June 21, 2005

Durbin Apology

Sen. Durbin attempted to apologize today on the floor of the Senate. I'm disappointed.

Why can't any politician just say, "I made a mistake?" Why do they have to say "I'm sorry people were offended by what I said?" That just puts the blame onto the listener. Captain Ed calls it a "halfway dodge."

Durbin said,

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

Durbin apologized because some listeners didn't like what he said. There wasn't an apology for what he actually said. He didn't recant and say Gitmo wasn't like Nazi death camps or the Gulag.

It must be something genetic in politicians. From watching the video I could see Durbin getting choked up. He was bother by the reaction to his words. I'd like to believe he didn't mean to insult the troops. But his whole focus was on others' perception of his words and not the words themselves.

Durbin went on to say about those serving in the U.S. military,

They're the best. I never, ever intended any disrespect for them.

Here's what he said last week:

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 or others - that had no concern for human beings.

But by putting Gitmo on the same level as Auschwitz and the Lyubyanka prison he compared the U.S. military to the Nazis and the Red Army. Durbin didn't take back what he said about Gitmo. He declared that U.S. troops there "had no concern for human beings." He had a chance to say he was wrong about his characterization of the United States' approach to the Islamist War. He could have mentioned some examples of how Gitmo prisoners are being treated. He could have come clean, but he didn't do that. Sen. Durbin's words may be good enough for media whore Sen. John McCain, but not for me. He doesn't deserve to remain Minority Whip, but as I've said before he won't lose that job.

"Sen. Durbin Apologizes for Gitmo Remarks"

[Added to OTB's Beltway Traffic Jam.]

UPDATE: Mark Klimer thinks "[t]his one’s over."