Durbin is such a putz. Via The Corner word came that Durbin had a so-called apology on his website:

“More than 1700 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and our country’s standing in the world community has been badly damaged by the prison abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. My statement in the Senate was critical of the policies of this Administration which add to the risk our soldiers face.”

“I will continue to speak out when I disagree with this Administration.”

“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: our soldiers around the world and their families at home deserve our respect, admiration and total support.”

This is not going to undo the damage this man has done. I have posted on this before, but it bears repeating. Dick Durbin did more for the terrorists’ cause and recruitment drives than any unsubstantiated stories about Koran flushes or GITMO AC levels:

However, Senator Durbin’s remarks do break significant positive ground on some points:

1. A forthright acknowledgement by Senator Durbin that Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib are not “abuses”, but torture:

“I believe the torture techniques that have been used at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and other places fall into that same category.”

2. An admission of Congressional impotence – the concentration camps are so secret that even the supine US Congress doesn’t know where they are all located:

“…the administration has detained thousands of individuals in secret detention centers all around the world, some of them unknown to Members of Congress. While it is the most well-known, Guantanamo Bay is only one of them.”

3. An implicit admission of US hypocrisy in issuing its annual “human rights report”:

“The United States, which each year issues a human rights report, holding the world accountable for outrageous conduct, is engaged in the same outrageous conduct when it comes to these prisoners.”

4. Writing about the thousands of American Japanese who were imprisoned in US concentration camps during World War II, Durbin mentions:

“It took almost 40 years for us to acknowledge that we were wrong, to admit that these people should never have been imprisoned. It was a shameful period in American history and one that very few, if any, try to defend today.”

Someone should inform Senator Durbin that support for the World War II concentration camps for Japanese citizens is thoroughly embedded in the antichrist Bush regime.

It is time for Durbin to resign his leadership role and be censured.

Amazingly Michelle Malkin has even more updates on the swarm Durbin caused, but are we seeing what the other side is doing with this?

Right Wing Nut House has an excellent round up as well. basically no one is buying his lame attempts to spin his way out of his mess.

UPDATE II:

Ed Morrissey is not impressed, to say the least.

Powerline is not impressed either.

The Anchoress and Hugh Hewitt join the ranks of the unimpressed.

Don Surber joins those providing visual comparisons for Sen Durbin to contemplate