Sometimes, people accidentally tell you what they really mean. Via Think Progress, today’s accidental truthteller is Senator Dick Durbin. Dick:

Social Security is the most important social program in America. The commission creates an actuarially sound program for an additional 75 years. It increases the minimum benefit for the lowest income Social Security recipients and adds a much needed increase in benefits for those above the age of 85. It raises the retirement age one year to 68, 40 years from now, meaning no one above the age of 28 today would be affected and the retirement age would be 69, 65 years from now. To protect those in manual labor jobs who cannot wait to retire, we create special benefit package that will still allow for early retirement.

My bold. That appeared Thursday in the Chicago Tribune. Back in October, though, he said something that explained why the hubbub, bub. Again, Dick:

Durbin said raising the retirement age would be unfair to workers who do physical labor.

“It’s tough to say just stick around and deliver mail for another couple of years, be a waitress for another couple of years,” Durbin said.

Instead he recommends boosting the percent of wages that can be taxed to fund Social Security. He said in 1983 90 percent of wages were subject to Social Security taxes and now only 83 percent are. He added that the increase would come from beneficiaries “in upper income categories or their employers.”

Also my bold, but I’ve seen that little slip widely misquoted. Okay, bear with me, my dumplings. We’ve studied the language for decades and we have our own opinions, but the fork in the road lies at the intersection of I’m not sayin’ and I’m just sayin’. Look at Durbin’s phrasing. He’s NOT saying it’s tough to stick around and deliver mail for another could of years or be a waitress for another couple of years. He’s saying it’s tough to tell people they will be doing so. A month later, he finds finds the strength. Our suffering is nothing compared to his. His heroic stand for our ability to eventually retire from jobs we can’t get or physically perform will be long forgotten by a workforce too old to work and too young to expect to be treated respectfully. Imagine being 25 and competing with Grandpa for a minimum wage gig.

Thus, Dick Durbin accidentally tells us what a dick he truly is, and what a progressive he is not.

Addendum: Shortly after I posted this, Planet Green,an entity with the words sustainable and vegetarian in its mission statement, broadcast Buzzworthy Barbecue, demonstrating that nobody knows who the hell they are and what the fuck they’re doing.