Durbin cowed for criticism of U.S. torture practices

Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin has been the subject of a faux-scandal recently for reportedly likening U.S. treatment of prisoners to Nazi behavior.

Here's what he said that sparked the controversy:

"If I read this [an FBI report] to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you could certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime - Pot Pol or others - that had no concern for human beings."

Senate Majority leader Bill Frist demanded an apology from Durbin while White House spokesman Scott McClellan called the comments "reprehensible." Durbin responded by caving in, saying that "Some may believe that my remarks crossed the line. To them, I extend my heartfelt apologies."

Notice of course that the comments are perfectly defensible and were made in the midst of a real scandal over blatant documented U.S. torture. The fallout from Durbin's comment says a lot about the power of aggressive Republicans working in tandem with Fox News and the rest of the media to divert national attention to something else - no matter how absurd - from even the most serious of scandals.