And here's the first thing I would do if I were president of the United States. I wouldn't let Congress leave town until we fix this. I would literally use the military to keep them in if I had to. We're not leaving town until we restore these defense cuts. We are not leaving town until we restore the intel cuts.
Graham made this comment in New Hampshire. Either give President Graham the budget he wants or he will use military force against Congress. This man is a disgrace.
Jon Stewart lampoons Sen. Lindsey Graham's hysterical panic attack on ISIS. Graham yells that ISIS will come over here and kill everyone.
How stupid is Graham? The Senator wants to arm and train the Free Syrian Army to fight ISIS. One problem with that is that the Free Syrian Army is working with ISIS and both groups have made a peace agreement.
According to Agence France-Presse, ISIS and a number of moderate and hard-line rebel groups have agreed not to fight each other so that they can focus on taking down the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Other sources say the signatories include a major U.S. ally linked to the Free Syrian Army. Moreover, the leader of the Free Syrian Army said Saturday that the group would not take part in U.S. plans for destroying the Islamic State until it got assurances on toppling Assad.
The deal between ISIS and the moderate Syrian groups casts doubt over President Barack Obama's freshly announced strategy to arm and train the groups against ISIS.
Jon Stewart plays clips of how wrong the neoconservatives were about the Iraq war. Stewart saves his best jokes for John McCain. However, Stewart's Lindsey Graham's impression is the best moment in the video.
Sen. John McCain made a hysterical plea for Democrats not too embarrass Republicans when the shutdown and debt ceiling fight ends. McCain's pal Sen. Lindsey Graham sang the same tune to Talking Points Memo. Graham even admits that following Ted Cruz's lead on shutting down the government was a disaster.
"We won't be the last political party to overplay our hand," he said. "It might happen one day on the Democratic side. And if it did, would Republicans, for the good of the country, kinda give a little? We really did go too far. We screwed up. But their response is making things worse, not better."
President Barack Obama has been a horrible negotiator with Republicans. The White House has received numerous complaints from the Democratic caucuses and the progressive base. In a telling moment, House Speaker John Boehner admitted this during the last manufactured crisis by the Republicans.
I do. When you look at this final agreement that we came to with the White House, I got 98 percent of what I wanted. I'm pretty happy.
Obama finally realized if he keeps giving Boehner what he wants the Speaker will continue to shut down the government and threaten the faith and credit of the United States. The hostage taking has to stop. The only way that happens is if Democrats ignore Lindsay Graham's cries for mercy and make this as politically painful for Republicans as possible. Beltway Republicans may be ignorant about economics but they can understand their horrible poll numbers.
"But if we don’t pass immigration reform, if we don’t get it off the table and in a reasonable, practical way, it doesn’t matter who you run in 2016. We’re in a demographic death spiral as a party. And the only way we can get back in good graces with the Hispanic community, in my view, is pass comprehensive immigration reform. If you don’t do that, it really doesn’t matter who we run in my view."
Sen. Lindsey Graham, on Meet the Press.
Graham is right. The Republican Party will lose in 2016 if there isn't a good immigration reform bill that gets signed by President Obama. Conservative think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation is doing everything they can to kill immigration reform. A Democratic strategist said this to reporter Jamelle Bouie.
“Voting against this bill is a disaster for the Republican Party…They need to be reminded there are sound policy reasons to vote for it but also significant political reasons as well.”
That could be what happens when the bill reaches the House of Representatives. Speaker John Boehner has repeatedly proven incapable of rallying his caucus.
"Rand Paul gave a perfect display of the sick paranoia that drives Tea Party and NRA: Obama is coming to get them. With drones."
Lawrence O'Donnell, on Twitter.
I am not a Rand Paul supporter but Paul has every right to question the legality of the drone program. Congress is suppose to do oversight of the executive branch. O'Donnell is more interested in being the left-wing version of Sean Hannity than being a journalist. O'Donnell was never a journalist. He spent his career on Capital Hill and then working on the television show The West Wing. Unfortunately, mainly of O'Donnell's viewers believe he is a journalist.
Update: O'Donnell's rather harsh assessment of Paul's filibuster. O'Donnell called Paul's action a "stunt" for campaign fundraising.
