According to panicky pollsters with inside knowledge, South Carolina Republicans have become so disgusted by Lindsey Graham’s failure theater and transparent insincerity that he’s in real danger of losing the Senate seat he’s occupied since 2003.
It’s about time.
Graham’s latest betrayal came just this week: his Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a vote to issue subpoenas to the Big Tech CEOs who deep-sixed the blockbuster New York Post story that found hard evidence—on his degenerate son’s abandoned laptop—that Joe Biden has been busy monetizing his public office.
By taking the story off every social media platform—and suspending accounts of those attempting to disseminate it (up to and including the Post and even the president’s press secretary) at the behest of the Democrats—the tech giants perpetrated the most outrageous partisan assault on First Amendment freedoms in U.S. history in a blatant effort to influence the outcome of an election.
Unforgivably, Graham’s move effectively killed the opportunity for Republicans to highlight it before Election Day. He wasn’t even up for another episode of Failure Theater.
Graham had already registered his outrage in conservative media for the benefit of the rubes back home, while reassuring his long-time pals in the deep state he shares their ludicrous view that the newly revealed info documenting Biden family crimes is somehow part of a Russian disinformation campaign. Lindsey has been pulling off this ruse successfully for decades.
But it doesn’t seem to be working anymore.
Graham Tests His Constituents’ Patience
For the last four years, voters repeatedly have seen Graham pledge to “get to the bottom of” the Russia collusion hoax and call to account the lies and crimes of the intelligence agencies—only to discover that he never had any intention whatsoever of doing that. You can only buffalo your constituents for so long, and it finally appears that Lindsey has run out of bullshit. Not even the most credulous can tolerate it anymore.
He’s had a surprisingly long run in testing those limits, though. In his quarter-century on the national political stage, Graham has always been a political chameleon, as well as a notorious drama queen.
Graham has long been one of the most enthusiastic trigger-fingers in the Senate, regularly calling for “boots on the ground” to address any and every situation arising around the globe. As the late John McCain’s partner on so many Middle East road trips, he has called for the arming of a whole litany of Islamist groups and cheered the strategically disastrous wars in Syria and Libya.
With Graham, there was always something vaguely ridiculous about his bellicose bluster, as well as his desperate lobbying—as a sitting U.S. senator—for military glory and honors. Absurdly, he successfully wangled a Bronze Star Medal out of the Defense Department in 2014 for “service as a senior legal adviser to the Air Force in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Weird and tacky.
It’s easy to forget in 2020, but Graham did actually run for president in 2016. Barely registering in the polls, Lindsey’s embarrassing run set some sort of record in the vehemence with which he denounced the eventual standard-bearer. “What is Donald Trump’s campaign about? . . . He’s a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot . . . You know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.”
Contrast that with his chummy assessment of Democrat Joe Biden: “If you can’t admire Joe Biden as a person then there’s probably—you’ve got a problem.” He judged Biden “as good a man as God ever created” and “the nicest person I think I ever met in politics.” It’s no coincidence that both Biden and Graham are charter members of the two-party consensus and that they both immediately recognized Donald Trump as a mortal threat.
Stymying Cybersecurity
For all his bloviating about American national security, Lindsey has been MIA or worse when it comes to actually protecting American companies and citizens from hostile foreign players, usually as a result of orders from his big donors.
One recent example is cybersecurity. Remarkably, in July the House overwhelmingly passed a serious, bipartisan HACT Act amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that, for the first time, would give American victims of hacking legal recourse in cases of malicious hacking conducted by foreign governments or their agents.
The measure carves out a cyberattack exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), which currently shields foreign state actors from American lawsuits, protecting them from any form of accountability in cases of state-sponsored cyberattack.
It couldn’t come at a more crucial time: An unprecedented number of foreign-sponsored cyberattacks have taken advantage of the coronavirus pandemic, threatening our nation’s health care system and the security and wellbeing of our citizens, which is a major concern of the Trump Administration.
Foreign-state and state-sponsored actors from Iran, Russia, North Korea, and, most importantly, China have seized on the COVID-19 pandemic to victimize the U.S. government, state governments, private entities, and countless individuals, inflicting untold damage to national security, our efforts to combat the virus, and the wellbeing of millions of Americans.
Recent urgent alerts from both the FBI and Department of Homeland Security warn of the ongoing threat from foreign-backed hackers and spies working to steal American research in the crash effort to develop vaccines and treatments for the coronavirus.
The HACT Act amendment is the only viable piece of legislation on the table to address the threat. All that remained was for the Senate Armed Services Committee to retain this provision in conference in order for it to be included in the final version of NDAA presented to President Trump for his signature.
Now comes word that Graham, using his leverage as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has demanded the elimination of this important measure to protect Americans from cyberattack because one of his biggest donors, the government of Qatar, has given him marching orders to kill it.
