I found this kind of interesting, from the South Carolina GOP convention:
Graham told the crowd there was nothing wrong with any conservative, and he wanted to build an open party that could win in Pennsylvania and Connecticut, as well as South Carolina.
“You’re a hypocrite!” one man yelled.
“I’m a winner, pal,” Graham shot back. “Winning matters to me. If it doesn’t matter to you, there’s the exit sign.”
“Ron Paul is not the leader of this party,” Graham said, prompting a few jeers. Some people yelled, “Yes, he is!”
“I’m not going to give this party over to people who can’t win,” Graham finished, drawing most of the crowd to its feet.
But U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, who followed Graham, said he’d rather have 30 senators who stand on principle than 60 who have none.
Here’s Graham’s exchange with the crowd (via HuffPost):
Brachiator
Let’s see now. When Obama challenges the GOP to come up with workable ideas, their official response is, “We don’t need ideas. We have principles!”
The GOP’s stubborn stupidity is the gift that keeps on giving.
cleek
hot rump action!
KG
holy shit. Obama speaking about abortion at Notre Dame.
Just Some Fuckhead
Please let me live long enough to see Lindsay Graham marry a man in South Carolina wearing his mom’s wedding dress.
demkat620
Watching them rip each other apart, I am amazed how far they have fallen so quickly.
demkat620
@Just Some Fuckhead: I was going to ask how long before somebody in the GOP outs him.
Andre
@demkat620: He’ll never get outed, because that’d be Gay By Association cooties for everyone who’s ever voted/worked for him.
4tehlulz
>>“Winning matters to me. If it doesn’t matter to you, there’s the exit sign.”
lol big tent
Comrade Jake
“I’m a winner, pal”
That almost sounds like Graham was trying to convince himself more than anything else. And who uses “pal” anyway?
sgwhiteinfla
When are they going to kick Lindsey Graham out of the National Guard because of DADT? I bet he would make it a legislative priorty then. What a self hating, war mongering, hating ass, moron.
Michael
I dunno – it connotes irritation and disdain, which he probably feels a lot of when dealing with Al Quaeda these days. I kinda like it.
Jon
Im embarrassed for my state.
@Just Some Fuckhead: I’ve met his “husband,” he’s more likely to be wearing mom’s wedding dress lol.
gbear
@Just Some Fuckhead: I LOL’ed.
‘Pal’ gets used to address people that you may be punching out within the next 10-15 minutes. ‘Buddy’ can work the same way. If someone calls you ‘Ol’ buddy ol’ pal”, you should be looking for exit routes.
Ned R.
Wait, did I miss something about Graham that’s widely known?
Just Some Fuckhead
@Jon: There is no fucking way Graham is the butch one.
Jon
@Just Some Fuckhead: If he’s still with the same guy, he is.
jenniebee
@Comrade Jake:
Considering the amount of blood in the water, I think “chum” would be more appropriate.
Just Some Fuckhead
Let me just state again there is nothing wrong with one man enjoying himself on another man’s erect penis. It’s the Republicanism that makes it an abomination.
Cat Lady
@jenniebee:
FTW.
ironranger
I really have to read Lord of the Flies again.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Ned R.:
He’s a total jag.
Dennis-SGMM
Neither one of them remembered to lead the crowd in the 5 Minutes’ Hate. And they call themselves Republicans.
Bill E Pilgrim
In this video of Lindsey Graham’s speech to the Republican Convention in 2008, at 6:26 he says “(Because of our invasion of Iraq) we have a place in the Mideast where a woman can finally have a say in her children’s future!”
http://www.debatetherace08.com/news.php?item.108.7
I heard this at the time and told an Iraqi friend about it here in Paris. I already knew what her reaction would be because she’d complained about this view of her country by Americans in the past. “That’s horrible!” she said “They think we were some Taliban country where women had no rights or something?”
“Yep”, I said.
Women were just as free in Iraq as in the US, she went on, educated, working, etc. Sure, there was Sadaam and everything bad about that, but that doesn’t mean that women were like they are in the Taliban society.
“I know” I said. “This guy clearly doesn’t though” referring to Graham.
“Who are these people?” she asked, really furious.
Of course Lindsey Graham is just a Senator on the Armed Services Committee who actually served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a military advisor, so why should he know the first thing about some country he pushed to invade, right?
kommrade reproductive vigor
I prepared a snarky comment, but then I read jennibee’s and gave up.
Oh well, back to eating popcorn.
