Durbin takes off the gloves – and mask

Mike Bates

Illinois’ very own Senator Dick Durbin is a career politician who’s been in Washington for more than 20 years. He’s maintained a lower profile than Paris Hilton’s bodice all this time. But he picked a surefire theme for his national coming out party: Comparing American soldiers to Nazis, Communists, and Cambodia’s Pol Pot.

It may have seemed over the top, even by the current Democratic standards in which Howard Dean is viewed as the voice of moderation and restraint.

Adjusting the air conditioning and loudly playing hip-hop music doesn’t seem equivalent to the torture, brutality, widespread starvation, firing squads, burying people alive, gas chambers and ovens and other techniques used by history’s biggest murderers.

Then there’s the question of magnitude. Maybe when the senator was studying at Georgetown University in the 60s, he heard a rumor that the Nazis and Communists killed many millions of people.

By contrast, there are fewer than 600 prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, the scene of all those evil and dehumanizing thermostat adjustments and hip-hop music playing.

The food at Guantanamo isn’t similar to that served in gulags, concentration camps and the killing fields. Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) points out that a recent Sunday menu at the military prison included oven-fried chicken, rice pilaf, fruit and pita bread. Little wonder that the detainees are picking up weight faster than Oprah at a smorgasbord.

Durbin’s comparing Guantanamo to the scenes of genuine terror is absurd. Yet it has made little difference. Fellow Democrats have been slow to mutter a word of dissent.

He is finally getting national attention. After decades of racking up a liberal voting record that puts Teddy Kennedy to shame and still not getting his props, the Dickster is receiving some major recognition.

Maybe part of the reason almost no one, including his constituents, knew him until very recently is Durbin’s propensity for dullness. If we ever have charisma transplants under the socialized medicine scheme he ardently endorses, Durbin deserves to be first in line. He’s that needy.

Being boring has worked for Durbin so far. He’s been able to advocate outrageous policies – lower tuition rates at state colleges for illegal aliens comes to mind – without many voters noticing and holding the zaniness against him.

But now he holds the second-ranking position among Senate Democrats, by golly, and apparently desires plenty of exposure.

Much of it has been negative. That’s OK. Being castigated by conservative commentators is a badge of honor among Durbin’s comrades.

By the end of last week, heavy criticism continued. The senator decided to clarify his original words.

No, he didn’t apologize. He merely regretted that his statement was misunderstood by those dummies the American people:

"I have learned from my statement that historical parallels can be misused and misunderstood. 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."

See, it was really our mistake, not his. And we were again misled by that ubiquitous vast rightwing conspiracy. On the Senate floor last week, Durbin spoke of how his words had been distorted:

"Now, sadly, we have a situation where some in the rightwing media have said that I have been insulting men and women in uniform. Nothing could be further from the truth."

Fortunately for Dick, not all the media have been so cruel, so unfair, and so judgmental.

The Arab satellite TV network al-Jazeera is known for broadcasting messages from Osama bin Laden. It was also more than happy to air Durbin’s remarks. Indeed, at its Web site, Aljazeera.Net, the related story titled "US Senator stands by Nazi remark" is one of the most emailed stories.

So Dickie is finally making the big time. Illinois voters might even recognize his name in the ballot in future elections.

If this were most states, Republicans would consider defeating the long-term Democratic incumbent a real possibility. Sadly, Illinois isn’t like most states.

It has a Democratic stronghold, Cook County, that generates enough votes, licit and illicit, to determine many elections.

Matching Democratic strength is Republican weakness. Years of leadership from "moderate" Republicans such as Jim Thompson, Jim Edgar and the villainous George Ryan have damaged the party severely. As we saw last year, even finding feasible candidates is a struggle.

So Senator Durbin can continue to talk goofy for as long as he wants. No more Mr. Nice Guy. He’s out of the closet and here to stay.

Illinois gave America Abe Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. Now we’ve given it Dickie Durbin. Times have changed and not for the better.

(This appears in the June 23, 2005 Oak Lawn (IL) Reporter. Mike Bates is the author of Right Angles and Other Obstinate Truths.)

http://www.michaelmbates.com