Posted on 06/17/2005 5:24:13 PM PDT by Congressman Billybob
Lets 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, its 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 gentlemans 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, Im part Irish with a right to say that).
In short, its 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 ventriloquists dummy; you get the idea.
Now we turn to Dickie Durbins 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.
Lets put some facts on the table. Within minutes of Durbins 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 wasnt 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 Durbins incompetent history lesson? Hes 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 didnt say, might. Thats 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. Its 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, Durbins ignorance of history includes ignorance of Presidents in the 20th Century who were Democrats. A turning point in Harry Trumans 1948 campaign came when a listener called out, Give em Hell, Harry. Truman replied, I dont have to give em Hell. I just tell the truth and they think its 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. Youre 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
Then you, bro, need to wake the F up and smell the gunpowder.
DU.
It is becoming clearer every day that Democrats are the party of anti-Americanism. Can one really be a patriot AND a Democrat? I'm concluding it is not possible. To be a Democrat today is to be one who hates our culture, our economic system, our military, religion, the family, and the list goes on and on.
I believe one can be against the war and be a patriot. But to be a Democrat and a patriot is no longer possible.
Dick Dur-Bin Laden is a friend of Allah.
There is nothing we Repubs in ILL can do with him, this state is too stoopid ..
CAN'T FIX STOOPID EITHER.
Great, may be the subtitle could be changed to:
Turban Dick
Al Qaeda's Senator
Rush reminded everyone - it ain't a death camp if there are no deaths...
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ACLU collected much stuff via a FOIA .....
List is on the following thread....
See this thread:
Thanks! I seem to stay out in left field, wandering, wandering...so I need all the help I can get!
I like it, Congressman Billybob!
Taxman Bravo Zulu!
It is a majority vote for either House to determine whether a would-be Member or Senator has been duly elected, and should be seated -- after a Committee has held a factual hearing and reported its conclusions. However, expulsion of a Member (Senator( requires a 2/3rds vote and takes place on the floor of the House / Senate.
Neither the courts, nor the other House, nor any other part of the federal government has any role to play in the expulsion consideration and decision. Look at the list of current Senators and consider whether there is a snowball's chance in Hell that a full 2/3rds of them will vote to expel Durbin. I think the answer to that question is no, non, nein, nicht, and nyet.
John / Billybob
The current partisan divide demonstrates the wisdom of the framers in giving Congress the power to Declare war. Bush is operating under a bill that functions similarly but doesn't explicitly use the words "Declaration of War." The minority and the media use that lack to pretend we're not really at war. If Congress had formally used the words this pretense would be much harder to maintain and some of the anti-war forces might actually be charged for the treasons many here believe they are committing. IIRC a few in congress wanted to formally declare war, but they were snowed under by the many who didn't think it was necessary or who were troubled by the question of against whom to declare it. Bush's biggest mistake in the immediate post 911 period was not pushing for what President Jefferson was given against the Barbary Pirates, a non state-centric Declaration of War. Had he made the case in his great speeches then, I believe the public mood would have swamped all opposition and the public would still believe we're at war. As with Jefferson's war, time would have solved the technical problems of the unorthodox declaration.
I still pick Ted Kennedy/John Kerry as worse.
And I thought Patty Murray was bad.
The Dems keep outdoing themselves.
It is hard to imagine that Americans could put this vacuous POS in office in any state of the union.
Democrats are all claiming not to have any intelligence these days aren't they Billybob? They voted for the war without knowing what they were doing you see.
Great article sir!
He and about 45 other rat senators and a few of our Rinos should be shipped to France for the duration of the WOT.
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