Brick Oven Bill
When considering political policy positions, the Democratic position is to promise money to people to essentially buy their vote. This is the same system that is in place in Central America. In Central America however, the political parties get a smaller cut, because by the time that the electorate is dumbed down to a certain level, the oligarchs have very little need for the politicians, as the electorate is powerless. This is why wages down there are $3/day.
This is a smart political policy position for the Democratic political class in 2009. Unethical and extremely short sighted, but smart and profitable for them.
The Republicans, on the other hand, have an opportunity to reform themselves as a party of principles. They should embrace the values of the Founders, and be honest about the forthcoming default of the social safety net. The honest political party will be the one who comes out on top in the end. Perhaps this will be the Constitution Party.
I will trade Leslie Graham for Jim Webb.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Brick Oven Bill:
It’s Joe Webb.
bago
This of course explains the educational initiatives of the current administration. Because a poor kid on food stamps obviously want to keep the black/brown man down.
someguy
I’m all for a Ron Paul takeover of the Republican Party. I don’t think it’ll happen, but I’d cheer if it did. He’s maybe the only semi-sane person they’ve got. Of course he’s in bed with a bunch of unreconstructed racist neo-confederates, like the Lew Rockwell straphangers, which means that while he may be semi-sane, he’s also half nuts, but I’ll gladly take good old fashioned honest racists over the ones who hide it behind euphemisms like “racially neutral” and “anti-affirmative action.” I respect honesty.
And, a preemptive rebuttal to the first Paulnut who says it’s wrong to pass judgement on him just because he hangs out with avowed racists: do you think that it was fair to tar Trent Lott for hanging out with the racist neo-confederate Council of Conservative Citizens? If not, please distinguish how Trent Lott’s situation was somehow different.
Jon H
“He’ll never get outed, because that’d be Gay By Association cooties for everyone who’s ever voted/worked for him.”
If they have any trouble getting down to a pure 30, they could out Graham and make him leave office.
wasabi gasp
Not gay, just a big jagoff.
Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist
@jenniebee: Considering the amount of blood in the water, I think “chum” would be more appropriate.
ROFL!
Hoo boy.
Brick Oven Bill
It is hard for me to believe that there are 200 million Americans who did not vote. Sure, some of them were under 18, but the majority just didn’t think it was worth their time. In reflection, they were probably right, and I was probably wrong.
But it is interesting to observe how detached from politics that most people are, for instance the Girl with the Hairy Arms who only votes when the politicians ‘talk about doing something for the people.’ This is why I believe there should be performance standards in order to qualify to vote. But there are not and no electorate will vote themselves less political power. So the system will fail.
And when it does, Americans will fall back on principle, hopefully. The attractive females with the good senses of spatial awareness are being drawn to this message. For example, see Krysten. Thirty is plenty, in my estimation.
I think that it really is ‘Jim’ Just Some Fuckhead.
DougJ
Amen. And I say that without an ounce of malice. It’s sad that he has to live a closeted life. It speaks poorly of the Republican party and of South Carolina.
Laura W
@Brick Oven Bill:
Never in my life have I been more grateful for my total lack of spatial awareness.
And my total ugliness.
chopper
i love the purity trolls of the GOP. yeah, i’m sure you’ll feel the same about ‘principle’ after you’ve been the minority party for 8 years.
wasabi gasp
You really think Lindsey is gay? I guess it can be fun to joke about, but besides not having a woman in his life, what else is there that points to this?
gbear
You know, I wouldn’t touch that line with a 10″ pole.
DougJ
Yes. I have a well-connected friend from Greenville who says she is 100% sure of it.
Plus…Fifty and never married? Check. Spent a long time in the Navy? Check.
The guy is gay.
Cat Lady
I wiki’ed Graham, and he adopted his sister after both their parents died. I’ve never heard of that. I didn’t even know that could be done. All I can think of is Chinatown – “she’s my daughter” slap, “my sister”, slap “my daughter”!
The guy has ISSUES.
DougJ
You know, honestly, that was probably a kind and decent thing to do.
asiangrrlMN
Wait, Lindsey is gay? What?
Anyhoo, I would be thrilled if the Republicans stood on principles, too, because that would mean they actually had them.
So, the fact that I’m almost forty and have never been married means I’m–never mind.
P.S. I am listening to President Obama, and he really handled his detractors with class, grace, and human. I am on the first of three segments. Don’t tell me how it ends.
asiangrrlMN
@DougJ: I agree with this. I don’t see anything wrong with Graham adopting his sister.
