t say he was wrong and he didn’t take it back, and he also, ladies and gentlemen, has never been to G’itmo. He’s never been. He went to Iraq, but he’s never been to G’itmo. You would think he’d want to go if it was this bad down there. You would think he’d want to go and take a look at it. Now, he first apologized. We’re giving the apology sound bites now. He first apologizes if anything he said “offended the memory of the Holocaust.” This is last night on the Senate floor.

DURBIN: I made reference to the Nazis, to the Soviets, and other repressive regimes. Mr. President, it is very clear that even though I thought I had said something that clarified the situation, to many people it was still unclear. I’m sorry if anything that I said caused any offense or pain to those who have such bitter memories of the Holocaust, the greatest moral tragedy of our time. Nothing, nothing should ever be said to demean or diminish that moral tragedy.

RUSH: But yet again he simply apologizes for the feelings that it caused, he doesn’t take back what he said, and then here come the tears, the Senate awash in tears. This is last night on the Senate floor, Durbin tears up while apologizing “if anything he said cast a negative light on the military.” Cast a negative light? He called them Nazis! What do you mean if anything he said cast a negative light? Listen to this.

DURBIN: I’m also sorry if anything I said in any way cast a negative light on our fine men and women in the military.

RUSH: Stop the tape. How could it not? I’m also sorry if anything I said in any way cast a negative light on our — I am sorry for casting a negative light and I take it back. That’s an apology. Here he continues saying he’s sorry if anything he said cast a negative — he did. You compared them to Nazis, Soviet gulags, Pol Pot. Here’s the rest of it.

DURBIN: I went to Iraq just a few months ago with Senator Harry Reid and a delegation, bipartisan delegation, the president was part of it. When you look in the eyes of the soldiers, you see your son, you see your daughter. They’re the best. I never, ever intended any disrespect for them.

RUSH: (Crying sounds.)

DURBIN: Some may believe that my remarks crossed the line. To them I extend my heartfelt apologies.

RUSH: There you go. “Some may believe my remarks…” They did cross the line. You’re not taking it back. You didn’t erase the line. The line’s still there. Your words are still over the line, and you’re apologizing to people for making them feel bad. Now, I know what you’re saying, Rush, can’t you just let this go? Come on, Rush! Come on, Rush, he apologized. Can’t you just let it go? This is only gonna — see, you’re just going to make everybody think the right-wing is just a bunch of wackos and freaks. Stick with me on this, folks. Stick with me. You have been with me long enough to know that we don’t do anything here without a major point with a big exclamation point to be followed, and that’s what’s going to happen here. So just stick with me before you say, “Come on, Rush! Be nice, will you? Be big about it. Be bigger than Durbin, accept the apology.” I just want to show you how Washington works here and I know how short memories are. Just sit tight. Let’s finish up with Durbin here before we go to the break. Let me check the roster here. Yeah, this is the last Durbin. He ends up here by quoting Abraham Lincoln who was shot in the temple. Remember that joke that he told about Lincoln? A lot of people think that he’s Jewish, yeah, Abraham. And he was shot in the temple. (Laughing.) Everybody laughed big time on that, still haven’t heard an apology for that one. Anyway, here he is, he invokes Lincoln’s name.

DURBIN: There’s usually a quote from Abraham Lincoln that you can turn to in moments like this.

RUSH: We do every day.

DURBIN: Maybe this is the right one. Lincoln said, “If the end brings me out right, what is said against me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong 10,000 angels swearing I was right wouldn’t make any difference. In the end I don’t want anything in my public career to detract from my love for this country, my respect for those who serve it, and this great senate.” I offer my apologies to those who were offended by my words.

RUSH: There you go.

DURBIN: I promise you that I will continue to speak out on the issues that I think are important to the people of Illinois and to the nation.

