July 31, 2005

Senator Dodd Responds...41 Days Later!

I'm just so glad Christopher Dodd is my senator. He's right there for me, taking action on the issues that are important to me and the rest of his constituents. I can just see him in his Washington office, burning the midnight oil, wondering how he can further serve the good people of Connecticut.

/sarcasm

My regular readers (all 8 of them) may remember that back in June, I wrote to both of my senators, Dodd and Lieberman, asking them what they thought about Senator Dick Durbin's (D-Illinois) comparison of our troops to Nazis, et al. In fact, I asked them to denounce Durbin's statements.

Joe Lieberman responded to my e-mail a couple of weeks later. While he tiptoed around the tulips, he did agree that public officials needed to be held accountable for their public statements. And until last week, I began to despair of ever hearing from Senator Dodd. However, he has finally replied...41 days after my e-mail. (It's dated July 28th, but I didn't see it right away, as e-mail from those not on my "safe list" goes to my junk folder.) He can't even blame the Post Office for this one. Below is Dodd's "personal" reply in full (my comments are in bold):

Dear Ms. Meister:

Thank you for contacting me regarding Senator Richard Durbin's (D-IL) remarks before the Senate on June 14, 2005. It was good to hear from you. (It was?) After reading from an email, reportedly drafted by an FBI officer, describing the treatment of certain prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Senator Durbin stated: "If I read this to you and did not tell you 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." (I knew that...get to the point.)

Senator Durbin has stated that he did not intend his remarks to be in any way critical of the extraordinary contributions our service-men and -women are making around the world. (And you believed him? What a sap.) Moreover, on June 21, 2005, Senator Durbin made a heart felt apology on the Senate floor for his remarks. (Um, I asked you what you thought of his comments, not for a rehash of Durbin's "apology," which I read for myself when it happened.)

I join with all Americans in commending the exemplary job that American service-men and -women are continuing to do in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world. Under difficult conditions, these brave individuals have shown great courage and professionalism. I believe all Americans are united in their wish to see these heroes return home as safely and expeditiously as possible. (Again, this wasn't about your personal views, Senator Dodd, but what you thought about Durbin's comments, and whether or not you planned to give him the public censure he deserved. I guess that was a little na•ve of me, huh?)

Thank you again for contacting me. If you would like to stay in touch with me on this and other issues of importance, please visit my website at http://dodd.senate.gov and subscribe to my online newsletter, the Dodd Digest. Please do not hesitate to contact me again if I can help you in any way. (Gosh, I sure will, Senator. You've been such a big help already!)

Sincerely, CHRISTOPHER J. DODD United States Senator

So once again, I get the royal whitewash. Lieberman's reply was disappointing, but much more satisfying than the drivel Dodd sent. Dodd didn't even have the decency to admit that public officials should be held accountable for ill-spoken words. (I guess he's planning ahead for the next time he puts his foot in his mouth.)

I believe Dodd is up for re-election in 2006. I'm hoping the Republicans in this blue state can come up with a worthy opponent so we can finally get this pompous windbag out of office.

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