News Flash! Graham Shocked by Obama's Behavior

Lindsey Graham, the estimable Senator from South Carolina, apparently has just experienced a Carteresque moment. As Jimmy Carter was surprised by the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan, so to was Lindsey shocked, shocked! that Obama would play mere politics with the Stimulus Bill. In his own words: "I was shocked. Because listen, we are opposing this bill for two reasons: It's too large in terms of what it needs to be, and it's unfocused. We agree that you need to do more than cut taxes. He's making arguments from the campaign that are not relevant to the debate. The McCain Amendment, which got every Republican vote, spent money as well as cut taxes. He's trying to convince the American people that they are wrong about this bill. He's trying to lay blame on the Republican party and convince people they're wrong about the bill...(emphasis mine)." This guy, along with McCain, has been shmoozing with Obama and the Democrats ever since McCain lost, trumpeting bi-partisanship wherever he might ingratiate himself with the national press. Did he not see how his collegial friends in the Senate savaged John McCain during the campaign, including demanding that he get out of town before (what was touted as) one of the most important votes in the history of the Senate (i.e. the first Bail Out Bill)? Did he not see how Nancy Pelosi harangued Republicans in the House for partisan electoral advantage just before a crucial House vote on this supposedly most important legislation to come up in our lifetime (i.e. the first Bail Out Bill)? At every turn, upon every crisis of the last six months, Democrats have uniformly taken advantage of the public's earnest attention to spin the moment as another Republican failure. But for Senator Graham, this was all "just politics" and no reason to worry about the mutual respect and friendship with his Senate colleagues. It all rolled off his back like water on an armadillo, an apt metaphor considering the social IQ points Senator Graham seems to lack. Senator Graham, these people are not your friends. They are political opponents who have an agenda, and care nothing about you personally. Senate courtesy is a good thing in itself, but Republicans are the only ones who understand this. To Democrats, Senatorial deference is just another way of manipulating their enemies for advantage. via email