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June 21, 2005Durbin’s apologyUPDATE: After reading this interesting poll info at CQ I’m inclined to wonder if the numbers supporting Gitmo did not send the Democrats scrambling to tell Durbin to “END this thing, we’re getting killed on it!” Although, I DO think Mayor Daley’s remarks earlier today were brave and important as well. Guantanamo: Keep open - 58% Close - 36% Detainees: Treated properly - 52% Not treated properly - 37% Of course, as a Michelle Malkin reader helpfully points out - “The missing question is the one in which they determine if disapproval comes from feeling the treatment is too kind.” *** I dunno…I hate to be picky…but it didn’t really seem like an apology, to me. When I apologize, it’s because I’ve really understood that I’ve crossed a line, gone too far, really hurt someone, or done wrong…I’ve internalized it, felt it in my gut. Durbin never said…”I went too far.” Or, “I was wrong.” Or, “it was wrong of me, please forgive me.” He said…”some may believe my remarks crossed the line….” he apologized for his “poor choice of words…” No…it wasn’t a poor choice of words, that MIGHT have offended. It was an extreme and out of balance, destructive accusation. Not a poor choice of words. And no, “some may believe” is not the same as OWNING and taking responsibility for the fact that his remarks really, truely CROSSED THE LINE. I don’t think this “apology” is going to fly, except in the MSM, who want to put this story to bed. But maybe I’m wrong. Been known to happen! When I am…I try to admit it and apologize! Meanwhile, if you have not read it, hurry over to Hugh Hewitt’s establishment and read his interview with Pete, a Lt. in the NJ National Guard (you know, the folks the Dems call “dodgers”) who returned just two months ago from a one-year stint at Gitmo. Pete:: It has been unbelievable to watch it unfold after having spent a year there. I mean it seems to be a lot of people who don’t know a whole lot about what they are talking about, talking about things that may have happened years and years ago. 2002, 2003. If they could see the professional operation that is being run down there today, I think they would take their words back in a second. Hugh: Did you see brutality at Gitmo? Pete: I didn’t see one bit of it. Hugh: Are interrogations ongoing at Gitmo? Pete: Absolutely. The facility is there to gather intelligence. Hugh: Do they use extremes of hot and cold to gather intelligence? Pete: That I can’t speak to directly, but I can tell you it is nothing that any of us would deem to be inhumane, especially compared to what many of our servicemen and women have been put through overseas. Hugh: Any violence, in terms of physical brutality of the prisoners you observed? Pete: Absolutely not. In fact, my men and I spent nine hours on a runway waiting to try and get a detainee to go back home who had refused to do so because he wanted to stay at Guantanamo because he was being treated so well. Hugh: Food okay for the prisoners at Guantanamo, Pete? Pete: I think it is better than what my guys got for a year, to be honest with you. Read the whole thing and then decide for yourself if Durbin’s so-called apology does the trick. As I’ve said before, without hard, fast proof, I will always give our troops the benefit of a doubt over our enemies…that just seems to make sense, to me. http://theanchoressonline.com/2005/06/21/durbins-apology/trackback/ 17 Responses to “Durbin’s apology” |
June 21st, 2005 at 9:03 pm
you mean those tears in Durbin’s eyes weren’t REAL?? AaaHHhhh, poor Durbin can’t even fake “contrite”.
June 21st, 2005 at 9:09 pm
Oh, geez, ANYONE can cry.
June 21st, 2005 at 9:48 pm
Durbin’s tears were real, I’ll bet, real for fear of losing his big important position as Senate Dem whip. Surmise his thoughts: OMG I didn’t know Mayor Daley’s kid was some nazi in the military and now Daley called my words disgraceful and he sounded so angry no no no I wanna keep my job! One can imagine Dem pols warning him that if he were to become a lightning rod and a distraction, then well, sorry, Dick, but….
