Graham is the New Maverick

And ladies, Lindsay is still single!

And that’s more than fine with Democrats – they’d rather see a shrunken “pure” Republican Party in the minority for decades to come.

Not for this Democrat.

The whole problem doesn’t revolve around which side is winning. The problem revolves around whather the policies being supported are sane. The HCR effert proves that just because someone has a D next to their name, doesn’t mean they support sane policymaking. And the notion that the Federal trough is NOT endless and that there are jobs best accomlished by private enterprise are a message that we need sane Republicans to deliver. I’d be much happier with a sane opposition party rather than an endless Tea Party.

If for example, there were real fiscal conservatives in the GOP they could have agreed to not filibuster in exchange for killing the pharma deal. That would have benefited everybody (but big drug)

The one thing I admire about conservatives, unlike centrists, is they believe in something. I may not agree with what they believe in but at least they stand for something and like the Left, they stand up for those beliefs. Centrists don’t appear to have any values at all.

You’re story does contain one glaring error though. John McCain is neither a Maverick OR a sane Republican. What ever reputation he once had has been trashed. It would be nice if you revisited that now-obsolete story-line.

So you posit that Graham reaches across the aisle and works with the opposition and then he says–

“if we had one more Republican we wouldn’t be having this health care debate, this thing would be over.”

Which means he would just filibuster the bill to kill it.

Yep that’s a moderate republican in 2009.

If the Republicans really cared about America, they would realize that there is a healthcare problem and become part of the answer and not continue their program of stopping any effort to improve the situation for a large number of Americans who are losing their healthcare, and in many cases their homes, due to the failed system we currently have. Think about how good the bill could have been if they worked together.

If the two parties would get off their “high horses” and recognize that Americans want them to work together, American wouldn’t be #37 in healthcare world-wide and the least healthy among the advanced countries.

If you jusr went to Washington to shove “your” opinion down the throat of the other side, why don’t you go outside and play in the traffic.

Graham sure wasn’t much of a maverick on the health care bill. His language was just as partisan as that of DeMint or the rest of the obstructionist crew.

http://www.political-buzz.com/

Witty while the rest of us are still sleeping!

Maverick – (noun); not willing to march in lockstep 100% of the
time.
.
Source:Republicanese to English dictionary.

And Graham wrings his hands over the deal to buy Ben Nelson’s vote on HCR, forgetting that if Graham (or Snowe or another Republican Senator) had agreed to not join a filibuster, then it wouldn’t have been necessary for Reid to buy Nelson’s vote.

When Republicans run in 2010 on the issue of how bad the HCR bill was, I wonder if anyone in the press will think to ask: “Why didn’t you try to fix the problems with the bill, instead of just trying to block it?”

Village storylines never die, do they?

New maverick? Was there ever an old one? Or is it the usual product of inventive Beltway scribes eager to find the “odd man” in politics?

choska and commentators in general: I do believe that in my post I say that everyone else on the committee is more conservative SAVE Graham and then cite the Gang of 14. I’m not making some blanket statement that Lindsey Graham is a moderate on every issue, just in the prism of of the judiciary committee.
Jay Newton-Sma…
May 1, 2009
at 3:26 pm

Read more: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/05/01/why-lindsey-graham-is-the-guy-obama-needs-to-please-in-replacing-souter/comment-page-2/#comments#ixzz0aWATDMOB

Gosh Lindsey just gets more reasonable all the time. Used to be just in one prism.

PNNTO, when I saw this post, I was transported back to the discussion you highlighted. Thanks for linking. Good old Lindsey, what a guy.

On Twitter, Greg Mitchell linked to Maureen Dowd on John McCain: from maverick to maverdick.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/opinion/23dowd.html?

Looks like Lindsey is the only one of the three amigos left.

Lindsey Graham is the Chuck Schumer of the Republican Party: Bed rock conservative (liberal) when convenient and moderate when the going gets tough. And never ever get in the way of either when a photo op is at stake.

Graham like Schumer is more Elmer Fudd than Clint Eastwood.

“Graham is the New Maverick”
.
JNS-How do you write a joke of a headline like this and provide no punch line>
.
Graham is the New Maverick. Is it because he is willing to at least listen? That’s how watered down the term is now? Like bipartisan is now having 1 or 2 members of the opposing party vote for a bill.
.
I wish those in the media would just quit looking for heroes in our elected officials. None of these men and women are heros. There are no mavericks. Stop creating myths in real time. We don’t need this right now. What we need help with is figuring a way out of the disfunction this congress has become before its too late.

