I was trying to come up with a way to start this post off, when I looked at the folder that held my research papers and I had written “Lindsay Graham sucks” on it. That is just about the most straightforward lead-in that I can come up with. So now, let me walk you through some of the problems with Lindsay Graham.
In 2007, while working with Joe Lieberman and Ted Kennedy on a bill to grant amnesty to illegal aliens, Graham spoke at a meeting of La Raza (the Race). A Hispanic group who wants to reclaim the Southwestern part of the United States for Mexico. Graham made the statement that “No group owns being an American.” When asked how he would address those opposed to amnesty his reply was “We are going to tell the bigots to shut up.” From the senate floor, he referred to opponents of the bill as loud mouths.
My thoughts on this are both simple and straightforward; I view speaking at a group that supports using force to overthrow parts America as pandering to the enemy. It is not acceptable, nor should it be to speak to the KKK, Skinheads, Neo-Nazi’s or any other hate group. Just because this group is acceptable to your liberal friends, does not make it acceptable to people who have principles. In addition, Lindsay, a group does own “being an American.” It is not limited by race, religion or ethnicity. It is made up of the millions of people who love this country, people who are proud to live here and strive to keep it strong and prosperous. This group owns that title and regardless of how you try to hurt these people, nothing that you can say can ever take that title away. It is strange that this is the same group that you are calling bigots and loud mouths. All I can say is that playing the race card will out a true liberal before anything. This is standard for the liberal left. It is sad that an elected official would use these terms when referring to people who simply believe in the rule of law and our countries sovereign borders.
I have said many times that if a bill is constitutional, if there is an actual need for it and it will not add to the deficit that I would be glad to work with any democrat to help get it passed. Lindsay Graham on the other hand seems to pick the worst bills to join the democrats on. Voting in favor of the bank bailouts hurt his standing among republicans. Now he is working with liberal Senator John Kerry on the Cap and Trade bill and co-writing op-ed pieces with him and this seems to be the straw that has broke the camels back.
In November, the Charleston County Republican Party Executive Committee voted to censure Senator Graham for statements and actions detrimental to the Republican Party. The Berkley County GOP followed but agreed to hold their vote until January, so that Grahams Chief of Staff could come and talk to the committee. Censure is a procedure that I would like to see repeated by each county GOP committee in the state and by the State GOP Committee next year.
One of the unfortunate results of having a Lindsay Graham is the people that he drags down with him. When people try to defend the indefensible, I feel that they are actually stooping lower than the person who committed the act. Here are some examples and how I feel about them.
At the Berkley County GOP meeting State Sen. Paul Campbell, R-Goose Creek, said he disagrees with Graham on the energy bill but urged the committee to give him a chance to speak for himself.
“I just think it sends the wrong message to censure him when we’re trying to work with him on a grant to get 600 jobs,” Campbell said. “To act tonight is premature without giving him a chance to speak.”
Excuse me senator but I believe that after an op-ed piece penned by Graham and numerous interviews that he has spoken for himself. He is clear on where he stands and unfortunately so are you. By your statement, you seem to feel that we should treat Graham as if he can do no wrong as long as we can get something from him. Senator, that kind of thinking is what is wrong with this country today. You are the problem and should be voted out at the first opportunity.
Next comes former South Carolina State GOP Chairman Katon Dawson. While his “its just Lindsay being Lindsay” statement shows luke warm support, he followed that up by saying “People need to look at the big picture. At the end of the day, what we are looking for is offshore drilling for natural gas and Lindsey got that in the bill.”
Mr. Dawson knows that drilling is the least of the problems with Cap and Trade. This is throwing a red herring out so that people will think that Graham had accomplished a great feat, when in fact it gave us nothing. Like I said, Katon knows the damage that Cap and Trade would cause but he is still willing to provide cover for Graham. At this time Mr. Dawson holds no position in the GOP and we should be sure to keep it this way.
Now we come to our new faux hero, Joe Wilson. Wilson was an obscure Congressman from South Carolina until the State of the Union Address when Wilson decided to shout, “You lie” to the president. Many people applaud Wilson for this but I believe that he is more of an embarrassment to South Carolina than Mark Sanford could ever be. I have no problem with him calling the president a liar but I am tired of our elected weasels acting like children for their own political advantage. His lack of decorum is inexcusable. It is not surprising that he would come to Graham’s defense. Wilson released a statement saying, “Lindsey Graham has been a great leader for our state and party. I appreciate everything he has done for me and his tireless work in helping Republicans at all levels of government. He’s a team player. Ronald Reagan always said that people who agree with you 80 percent of the time should be considered a good friend…”
What happens congressman when the 20% that you disagree on is over your core values? What if it is over policy that will hurt the people of this country? Are they still your friend to where you help them get their bills passed? Perhaps you have no core values or care about the people. Perhaps all you care about congressman is you. If Cap and trade is so great let us hear you come out in support of it. You will not do that because you know that you will lose all of your newfound money. When your own wife refers to you as a nut that should tell you something. Joe Wilson needs to go in 2010.