Paul's filibuster is not playing well with the neoconservatives in the Republican establishment. Hawk and drone supporter Lindsey Graham did make this astute observation about Republican senators suddenly loving due process.
“To my Republican colleagues, I don’t remember any of you coming down here suggesting that President Bush was going to kill anybody with a drone, do you?” Graham said. “They had a drone program back then, all of a sudden this drone program has gotten every Republican so spun up. What are we up to here?”
Sen. John McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham are going off into conspiracy land with their attacks on Susan Rice. Sen. Harry Reid has had enough. Reid sent out this press release.
The personal attacks against Ambassador Rice by certain Republican senators have been outrageous and utterly unmoored from facts and reality. I am shocked that senators would continue these attacks even when the evidence—including disclosures from the intelligence community about the information she presented —have made it clear that the allegations against Ambassador Rice are baseless, and that she has done absolutely nothing wrong.
Ambassador Rice’s service as United States Ambassador to the United Nations has been impeccable. She has answered all questions raised in relation to the Benghazi attacks completely and repeatedly. The Senate committees of jurisdiction are in the midst of examining the events leading up to the Benghazi attacks, and I agree with those— including the ranking Republican members of both the Intelligence and Homeland Security committees—who have said we should let the committees do their work. There should be no place for such blatant partisanship in oversight of our nation’s intelligence community.
The election is over. It is time to drop these partisan political games, and focus our attention on the real challenges facing us as a nation.
I'm a progressive that would have no problem if President Obama showed Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner or Attorney General Eric Holder the door. Rice was not in charge of security of the Benghazi consulate. The CIA approved the talking points Rice used that McCain and Graham ha e taken issue with. The consulate of under Sec. of State Hillary Clinton's duties. NcCain a.d Graham do not want to pick a fight with Obama's most popular cabinet member. The fact that they targeted a black woman says much about their true motives.
We may finally be seeing the tougher President Obama that progressives have demanded. Sen. Lindsey Graham and Sen. John McCain made it clear that they intend to go after U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice over the Benghazi attacks. Obama had these words directed at Graham and McCain.
But when they go after the U.N. ambassador, apparently because they think she’s an easy target, then they’ve got a problem with me. And should I choose — if I think that she would be the best person to serve America in the capacity — the State Department, then I will nominate her. That’s not a determination that I’ve made yet.
Damn. Where has this Obama been the past four years.
Why anyone takes McCain and Graham seriously on national security is beyond me. The truth is they are clueless on national security issues. Think Progress is very friendly with the Obama administration and is going after McCain and Graham for defending Condoleezza Rice's intelligence failures on the 9-11 attacks and Iraq WMD intelligence.
Rice was pressed after stonewalling to releal the title of the August 6, 2001 CIA PDB. The title of the PDB is "Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US." The PDB warned of future al-Qaida was planning future attacks and hijackings. Rice's testimony to the 9-11 Commission was untruthful and embarrassing.
Rice went on CNN with the unfounded claim that Iraq had a nuclear weapons program in development. Rice made this famous comment to Wolf Blitzer.
"The problem here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly he can acquire nuclear weapons. But we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."
As we now know, there were no nuclear weapons in Iraq. Rice commits two of the biggest intelligence failures in U.S. history and is rewarded with a featured speaking role at the RNC.
Just for fun: watch the Youtube video of Sen. McCain telling Wolf Blitzer that Americans can walk freely in Baghdad during the height of the surge. CNN's Michael Ware's informs Blitzer that an American "would barely last twenty minutes out there." No one should take the man that advocated staying in Iraq 100 years seriously.
It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.
On the campaign trail in 2007, Barack Obama said he would march with union members if their collective bargaining rights were threatened.
“And understand this: If American workers are being denied their right to organize and collectively bargain when I’m in the White House, I’ll put on a comfortable pair of shoes myself, I’ll will walk on that picket line with you as President of the United States of America. Because workers deserve to know that somebody is standing in their corner.”
During his trip to Wisconsin, Obama said he wasn't paying attention to what is going on. Obama also said all sides had to make "some adjustments to new fiscal realities."
