Mark Steyn: Durbin slanders his own country

It's going, going, GONE!

Mark Steyn has done it again. He shines his piercing insight onto the ridiculous, and it runs for cover in the darkness! He has a problem with Senator Durbin, of course. Not the one you might think:

Throughout the last campaign season, senior Democrats had a standard line in their speeches, usually delivered with righteous anger, about how "nobody has a right to question my patriotism!" Given that nobody was questioning their patriotism, it seemed an odd thing to harp on about. But, aware of their touchiness on the subject, I hasten to add that in what follows I am not questioning Dick Durbin's patriotism, at least not for the first couple of paragraphs. Instead, I'll begin by questioning his sanity.

The dissection continues from there. This particular incision should go down in columnist history:

One measure of a civilized society is that words mean something: "Soviet" and "Nazi" and "Pol Pot" cannot equate to Guantanamo unless you've become utterly unmoored from reality. Spot the odd one out: 1) mass starvation; 2) gas chambers; 3) mountains of skulls; 4) lousy infidel pop music turned up to full volume. One of these is not the same as the others, and Durbin doesn't have the excuse that he's some airhead celeb or an Ivy League professor. He's the second-ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Don't they have an insanity clause?

I couldn't agree more. Anyone with any intellectual honesty will see how destructive Senator Durbin's words are for every American--democrat as well as republican. For this to come from any talking head is shameful. But for these hateful words to come from the mouth of a United States Senator is beyond contempt. If the man had any sense of honor and class, he would apologize to All Americans on his knees and then leave public life. Period. End.

I'm not betting on his honor or class, however.