Republican Senator Talks Some Sense....

[Big Orange]

He may seem a somewhat in denial about the racist undertones amongst some people who dislike Obama, but Sen. Graham comments in regards to the Rightards flying off towards the Andromeda Galaxy (such as Glenn Beck and the Birthers) is a much overdue breath of fresh coming from any politician:

Sen. Graham Calls Beck "A Cynic" and Birthers "Crazy"

Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R-S.C.) offered unusually blunt assessments of the fringe elements of his party and conservative media on Thursday, calling the popular and bombastic Fox News host Glenn Beck a "cynic" whose show was antithetical to American values.

"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."

Appearing before a crowd of Washington's elite power players and opinion-makers, Graham spoke largely without filter, offering acidic takes on subject well beyond Beck. The Senator called the birther community that questions the president's U.S. citizenship "crazy" and implored them to "knock this crap off" so the country could get on to more important matters.

"I'm here to tell you that those who think the president was not born in Hawaii are crazy," said Graham, who went on to dispel another myth: that Obama is a closet Muslim.

Speaking before The Atlantic's First Draft of History conference, Graham also ventured to call "crazy" a recent article on Newsmax, laying out how a military coup could overtake the Obama administration.

But he insisted that the demagoguery and wild emotions were prevalent to the fringes of both political parties. "There are people out there saying crazy things on our side of the aisle," he said, "there were people saying crazy things about President Bush. That's just the way it is. "

And he insisted that the opposition to Obama was (largely) not based in racial politics.

"How can you go from [the election]," he asked, "and then have a race problem a few months later? There are people in this party who are having a tough time reconciling having a black president.... But most of these people carrying around crazy signs would applaud Alan Keyes. They are very passionate about their politics and if Alan Keyes spoke at their conference they go through the roof."

Reflecting comments made earlier in the day by his colleague and close friend, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Graham said he was deeply worried about "the passions of cable TV" whipping up the emotions of the public. "If you get rewarded for being a jerk you are going to keep doing it," he said, before labeling "Talk radio, MoveOn.org, and the 24-hour news cycle" as the main culprits in polarizing the nation.

"Can you imagine doing D-Day with cable television?" he asked. "Can you imagine writing the Constitution -- you know, O'Reilly says Ben Franklin's giving in on something. Can you imagine having to do that in this environment?"

Huffington Post (video included in link)

[Simon_Jester]

I was wondering how long it would start to take for Republican congressmen to hit the "So... much... stupid! I can't take it anymore! GYAAAAAH!!!" stage.

[The Spartan]

Reflecting comments made earlier in the day by his colleague and close friend, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Graham said he was deeply worried about "the passions of cable TV" whipping up the emotions of the public. "If you get rewarded for being a jerk you are going to keep doing it," he said, before labeling "Talk radio, MoveOn.org, and the 24-hour news cycle" as the main culprits in polarizing the nation.

Anyone else see the not-so-subtle-to-me dig at the Liberal MediaTM there?

[Big Orange]

And I'm a little peturbed by his comment on the video, when he said Obama was not a Muslim but a good man.

[Rogue 9]

Reflecting comments made earlier in the day by his colleague and close friend, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Graham said he was deeply worried about "the passions of cable TV" whipping up the emotions of the public. "If you get rewarded for being a jerk you are going to keep doing it," he said, before labeling "Talk radio, MoveOn.org, and the 24-hour news cycle" as the main culprits in polarizing the nation.

Anyone else see the not-so-subtle-to-me dig at the Liberal MediaTM there?

Talk radio is liberal media now?

[Big Phil]

Let's see if this sticks, or if he goes on Boss Limbaugh's show in a couple of days to "apologize"

[Patrick Degan]

Reflecting comments made earlier in the day by his colleague and close friend, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Graham said he was deeply worried about "the passions of cable TV" whipping up the emotions of the public. "If you get rewarded for being a jerk you are going to keep doing it," he said, before labeling "Talk radio, MoveOn.org, and the 24-hour news cycle" as the main culprits in polarizing the nation.

Anyone else see the not-so-subtle-to-me dig at the Liberal MediaTM there?

Talk radio is liberal media now?

It's just your average Golden Mean Fallacy in action: nobody's at fault because everybody's at fault because both sides are JUST AS BAD. Nice way to criticise while deflecting responsibility for the inflammatory propaganda of Limbaugh the Hutt and the Loony Brigade.

[Thanas]

Lindsay Graham, one of the most reprehensible politicians alive today, is making these comments?

Yeah, right.

[Glocksman]

Lindsay Graham, one of the most reprehensible politicians alive today, is making these comments?

Yeah, right.

Graham and his buddy John McCain are/were disliked by a lot of the more retarded..er reliable elements of the Republican base because of their support for Bush's immigration reform legislation back in 2006.

This doesn't mean that Graham isn't a lying hypocritical bastard on most issues, but I'm willing to believe his uneasiness with the birthers is genuine.

IMHO, the bastard can also go take a very long walk off of a short pier based solely on his opposition to healthcare reform.