RUSH: How do you hear this? I’ll tell you the way I hear it. “I apologizes if…” First the Lincoln business. Hey, look, you know, if what I said was right it doesn’t matter what anybody else says; I’m going to be right — and if I was wrong, it doesn’t matter who defends me. I’m still going to be wrong. That’s just for icing. He gets to the point here. “I offer my apologies again to those who were offended by my words,” and then he says, “I’m going to keep saying it,” then he says, “I promise you I’m going to continue to speak out on issues that I think are important to the people of Illinois and the nation,” and if your feelings get hurt I may apologize again, but I’m going to keep speaking. All right, now, for those of you saying, “Come on, Rush! Can you let it go?” just stick with me.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: So Dick Durbin says that “some may believe that my remarks crossed the line.” But he doesn’t say he thinks that. He doesn’t say, “My remarks crossed the line.” He said, “Some of you may think my remarks crossed the line, and if you do, I’m story for offending you,” but I’m going to keep speaking out on these issues. He didn’t take the words back. I’m sorry, he didn’t take it back. “Come on, Rush! Give him the benefit of the doubt.” Just sit with me, folks. Let’s continue with the audio sound bites. Last night on the Senate floor, John McCain — who has to insert himself into virtually every story that there’s going to be a lot of press on — rushes to the Senate floor to praise Durbin and ask that we put this behind us.

THE MAVERICK: The senator from Illinois just made a heartfelt statement, one of apology. All of us, I believe, who have had the opportunity to serve in public life from time to time, have said things that we deeply regret. I know that I have. I can’t speak for the other members of this body. I would like to say to the senator from Illinois, he did the right thing, the courageous thing and I believe we can put this issue behind us, and I thank the senator from Illinois.

RUSH: A courageous thing here. So why doesn’t Durbin have to go on an atonement tour like Trent Lott did? Why doesn’t he have to go to sensitivity training? Why doesn’t he have to go meet Abraham Foxman? Why doesn’t he have to apologize to all the different Jewish groups in person like Lott? Lott had to show up on Black Entertainment TV, for crying out loud and sit with some of those stone-faced anchors who didn’t care that he was there and weren’t going to accept his apology no matter what. Lott apologized five times and they never accepted it once. And after he apologized five times the White House dumped all over him, and they took his Senate leadership position away from him and created an enemy out of him from now on until Bush leaves office. Five times Lott apologized — not once was it accepted — over a remark he made at a birthday party, and yet this that Durbin did was courageous. We’re not finished here. Do the Republicans demand that he resign his leadership post? Do they refuse to accept the apology? No, they accept it and move on. This morning on Fox and Friends, Mitch McConnell was there, and E. D. Hill says, “Some of have suggested that he should be canned from his job as minority whip. Do you think that’s going too far?”

McCONNELL: You know, leadership posts are up to the Democratic conference. That will be for them to decide. I think we’re probably going to move on from this point and to other issues.

RUSH: Yeah, we’ll get back to Bolton and the filibuster. Hubba hubba. Yes siree bob. Now, folks, don’t misunderstand me. I don’t care whether Durbin resigns his post or not. I’m just trying to show you the differences in these two parties. I’m trying to show you a party with gonads and a party with linguini spines and you tell me which party is which. I’m trying to show you which party’s got the guts to act like winners, which party has the guts to act like they have spines and which party, despite the fact that they lose, still acts like they run the show. As far as Durbin going or staying, I don’t know. If he stays, fine. I think he’s a poster child here for the Democratic Party, and I hope he keeps talking, and I haven’t changed my mind, and whether he apologized or not is irrelevant to me. I’m just pointing out to you I don’t think he did. I don’t believe in these public apologies anyway. I think it’s all a bunch of — he said what he meant to say. He said what he meant to say, and the really irony here is that while he’s out there supposedly apologizing for hurting people’s feelings what’s Nancy Pelosi doing? She’s organizing 133 members of the house to set up this investigation of what’s going on at G’itmo and to get us out of Iraq while Durbin is out there apologizing and praising the troops and the guards and everybody else. There’s not one bit of scrutiny from the mainstream press on any of this, just reporting and praise and, “Okay, Durbin did it. Can we now move on,” and the Washington Post we get a little story, tips for the Democrats. Hint: Next time don’t compare anybody to Hitler — and, by the way, the only reason they’re doing it is because Rush Limbaugh invented the term feminazis. That’s the sum total of the Washington Post story, Durbin did it because I popularized it first with feminazis. I haven’t used that term on this program in years. But it still gets to ‘em, doesn’t it, and you know why? (Laughing.) Because it’s right. Because it’s accurate, and I’m not going to apologize if it hurts your feelings but, you know what? I think if you’re offended it’s your problem, not mine. That’s another thing about this. Durbin is not in charge of other people’s feelings. He has no business apologizing if people are offended. People’s feelings are their own. So if you’re offended it’s your problem. That’s the way I look at it. You can’t go through life trying not to offend people or you’ll end up being a wimp. Anyway, Bill Frist accepted Durbin’s apology, this is this morning on C-SPAN2 on the Senate floor.

