Senator Durbin should be stripped of all leadership and national security posts

Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois should be stripped of his seniority and his national security posts after comparing American troops to Soviets and Nazis.

Durbin's loss of political power would be consistent with what Senator Trent Lott had to endure after making what some saw as excessively kind words about departing Senator Strom Thurmond, who had run for president a half-century before as a segregationist.

Durbin should be forced out of his post as Senate Minority Whip (a position he prefers to call Assistant Democratic Leader).

He should also lose all his assignments concerning national security. Those posts include:

* Membership on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense;
* Membership on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations;
* Membership on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship;
* Membership on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security.

He should lose those posts now - as quickly as Senator Lott was forced from his position as Majority Leader. Before everyone forgets.