John L. Perry
Monday, June 20, 2005

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  When Durbin likened American military personnel's handling of Gitmo detainees to what the Nazis had done to prisoners – in other words, the slaughter in World War II of 6 million Jews and 5 million non-Jews during the Holocaust – the most-common, immediate reflex was that he should apologize to American men and women in uniform.

And well he should, but of course he didn't. Indeed, he flat refused.

Then it was said by some Republicans that Durbin was no credit to the Senate. No news there. Durbin in the Senate has been Durbin in the Senate ever since he was elected in 1996, re-elected in 2002 and selected by his fellow Democrats in 2004 as party Whip, their next-to-the-top post.

Anti-Semitism's Ugly Head

What's been almost-entirely overlooked in all this is the sinister stain of anti-Semitism that Durbin's outburst made manifest.

When Durbin was saying what happened to Gitmo detainees was like what happened to those 11 million Nazi victims – more than half of them Jews – he was also, by definition, saying what happened during the Holocaust was no worse than what happened at Gitmo.

It has long been a party line of Nazi apologists and history revisionists that what went on in those Nazi camps – the brutal torture, the slave labor, the gas ovens, the soap factories, the lamp-shade artifacts, the mass graves – either never took place, or has been almost-laughably over-exaggerated.

More than that, the legend of a mythical Holocaust has been the central lynchpin of post-World War II anti-Semitism. Jews and other survivors and families of survivors of the Holocaust have been having for more than half a century to fight off such lies and slander.

How to Un-say the Unspeakable?

And now along comes a United States senator from, of all places, Abraham Lincoln's hometown, one Dick Durbin, trivializing all those monstrous horrors – and, when confronted with his mass slander, refusing even to apologize.

Apologize? Durbin is probably right. How could he possibly atone for such an outrage with a mere apology?

This canard that Durbin inflicted upon the Holocaust victims, dead or alive, was no mere politician's stunt, a tawdry bid for public notice, as the Chicago Tribune sought to shrug it off in an editorial: Just ignore him.

Durbin is no intellectual giant, but he's not altogether stupid. He had to have known what he was doing. He's been around the Senate long enough to have found his way to the men's room and back by now.

Speaking in Code

This was the worst sort of anti-Semitism. Lacking the candidness of an outright anti-Semitic slanderer, Durbin slithered around and used the rhetorical device of invidious comparison.

This long has been a part – alas, a growing part – of European culture, especially in France, where anti-Semitism thrives. Of late, it has gained ground in the United States.

The most-recent sneaky version of anti-Semitism is the nudge-nudge, wink-wink vendetta against foreign-policy "new-conservatives" (neo-cons) in the Bush administrations who favor survival of Israel over terrorism by Palestinians.

The Durbin ploy is cast from the same, sick mold.

What has been the reaction of Durbin's Democratic colleagues? Mostly silence, not a common trait among those who jump at each little chance to blister Republicans.

Ducking and Dodging

Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont tried to fob off Durbin's remarks by saying he doesn't trust the Wall Street Journal's report of Durbin's speech, that "they are notorious for taking quotes out of context." That dog won't hunt. Even Durbin acknowledges he said what he said.

Then there's Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, whose tongue the cat rarely has. Twice when asked, she declined comment about Durbin's outburst.

And Republicans? GOP Sens. John Warner of Virginia and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky gave him a scolding. The White House spokesman found Durbin's tirade "reprehensible" and "beyond belief." Vice President Dick Cheney found it "appalling," "totally out of line."

And that's where it would seem to lie – Republicans and Democrats fussing, as usual.

Too Gross to Tolerate

That's no way to let it end. This rises far above the ordinary. It won't do to let it pass with stern tut-tuts or Pontius Pilate-like hand-washing.

This is one offense Democrats and Republicans, Christians and Jews must never allow to fade away.

Where are Democratic leaders? How dare they let Durbin get away with this?

Especially, where are Jewish members of the Senate who are Democrats? Where is Joe Lieberman of Connecticut? Chuck Schumer of New York? Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein of California? Carl Levin of Michigan? Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey? Ron Wyden of Oregon? Russ Feingold and Herbert Kohl of Wisconsin? Afraid to be caught defending the memory and honor of the Holocaust victims? Somehow embarrassed to speak up in public against Durbin, lest it may advantage the Bush administration or associate them in constituents' minds with the painful past?

That's nothing to the embarrassment, the pain they will endure if they don't speak up.

Silence of the Clergy

And where is the rest of the Jewish community? The head of the Anti-Defamation League made a splendid statement, citing the fraudulent Holocaust comparison and insisting Durbin apologize. That was the end of that.

Durbin is a Catholic. Yet, not a peep out his church, at the very time the Vatican is striving to heal the longstanding breach with Jews, especially over the Holocaust. Silence also from the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America, who doesn't mind telling people when he travels abroad that he's ashamed he's an American.

Every American of Jewish heritage – every American of non-Jewish heritage – should demand even more than an apology from Durbin. He should be told, "For shame, for shame, resign!"

His only decent, appropriate action would be prompt resignation from the Senate. Better still, his impeachment and removal. Don't forget, the Senate has the constitutional power to remove a senator from its membership.

Time to Take a Stand

If the Democratic leadership fails to deal expeditiously with Durbin, any American who rejects anti-Semitism should never again cast a Democratic vote until the party rids itself of all vestiges of anti-Semitism.

It's not every day free people have an opportunity to vote against anti-Semitism before it's too late.

Not that it should make a difference, but for the benefit of any who care, this comes from an Episcopalian who has been a registered Democrat for more than half a century.

John L. Perry, a prize-winning newspaper editor and writer who served on White House staffs of two presidents, is a regular columnist for NewsMax.com.

Read John Perry's columns here.

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