In one of the articles on Wilson’s statement, the blogger and Graham supporter Adam Fogle added this, “Graham has come under fire by some Republicans for working with Democrats to include in a climate change bill measures that would expand offshore drilling as well as nuclear energy, clean coal and natural gas — something the GOP has ironically wanted for years.
Wilson’s reference to Reagan, a conservative icon, couldn’t be more appropriate.
On a previous post on The Palmetto Scoop, one commenter left a particularly poignant passage from the former president that knee-jerk Republicans would be wise to heed.
“When I began entering into the give and take of legislative bargaining in Sacramento, a lot of the most radical conservatives who had supported me during the election didn’t like it,” Reagan wrote in his autobiography, An American Life. “‘Compromise’ was a dirty word to them and they wouldn’t face the fact that we couldn’t get all of what we wanted today. They wanted all or nothing and they wanted it all at once. If you don’t get it all, some said, don’t take anything.”
Added Reagan, “If you got 75 or 80 percent of what you were asking for, I say, you take it and fight for the rest later, and that’s what I told these radical conservatives who never got used to it.”
Once again I have to agree with the premise of accepting 75 or 80 percent, but once again I have to point out that in Grahams case he is only getting about .1% and giving away 99.9%. This is not called compromise; this is called giving away the store. This is not acceptable.
Now it is time to get to the point of this article. The time has come not only to censure Senator Graham but also to ask for his resignation. While I understand that this is only symbolic in nature, that it holds no weight of law and that the senator probably really does not care what the people say, the reason that he joined on the Cap and Trade is the worst insult of all. Here are three statements describing the problem;
“We also need legislation to provide regulatory certainty to our state’s business community. If Congress does not act, unelected bureaucrats at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will issue regulations controlling carbon emissions. In the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2007 decision Massachusetts v. EPA, the Court ruled carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases should be regulated as pollutants under the Clean Air Act.
EPA regulation of carbon is the worst possible scenario. The EPA will destroy jobs and contain no new provisions for expanded nuclear energy or offshore drilling.
Regardless of whether you view climate change as a real threat or some grand hoax, carbon will eventually be regulated – either through congressional action or by the EPA.”
“Failure to act comes with another cost. If Congress does not pass legislation dealing with climate change, the administration will use the Environmental Protection Agency to impose new regulations. Imposed regulations are likely to be tougher and they certainly will not include the job protections and investment incentives we are proposing.
The message to those who have stalled for years is clear: killing a Senate bill is not success; indeed, given the threat of agency regulation, those who have been content to make the legislative process grind to a halt would later come running to Congress in a panic to secure the kinds of incentives and investments we can pass today. Industry needs the certainty that comes with Congressional action.”
“Graham has tried to woo other Republicans with warnings that the Environmental Protection Agency will impose draconian regulations if Congress fails to act.”
So here it is. If Cap and Trade is not passed, the EPA is going to step in and regulate carbon anyway. How did this happen? Our elected weasels are the ones who has set this monster loose on the people. They have allowed an unelected bureaucracy to grow to the point that it has more power then congress.
While I have been picking on Lindsay Graham, I am now going to bring in the other 434 elected weasels. No one is standing up for the people. The first order of business TODAY is to come together and strip this type of power from the EPA. Have you heard anyone speaking out? They have all failed us. Lindsay seems to feel that if this bill passes, then we will be safe from the EPA. I say NO. Picking the lesser of two evils is no longer an option for this country. If you refuse to do what is right, the time has come for you to get out of the way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsaTudYjMLU&feature=related
http://www.palmettoscoop.com/2009/11/12/wilson-cites-reagan-in-defense-of-graham/comment-page-1/#comment-469252
http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2009/11/sen-graham-in-hot-water-at-home-over-global-warming.html
http://www.palmettoscoop.com/2009/11/12/dawson-defends-graham/
http://www.thestate.com/breaking/story/1031552.html?RSS=breaking