Cat Lady
@DougJ:
I too think he’s basically decent, although deeply conflicted, and it’s not really a criticism – but why would she need to be adopted? I don’t understand how that helps her. It would make a lot of stuff very confusing, it seems. Just sayin’.
Napoleon
@DougJ:
Especially if the other option was her going to a foster home, and it there were no other relatives that were appropriate to adopt her, well that would certainly be the only good option available.
wasabi gasp
I’m willing to give your source a lot more credence than the above because I’ve known asexual people and the forty-year-old virgin thing isn’t a myth by any stretch. That said, none of the late-life virgins I’ve known have been rockstar senators with all the opportunities that may come with that.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Napoleon: His sister was 47 when he adopted her.
Brick Oven Bill
LauraW you are a very attractive person, I can tell by your words. You should try and attend one of these Glenn Beck meetings. You are very close to becoming a convert to the right side of history. This I can tell.
If you find the right group, you will eat and drink very well, and meet some great people in your community.
It would not surprise me if Graham was indeed gay. Thinking of Graham kissing Barney Frank would be an excellent way to extend a physical romantic encounter with a wife or girlfriend.
Napoleon
@Cat Lady:
The question answers itself, if she is available for adoption it is because the parents were dead or otherwise deemed incapable of caring for her, which if she was not an adult (I assume that to be the case) that means foster care or group home for her.
Perry Como
If you have a 10″ pole, Sen. Graham’s office is on line 2.
Persia
@Napoleon: Yeah, he was 21 so I’d assume the sister was younger. Don’t understand why he couldn’t just get guardianship but I suspect that problem was with SC law rather than Graham.
DougJ
They probably didn’t live in South Carolina either.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Persia:
There’s no reason it couldn’t be both.
Martin
I’m pleased to see that Lindsay is failing the purity test. I suspect the day is soon coming that anyone not calling for a war against northern interests will be drummed out of the party.
Napoleon
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Really? The only other thing I could figure is there is some kind of legal reason, like she had some kind preexisting medical condition and by adopting her she was covered under his medical policy or something like that.
As much as I hate Graham unless someone provides real proof that something truly weird was going on I would grant him the assumption that there was an appropriate reason for it to happen.
wasabi gasp
No, that either. But, I don’t know what that means in this context. Very curious, though.
Left Coast Tom
I guess the Nevada State GOP had the right idea last year when they cancelled their convention due to lack of interest.
Notorious P.A.T.
What are you, a Vulcan?
And it’s hilarious you think the party of tax cuts for the rich does NOT try to buy support.
TR
If you view government programs created by Democrats as “essentially buying their votes,” then what do you make of the perennial Republican campaign promise of tax cuts? That’s a promise not to create programs which might benefit the individual voter, but a promise to send them a check in their name to their home in exchange for their vote.
If you weren’t functionally retarded BOB, the cognitive dissonance here would make your head explode.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Napoleon:
No. But I don’t think it’s good to automatically give Republicans the benefit of the doubt. Something untoward should be assumed until they resign under a cloud of shame.
DougJ
Southern people — and southern women especially — are much friendlier. If you were a straight South Carolina Congressman, you wouldn’t have a hard time finding female companionship, no matter how much of a “loner” you claimed to be.
Cat Lady
Lindsey’s father’s name was Florence. Also. I report, you decide.
wasabi gasp
Any southern women in the house? Giddyup?
Just Some Fuckhead
@DougJ:
Yeah, add to it that Graham is the odd loner that loves the spotlight, national elective office, campaigns and crowds, television appearances and is practically surgically attached to his buddies McCain and Lieberman.
Brick Oven Bill
Notorious P.A.T.;
There are only around 100 million workers in the US. Of these, less than half pay any significant taxes. So that is 50 million out of 300 million, and in a pure democracy, the winning political party will offer financial benefits to the 250 million, not the 50 million.
It is a self-bankrupting system. I wish the press would do their job.
The top 5% of taxpayers pay around $600 billion annually in taxes. Raising their tax rate 4%, even if there was no modification in behavior, and assuming that 4% would be applicable to 100% of their income, would only generate an additional $24 billion. This is less than 1% of the budget.
This is why the Republican Party should adopt a platform of honesty and values. This is the best chance to maintain self-government for the American people.
Jon
@DougJ: David Drier can’t come out of the closet in a liberal paradise like California…
@wasabi gasp: He is gay. There’s no question about it. I’ve seen him feel a guy’s ass at a SC GOP cocktail fundraiser party.
DougJ
Good point. I was wrong to blame South Carolina.
