Remember the little dust up a couple weeks ago after Jonathan Turley published a piece in the LA Times alleging that a

“nonplussed” Supreme Court nominee John Roberts had said in a meeting with a senator that he would have to “recuse” himself in cases where the Catholic Church had made a doctrinal ruling? Turned out that the senator in question was Dick Durbin of Illinois — yes, the same guy who compared our soldiers at Gitmo to Nazis.

Durbin denied the Roberts conversation was as Turley reported it, given how it seemed to resuscitate the old anti-Catholic canard that Catholics are loyal to the Pope first and their own nations second. And it’s hard to believe that a guy as smooth as Roberts would have said something so…un-smooth.

Turley came under some criticism. Well, if Turley is now to be believed, Durbin was again shooting his mouth off and then running away from what he said. The Washington Times has an account of an August 4 letter from Turley to Durbin claiming Turley has a phone message, notes and an e-mail from Durbin and a Durbin staffer proving his account of what Durbin said was accurate. For Republicans, Dick Durbin is the gift that just keeps on giving.