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We're at a crossroads between America as we've known it, and an ugly America, ugly in ways we've never known before. We're living under the leadership of men who hold freedom and truth in contempt, criminals who kill and steal and lie, as casually as you or I might eat a sandwich.
Under the leadership of such men, it's no exaggeration to say that America's future depends on us -- we the people.
If we're willing to watch the killing and stealing and lying, if we can't voice an opposition that's heard, then the future of America will be nasty, brutish, and short. Only if we have the courage to stand up and speak the truth -- and speak the truth again, and again and again until the truth is heard and makes a difference -- can the nation recover from the dark days we're living through.
We need people who know the difference between right and wrong, and seek what's right instead of what's wrong. We need people who speak the truth when an opportunity presents itself, and we especially need people who tell the truth as a matter of habit.
Many Americans have turned their back on the truth, or even mock the truth. Christian leaders tell us Jesus condones hatred; political leaders claim "freedom is on the march," and Rush Limbaugh sells T-shirts making a joke of torture at Guantanamo. As the cliché says, they can't handle the truth. The truth is their enemy, and the Big Lie is their lifeblood.
Which brings us to Dick Durbin. He's a Democratic Senator, and those words -- Dick Durbin, Democratic Senator -- are much more offensive and downright terrifying than any words Durbin has recently voiced.
In case you missed the hubbub: On the floor of the Senate, Durbin read some excerpts from an FBI report on the torture of prisoners at Guantanamo, and then he said:
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Sen. Dick Durbin
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"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 could 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."
For a brief moment, Durbin's conscience had balked, and he had to say something about the rapidly declining state of human rights in America.
Of course, the Republican response was predictable: White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Durbin's remarks were "reprehensible." Sen. Bill Frist demanded that Durbin apologize. Hysterical right-wing radio shriekers denounced Durbin as un-American.
And within a few days Durbin, like almost any Democrat office-holder who accidentally says something honest, apologized. And what is a man, who apologizes for telling the truth? He's just another liar.
If you can stomach it, read Sen. Durbin's truly shameful remarks, the comments he should apologize for, or resign:
Mr. President, more than most people, a Senator lives by his words. Words are the coin of the realm in our profession. Occasionally, words will fail us, and occasionally, we will fail words.
On June the 14th ... I made reference to the Nazis, to the Soviets, and other repressive regimes. Mr. President, I've come to understand that was a very poor choice of words.
... I'm sorry if anything I said caused any offense of 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.
I'm also sorry if anything I said in any way cast a negative light on our fine men and women in the military. I went to Iraq just a few months ago with Senator Harry Reid, on a delegation, bipartisan delegation, the President was part of it. When you looked in the eyes of those soldiers, you see your son. You see your daughter. They're the best. I never, ever intended any disrespect for them.
Some may believe that my remarks crossed the line. To them, I extend my heartfelt apologies.
... 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.
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."
White House press secretary Scott McClellan, a man who lies for a living, was asked to comment, and said, "I think it was the right thing to do and the right thing to say to our men and women in uniform." As anyone with a conscience should know, if McClellan is on your side, you're on the wrong side.
This will be the end of America, with a whimper. Anyone with any power who still has the courage to speak out against atrocities will be broken, will be forced to apologize, or driven from office.
There was, of course, absolutely nothing in Durbin's original statement that needed to be apologized for. What he said was the truth: "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 could 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."
He didn't "demean or diminish" the Nazi Holocaust, in any possible way.
He didn't denigrate American soldiers, except those soldiers who torture prisoners.
He didn't "disparage the image of America around the world." If anything, he briefly improved that image -- tarnished by soldiers who torture, commanders who order that torture, and leaders and ordinary Americans who make excuses for torture, or jokes about torture.
"Our soldiers around the world," Durbin said in his apology, "deserve our respect, admiration, and total support." Again and obviously and of course, Durbin's original comments were about the actions of American soldiers who tortured prisoners. And obviously and of course, those soldiers do not deserve anyone's "respect, admiration, and total support."
And this is so obvious, anyone who can't see the distinction is too stupid for political conversation, and certainly shouldn't be sitting in the U.S. Senate.
In apologizing for what he said, what Durbin really said is that he won't apologize for torture.
That's sickening, but Senator Durbin is the embodiment of the problem facing America, and facing the Democratic Party:
Criminals have seized the White House, urinated on the Constitution, established war without reason as national policy, and constructed who knows how many Guantanamos, where U.S. and international law are moot and anyone the President wants to hold or have tortured can be held and tortured in perpetuity.
Spineless wimps like Dick Durbin (and so many other Democrats) are America's "opposition party" -- which is to say, there is no opposition.
And absent any opposition, the "mad regime" in the White House will have their way with America. And indeed it will look like "Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime -- Pol Pot or others -- that had no concern for human beings."
Because that's what it is. LINK
© by the authors.
What do you think?
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I can't afford therapy, but boy do I need it. So as an affordable alternative, I've decided to start pounding my anger into a weekly column here.
Fair warning: My parents were repressed -- using any bad words would get my mouth washed out with soap, literally. I still remember the sickly flavor of DoveTM. So as an adult, vulgarity helps with the healing. If naughty language offends you, beat the rush and get offended now.
This page is for my own good, not yours, so you may not like it, but I don't care.
About the authors
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Helen and Harry Highwater have published Unknown News since 1997. We're a married couple sharing a byline à la Lennon and McCartney, and "I" can be either of us, or both of us. If you're consumed by curiosity, it's safe to assume the more boisterous and aggressive bits come from Helen, and anything ladylike or demure is probably Harry's work.
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If we're willing to watch the killing and stealing and lying, if we can't voice an opposition that's heard, then the future of America will be nasty, brutish, and short.
Only if we have the courage to stand up and speak the truth -- and speak the truth again, and again and again until the truth is heard and makes a difference -- can the nation recover from the dark days we're living through.
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