Durbin Tap-dances But Does Not Apologize

Dick Durbin attempted to spin his comments so as to lay blame on Bush for his anti-American rant.

Durbin Clarifies Gitmo Remarks

In case you have forgotten, he originally 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"

Now for the dancing:

"I sincerely regret if what I said caused anyone to misunderstand my true feelings: Our soldiers around the world and their families at home deserve our respect, admiration and total support," he said. "My statement in the Senate was critical of the policies of this administration, which add to the risk our soldiers face."

Which is utterly absurd as his comments themselves add to the risk our soldiers face.

‘Durbin clarified that he was not comparing U.S. soldiers to Pol Pot (search), Nazis or Soviet guards, but was "attributing this form of interrogation to repressive regimes such as those that I note.”’

Is there a difference?

Questioned by Sen. John Warner, R-Va., Durbin said that he does not know if the interrogators cited in the FBI report were Americans.

Well that was a vital nugget of information to overlook.

Republicans and Bush administration officials called the comparison between those horrors and the U.S. prison camp's guards "reprehensible" and "deplorable."

They could have been a bit more thorough. They forgot disgusting and traitorous.

"Senator Durbin's statements are deplorable. He should ask for forgiveness, forgiveness from our troops, from their families and all of us who are trying to win this War on Terror," said Sen. George Allen, R-Va.

"And for you to come to the floor with just that fragment of a report and then unleash the words 'the Nazis,' unleash the word 'gulag,' unleash 'Pol Pot,' I don't know how many remember that chapter, it seems to me that was a grievous error in judgment and leaves open to the press of the world to take those three extraordinary chapters in world history and try to intertwine it with what has taken place, allegedly, at Guantanamo," – John Warner

"The more the popularity of the president plummets, the more the people downtown try to play the game of attack" -Harry Reid

Reid resorts to the Clinton defense. Blame Republicans for Democrats' actions.

Speaking of tap-dancing, Howard Dean is attempting to prove he is sane.

Dean Condemns 'Anti-Semitic Literature'

I found this absolutely hysterical.

‘…people at Democratic National Headquarters distributed material critical of Israel during a public forum questioning the Bush administration's Iraq policy.’

"We disavow the anti-Semitic literature, and the Democratic National Committee stands in absolute disagreement with and condemns the allegations," Dean said in a statement posted on the DNC Web site.

He's just mad he didn't think of it.

One witness, former intelligence analyst Ray McGovern, told Conyers and other House Democrats that the war was part of an effort to allow the United States and Israel to "dominate that part of the world," a statement Dean also condemned.

I imagine huge applause resulted from this comment. By the way, when is Dean going to apologize to pickup truck drivers?