June 21st, 2005 at 10:18 pm
Durbin Forced To Recant
UPDATE:
The more I think about the PR boon Durbin provided our enemies the more I realize I could care less about a 3rd bogus apology. What I want is for the senate democrats to come out en masse and admit Durbin’s comments were inappropriate …
June 21st, 2005 at 10:20 pm
I’m with you, it was a forced apology because of the polls coming out. He never apologized for the PR boon he gave our enemies either. I am not interested in a 3rd bogus apology. I want to see senate dems line up and condem the damage Durbing did to us in our fight against terrorism. We need to know where they stand.
June 21st, 2005 at 10:37 pm
Newt Gingrich, the first prominent Republican politician to propose censure of Durbin, says that maybe we can’t get the Senate to do that, but that we should be able to get it to vote on a resolution stating that there is no parallel, no legitimate comparison whatsoever, between the conduct of the United States and that of the regimes of Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot. Neat to have Durbin vote on that.
I think it would be nice if they could also do a separate resolution saying that there is no parallel, no legitimate likeness whatsoever, between the US invasion of Iraq and the Holocaust, a likeness which Dem Representative Charlie Rangel was proclaiming in regard to “nobody stopped it!!” a few weeks ago. Articles on Rangel’s likening of the invasion to the Holocaust.
June 21st, 2005 at 10:46 pm
What I find interesting is how quickly Durbin apologized after Daley criticized him. Daley’s son just joined the Army, and I wonder if Daley gave him an earful in private.
I agree with everything you said about Durbin’s non-apology. He’s crying crocodile tears because he got caught, not because he feels badly about what he said.
June 22nd, 2005 at 2:33 am
Senator Durban stood up on the Senate floor today and issued this non apology. Durbin is sorry for his poor choice of words, and for people misunderstanding his true feelings, but not the idea of what he said. (excerpt)
June 22nd, 2005 at 8:15 am
[...] different Lincoln quotes. The Strata-Sphere thinks it’s too little too late and the Anchoress is not convinced the apology is sincere. Larry Bernard summarizes this way: [...]
June 22nd, 2005 at 10:05 am
[...] “paper of record?” Nun of that monkeying around! The death of Cardinal Sin Durbin’s apology A wonderful piece on the Mass G [...]
June 22nd, 2005 at 12:08 pm
I wonder what Benedict XVI would think of the FBI agent’s email. I have my differences with him, but I don’t recall the Catholic Church being outraged by the outrage about the torture scandals.
June 22nd, 2005 at 1:20 pm
My 9 year old boy knows that this does not qualify as an apology.
An apology does not include these words: IF I offended YOU. It does included these words: THAT *I* offended you.
Try this: “I’m sorry if you were hurt when I punched you in the face. I’ll continue to punch you in the face if I think you need to be punched in the face, but I’ll be sorry if it hurts you.” Are you happy with that as an apology?
It’s what Durbin gave you for one.
June 22nd, 2005 at 1:29 pm
Durbin’s was no apology. An apology does not include the word “if.”
June 22nd, 2005 at 1:47 pm
My idea of how to apologize comes from the instruction I had from our rector for my first confession. He said that I should comes straight out and say plainly what I did, with no playing down, and no over-the-top dramatics. I should make no excuses or explanations for why I did what I did - I’m asking for forgiveness, not negotiating. Once I do this, I should stop brooding about it.
June 22nd, 2005 at 2:36 pm
[...] e Unalienable Right, Stones Cry Out, Balance Sheet, PoliPundit, Iowa Voice, Strata-Sphere, The Anchoress, Aaron’s cc: And let’s not forget the humor found at - The N [...]
June 23rd, 2005 at 4:08 pm
I agree with many here, I learned this way of getting out of apoligies looong ago.
instead of saying “I’m sorry I did X”
say “I’m sorry I had to do X”
June 24th, 2005 at 5:48 am
[...] we’re supposed to think? Nun of that monkeying around! The death of Cardinal Sin Durbin’s apology A wonderful piece on the Mass G [...]