Laura W
@wasabi gasp:
H A R L A N A P E P P E R!
Wake up and log on, Woman!
DougJ
Laura W may claim to be southern, but she’s actually Appalachian.
Laura W
@Jon: Drier’s gay too? Damn.
All the hot ones are gay.
Jon
@DougJ: The big cities in SC are actually fairly gay friendly. Columbia, MB, Charleston and Greenville have fairly vibrant gay communities(no one cares when a certain in the closet Senator goes to dinner in the market in Charleston with his Husband and its clear they’re a couple). Its just the shires that keep people locked, bolted and welded shut into the closet.
Jon
@Laura W: He lives with his chief of staff in a 1 bedroom condo in DC. Hmmm…
Laura W
@DougJ: Ahhhhhh….as soon as I wipe the spittle off the screen and stop choking on my laughter I’ll think of something clever to say here.
Notice how I immediately volunteered Harlana Pepper? She lives in SC and is actively looking.
I am passive (aggressively) looking.
Edit: Site’s buggy. Took 4 minutes of refreshing for me to get back in to edit my typo. Dunno if it’s the video on next post or not. Could be anything. You never know here. Probably all the ads.
DougJ
That’s what I would have guessed. That’s certainly true in the cities in Georgia that I’ve spent time in. (I was in Midtown Atlanta three weeks ago and it was like being in Chelsea.)
jl
Dayumm! I never thought I could be turned into an enthusiastic cheerleader for the GOP’s strategy.
Aim high, my slimey two-faced lying dungbuckets in the Senate GOP! Aim high!
How about 20 with none!!
It may seem like an impossible vision, but even though the road seems difficult, and obstacles many, dedicated people never give up. They will never abandon their vision.
Boo-Yaaa! Go go go go go go!
DougJ
I have a very good friend from western NC, not too far from Asheville. I feel like I’m in a scene from Coal Miner’s Daughter whenever I talk to her. That’s Appalachia.
Jon
@DougJ: Yeah, I’ve heard that about Atlanta. An open lesbian ran against Henry Brown in the 1st district congressional race(Charleston, Myrtle Beach and the northern coast of SC) in 2008 and got 48% of the vote if that provides some context.
Laura W
@DougJ: Yeah well I can tell you I am nothing like her*! I’m from California. (With a teeny detour into SW Colorado for a short decade.) I still think “way” is an adverb, for Christ’s sake!
*Unless she is super cool, in which case I am exactly like her.
DougJ
I thought you lived in Asheville. Do I have you confused with another commenter?
Laura W
@DougJ: No, unless the other commenter was cooler? Than yes. (I’m reminding myself of Kathie Lee in the Jeopardy sketch suddenly.)
I do live about 45 miles SW of Asheville. You’re correct. Only been here since Dec of 06, is what I meant.
I’m sort of on the border of Jackson (NEWLY BLUE!) and Transylvania Counties.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Laura W:
Yer hillbilly accent is showing.
wasabi gasp
I’m a little surprised nobody yet asked me why are you going to the mat for Lindsey? or, what’s in it for you, sweetie? or something, unless I’m not the only one running at half-speed from pulling an all-nighter watching movies.
DougJ
She is and you actually do remind me of her, especially with the love of the High Fidelity movie.
joe from Lowell
I agree with DeMint(ed).
I hope the Republicans have 30 seats in 2011, occupied by the most principled mofos they can coax out of their bomb shelters.
wasabi gasp
Ha! I really do enjoy Ms. Peppa’s drunken posts.
Laura W
@Just Some Fuckhead: I know! The damn Balloon-Juice site wouldn’t let me back in to edit! I figured, “What’s the worse that can happen?”
(Shaddup.)
Just Some Fuckhead
@Laura W: Maybe if you weren’t always pointing at the mistakes others make, yours would be ignored and then you wouldn’t feel cornered into a passive-agressive response.
Mike in NC
Brown’s an elderly good ole boy and his days are certainly numbered. He may not be around after the next election. It’s quite possible that in ten years, SC will be markedly less backward, reactionary and intolerant than it is today (as hard as that it to believe). As for Graham, his status as BFF of John McCain mattered less when it came time to pick a VP candidate than did his questionable sexual orientation, so Palin got the nod.
Jon
@Mike in NC: SC is less backwards in the cities, but no one can run statewide without pleasing the church crowds. That’s not going to change in my lifetime(and I’m 30).
And no way would McCain have considered Lindsey for a second. No way.
