'Audacity of Arrogance' applies to senators

To the editor:

"Audacity of Arrogance" applies to both of our U.S. Senators, but for opposite reasons.

John Hopkins cites Barack Obama's inexperience as justification for that apt description. In Sen. Richard Durbin's case, he feels so entrenched in his position (Senate Majority Whip) that he is untouchable. Consider the following examples of his arrogant behavior that have been unsupportive and unresponsive to the needs of the country and of the State of Illinois.

The medical community in the state of Illinois has been decimated by the abuse of medical malpractice litigation, especially with the loss of at least 170 physicians from Madison and St. Clair counties, and yet Durbin led the attack against federal medical malpractice reform on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

More than 4,000 young men and women have bravely sacrificed their lives and tens of thousands have been mutilated in the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, and yet Durbin, in reference to an egregious, but isolated act of inhumane treatment of prisoners of war, compared our military heroes, in general, to the Nazis of the stalags, the guards of the Gulag Archipelago, and the monster Pol Pot.

Our nation's economy and our individual pocketbooks are beset by present gasoline prices. Most senators favor lifting the Congressional ban on off-shore drilling, and yet Durbin had to have participated in the decision to go on vacation and not to allow the issue to come to a vote in Congress, in order to appease irrational environmentalism.

Steve Sauerberg (R-Lombard), Senator Durbin's opponent, has little name recognition in this area, but offers a very appealing alternative to this arrogant politico.

As voters scrutinize Obama, they should also evaluate Durbin more carefully. Dr. Sauerberg's position will improve if they do, even though some medical organizations are afraid to oppose the Majority Whip. He is arrogant and must feel very proud.

However, he should remember that pride cometh before the fall. Just ask Tom Daschle!

Robert Hamilton, M.D.
Godfrey