Washington GOP Tries to Find a Scapegoat
In other news, the sun rose in the east, chocolate tastes good, and I took 17 minutes for my 15-minute break today. Let's go straight to the quotes:
"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,'' Durbin said.Said McClellan: "I think the senator's remarks are reprehensible. It's a real disservice to our men and women in uniform who adhere to high standards and uphold our values and our laws.''
Aw, come on. This upsets me for two reasons. One, McClellan calls Durbin's quotes "reprehensible" but never says why, a classic Washington GOP move. How exactly is Durbin incorrect here? Two, more importantly, McClellan shifts the attack here to a more favorable victim. Durbin, of course, isn't attacking "our men and women in uniform who adhere to high standards" etc. etc.; he's attacking those who, according to the FBI, are mistreating enemy prisoners. So I don't know what's so disheartening: that the Bush administration seems so unwilling to fix this image that Americans mistreat prisoners, an image that endangers all future American POWs, or that they'd slime the guy who brings it up.
I know this stuff should be boring me by now, but I just remain appalled. Make sure you don't fall for these GOP attacks, though, where they rush to defend the honor of those not impugned. It's the cheapest kind of politics.