Woodrowfan
I love the comments in the original story. Some Paultard is claiming that the Republican Party of South Carolina is TOO LIBERAL. I’ll pause here and let that sink in….
Wile E. Quixote
@Perry Como
And Larry Craig is waiting for you in the men’s room.
Wile E. Quixote
@Brick Oven Bill
Which values of the founders are those BOB? The right to own other people who are duskier than you are? The right to have those people count as 3/5ths of a citizen so you can have a disproportionate amount of representation? Letting white guys run everything? Oh, and if we’re going to adhere to the “values of the Founders”, whatever they may be, does that mean that we’re giving the Louisiana Purchase back to France?
You know BOB, I’m sure that at the Glenn Beck rallies you can really wow them by uttering sonorous, thought terminating clichés such as “the values of the Founders”. That’s because the people who attend Glenn Beck rallies are ill-informed stupid yokels who could be easily swindled out of everything they own by a cunning middle-schooler with a convincing line of bullshit.
robertdsc
I rather liked the camaraderie they showed on the campaign trail. It was nice.
Never mind that they’re idiots, but it was nice to see them hang out together.
jenniebee
@Brick Oven Bill:
Why does BoB say “attractive females” and then link to a pic of a woman with a mustache and no fashion sense?
I’m getting a very mixed message here.
gbear
You’ll notice that I didn’t use the word ‘my’.
Bob In Pacifica
I guess you’ve heard about Charlie Crist?
If you check in at Howie Klein’s Down With Tyranny! you can get hypocrites outed on a regular basis.
Little Dreamer
@Brick Oven Bill:
You are now responsible for making me lose my appetite.
Little Dreamer
@Jon:
Here’s food for thought, while I don’t expect it to be the norm, I know a family that lives in a small town surrounded by hundreds of Freewill Baptist churches, they go to church and they voted for John Kerry. Not all of those backwoods SC types are GOP voters. The wife/mother apparently was a DFH at one time.
Steeplejack
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Maybe Bill does mean Jim Webb. Fond electricity-related memories of “Wichita Lineman” or something.
LD50
It doesn’t sound like Republicans take too kindly to them Yankees nowadays.
J. Michael Neal
@gbear: If you have someone else’s 10″ pole, even better.
Jon
@Little Dreamer: Depends on where they are, there’s a few small towns that have some liberal populations(mostly around Federal works projects). I’m sure there are some libs out in the wilds of SC, but there aren’t many redder areas of the country than the country counties of South Carolina.
Little Dreamer
@Jon:
Close to Georgetown, where a lot of wingers reside.
oh really
So much stupidity stuffed into one room.
Karen
This used to be the Democrats until Howard Dean. I hope the purists on the left remember this lesson or we will start losing again. I am pragmatic and while Obama wasn’t perfect by any means, I’d rather have him than McCain.
Bill Belichick
Oh my, looks like Lindsey took his testosterone shots this morning. Now there’s a good girl. I mean Boy.
This is exactly why the GOP will rise again, because macho men like Lindsey and men of stature like Jeffy Sessions will accept nothing less! Rrrrrr!
Jon
@Little Dreamer: The Coast isn’t nearly as red as the rural counties. Too many hippies lol.
HyperIon
@DougJ:
My friends from SC ALWAYS refer to it as Greenvile.
If you’ve ever lived there (I did for 9 months in the early 90s), you would know why. I’m sure it’s better there NOW for gays and non-whites, but still….
derp
@someguy
How is Lew Rockwell a racist neo-confederate?
The Populist
Fact: Lindsay could never win a national election, so he truly is a loser.
Fact: Ron Paul’s ideals ARE a big part of why people are leaving the Grand Ol’ Party. Paul at least offers real ideas and whether you like him or he’s a wack-a-doodle is not relevant…he does have ideas many Americans can support. Like any good wack-a-doodle, he kills the few good ideas with crazy ones.
Fact: These clowns only care about winning. BOOOO!
Will
Asheville is a tremendously gay friendly town, to the point that it gets the nickname “San Francisco East”. I’d move back there in a heartbeat, if I thought I could find work.
It’s a very cool, progressive town with a huge hippie population, big arts scene and it just got co-named with Portland as the U.S. microbrew capital. Some of the smaller college cities – Boone, Sylva, Brevard, Highlands, etc. – have some of the same vibe as Asheville.
That said, ten miles outside these towns’ city limits is deep Appalachia. Incredibly gorgeous and overall friendly, but you can take the wrong road and end up in Deliverance country. Appalachia has some of the deepest pockets of poverty, ignorance and violence in the nation.