Newt Gingrich has called out the US Senate to censure Dick Durbin for his comparison of US Soldiers and their treatment of terrorist prisoners to the Nazi death camps, Stalin’s gulags, and Pol Pot’s killing fields.
I have already contacted my Senators’ offices (Sen. John Cornyn and Sen. Kay Hutchison) and asked them to ensure and support the censure of Durbin.
I would urge each of you to do the same. The safety and lives of American citizens and soldiers literally depends on it.
Here is the full text of the letter to the members of the U.S. Senate:
Dear Senator _______________:
By his statements equating American treatment of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay with the behavior of the evil regimes of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and Pol Pot’s Cambodia, Senator Richard Durbin has dishonored the United States and the entire U.S. Senate. Only by a vote to censure Senator Durbin for his conduct can the U.S. Senate restore its dignity and defend American honor.
Senator Durbin’s comparison, sadly, is despicable.
U.S. Senators should be clear about the gravity of Senator Durbin’s comparison. Nine million innocent human beings were murdered in Hitler’s death camps, nearly three million perished in the gulags under Stalin, and more than one and a half million were slaughtered in the killing fields of Cambodia at the hand of Pol Pot. And while not a single terrorist has died in detention at Guantanamo, Senator Durbin sees fit to liken our American service men and women to the terrifying murderers of three evil despotic regimes.
Moreover, Senator Durbin equates the terrorist detainees at Guantanamo with the millions of innocent men, women, and children exterminated by the order of evil dictators. The fact that he did so as a high ranking member of the Senate on the Senate floor makes his comparison all the more shocking.
This moral equivalence isn’t just utterly false; it endangers the lives of our young men and women in the military because it arms every radical Islamist with the official-record words of a Senate leader to justify their war of terror against civilized people everywhere.
Senator Durbin’s statement of “regret†on Friday has only compounded the need for the Senate to act. In it, Senator Durbin said that “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…†Incredibly, Senator Durbin is sticking to his original assertion that there is indeed, in his own words, an “historic parallel†between U.S. soldiers at Guantanamo Bay and the killers under Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot. In other words, his only regret is that Americans don’t understand his misreading of history and that he has caused us to misunderstand him. Offering no apology for the original slanderous statement itself, Senator Durbin has chosen instead to actually defend his comparisons. This defense makes his original speech all the more revolting.
It’s one thing for one Senator to endanger young Americans and defame America; it would be the shame of the Senate if the other 99 senators did not stand up to defend America and to defend the reputation of our young men and women in uniform.
A Senate censure of Senator Durbin is justified and would reaffirm a standard for healthy, rational debate. By voting for or against the censure, the rest of the members of the U.S. Senate can go on record and make clear how they judge Senator Durbin’s characterization of American soldiers. It will also send a clear message to terrorists who will use the words of a Senate leader against us that the Senate stands in support of America and our military and against those who seek to destroy the free people of the United States.
There is historic precedent for censuring Senators whose words bring dishonor and disrepute on the Senate and impair its dignity; Senator Durbin’s words fit that precedent.
In this case, expressing outrage is not enough. It is time for the Senate to act. Senator Durbin must be censured now.
Sincerely,
Newt Gingrich
Former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
I really don’t care much for Nazi analogies- political discourse would be a little more tolerable if Godwin’s Law were adhered to by all parties.
I found this post from another blog to be on the mark:
I think we should introduce a bi-partisan concurrent resolution to censure all elected officials who have made comparisons between Americans and Nazis. In addition to agreeing to conservative demands, this resolution would see both parties agree to all of the following:
Ken Melhman must also resign as chairman of the Republican National Committee for defending a Republican ad that compared Democrats to Hitler.
All Republican elected officials must refuse and return any money from organizations associated with Grover Norquist for directly comparing Democrats to Nazis.
Senator Rick Santorum must step down from his leadership position within the Senate for his comments comparing Democratic use of the filibuster to Nazis.
Senator James Inhofe must step down as Chairman of the Committee on Environment and public works, for his likening of the Democratic supported Kyoto treaty to Nazism.
Senator Jeff Sessions must be censured for his likening of a Democratic sponsored bill on stem cell research to Nazism.
Representative Steve King must also be censured for comparing those who support abortion rights to Nazis.
A sense of the Senate resolution rebuking former Senators Tim Cole and Phil Gramm for their comparisons of Democrats to Nazis must also be passed.
Any Republican action to censure Durbin must take place simultaneously with all of these actions. That is, of course, unless Republicans think some of these Nazi-related comments are okay, and others are not.
Left by Preston on June 22nd, 2005 at 9:46 am