Sen. Dick Durbin has done a limited pullback on his slander of American troops.

“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."

Not good enough. Not nearly good enough. This is an I'm-sorry-you-aren't-sophisticated-enough-to-understand-my-towering-intellect-and-nuance "apology."

As far as misusing and misunderstanding historical parallels goes -- you have only yourself to blame because it's obvious you don't know squat about history.

I guess we'll have to try again next week, senator. But you're only making this harder on yourself. A quick and complete apology might have saved you your leadership position. However, now I'm afraid you're gonna have to lose it; or take the Democrat Party down with you -- or both.