Sen. Lindsey Graham told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid he would not work on the energy bill if the Senate took up immigration reform.
"What wasn't me," Graham told Politico. "What changed was immigration coming out of left field."
Immigation was an issue so out of left field for Graham that a month earlier he wrote a Washington Post op-ed with Chuck Schumer urging Congress to take up immigration reform. Immigration reform was taken off the table and now Hispanic voters are frustrated with Democrats.
Hotline On Call reports Democrats still hold an edge in support, but Hispanic voters are frustrated with a lack of action by both parties. Graham told Democrats to dump immigration reform with the promise he would vote for the energy bill. Graham later reneged on his promise. Democrats are left with no energy and immigration bills and the possibility of a small Hispanic voter turnout in the general election. Dealmaking like this is why President Obama and Reid cannot get anything done.
The platform of the Vermilion Oil rig 380 off the coast of Louisiana exploded. No deaths or injuries were reported. All 13 crew members have been evacuated. The rig was not part of the moratorium placed by President Barack Obama after the Deep Horizon accident. Interior Secretary Kenneth would not comment on if the Vermilion Oil rig 380 accident will cause the President to lengthen the mortorium.
Reuters reports the fire was not caused by a drilling blowout. The fire has been put out and the rig is still standing. Two of the decks on the rig have fire damage.
I remember Lindsey Graham saying he would not vote for the energy bill because there was not enough offshore drilling. Graham argued that the BP spill made it a bad time to work on clean energy legislation. It is hard to argue with that kind of logic.
Update: According to Coast Guard Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesau no traces of oil have been found in the water. Let's hope it stays that way.
Christian conservative Randall Terry's latest press release uses the imagery of the lynchings the Klu Klux Klan did to blacks last century in America. Terry writes he plans to "burn, hang, or beat Lindsey Graham in effigy for his recent vote for Elena Kagan."
"If a man brings the enemy into your camp, he is helping the enemy; when he helps the enemy, he has become the enemy, and must be treated as such. Mr. Graham has betrayed God and innocent babies; we must treat him as a fraud and a traitor from this moment forth.
"On a lighter note, since Mr. Graham uses babies as pawns in his game of politics, we will play some 'games' in front of his offices, such as 'pin the flip-flop' on the donkey, and beating a Graham pinata. We promise - it will be a lot of fun."
Terry is the founder of Operation Rescue; an organization that places personal information about abortion providers on the internet. Dr. George Tiller's murderer Scott Roeder was in contact with Operation Rescue's Cheryl Sullenger. Terry's defense of his former organization's contact with Roeder is sickening.
I grieve for him that he did not have an opportunity to properly prepare his soul to face his Maker. Unless some miracle happened, he left this life with his hands drenched with the innocent blood of tens of thousands of babies that he murdered. Surely there will be a dreadful accounting for what he has done.
It now falls to pro-life leaders like myself to stand strong and unflinching in the face of the unjust criticism we will now endure because of his killing. And so I turn my attention to the attacks that will follow his death.
Sullenger constantly notified Roeder of Tiller's movements. Terry couldn't say anything nice about Tiller after he died and glossed over Roeder having help from anti-abortionists whom call themselves Christian. Terry's words about "burn, hang, or beat" Sen. Graham should be taken seriously.
"The problem with the Tea Party, I think it’s just unsustainable because they can never come up with a coherent vision for governing the country. It will die out."
Lindsey Graham is attacked by tea baggers by being accused of being a "traitor" and being "in bed with John Kerry." The tea baggers have claimed they are bipartisan. Notice how quickly they turn on a Republican Senator for talking to Democrats. The tea bagger movement is going to townhall meeting and protests to vent anger. They do not create policy ideas, raise money for the GOP or register new Republican voters. The Senate Finance Committee just passed a flawed health care bill. If the tea baggers were a real movement health care reform would be dead.
"Only in America can you make that much money crying," Graham said of Beck. "Glenn Beck is not aligned with any party. He is aligned with cynicism and there has always been a market for cynics. But we became a great nation not because we are a nation of cynics. We became a great nation because we are a nation of believers."
Sen. Bill Nelson voted against the Jay Rockefeller amendment. Nelson did vote for the watered down public option amendment authored by Chuck Schumer.
