Want to Know What a Statesman Looks Like?

The Pink Flamingo has never been more proud of Lindsey Graham than I am today.  You need to  listen to his 15 minute statement.  He makes the far right look like a bunch of jerks for the way they are damning him.  Then again, the minions of the far right no longer care about stating factual accuracy.  They’ve had so much tea they’re drunk on it.

“…“We are making history, all of us, because by your very time here you’re getting to do something unusual and special. What are the consequences of our time in Senate? What are the precedents we are setting? Are we taking the language of the Constitution that stood the test of time, and basically putting a political standard in place of a Constitutional standard? Objectively speaking, things are changing, and they’re unnerving to me.”..”  Lindsey Graham

If any so-called conservative slams Lindsey, either they have not listened or read his full statement or they are dishonest.  The far rights demands EVERYONE read statements, laws, etc. when it is important to them, but when it comes to slamming someone they dislike, they will do anything and say anything to destroy them.

Then again, the Pink Flamingo is annoyed with Lindsey.  The man is so darn honorable, and so decent, that once again I am required to defend him from less than honest and honorable conservatives who demand our elected officials follow the Constitution then damn them when they do follow the Constitution.  I think the real problem is Lindsey makes them look like a bunch of fools.  There are very few conservatives who have the honor to see behind the hype and the lies.

Perhaps you had best listen to Lindsey’s statement.  He shreds Obama.  Want to know what a statesman looks like?  Look into the face of Lindsey Graham   He lists the judges he will NOT vote for.   What you see below is a profile in courage.  Too bad not many people respect courage and honor these days.

Well, Lindsey has done it again.  He simply cannot resist playing by the Constitution and being a statesman!

“…Graham is the rare senator of either party who appreciates the deference that the Senate has historically provided to the president’s judicial nominees. He doesn’t care that Kagan is liberal or that he disagrees with her on a number of issues — elections have consequences — only that she’s highly qualified and competent. That’s no longer a common perspective among today’s senators, and Graham called them out (in a southern, gentlemanly way) for politicizing the constitutional “advice and consent” role that they now regularly ignore….”

The far right has a problem with it.  They also have a problem with thinking, honor, and using one’s head.  If an elected official does not goose-step to their demands, they are evil and must be destroyed.   Their anger and their irrational hate is so predictable.   What I find so fascinating is they detest Lindsey for behaving with honor, but don’t demand promoting Mark Sanford to run against him.

Go figure?

“…WaPo’s already gaming out how many primary challengers Graham will face in 2014; among the possibilities is … Mark Sanford. A quote from one of Graham’s consultants: “He’s a thinking person’s conservative. I expect him to do well among voters with IQ’s in triple digits.” Thinking strategically, his vote here is potentially useful to Republicans down the line if/when another vacancy opens on the Court and The One decides to go for broke by appointing a lefty bomb-thrower. Because Graham’s now positioned himself as the principled moderate, willing to vote for both Kagan and Sotomayor in the name of deference to the president, a no vote on some future nominee would be a devastating judgment that he/she really is way out of the mainstream. Kagan’s not going to be filibustered — but the next one might be, especially if Grahamnesty signals to other moderates that it’s okay to do so by opposing him/her, so maybe he’s just keeping his powder dry. And, er, maybe Dick Durbin’s really had a change of heart. Exit question via Pat Leahy: Why does the GOP hate women? Click the image to watch….”

Sorry, but THIS is conservative honor!

“…“No one, outside of maybe John McCain, spent more time trying to beat President Obama than I did,” said Graham.  “But we lost and President Obama won.”

Graham cited Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist Number 76 in listing the reasons he would vote for Kagan.  Graham noted Hamilton wrote, “To what purpose then require the cooperation of the Senate?  I answer that the necessity of their concurrence would have a powerful, though in general a silent operation.  It would be an excellent check upon a spirit of favoritism in the president, would tend generally to prevent the appointment of unfit characters from family connection, from personal attachment, and from a view to popularity.”

“The Constitution puts a requirement on me, as a senator, to not replace my judgment for the President’s,” said Graham.  “I’m not supposed to think of the 100 reasons I would pick somebody different.  It puts upon me a standard that stood the test of time: Is the person qualified?  Is it a person of good character?  Are they someone that understands the difference between being a judge and a politician?  And, quite frankly, I think she’s passed all those tests.”

“Are we taking the language of the Constitution that stood the test of time and putting a political standard in the place of a constitutional standard?” asked Graham.  “Objectively speaking, things are changing, and they’re unnerving to me.  The court is the most fragile of the three branches.  So while it is our responsibility to challenge and scrutinize the court, it is also our obligation to honor elections, respect elections, and protect the court.”

“I view my role as a United States Senator in part by protecting the independence of the judiciary, and by making sure that hard-fought elections have meaning in terms of their results within our Constitution,” said Graham.  “At the end of the day, Ms. Kagan is not someone I would have chosen, but I think she will serve honorably.”  ,,,”