Can Dick Durbin stifle himself for a bit?  The vaunted senator from Illinois is saying one absurd thing after another, putting the jackass back big into the Democratic Party label.

Seriously, get a load of this first one from the senior senator from Illinois:

A top Democrat in the Senate said his vulnerable colleagues from red states "understand" that fighting to stop President Trump's Supreme Court pick is more important than getting re-elected in 2018.

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., was pressed on this "dilemma" that Democrats face as the 2018 midterms approach during an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"Staying united to stop the Supreme Court pick could cost you red state senators.  Not fighting it as hard might allow the red state senators to get re-elected and get Democrats in control of the Senate.  That's your dilemma," host Chuck Todd posited on Sunday.

President Trump hasn't even named his pick for the newly vacant Supreme Court seat, and already Durbin is telling his fellow Democrats (not himself, of course) to fall on their swords by obstructing the nomination, no matter who it might be, and forget about their own careers.  Do it for the cause.  Take one for the team.  Because many Democratic senators have found themselves in a quandary over this upcoming nomination – they are running for re-election in red states and know that obstructing the nomination as Democrats won't go over well with voters.  Many are thinking of jumping ship to stay in office.  So in Durbin's view, it's better "a lost seat for thee, but not for me."

How very, very big of him.

That isn't all he's been saying.  As the world watches with bated breath the dangerous watery cave rescue going on in Thailand, marveling at the courage and technological virtuosity of the world's elite divers as they conduct the terrifying operation, and looks on in awe and wonder at the world coming together to pray, pool technological expertise, and offer moral support, well, Durbin decides that domestic immigration policy disputes are a good thing to bring up to compare to this spectacle – with himself as the hero this time, not the Thai SEALs.

According to Fox News:

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., on Sunday compared the more than 2,300 migrant children separated from their parents after crossing illegally into the United States to the boys' soccer team currently trapped in a cave in northern Thailand.

"Hearts and prayers are with those boys in Thailand trapped in the cave," Durbin said on NBC's "Meet The Press."  "I hope our hearts and prayers are also with thousands of children – toddlers and infants – removed from their parents by the Trump administration under zero-tolerance."

Durbin added: "They're trapped in a bureaucratic cave too.  So let's not forget them."

This is, frankly, nothing more than a policy dispute, brought on by the issue of people ignoring U.S. borders and U.S. immigration law, with many cases of additional bad behavior, such as parents turning over their children to human-smugglers, who most certainly shouldn't be forked back over to such criminal enterprises' tender mercies.  It's a domestic policy dispute over how to handle lawbreakers.

The Thai rescue operation is a majestic story of heroism in the face of the merciless forces of nature.

Can this senator, who can think of nothing but domestic politics, spare us?  Cripes, this guy needs to get off the stage.  That said, his words are so insipid and idiotic that perhaps we should encourage him to keep talking.  The more he talks, the more likely Republicans are to gain.

Image credit: Center for American Progress Action Fund via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.