Gun, it’s like saying gold is the new black, right?

The Old Maverick (I assume McCain) still pops up often. Is the point of the piece that he’s been bought and paid for?

Be vewy, vewy quiet…I’m hunting wibuhwuls. (silly laugh)

OT: But these people must have been pretty damn productive for their companies.
.
Edward E. Whitacre Jr. will get a $158.4 million pension package when he retires as chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T Inc. — the highest of any U.S. CEO.
.
Ray R. Irani, chairman, president and CEO of Occidental Petroleum Corp., is second and will reap $124 million.
.
•Kenneth D. Lewis, Bank of America Corp., who is also chairman and president, $83 million;
.
•H. Edward Hanway, Cigna Corp., also chairman, $73.2 million;
.
•William C. Weldon, Johnson & Johnson, also chairman, $64.2 million;
.
•Alexander M. Cutler, Eaton Corp., also chairman and president, $54.6 million;
.
•Samuel J. Palmi¬sano, International Business Machines Corp., also chairman and president, $53.8 million;
.
•Harold M. Messmer Jr., Robert Half International Inc., also chairman, $53.1 million;
.
•Nolan D. Archibald, Black & Decker Corp., also chairman and president, $52 million; and
.
•Daniel P. Amos, Aflac Inc., also chairman, $50.1 million.
.
http://www.pionline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070402/PRINTSUB/70330045&AssignSessionID=273361954944797

“If for example, there were real fiscal conservatives in the GOP they could have agreed to not filibuster in exchange for killing the pharma deal. That would have benefited everybody (but big drug)”

.
Let’s just see who voted against the Dorgan Amendment which would have allowed the importation of prescription drugs from countries we know have the same standards we have, shall we?
.

Alphabetical by Senator Name
Akaka (D-HI), Nay
Alexander (R-TN), Yea
Barrasso (R-WY), Nay
Baucus (D-MT), Nay
Bayh (D-IN), Nay
Begich (D-AK), Yea
Bennet (D-CO), Yea
Bennett (R-UT), Nay
Bingaman (D-NM), Yea
Bond (R-MO), Yea
Boxer (D-CA), Yea
Brown (D-OH), Yea
Brownback (R-KS), Nay
Bunning (R-KY), Nay
Burr (R-NC), Nay
Burris (D-IL), Nay
Byrd (D-WV), Not Voting
Cantwell (D-WA), Nay
Cardin (D-MD), Nay
Carper (D-DE), Nay
Casey (D-PA), Nay
Chambliss (R-GA), Nay
Coburn (R-OK), Yea
Cochran (R-MS), Nay
Collins (R-ME), Yea
Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Corker (R-TN), Yea
Cornyn (R-TX), Yea
Crapo (R-ID), Yea
DeMint (R-SC), Yea
Dodd (D-CT), Nay
Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Durbin (D-IL), Nay
Ensign (R-NV), Nay
Enzi (R-WY), Nay
Feingold (D-WI), Yea
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Franken (D-MN), Yea
Gillibrand (D-NY), Nay
Graham (R-SC), Yea
Grassley (R-IA), Yea
Gregg (R-NH), Nay
Hagan (D-NC), Nay
Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Hatch (R-UT), Nay
Hutchison (R-TX), Yea
Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Inouye (D-HI), Nay
Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Johanns (R-NE), Yea
Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Kaufman (D-DE), Nay
Kerry (D-MA), Nay
Kirk (D-MA), Nay
Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Kyl (R-AZ), Nay
Landrieu (D-LA), Nay
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay
Leahy (D-VT), Yea
LeMieux (R-FL), Yea
Levin (D-MI), Nay
Lieberman (ID-CT), Nay
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Lugar (R-IN), Nay
McCain (R-AZ), Yea
McCaskill (D-MO), Yea
McConnell (R-KY), Yea
Menendez (D-NJ), Nay
Merkley (D-OR), Yea
Mikulski (D-MD), Nay
Murkowski (R-AK), Yea
Murray (D-WA), Nay
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Yea
Reed (D-RI), Nay
Reid (D-NV), Nay
Risch (R-ID), Yea
Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay
Sanders (I-VT), Yea
Schumer (D-NY), Nay
Sessions (R-AL), Yea
Shaheen (D-NH), Yea
Shelby (R-AL), Yea
Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Specter (D-PA), Yea
Stabenow (D-MI), Yea
Tester (D-MT), Nay
Thune (R-SD), Yea
Udall (D-CO), Nay
Udall (D-NM), Yea
Vitter (R-LA), Yea
Voinovich (R-OH), Nay
Warner (D-VA), Nay
Webb (D-VA), Yea
Whitehouse (D-RI), Nay
Wicker (R-MS), Yea
Wyden (D-OR), Yea