[The Spartan]

Anyone else see the not-so-subtle-to-me dig at the Liberal MediaTM there?

Talk radio is liberal media now?

In our world? Of course, not.

In 1/3-still-love-Bush land, any mention of media being at fault is going to stir up "stupid liberal media" crap. It's sort of like dog-whistle racism.

[The Guid]

I can't help but notice that he tries to say that hatred of Obama is not based on race because of the election. It treats America as a single entity - we're not saying the people who like Obama are racists, we're saying the people who dislike him have racist elements, you know one of the tens of millions who either didn't vote or voted against him.

[CmdrWilkens]

It's just your average Golden Mean Fallacy in action: nobody's at fault because everybody's at fault because both sides are JUST AS BAD. Nice way to criticise while deflecting responsibility for the inflammatory propaganda of Limbaugh the Hutt and the Loony Brigade.

It is a Golden Mean Fallacy but he does at least call out Beck and O'Reilly by name which is something. Its not much but something.

[Big Orange]

I didn't really like Lindsay Graham as soon as I heard his whiney voice and he dodged a few crucial issues, this article is not encouraging and this other article confirms his stance on UHC. And why does he call Beck "cynical" and not "crazy"?

[Raw Shark]

And why does he call Beck "cynical" and not "crazy"?

Because he thinks Beck is rational, but has calculated that his current behavior will result in the most money for himself.

[Yona]

And why does he call Beck "cynical" and not "crazy"?

Because he thinks Beck is rational, but has calculated that his current behavior will result in the most money for himself.

He was wild, but not this CRAZY until he switched to the Fake News Network.

Money talks, and the Boss sets the tone. I know the Media wants bang for the buck, but someone should sue FOX for all the outright lies and garbage they spew.

[Duckie]

They did. Fox News won. Akre vs. Fox News, I believe, where Fox News instructed a reporter to knowingly lie on the air to make a story more controversial, she refused, was fired, and attempted to call whistleblower. She won thrice, only for Fox news to win on a final appeal that settled the matter.

One justification not used that, disturbingly, could actually work:
Since corporations are people, corporations have a right to free speech.
Free speech includes lying on the news.

The actual justification Fox News used:
"It's not illegal to lie on the news, there's no law against it. Also, if whistleblower laws applied to people refusing to lie on the news, there would be tons of suits against us and other media companies, with a chilling effect on our ability to report the news as we please."
Fox News actually won the court case with that argument alone.

Florida.gif

[Yona]

Unbelievable ! That "corporation as a person" stuff may change. Keep an eye on our newest SC Judge. She's supposedly working on that.

[Big Orange]

Lindsey Graham break rank again in regards to climate change. Huh, which way the wind blows I guess.

[CmdrWilkens]

Lindsey Graham break rank again in regards to climate change. Huh, which way the wind blows I guess.

I'm pretty sure I've said it elsewhere but Grahm (like McCain) is old school Republican. They will shout and denounce everythign Democrats do but at the end of the day they will negotiate in good faith and, when they aren't exposed too much, call a spade a spade. Sure neither of them holds a position I agree with more than 10% of the time but I'd rather have them across the aisle than a freakin Inhofe, Kyl, or Chambliss.

[Big Orange]

What about Pat Buchanan? He's not a Neocon and Randroid, but unfortunately he's pro-Nazi.

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

What about Pat Buchanan? He's not a Neocon and Randroid, but unfortunately he's pro-Nazi.

Um, Pat Buchanan is about as far away from 'Neo-Con' as you can possibly get in the American Right-wing spectrum today. He's Paleo-Conservative to the core. Remember when he defended Russia's invasion of Georgia? Of course, he's also a lunatic and his recent Hitchens-style defense of the Nazis (ironic, now that Peter Hitchens has also written an article defending the Nazis) is pretty damning.

Honestly, the way that people on this forum throw around the term 'Neo-Con' to mean 'Anything on the Right I don't like' is pretty ridiculous. Seriously, it's like calling Ashcroft a Libertarian.

[Sidewinder]

I was wondering how long it would start to take for Republican congressmen to hit the "So... much... stupid! I can't take it anymore! GYAAAAAH!!!" stage.

I think the Republicans who retained enough brain cells to realize how damn stupid their party chiefs were, are NO LONGER REPUBLICANS. (Radical shifts like these have historical precedents- see Strom Thurmond, who joined the Republican Party in the 1960s, when the Democratic Party became the RMS Titanic, with the Vietnam War as the iceberg.)

[Big Orange]

Honestly, the way that people on this forum throw around the term 'Neo-Con' to mean 'Anything on the Right I don't like' is pretty ridiculous. Seriously, it's like calling Ashcroft a Libertarian.

I realise that Buchanan is not a Neocon (despite admiring a historical warmonger) and he's against Neoliberalism (which is associated with the mass importing of cheap labour, which xenophobes dislike on principle).

[The Yosemite Bear]

ok, checking for freezing in hell.

Well I'm pretty sure after some of the older rascist shit Graham used to pull he's qualified to speak on the matter, they can recognize each other right?