Sure, Qatar has been a major sponsor of terrorism worldwide, and wields its outsized influence to do everything possible to undermine Trump Administration policy in the Middle East. But Graham knows where his bread is buttered, and Qatar rightly judges that any effective measure to crack down on foreign-sponsored cyberattacks would put them in the target sites.
So they instructed Graham to kill it, and he dutifully complied. Never mind the fact that this was a golden opportunity to demand accountability for foreign-sponsored hacking, and that without accountability, foreign state actors have no deterrent as they continue to prey on the American government, businesses, and individuals, gravely undermining our fight against the virus.
Good Riddance!
Providing basic protection for U.S. citizens from cyber attacks orchestrated by foreign governments would seem to be a sine qua non for anyone genuinely interested in national security—anything less amounts to an abdication of the fundamental responsibility of our government to protect its citizens.
This bipartisan bill was the easiest of political lifts, but when it’s a decision between the national interest and campaign money, there’s no question where Lindsey Graham is going to land.
If Democrats take the Senate, it will be because Republicans like Graham have made an art form of sheer gutless expediency and self-dealing, while treating their base as clueless dolts. No conservative with any principles should mourn a Lindsey Graham defeat. The GOP is better off without charlatans like him.
The worst Republican is a million times better than a corrupt Democrat. Vote Republican and primary him next time.
I completely agree but we can give the seat to the democratic. So I well reluctantly vote fo the S H
Me too.The timing of this stinks.Somthing tells me this guy really wants Jaime Harrison in the Senate.This guy is a cuck!
Reaboi is exactly correct..graham is a nutless pile of democrat shit
I see it too. All hat, no cattle. Better than having any dem in the seat though. 6 years is a looong time.
Couldn’t he be voted in, charged with his crimes a few months down the road, and then be replaced with another Republican?
This article is incorrect, subpoena s were issued https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/technology-54376327
Is it me, or does accepting donations from foreign governments as a sitting senator seem dangerously close to treason? How can anyone claim to “represent” his constituents and accept foreign money from anyone?
Let’s also rid the Congress and D.C. of dual citizenship representatives and bureaucrats. At the top of that list? Chuckie Schumer.
If we want to rid ourselves of selfish Rino senators, the best method would be to primary he or she out. Handing the seat to a Democrat seems far too dangerous in this day and age.
However, it might seem that McConnell could take some measures to reduce the damage that a Lindsay Graham does to our nation. I doubt he is up to the task.
he should have been primaried out (so we keep the seat). as his long tenure shows, the people of south carolina are not to quick on the uptake. at least he will be gone now, though. collins and murkoski next please.
Save this kind of outrage for the primary of republican candidates. To suggest we should hand a senate seat over to democrats is about is idiotic as you can get.
Agree 100%!
Amen to this I will be voting Republican all the way. Pelosi hacks will not win our great state
Harrison has had over 150 million Dollars coming in from California leftists and ClintonPelosi groups! This is exactly what we saw in 2016 with BIG money pouring in for Beto! This is one Election where the Devil you know is BETTER than the one you don’t!
Democrats ruin their states!
We have an easy VOTE straight Republican button on our screen in SC!!!!
You say that Qatar has given him “marching orders”-do you have any facts? Are we to believe this because you say it?
Term limits is the answer!
Lindsey Graham is a Bilderberg Club alumnus (2016). That’s really all we need to know.
I hate for Republicans to lose a senate seat, but this poodle of the globalist financial oligarchy (no offense to poodles) needs to be removed from our lives forever.
So we trade an R lobbyist for a Pelosi, Schumer D lobbyist. Does that make sense to anyone? I agree. Let’s do the job in the primaries. We can start now.
Jamie Harrison would be an absolute disaster! If he wins, then all of the out of staters that funded his campaign wins – not to mention MAJORITY LEADER Chuck Schumer. People need to think before they ditch Linsdsay. The time to ditch him was the primaries, but that’s now passed.
I am not falling for the “better than dem in the seat” line again. The whole mess we are in now is because the GOP majority we had for 2 years utterly failed to support our president’s agenda. Everything Trump accomplished he’s done on his own. I’ve been with our president since day 1. Graham’s grandstanding, but utter lack of action, has really pushed me over the edge. I’m for his opponent and will give him a chance. Graham needs to be OUT. He’s a swamp creature.
You will give a liberal Democrat a chance?You are also a liberal.
Agree 100%! Banish Graham to oblivion NOW!
We can afford to lose Lindsey if we can pick up in Michigan.
Jaime Harrison is to Chuck Schumer as
James (Driving Miss Nancy) Cliburn is to Nancy Pelosi.
Vote no to COMMUNISM.
While Graham has his problems, giving the seat to a Clyburn clone is suicide.
Vote against Democrats.
That is all.
That’s all the advice anybody needs!
