Posted on 06/17/2005 5:24:13 PM PDT by Congressman Billybob
Let’s talk about the stupidity of Senators. Senator Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) is our Poster Child. First, there is no known lower limit on the stupidity of an individual Senator.
For gross public dumb, it’s hard to beat a one-term Iowa Senator who went to a local massage parlor to have his ashes hauled. He was dumb enough to pay with a credit card. And dumb to have a staffer who was living in sin with an Iowa reporter. As a result, the credit card slip was published in a paper, and the gentleman’s career ended at six years.
This illustrates two sides of the issue of Senate stupidity. The job of the Senator is to be alive and get reelected. Almost everything else that a Senator does can be done by staff. More than a few Senators have been relatively successful despite being notorious drunks. The Irish tend that way (no cards or letters, I’m part Irish with a right to say that).
In short, it’s the job of staff to be sober and on duty 24/7. They feed information, talking points, entire speeches, to the boss, so the Senator then sounds prepared on the subject with useful ideas to offer. The best of Senators lead their staffs. The worst of Senators are led by their staffs. Think ventriloquist’s dummy; you get the idea.
Now we turn to Dickie Durbin’s comments on the Senate floor. He read what he said was an e-mail from an unknown FBI agent about actions at Gitmo, and then said: “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.” Minor point: the FBI is not in Gitmo, so this is obvious hearsay.
Let’s put some facts on the table. Within minutes of Durbin’s comment, folks posted on the Internet comparisons of how bad these various regimes were. In the Nazi death camps about 9 million people were killed. In the Soviet gulags, about 2.7 million people died. And under Pol Pot, about 1.7 million were killed. From my research, those figures are low, but close enough for government work.
In Gitmo, by comparison, there are suggestions of five instances of possible “Koran abuse” by guards. No one has been killed. The one inmate treated worst was the apparent “20th hijacker,” slated to fly a plane full of passengers into the White House.
The blogosphere can get the Soviet, Nazi, and Khmer Rouge information in seconds. Therefore, alert staffers for Dickie Durbin could have gotten the same information before he went on the Senate floor and revealed himself as the south end of a northbound horse.
The fact that Durbin wasn’t warned off means one of two things, both bad. Was the Senator such a geopolitical moron not to see how wrong his comment would be, and said this off the cuff without consulting staff? That means this stupidity is his, alone. Or, did Durbin consult with his staff before this remark? Then, the stupidity here is ubiquitous in his staff.
What has happened since, about Dickie Durbin’s incompetent history lesson? He’s refused to apologize, but has begun to lie and cover up. Days later, he quoted himself in the Senate, “you might conclude that it was done by one of those repressive regimes....” Go back and review. When he shot his mouth off originally, he didn’t say, “might.” That’s a new and false addition.
Now, Dickie Durbin has blamed the “right wing media” for the “Nazi flap.” A UPI article, 17 June, 2005, concluded, “He said abusive treatment of prisoners was something most likely in ‘repressive regimes’ than the United States.” It’s hard to understand why Durbin thinks that calling the United States a “repressive regime” will help end the criticism he is already receiving from many people across the political spectrum.
Apparently, Durbin’s ignorance of history includes ignorance of Presidents in the 20th Century who were Democrats. A turning point in Harry Truman’s 1948 campaign came when a listener called out, “Give ‘em Hell, Harry.” Truman replied, “I don’t have to give ‘em Hell. I just tell the truth and they think it’s Hell.”
Well, the same applies to Dickie Durbin today. We only have to tell the truth to cut him down to size. Welcome to Hell, Dickie. You’re so dumb you richly deserve it.
About the Author: John Armor is a First Amendment attorney and author who lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. John_Armor@aya.yale.edu
Lemme know what y'all think of it.
Link to contact your senator
Link to contact your representative
ABC CBS NBC CNN its all the SAME, Propaganda.
Might as well call them all AmeriJazerra.
Show them how much Gravitas Hugh Bris has. Vote with your remote! Shut down the Alphabet channels.
He's Got A Plan
Zippo Hero
Seven Dead Monkeys Page O Tunes
Don't be a know nothing do nothing dumbocrap! 
"Hitlery's legal stance on everything
Said there was no excuse for what he said and that it was unforgivable.
Very good. I think the FR poll about Durbin's comments was flawed, in that it didn't include "hawg-stupid" as a choice.
Could it be that the government of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, etc. don't want to have to deal with these people?
Nothing much a staff can do about a guy determined to make a fool of himself. They can feed him facts, but not good taste, a sense of proportion, or enough political smarts to know where the minefields lay. That's supposed to be a job requirement, but now and then a Durbin reminds us that it's easy to get elected without it.
I love it. And I love the Silence of the Dems.
America is getting an eyeful of these enemies of ours. And it ain't pretty.
Thanks for posting this.
We just call him Dick.
"...south end of a northbound horse" -- what does this mean? I wish you wouldn't write in such fancy language, Rep. BillyBob.
Great job !
Hey! I think I'm getting it! It looks just like the north end of a southbound horse!
Then if you lead the two horses away, whatever is left on the pavement is Dickie Durbin.
Here is the quote from the Congressional Record, with one slight correction:
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. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator’s time brain has expired.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President,...
The people in his office have stopped answering the phone...it just rings and rings or they have unplugged it..
There is nothing we Repubs in ILL can do with him, this state is too stoopid ...
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/bw-cong/2005/jun/17/061700840.html
Senator Regrets if Remarks Misunderstood
Don't we feel better now?
Excellent article, cbb.
We need another article that asks, "What do SANE armies do with dangerous, captured, battlefield combatants?"
Excellent article Congressman.
Armor ping, B4.
Good job!
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