FRIST: Last night’s statement from Senator Durbin both honored our troops and recognized the sacrifices of those who lived and died under the grim systems of Nazi terror, of Soviet repression and Cambodian genocide. That is right and fine and worthy. Senator Durbin took an honorable step yesterday afternoon and I look forward to working with our colleague from Illinois as we move forward.

RUSH: You can’t be serious. I wouldn’t look forward to working with the guy. The guy is holding up everything you want to do, Senator Frist. This is the collegiality that of course our friends in the Senate, blah, blah, blah, blah. Durbin, after all this, is going to think the slate’s been wiped clean and he’s going to continue to stand in the way of everything Frist wants to get done. Nothing is going to change. All this collegiality, all this bending over forwards and backwards to be nice, to try to be bigger than everybody about this, to try to be bigger than the Democrats, it never works. It doesn’t make the Democrats like them any more. It isn’t going to get John Bolton a new vote. It isn’t going to get him approved. It’s not going to get Social Security advanced. It isn’t going to get anything done. Republicans are just afraid of the media ripping them to shreds if they refuse to accept the apology. That’s all this is.

I do not know if I am more shocked by the beliefs of Senator Durbin or by how many people who are either supporting his statements or claiming its a non-issue. Both groups stun me at their ignorance. Why are they not more outraged?

My cousin wrote this in her comment yesterday, in case you missed it …

Outraged. And here’s the thing these leftist nitwits (sorry, that’s redundant) fail to grasp: When they continuously compare President Bush to Adolf Hitler, and the United States Armed Forces to Nazis and Communist butchers, they minimize the truly horrific actions of Hitler, the Nazis, and the Communists. Such statements are meant to insult President Bush and our military, but what they really do is “soften” the memory of the atrocities. Imagine being alive in 60 years and hearing the liberal media compare a large tax cut to the catastrophe of 9/11. How outraged would you be? How does that kind of reckless comparison minimize the horror of 9/11? You would be screaming at the top of your lungs, “Hey! I was alive when that happened! I WATCHED it happen!” And so, all of us who have seen those grainy black and white films of emaciated, naked corpses piled in mass graves ought to stand up and scream, “I have SEEN what the Nazis did!” Senator Durbin, you should get down on your knees and beg forgiveness from the men and women of the U.S. military, their Commander-in-Chief, AND every last survivor of the Holocaust.

She could not be more correct! There are barely any people living who actually saw the atrocities of the Nazi concentration camps and the Soviet Gulags. A man, Troy Harris, that I grew up around was in WWII and witnessed the concentration camps first hand as he was one of those who helped liberate them. He and his eight brothers were all in WWII and only eight Harris boys came home. I talked about earlier about the youngest brother, “Pug” Harris, who was killed in action. Troy, on the rare occasions he would speak of the war, would say that while all the attention was on the big camps, small camps were scattered all over. He said that even more than forty years after the war, he could still remember the smell in the air of burning flesh as if it was yesterday. He could not shake the memory. Burning flesh.

I was not able to catch any of the radio talk shows today but Rush has portions of his show available free for that day only, and this is a particularly good section… referring to Durbin of course …

This is a man who needs to be reminded what the Nazi death camps, the Russian gulags, and the Cambodian killing fields look like. He needs to take some time off from his political gamesmanship and educate himself about the regimes that he used as examples to smear and defame the thankless work of the brave American soldiers working down at G’itmo, and when he’s done taking that tour, Durbin needs to immediate with some of the survivors of these death camps. He needs to educate himself about how they fought to live under these most inhumane conditions. Next on this tour Durbin needs to go back do Ground Zero and that field in Pennsylvania and the Pentagon and take a looked good look at where how 3,000 of his fellow Americans were slaughtered in cold blood. Senator Durbin needs to be reminded of how some of them jumped to their deaths, were burned to death or were crushed to death, and he needs to meet with the families of the dead.