Apparently Mr. Reaboi has not been paying attention. We are in a fight for our families’ futures. Does the defeat of Lindsay trump the prospect of liberty for our children and grandchildren? Donald Trump has shown us the futility of the traditional Republican circular firing squad. As a 60 year resident of South Carolina, I stand second to none in my contempt for Lindsay Graham. I have never voted for the man for any public office. Any informed South Carolinian will confirm that the open primary is the only reason Graham remains in office. That being said, I will proudly vote for President Trump and vote for his sometime ally in the Senate. The alternative is humiliation and submission.
perhaps the most duplicitous legisTRAITOR that should been “retired” by “its” constituents long ago. barf.
Another reason that repeal of the 17th Amendment would actually reform domestic and foreign lobbying efforts without the pretense of meaningless and unenforceable legislation often passed in these same legislatures.
Is it REALLY worth giving a seat to a Dem?
I can profess great love for Gramesty, but he occasionally votes WITH us, better than someone who will always vote against us.
Is it REALLY worth giving a seat to a Dem? I CANNOT profess great love for Gramesty, but he occasionally votes WITH us, better than someone who will always vote against us.
Look, I’d like little more than to see the back of Lindsay Graham, but Michelin Man Jaime Harrison would be worse. He’s a Podesta lobbyist who has never had a real job in private industry. Voting for Jaime would be to jump out of the frying pan, into the fire.
Every word is true but the solution was to primary the widow McCain out of the race.Not to supply Chuckles Schumer with a new Borg Drone.
I want to know why my post last night that any Republican is better than any corrupt Democrat was removed.
We have to vote for Graham, I would vote for any republican over any democrat this day in time. Use your head back him. No matter if you think he is wrong still back the republican. Use some common sense.
Graham is an invertebrate turd.
Miss Lindsay isn’t the only one with his snout in the Qatar filthy lucre trough. Mister Straight Arrow Holier Than Thou Boy Scout, John Ashcroft, also made sure to get in on some of that sweet, sweet Qatar cash.
Reuters 2017:
“Qatar will pay the Ashcroft Law Firm $2.5 million for a 90-day period as the country seeks to confirm its efforts to fight global terrorism and comply with financial regulations including U.S. Treasury rules….”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gulf-qatar-ashcroft-idUSKBN1910T6
A no-brainer! This should be for the primaries. period! Better a GOP RINO than a Democrat socialist! We can’t afford a Schumer senate and shouldn’t ever risk it! But after the election start the campaign as needed!
Did Graham have an opponent in the primary? That is when one gets rid of politicians, not now. Mr. Reaboi should go join Jaime Harrison’s campaign if he doesn’t support Graham. Every seat is important for retaining the Senate and Graham is a better choice than any communist democrat like Harrison.
The time for ousting Graham has come and gone (in the primary). It is incredibly foolish to risk losing the Senate because you are peeved at him. If Biden wins, the Senate may be our only firewall between us and the radical Left. If Trump wins, but loses both houses of Congress, he will have an ineffectual second term.
If the Republicans Loose the Senate and President Trump is reelected I feel sure there will be another impeachment. With a Democrat controlled Senate I feel sure he would be convicted, no matter how flimsy the case.
Senator Graham has always been exasperating, loved one minute despised the next. However if someone beats him in a primary that someone had better be able to beat the opposing candidate. Jack in SC
It takes 2/3 vote to convict on impeachment, so I wouldn’t worry about that.
Don’t be an idiot David. We can’t afford the luxury of this sort of thing at this critical juncture.
As I recommended to Nutmeggers back in 1988 who soured on Lowell Weicker: if Weicker doesn’t get re-elected then Jesse Helms doesn’t get to be committee chairman.
And Lindsey Graham is far less egregious than Lowell Weicker ever was.
Have Graham win the seat – and then force him out based on his treason. That will give the seat to a (hopefully) reliable conservative until a special election cements him or her for the rest of the term. Don’t play chicken with SC nominations. Think long – get Graham in and then get him out.
“The GOP is better off without charlatans like him.” Of course it is, but that ship has sailed. If you don’t think that President Trump, among his tightest circle of advisors, wouldn’t prefer a more reliable Republican than Lindsey then you’re fooling yourself. Because frankly Murkowski has almost worn out her welcome also. (And don’t get me started on the miscreant “Pierre Romney”.) But Trump is a realist and he, unlike some of you on this board, knows that the stakes are bigger than one man and one seat.
Lindsey is a weasel who has a weather vane strapped to his behind who wouldn’t know what to do with himself if forced off the government dole. But that weasel also happens to control a Republican seat that, if turned blue, would be one more vote toward turning the Senate over to the truly maleficent Schumer and his ilk, a disaster of almost biblical proportions. This is Realpolitik time. If you Elmer Fudd’s want Lindsey’s scalp, then wait until wabbit season. Lindsey is garbage, but we need the seat – period.
Think Twice!
If the Dems get hold of the Senate, Trump will be trounced and evicted for sure. Pelosi is already slobbering at the lips and Schumer is right behind her.
Limp wristed Lindsey is a hack but better than a demon rat any day even if there isn’t much difference.
That makes him the lesser of two evils but a better choice just the same.
MAGA A / KAG 2020