Fake Apologies

"Some may believe that my remarks crossed the line to them I extend my heartfelt apology." This was part of the 'apology' made by Dick Durbin on the Senate Floor yesterday. An 'apology' in reference to his comparison of treatment of detainees at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Nazis, Soviet gulags and Cambodia's Pol Pot.

Why has no one picked up on the fact that he didn't really apologize for his statement, neither does he make concessions that he may have been wrong. He only apologizes that someone may have been offended by his statements. He's sorry that anything he said may have caused offense to anyone who lived through the holocaust or to those in the military, he didn't mean to cast a negative light on the men and women in the military. A carefully crafted statement by Senator Durbin's PR office that pretty much says nothing. He takes no responsibility for his words, has no basis for his words, and refuses to take them back -- he's just sorry that someone may have taken offense at them. So the problem lies with me being offended at his words, and not with him for actually having said something with no basis in reality and made simply for inflammatory purposes.

He clarified his statements (before the apology), mentioning that his intent was to be critical of this administration and its policies, not of the men and women in the military. Can we for a moment remember that the prisoners being held are terrorists, they wish us harm. To make the comparison between making a prisoner listen to rap music while being locked to the floor to the atrocities that occurred in Nazi prison camps shows a lack of understanding for what's really going on, or is it a lack of desire to truly understand so that inflammatory comments can be made. Ask Senator McCain if the policies of this administration compare to what he was put through as a POW.

The rights of the prisoners are not being abused at Gitmo.... because they are not afforded the rights of Americans. They are terrorists who have been detained during a time of war and should be treated as such. What do we wish to do? Set up with a job in the US, pretend they didn't try to kill us? The information that is being gathered by such methods ... methods that have been used for years -- not created by this administration -- is the information that is being used to prevent further attacks. This information may have already been used to keep us safe, we may never know the plans that have been thwarted by our brave soldiers, governmental officials using that exact information.

I think that Senator Durbin needs to make an actual apology, not apologize for the fact that I feel he made an unfounded statement.