But did he mention Hitler?

Karl Rove make a typical political statement and a firestorm breaks out. Well, a firestorm among the Democrats, anyway, which I will admit is more akin to a tempest in a teapot. He said,

"Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers."

And then he said that,

American armed forces overseas were in more jeopardy as a result of remarks last week by Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, who compared American mistreatment of detainees to the acts of "Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime - Pol Pot or others."

His mention of Nazis, Soviets, gulags and Pol Pot was necessary because what passes for political dialog these days absolutely demands that those terms be used. Otherwise you just can't get anyone's attention. It would appear that he got the Democrat's attention. They are now shrilly screeching for his resignation or outright firing. I doubt that Mr. Bush will spend more than a nanosecond in contemplating either of those suggestions. Mr. Rove went on to say,

"Let me just put this in fairly simple terms: Al Jazeera now broadcasts the words of Senator Durbin to the Mideast, certainly putting our troops in greater danger. No more needs to be said about the motives of liberals."

Now I would have to most strongly disagree with Mr. Rove on that last point. I don't think that most liberals really want to put our troops in more danger. They are just too stupidly blind to realize it when they are doing it. It is true that when Al Jazeera publicizes the statements and actions of those of the Durbin ilk that the enemies of our soldiers are emboldened. That translates into more dead American sons and daughters. There can be no doubt whatsoever in anyone's mind about this. That does not mean that debate should be stifled. What that means is that debate is carried on in such a manner as to not give aid and comfort to our enemies. I don't think that Dick Durbin nor Harry Reid nor John Conyers nor John Kerry nor Teddy Kennedy are capable of such statesmanship. Small minds have little space for such, er, nuances. And make no mistake that there are not small minds on the other side of the aisle, also.

But have you noticed this? Mrs. Clinton does not get involved in these slash and burn tactics, unless the other side (in this case, Mr. Rove) serves her an opportunity on a silver platter. She learned long ago not to lead with her chin, as she did with the healthcare debacle. She is now a counterpuncher. That will have to change when she formally enters the race for the White House. But for now she is maintaining at least some sense of decorum. A pretty shrewd cookie, if you ask me, or even if you don't ask me.

But the big howler, so far, of the whole sordid affair is this statement from Sen. Schumer of New York:

"To inject politics into this and to defame a large number of people" is outrageous, he said. "It's not what New York and America is all about."

Now, if that is not one of the most disingenuous statements that I have heard in the past four years, I'll eat my Yankee hat (which, as bad as they are playing, I may do anyway). Injecting politics into "it" and defaming as large a swath of the opposition as possible with every statement made is exactly what New York and America is all about.

Unfortunately.

Linked to: Happy Furry Puppy, Right Wing News - "melt their anger with love"?, Right Wing Nut House, Conservative Outpost, Kevin Drum, Outside The Beltway, Waveflux, Party of the Purple, PoliPundit, The Unalienable Right, Save the GOP, The Maha Blog, The Captain, Speed of Thought, MacsMind, Iowa Voice, The Dread Pundit Bluto, Flopping Aces, Myopic Zeal, California Conservative, The Cassandra Page, The Political Teen, In the Bullpen, Blogs for Bush, American Lights, FlapsBlog, Welcome to MassRight, Pardon My English, It's All Semantics, Posse Incitatus, The Shape of Days, Bronx Pundit, Lakeshore Laments, GOP Vixen, Michelle Malkin, The Loudest Cricket, My Sandmen, The WB42 5:30 Report With Doug Krile, Mike's Noise, Toadpond, In Search of Utopia, Oliver Willis, The Conservative Man, InstaPunk, Baldilocks, Blackfive, Balance Sheet, Pennywit - good point here - lather, rinse, repeat, Cadillac Tight, Blogger Beer, Interesting Times, QandO, Obsidian Wings, Meandering Vaguely Around Timnah, Balloon Juice, Inside Larry's Head, UnCorrelated, Joe Gandelman, Crooks and Liars, Newshog, Echidne of the Snakes, WizBang, Damian Penney, Betsy's Page,
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