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Southern Avenger

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Lindsey Graham's Hot Air Conservatism

Posted by Jack Hunter on Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 1:38 AM

When a runaway hot-air balloon reported to be carrying a six-year-old boy made headlines last week, many were surprised to find out it had all been a hoax. Admitted the six-year-old boy on live television, “We did this for a show.”

Another hot-air balloon by the name of Lindsey Graham also made headlines last week by putting on a show of his own, as the South Carolina Senator held court at a town hall meeting, touting his conservative credentials before an angry crowd that wasn’t buying it. “They’re a political fringe group” Graham said of his critics, “I’m the conservative in the room.”

Is Graham a “conservative?” Are his detractors merely a political fringe? In a headline reading “Graham aims to tackle ‘radical’ views,” The Greenville News reports:

“Political experts say a burgeoning group of right-wing activists long seen as the fringe of the party is growing in influence, fueled by economic fears and populist ire over Washington spending and magnified by the power of the Internet… Whether they represent a vocal minority or the seeds of a serious election challenge for Graham remains to be seen, though at least one Republican consultant believes the state’s senior senator has ‘real problems’ outside of just a raucous town hall meeting… ‘If he were running right now, he’d be in serious trouble,’ said Dave Woodard, a Clemson University political science professor and former campaign manager for Graham who said he has Upstate polling to support his view.”

Woodard’s findings coincide with another story published in the Wall Street Journal the same day entitled “Tea-Party Activists Complicate Republican Comeback Strategy” in which the author Naftali Bendavid notes:

“The rise of conservative ‘tea party’ activists around the country has created a dilemma for Republicans. They are breathing life into the party's quest to regain power. But they're also waging war on some candidates hand-picked by GOP leaders as the most likely to win… the tea-party movement appears aggressively nonpartisan, much like Ross Perot's supporters in 1992. ‘The tea-party movement, in my judgment, has proven to be very real, but it's precisely the fact that it's real that makes it difficult to take advantage of,’ says Vin Weber, a former Minnesota congressman and now a top Republican strategist. ‘They don't want to be co-opted by the Republican Party.”

For his entire career, Graham’s strategy for victory has been the same as his party’s - dangle conservative-sounding rhetoric before easily duped constituents during an election year so that Republicans can be returned to Washington to do as much damage as the Democrats. It’s refreshing to learn that according to some experts, a growing number of grassroots conservatives are tired of being duped.

Not that establishment Republicans won’t stop trying. Graham is a master of this long-standing Republican hoax, in which politicians will float their own hot-button, hot-air balloons, especially concerning social issues like gay marriage, abortion and the 2nd amendment, but are actually far more concerned with the much more important business of spending trillions of dollars on needless “bailouts” and stimulus packages, even more needless trillions on unnecessary wars, collaborating with the Democrats to expand the domestic welfare state and appointing liberal justices to the Supreme Court. Said Graham in Greenville last week “I’ll put my record as a pro-life politician against anybody in this country… I’m a lifelong NRA member.” It should be noted that alleged, staunch pro-lifer and gun rights advocate Graham has done very little to actually overturn Roe vs. Wade or federal gun laws, but has worked overtime to promote TARP, cap and trade and amnesty for illegal aliens.

Perhaps an even better example of Graham’s posturing was his bi-polar treatment of liberal Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Said Graham at first “When I look at her record, her ideology, I'm deeply troubled.” The Daily Beast even ran the headline “Lindsey Graham Attacks Sotomayor.” A few short weeks later, Graham became the sole Republican on the senate judiciary committee to confirm Sotomayor.

The biggest difference between the so-called “balloon boy” and Graham, is that the six-year-old finally admitted his disingenuousness. Sheriff Jim Alderden, who worked on the runaway balloon case, rightly noted that the boy’s family had “put on a very good show for us, and we bought it.” Graham and his Republican Party have put on a show for years - millions of conservative voters have bought it - and yet the GOP still refuses to fess up. Said Graham of his critics without the slightest hint of irony, “The reason I can stand up there and smile confidently and tell them I disagree is I know that most people are with me.”

Whether conservatives continue to buy Graham’s hot-air is something only time will tell. But rest assured that in the meantime, Lindsey Graham and similar self-described “conservatives” will never admit to their hoax - and worse - will insist that the same old Republican show must go on.

Topics: National Politics

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Headline-- Wignuts Attack Mainstream Republicans. Some times crazy just isn't crazy enough.