"It seems to me that this is very important that we have this competition. It has all safeguards in it ..." Nelson said.
The Schumer amendment failed 10 to 13. All the cynical outreach efforts by President Barack Obama to get Republican votes failed. I previously wrote the Obama and Baucus were crafting legislation that would mandate citizens buying private insurance and protect pharmaceutical industry profits. Lindsey Graham explained to Ezra Klein that Obama never pressed Congress on the public option.
You make people afraid of opposing you or you get them rewarded for helping you. There's no fear for opposing Obama's public option, and the reward is for opposing it. Right now, Republicans feel no political exposure from opposing the president's health-care initiative.
Obama reneged on his campaign promise to hold open meetings with insurers and the pharmaceutical industry. Health insurers will get more customers and drug prices will continue to escalate. It is up to Nancy Pelosi and Democrats in the House of Representitives to keep the public option alive.
Update: the Democrats whom voted against the Rockefeller amendment were Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, Blanche Lincoln, Tom Carper and Nelson.
I just took the Re-elect Obama Poll on Facebook. I was actually reluctant to vote yes. I realized Obama would run uncontested in the Democratic primaries and the Republicans would likely nominate Sarah Palin or Mitt Romney. I would actually welcome the Democratic Party having a big field of candidates for 2012.
Facebook users took an even harsher view of Obama.
Will you vote for Obama in 2012
Yes - 23,360 (22.4%)
No - 76,755 (73.5%)
Undecided - 4,310 (4.1%)
What is disturbing is Facebook is used by many young people. That is a demographic Obama does well. Since Facebook opened up to everyone, the demographics changed somewhat. These doesn't explain why the numbers are this bad.
Bill Maher has been critical of Obama for not standing up to corporations and more concerned with image. People wonder when Obama is going to get his hands dirty and fight the tea baggers and the right-wing talk radio chamber. The answer is never. That wasn't Obama's style during the campaign. Why should things change now. Sen. Lindsey Graham explained to Ezra Klein why Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats are compelled to support Obama's health care reform.
You make people afraid of opposing you or you get them rewarded for helping you. There's no fear for opposing Obama's public option, and the reward is for opposing it. Right now, Republicans feel no political exposure from opposing the president's health-care initiative.
Maher's point was proven by the White House cut a deal with the pharmaceutical industry.
WASHINGTON — Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials on Wednesday assured drug makers that the administration stood by a behind-the-scenes deal to block any Congressional effort to extract cost savings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion.
Drug industry lobbyists reacted with alarm this week to a House health care overhaul measure that would allow the government to negotiate drug prices and demand additional rebates from drug manufacturers.
Patients and taxpayers will continue to pay for for prescription drugs. That is change I don't believe in.
With that day here, Graham said he would follow his own advice. “I understand the path of least resistance for me personally would be to vote no. That is probably true anytime you are in the minority party and you lose an election,” he said. “But I feel compelled to vote yes, and I feel this is the right vote for me and, quite frankly, for the country in this case.”
I am not sure that is the case. Graham took the most heat for his questioning of Sotomayor. Graham would please the hard right faction by voting against Sotomayor's confirmation. South Carolina moderates and growing Hispanic population would feel differently.
Hillary Clinton has been confirmed as Sec. of State. Who could imagine so many Republicans voting for the former first lady? The final vote was 94-2.
Lindsay Graham: There's no better advocate than Hillary Clinton.
John McCain described Clinton as "obviously qualified."
For someone that lived through Bill Clinton's impeachment -- this is surreal. I'm happy that everybody is playing nice. I wonder how long it will last.
Update:Clinton submitted her Senate resignation to Vice-President Joe Biden.
John McCain needs to train his surragates to lie better. Those Bush surrogates did such a bang up job in 2004. Bush's supporters were smart enough not to talk up the President's horrible economic record. What the hell is Lindsey Graham thinking?
STEPHANOPOULOS: You said the tax policy and the healthcare policy were essentially, Senator Graham, John McCain is calling for an extension or maybe even enhancement of the George Bush policies.
GRAHAM: Yes, absolutely.
McCain will lose the election if he runs on Bush's economic policy. End of story.