The cops, the firefighters, the wives and husbands, the children, the parents and grandparents who lost loved ones, and then Dick Durbin needs to go to Walter Reed and other hospitals treating our brave men and women in uniform, some of whom are struggling to live because of major head or organ wounds, those who have lost limbs or sight or hearing or are horribly burned. He should talk to these soldiers and their families, and after he visits these hospitals he should go to Arlington National Cemetery where so many of our heroes have been buried defending our country in this war and past wars. And on the last leg of his education tour, then send him to G’itmo. He should witness how our magnificent troupes care for the enemy, an enemy that is in fact the latest incarnation of the Nazis, the Stalinists and the Cambodian communists. Let him see for himself the difference between good and evil, and see that we are good and that they are evil. He will see that these American soldiers he smears and defames are the only line of defense we have against the would-be mass murderers of September 11th. Take that trip, Senator Durbin. I will pay for it, if you will take it.

Every single person who supports Durbin, should take that educational trip with him. Not just read what happened … see it, feel it, really understand what happened. Because it’s obvious .. they have no clue. While the assassination of President Kennedy is a whole different incident, Dallas has what is called the Sixth Floor Museum. Anyone who visits that museum is transported to November 1963. Through the use of video clips, audio clips, pictures, and models … you feel that you are right there when it happens. The emotion is real. This is nothing in comparison to what the emotion and experience of visiting the Holocaust Museum must be like. I can state without reservation, that it is not people who have visited that museum who are supporting Durbin. Everyone should visit and see what torture is, how a repressive regime treats their people, and what

more from Rush …

I don’t want to hear ever again from Democrats how you support the troops. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to get into a waste of time arguing with you about your notion that you can support the troops but disagree with the mission. I don’t want to hear it. It’s intellectually vacant. It makes no sense, and it’s insulting, and I don’t want to. You all are telling us clearly what your priorities are here. You’re telling us on whose side in this you really are. You’ve got al-Jazeera — al-Jazeera on television, and their website — plastering Durbin’s words all over the plays because he know what an assistance those words are. They know how helpful Durbin’s words are in ginning up the very thing Durbin fears is what’s going on at G’itmo. He thinks that’s what’s going on is G’itmo is going to cause more hate to accrue to Americans.

What Durbin is saying is going to do that. Durbin is creating far more than G’itmo or Abu Ghraib ever could, a false impression of the United States. He is telling a bunch of leftist ideologues around the world that this is the new Nazi Germany, that we may as well have Pol Pot running this country. Such is their hatred for Bush and the Democratic Party that some of them may actually believe this. But I think it’s time for Senator Durbin to take this trip, if nothing else, to acquaint himself with the facts so that he can be duly embarrassed — if he’s capable of that.

I fail to see how Durbin connects the dots between the people held in the Nazi camps and Soviet gulags as the same kind of people held at Guantanamo Bay. The only people held at Guantanamo Bay are people who were captured in the act of attacking the United States, or planning a major attack on the United States. If, if you are really concerned about the prisoners well-being, there is a strong argument to be made that they are much better off where they are. Their mission in life is to kill any and as many as possible Americans! They would not be relaxing on the beach somewhere, if we had not snatched them out of their peaceful existence … they would be planning/implementing attacks on the U. S. Military, U. S. citizens around the world, and any nation and their citizens they believe to be enemies. Which is almost every nation in the world. At the point they are at now, their sad childhood does not matter. They do not get special points for being treated poorly by adults around them growing up. Call it callous, call it harsh … there is only so much you can help a person who is consumed by hate and violence. Do not kid yourself … they are consumed by hate and violence and are willing to act on those feelings. Have so many already forgotten what happened no so long ago in New York City? I have not heard any description of the treatment of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay that causes me pause and makes me consider what exactly are we doing down there. What exactly are we supposed to do to the prisoners … ask them nicely with sugar on top to give us the information we need to protect our nation? No, not today? Go figure. It is not supposed to be pleasant. It is not summer camp!

If you listen to Rush Limbaugh regularly, you know that while he finds things shocking … few things actually shock him. Yet, yesterday on his show …

Uh, you know… (sigh) I’m just stunned. I’m literally just stunned.

This, in response to the statement of Senator Dick Durbin made yesterday on the Senate floor. I am linking to Rush’s quote of the remarks and linking where he linked.

“‘On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold. ….. On another occasion, the (air conditioner) had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.’ 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 ( Photos | history) or others — that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.”

