Today’s Quote Of The Day has Ted Cruz’ reaction to this business about Dick Durbin’s kangaroo-court hearings on ALEC that we discussed earlier in the week.

And Cruz’ quote is quite good (it’s on the sidebar, or you can do us a favor and click the link above to see it; we can use the extra page views so no, we’ll not reproduce it here).

But John Hinderaker at Power Line just hit a three-run homer off Durbin with his take on Durbin’s attempts to intimidate and persecute, through a Senate hearing, the folks who have either provided corporate sponsorship or even just paid an entry fee at an ALEC conference. In a post entitled “Is Dick Durbin The Dumbest Democrat?” Hinderaker let this one loose…

There are multiple layers of stupidity here, so let’s try to itemize at least some of them:

1) Self-defense is a matter of state, not federal, law. Why is Durbin’s Judiciary Subcommittee holding a hearing on a topic that cannot, and will not, result in federal legislation?

2) “Stand your ground” had nothing to do with the Trayvon Martin case, as both prosecutors and defense lawyers said, and as we and many others have explained countless times. Is Dick Durbin really one of the few who don’t get this?

3) As Durbin’s own press release states, around 30 states have some some sort of stand your ground legislation. That is a clear majority. There is a reason for this. Most people think such laws are a good idea, as shown by, for example, a strong 45%-32% plurality in this Rasmussen survey. It is not necessary to investigate the influence of some nefarious “lobby” to explain why popular legislation is enacted in 30 states.

4) Durbin’s attack on the American Legislative Exchange Council is a sad page in the current left-wing playbook. A previously little-known good government group (albeit one with broad support and participation among both corporations and legislators), ALEC found itself in the left-wing crosshairs a year or so ago, and has remained there. Why? Roll Call’s blog offers a clue:

Durbin may have a hard time getting Anheuser-Busch, BP, Comcast or the Koch Industries [sic] to file formal responses to Durbin about laws like the one that gained notoriety in the case of killed Florida teen Trayvon Martin, but Durbin’s going to try nonetheless, given that those companies back ALEC, which in turn pushed “stand your ground” laws.

The left’s attack on ALEC was largely a front in its war against the Koch brothers. MSNBC bizarrely accused the Kochs of being responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death, via Koch Industries’ participation in ALEC–seriously–which led to an explosive appearance on MSNBC by Koch Industries’ general counsel, Mark Holden. We covered it in detail here, including video and a first-hand account by Holden.

Despite MSNBC’s having been completely humiliated in that exchange, Durbin is happy to pick up where they left off. It it’s a dumb theory and a complete waste of time, Dick Durbin is your man. Here is a suggestion: if Durbin wants to do something useful with his Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, how about looking into Barack Obama’s and Eric Holder’s politicization of the Department of Justice? Unlike state laws on self-defense, that would be an appropriate topic for Senate oversight.

We borrowed liberally from John’s piece, but there was no good place to stop excerpting it. All of it is spot on.

What this boils down to is two things. First, Durbin is carrying latrine buckets for the thug culture crowd, and particularly the Jesse Jackson gang in Chicago without whom he wouldn’t occupy the position he is currently so completely unqualified to hold. And when the race industry has decided to declare war on Stand Your Ground laws, then by God Dick Durbin is happy to play Step N’ Fetch It for them.

And second, Durbin is nothing if not an Alinskyite. And Alinskyite doctrine – otherwise known as Chicago Thug Politics – dictates via Rule 13 that…

“Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”

It also dictates via Rule 8 that…

“Keep the pressure on. Never let up.”

The Left has picked ALEC to freeze, personalize and polarize. They did everything they could to drive Democrats out of ALEC; at one time there were quite a few of them.

And this hearing is nothing more than an attempt to demonize ALEC for its role in Stand Your Ground laws that, as Hinderaker pointed out, are very popular with the public.

If Durbin was less of a moron, though, he would realize that what he’s about to do is fraught with great risk – because his hearings might well end up creating some star witnesses who make him and the rest of his lefty pals look like boobs and loons. And it might be recognized that Durbin’s subcommittee on The Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, which will be the venue for this horror show, has as its ranking Republican on Ted Cruz.

What Cruz will do to Durbin at that committee might just create him as the favorite for the GOP nomination in 2016.