17 Republicans voted “Nay”. While 31 Democrats vote “Nay” as well.
.
And they want us to believe this is health care reform?
.
Now I am and have expressed my anger at the 17 Republicans for not voting for this amendment.
But, your statement that “if there were real fiscal conservatives in the GOP, they could have agreed to not filibuster in exchange for killing the Pharma deal” is nothing but flat out lies.
.
If you truly want to see who is for all the big business and deals with health care reform. Who is really for the big Drug companies and Insurance companies, then you only need to look at who voted for this amendment and who voted against it.

“They are powerful,” (Drug Lobbyists) says Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. “You can hardly swing a cat by the tail in that town without hitting a pharmaceutical lobbyist.”
.
The question is why? Who is bought with campaign donations and who is not. I think it is very obvious by the vote on this specific amendment. It shows clearly how money in Washington is the key to passing legislation. It is not what is in the “best interests of the people”, but how much money any specific lobbyist contributes to which Senator.
.
It is time to stop this practice. Stop the lobbyist in their tracks and show the Senators their votes are not forsale. If they refuse, and vote like they have in this example, then the voters from that State should be made aware, and see to it these corrupt politicians are voted out of office. Both Republicans and Democrats alike.
.
If you truly want health care reform. We first need to reform Washington. Elect candidates who will not put millions in PORK projects. Candidates who will no longer bow to lobbyists and take their money. Candidates who pledge to enact term limits. Otherwise, it is simply the same old deal in Washington.

I said Elmer Fudd not Barney Frank! (LOL)

You mean they’re NOT joined at the hip?

Incorporates “Maverick” and homo-erotic imagery. Perfect for Lindsey.

Please one could get more out of a dead fish than out of the GOP,. but the smell would be the same.

Yeah, Mao and Augusto Pinochet sure were admirable because they believed in something and stood up for their beliefs.

Glad to see the Left finding moral relative equivalence with the kind of people that condone bombing abortion clinics. You know, ’cause they really really eyes-squinting-because-of-the-strain-they-so-really believe in what they’re doing.

The Left and Right need more morality lessons from centrists, whose idea of right and wrong is measured out by whoring their vote to the highest bidder.

Sorry this post was meant to be in response to the idiot GStark.

Yes, I really appreciate everything that Graham did to shepherd through the health care bill. His thoughtful questioning of Sotomayor also stands out.

I guess even the media has realized that McCain went from “maverick” to “deranged angry old guy,” so they had to fill the maverick slot with somebody.

It’s like on Project Runway when all the outfits for that week are terrible but they still have to pick a winner.

I wonder if anyone in the press will think to ask
.
Ha ha!

I.e., it’s like every episode of Project Runway ever aired.

no lower

And yet I continue to follow it. Much like the Senate.

I can’t wait for the next blockbuster movie:

Lindsay and Charlie Get Married.

Set in rural Iowa, it’s the story of two men, one from South Carolina, one from Florida, who find love in a world of hate and bigotry….

GStark~
Your comment is silly for several reasons. First of which being that American liberals and conservatives both fall under the umbrella of liberalism, in the classical sense of the word. Conservatives in Europe or South America or Asia do not align in the slightest with American conservatism. To equate American conservatives with Pinochet is disingenuous to the extreme, or simply illustrative of utter ignorance of political theory.
~
Secondly, your suggestion that conservatives as a political bloc support the bombing of abortion clinics is nonsensical hyperbole. This is no better than suggesting Muslims support terrorism.

Unfortunately, the gop’s tactic of dragging the business of the country to a halt is sometimes rewarded. We frequently hear that ‘democrats can’t get anything done’ We hear the reason why (that repubilcans are blocking everything) much less often. The public doesn’t really care if republicans are ‘obstructionist’. They just want government to do the public’s business — and Democrats are in charge.

Republicans believe that they will be rewarded for their bad behavior. In some cases they probably will be. They also pander to some of the electorate’s worst traits, and they are sometimes rewarded for that as well. Additionally, it will be necessary to periodically remove incompetent or corrupt democrats. Unless the gop completely collapses, we will see republicans periodically rising to positions of power.

