An Open Letter to the United States Senate
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I want to share with you the unbridled contempt I feel for one of your members, Senator Durbin.
Were his remarks not so repugnant, I would not trouble you with my concerns. To compare holding someone without air conditioning to the deathcamps of Auschwitz is, at once, an insult to the entire military, a trivialization of the holocaust, one of history's great outrages as well as just plain ludicrous.
Before the 20th century the entire world existed without airconditioning, whether they were in Cuba, Iraq or the United States.
My outrage, however is not directed solely at Senator Durbin. It is directed at each of you who stands idly by and allows this odious comment to stand. I know historically the Senate is "an old boys club" (apologies, ladies) where one does not speak ill of another senator. That each of you choose to honor that, rather than speak out for the American military, disgusts me. I reserve particular disgust for Senators Feinstein, Lieberman, Schumer and Feingold (sorry if I've overlooked someone). In the last century members of your faith were in fact tortured solely because of that faith and you stand by and allow that to be trivialized by a member of your own party. You put party above principle and I am ashamed of you.
So, too, am I especially ashamed of Senator Clinton. You want to be President. You want to be commander in chief of the U.S. military. At first you said you were not familiar with Senator Durbin's comments. When read to you, you had no comment.
Really.
What kind of person are you? You want to become leader of the country, yet you can't recognize a reprehensible statement when you hear it? You can't see the insult to the fine Americans who comprise our military? the trivialization of the most horrible outrages of the last century, the death camps, the gulags and the killing fields? Are you that morally tone deaf or does your loyalty to self and party override your judgment? Either way, that certainly does not suggest someone capable of leading a great nation and a great people.
These comments apply equally to Senators Kerry and McCain. Both of you wore your country's uniform and you took pride in that. Or at least you tell us you did every time you stand for election. Have you no comment? Have you no shame?
As recently as a half century ago, your predecessors stood tall against the outrageous comments of Senator Joseph McCarthy. How sad it is to see that fifty years later there is not a single one of you willing to censure Senator Durbin.
I am, at this moment, sorry I am not a resident of each of the 50 states. It would be my pleasure to vote against each and every one of you when next you are on the ballot. Regardless of party, I doubt we could do any worse replacing any of you with someone new. Perhaps we might get lucky and find 100 men and women willing to stand up for the country regardless of their political differences. Fifty years ago, we could. I pray we one day will again.
Sincerely,
NAME WITHHELD
If you would like to e-mail a note echoing the sentiments expressed in this letter, you can find e-mail addresses for every U.S. Senator by following this link.
Ankle Biting Pundits - Censure Durbin? (Powerful Letter Makes a Compelling Case)
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