Posted by Charlestowne on October 20, 2009 at 8:27 AM | Report this comment

While reading the article, my thoughts went over how many times these so called conservative politicians give lip service to social conservatives and do nothing but freely spend tax money to grow government control. In the end, America loses moral backbone, sound economics, and freedom.

Posted by StonoMudd on October 20, 2009 at 10:27 AM | Report this comment

I don't normally look at this paper but I saw this headline and had to look at it. If Lindsey Graham actually thinks he's conservative and he represents his constituents, then I have some swamp land in Florida to sell him. He's no more conservative than Obama. When will some like him learn that conservatism is more than being pro-life and an NRA member? He and McCain left conservatisim and the Republican party a long time ago. When he's up for re-election, I hope someone has the money to challenge him. I'd vote for anyone other than Graham.

Posted by conservationist on October 20, 2009 at 10:36 AM | Report this comment

And yet, when he was up for re-election in 2008, the only person that could be found to challenge him was a lack-luster protectionist masquerading as a democrat. His big pitch in the debate: "I'm against legal immigration!"

No one of substance will run against Lindsay Graham because he's a Republican and this is South Carolina. Henry Brown got reelected after it was proven that he wasted mountains of state money protecting himself from his culpability in burning the forest near his house. Why? Because he wears the correct-color tie.

On the other hand, the conservative conservatives of the Tea Parties will remain marginalized for a long time. Why? For the same reason that "liberal" is a bad word: too many kooks under the same tent. Look at pictures from the big DC march last month: sure there were people pissed about government spending, bailouts, and the like, which was good. However, there were also plenty of signs bearing swastikas, Hitler references, birthers, outright racist slogans, pro-life, pro-gun, and anti-immigrant groups, and a whole lot of poor spelling and grammar to boot.

Why does this matter? Because the "real" conservatives have let these crazies into their demonstrations, town hall events, and the like, they have become synonymous with them. This has allowed the moniker "tea bagger" (which is retarded enough) to basically equal "birther" among other things. They have allowed, in their quest for swelled membership rolls, a lot of unrelated causes to dilute their message and marginalize their impact.

Posted by factoryconnection on October 20, 2009 at 11:18 AM | Report this comment

Lindsey Graham's time in the sun is waning and he knows it.

Hence, his posturing and name calling episodes are growing in both number and length. He can't be sleeping well with the knowledge that the only reason he's in office today is the fact that there's no recall mechanism available to South Carolinians, those he was elected to represent.

You know a man is not representative of South Carolina people when he calls Constitutionalists "fringe elements", you know he's on the ropes when he directly challenges the strongest proponent of freedom and liberty in Congress today, Dr. Ron Paul, and you know he's at an end when he attacks our Southern culture in a feeble attempt to shame us into supporting him.

Senator Graham, your positions and policies are unsound. You no longer (if you ever did) represent South Carolina and her people, the best thing for you to do is resign as soon as possible.

You are finished.

Posted by Pat H on October 22, 2009 at 8:39 AM | Report this comment

Senator Graham has served his constituents (the proponents of big government) for long enough. It's time for Lindsey to go. Why do we keep debasing ourselves and our government with these "craven-weasel" incumbents? Wake up, Sheeple!!!

Posted by I P Yuengling on October 23, 2009 at 3:08 PM | Report this comment

Great article Jack. Keep them coming.

Posted by C4LGuy on October 23, 2009 at 6:12 PM | Report this comment

http://www.nbcaugusta.com/news/local/69673…

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) - The Charleston County GOP Executive Committee said Tuesday that it’s voted unanimously to censure Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham for "his failure to represent the wishes of the people of South Carolina."

At its November meeting, the Executive Committee said it was disappointed in Sen. Graham for his work on a bipartisan "Cap and Trade" energy bill, along with his positions on multi-billion dollar bank bailouts and amnesty for illegal aliens.

In a statement Tuesday, Chairwoman Lin Bennett said, "Charleston County Republican voters have grown increasingly frustrated with Sen. Graham and his voting record, which are frankly out of step with the beliefs of Republican voters.

This vote should not surprise any of us. What this shows us is that Charleston County Republicans are demanding better from Senator Graham."

Posted by CHB7777 on November 10, 2009 at 2:23 PM | Report this comment

Jack Hunter
Columnist

The "Southern Avenger" Jack Hunter is a conservative commentator (WTMA 1250 AM talk radio) and columnist (Charleston City Paper) living in Charleston, South Carolina.