It’s not healthy for the country to have the opposition party run entirely by crackpots. It’s even less healthy for the crackpots to be given the keys of power. Although I disagree with the stated principles of the gop (which are very different than the principles they actually govern by — which I also disagree with), I would prefer that the gop contain more people who are rational and reasonable. It would strengthen the gop. I would rather contest elections against people who are reasonable but wrong, than to risk a possible takeover of the country by people who are irrational extremists. It’s too dangerous for the country the way things are now.

Graham has been one of the 15 or so most conservative members of the Senate: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_11/020925.php
-
If he is a maverick, it is a commentary on just how extreme and out of touch the rest of the GOP is.

Its too dangerous for the world Bob.

They vehemently deny that mere existence of Global Warming. Something that, even if you don’t believe in it, the policies that would eliminate it would reduce obvious and undenyable pollution that is scourging the populace now. Smog, the Dead Zone in the Gulf of the Mexico and the flesh eating bacteria passed in the air around corporate farm feces tanks are just the tip of the iceberg.

Thier fiscal policy? Trickle down economics. Ha! A stupidly easy fallacy to shoot down. I have yet to have this answered satisfactorily: What would create more demand for products and services in an economy? One man with with 50 million dollars or 1 million people with 50 dollars.

What would happen if the fundies that openly pray for and cheer on the concept of nuclear war came into power with the US Military at thier back? Considering thier stated goal is to take power in the government and the Republican Party embraces thier support whole hog I hope this last point here scares you to death. It scares me.

Appologies on spacing. The Preview on the bottom had the spacing correct on my previous post but apparently it didn’t register that way on the final.

slapsgiving – FYI, if you are in the Reply to… mode, you have to insert a character like a period at the beginning of a line to create an actual line space.
.
This is a bit of grumble, grumble, but it isn’t nearly so bad as when they first switched to this interface when you had to do that for every comment.
.
If your post had been a regular one and not a Reply to, the spacing would have appeared as you saw it.

slapsgiving,
I agree with all of the reasons you cite for opposing the gop. Despite those reasons, I think it’s likely that the republicans will regain power sometime in the not too distant future. People have short memories and they will forget just how badly the gop damaged the country in this decade. People (with encouragement from the media) will also blame the Democrats for the pain that comes with repairing the damage the gop caused.
.
The republicans may be terrible at governing, but they’re very good at politics. They’re already in full campaign mode to regain power. Eventually there will be another goper in power. Would you rather have a Bush I, Bush II, or Palin running the country? I realize that it’s a miserable choice to have to make, but of the three, wouldn’t you prefer someone like Bush I to either of the other two? The country may not be able to recover from the damage another narcissistic extremist could cause.
.
A gop full of teabaggers may enhance the Democrats chances of being elected, but it’s an awfully big risk to take.

You are absolutely correct. There is not a doubt in my mind that they will eventually take power again. Doing whats right is rarely what is popular when it is first being done and the gop will ride that hard. Especially since the Dems aren’t exactly free of corruption either and any solutions they do manage to get through will be painfully imperfect.
.
You know I sometimes wonder if it’s better if all us “Crazy Liberals” just left America to the devices of these lunatics so it can collapse all the faster. The sooner the total abdication of thought is no longer acceptable for voters the better.
.
p.s. Thanks for the tip Ivy_B

‘You know I sometimes wonder if it’s better if all us “Crazy Liberals” just left America to the devices of these lunatics so it can collapse all the faster.’
.
Some of the most extreme wingnuts are very fond of threatening to ‘Go Galt’. The idea is based on Atlas Shrugged. They think that if they all pack up and leave, society will collapse without them. Since we liberals are nothing but helpless parasites (to use Rand’s term), we’ll be doomed without the brilliant and productive right wingers to support and lead us.
.
Rather than having the ‘Crazy Liberals’ leave, let’s encourage the wingnuts to make good on their threat to Go Galt. Just be sure to lock the door behind them when the last one leaves

btw my 1st para was snarkety snark snark.
.
Happy holidays to all the swamplanders!

[...] Graham is the New Maverick [...]

[...] Graham has always been a bit of a maverick, frequently showing willingness to reject the party line: In recent years Graham has developed a [...]

[...] is doing so didn’t just come out of thin air. Here’s a December 2009 Time piece called Graham is the New Maverick: In recent years Graham has developed a reputation as an independent dealmaker. In 2005 he joined [...]