When a caller alerted Rush to the unbelievable remarks, I could not imagine a leader (and I use the term loosely) of our nation saying such horrible things. Yet there it is. The Democrats and Liberals at their finest. MainStreamMedia has given little, if any, attention to this story and Sen. Durban’s office claims this is only a big deal because Rush is talking about it. Not true. If you are a Democrat reading this … can you continue to be so in the face of such despicable beliefs by one of your leaders? I find it baffling that the realm of torture is now supposed to include listening to loud music. Not to mention what Sean Hannity has to say about all this, you can imagine if you have ever heard his show.

Sen. Durbin completely believes what he said was a valid critique of the Military and is not backing down. “Sen. Durbin Stands by Guantanamo Remarks,” states FoxNews. Not surprising, since the current face of the Democratic party is to defame the Military, Republicans, Conservatives, and even those in their own party who are not in line with their supremely Left beliefs. The growing number of Democrats who do not follow this crooked line of thought, need to make a stand inside their party and try to save their party.

Can the following be said of any activity at Guantanamo Bay?

I heard already the motor, the gas motor working with a high…You know from the gas motor, the scream. They started…they started very loud like “Ahhh….,” very loud, even louder than the motor. They had a big motor there. Later about 15 minutes down…down and until quiet was. This was Sobibor.
~ Tomasz (Toivi) Blatt (personal stories from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

Bloggers are the only ones who seem to care about the repugnant statements of Sen. Durbin.
One of the first to break the story was The American Thinker with:

Illinois Senator losing his mind?
Senator Durbin, what if….?
What’s a bigger national embarrassment - Gitmo or Durbin?
American Thinker accused of lying and propaganda

Wizbang has a great piece: Let’s *Really* Compare U.S. Soldiers to Nazis
Little Green Footballs has this about those defending Durbin’s statements.
Michele Malkin had a post back in March that proves the people being held at Guantanamo Bay are not the innocents that some on the Left want us to believe. Additionally, Ms. Malkin also comments on this whole situation here and here.
From The Editors at The Unalienable Right

That’s right, Dick. The Nazi concentration camps were known for turning down the air conditioning and pumping up the Christina Aguilera music. The gulags were known for providing prisoners with their desired religious texts and culturally appropriate meals. What an ignorant, hateful, despicable comment from this Democratic leader.

… Side note: Though I do not particularly like Christinia Aguilera’s music, I would hardly (in seriousness) call it torture …
Pardon My English has Guantanamo Madness: The Left’s Perspective Problem
IMAO weighs in with …

Yeah, I remember the horror stories of the lack of air conditioning in the Nazi concentration camps (who wants to bet my brother in Iraq is dealing with hotter weather right now in his un-air conditioned tank?). Pol Pot, though, loved to turn up on the AC on his dissenters, that monster! Oh, and then there was the notorious use of the Notorious B.I.G. in the Soviet gulags.

You can read Sen. Durbin’s full statement here.
Find Rush on the radio in your area.
Find Sean Hannity on the radio in your area (bottom left on the main page) … and weeknights on Hannity & Colms on the Fox News Network.

Going back to Sen. Durbin’s definition of torture … listening to loud music and the air conditioner turned way down. My street has some new neighbors who almost every weekend and sometimes weekdays play their music very loudly. I can hear it clearly inside my house .. and I live 3 houses down. What would happen if I waltzed down there and demanded they stop, comparing them to the Nazi’s of WWII? I live with 3 hot-natured people, meaning they need more air-conditioning because they get hot easier than normal. I am cold-natured, I get cold sometimes even in slightly warmer temperatures. I shudder to think what would happen to me, if I accused the others of being Nazi torturers because I was too cold in my room. (I am not talking about slightly chilled … I live in Texas … it gets really hot here and I sleep with flannel sheets and an electric blanket always at the ready … year round!) No, neither of these situations compare to the punishment, if you can even call it that, given to the prisoners-of-war at the Guantanamo Bay facility. However … it is no more of a stretch than comparing our United States Military to the thugs and terrorists whose credits included horrific treatments that often ended in a brutal death. How many prisoners have died at Guantanamo Bay … none, not a single one. What kind of “death camp” has no deaths?

Update for this post: Rush’s links are only good for that day, visits after require a paid subscription.