Sen. Graham on 'Today': Working With Dems Even More Important Than Immigration Bill

Photo of Mark Finkelstein.

Does Lindsey Graham truly believe that his highest calling as a senator is to work with the likes of Ted Kennedy? Apparently so, judging by the South Carolinian's statement on this morning's "Today." Meredith Vieira interviewed Graham, a staunch supporter of the president's immigration plan, during the show's first half-hour.
TODAY CO-HOST MEREDITH VIEIRA: When you went home recently you were at a GOP meeting and you got booed over immigration. There are a lot of people in a lot of states -- conservatives -- who think this bill is bad and they see this as a litmus test.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM [R-S.C.]: Well here's what I believe. This is a bill that's a million per cent better than the current system. I mentioned working with Ted Kennedy and I got booed. The lady in your piece earlier said no compromise. I'm a Republican conservative who believes my country is at risk by not solving immigration. I'm a member of the United States Senate who believes it's my job to work with Democrats to do hard things. This is no longer about immigration. Can your Congress, can your Senate, come together to do things that one party can't do itself? I think the answer is yes.

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Graham's statement is a perfect illustration of why so few senators ever get elected president. They become infatuated with process, with working with "my friend, the distinguished senator from the great state of" blah, blah, blah. Of course there are times when compromise is required. But, above all, senators are sent to Washington not to work with the other side but to fight for their principles. This is not a case of working with Ted Kennedy to do a "hard" thing -- it's working with him to do a bad thing.

Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net

—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.


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This guy is the new poster

This guy is the new poster boy for what a RINO is. As long as idiots like him are at the helm, the GOP is nothing more than democRAT-lite.

Again I ask, where is it written that Congress must pass legislation for the sole purpose of passing legislation?

I agree, Sergeant Rock. I

I agree, Sergeant Rock. I want to scream every time I hear someone bemoan a "do nothing Congress." In my view, that's a great thing, considering the fact that every law they do pass either infringes on people's liberties,  costs them more money, or both.

EXACTLY!!! The less Congres

EXACTLY!!! The less Congress does, the better off we all are. I think that history bears this out.

"...working with Ted K

"...working with Ted Kennedy to do a 'hard' thing..."

Must suppress obvious but tasteless "hard thing" jokes!!
JMR

That's my senator Graham! He

That's my senator Graham! He used to be an outspoken conservative, but now he's a great disappointment. He's fooling himself, he was booed for being a democrat-kissing, gotta-get-along, please love me, sissy!

Right, who cares if the cou

Right, who cares if the country goes down the toilet, as long as it's a bipartisan flush!

Touché!!!

Touché!!!

Sarge, since the Frogs have g

Sarge, since the Frogs have gone conservative, I'll let the frenchian slip you just made go without comment... ;-}~

The Closed Mind Erects Strong Barriers

Sacré bléu!

Sacré bléu!

In Texas we use the phoneti

In Texas we use the phonetic guide to French:

Sock-Ray-Blue.

Too-Shay.

WeeWee.

AND Par-lay-voo-frons-say?

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

Graham has fallen into the su

Graham has fallen into the subtle trap of compromising with a manipulator.  It is common to confuse a compromise with a negotiated settlement, they are not the same, negotiated settlements may involve compromise. The failure to stand on your principles requires you to give them up.  When you deal with the likes of Kennedy who has no principles, it is always a victory for him when Graham steps away from his principles.  The art of a negotiated settlement is not simply both sides giving something up, it is building on what both parties have in common. 

The problem for Graham is that he doesn't recognize he and Kennedy are starting from two completely different premises often using the same terms which have completely different meanings to each side.

“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” – Marcus Aurelius

Meredith brainless

TODAY CO-HOST MEREDITH VIEIRA: When you went home recently you were at a GOP meeting and you got booed over immigration. There are a lot of people in a lot of states -- conservatives -- who think this bill is bad and they see this as a litmus test.

Oh of COURSE it's only CONSERVATIVES right?  The fact that the bill was deated by BOTH conservatives and liberals says something you brainless twit.  How can she be allowed to spew this nonsense?  I am sick and tired of this "reach accross the isle" BULLSHIT.  This an extreamly important issue that should not be used to kick dirt in the faces of Conservatives.  They toss around 'conservative' asa if it's going out of style, but ask them to mention somebody's LIBERAL ties and it's "We shouldn't label people.."  Get BENT!

Can I sue the MSSM for giving me high blood pressure?

If a guy can sue a dry clea

If a guy can sue a dry cleaner for $65 million over pants, I don't see why not?

The fact that the bill was

The fact that the bill was deated by BOTH conservatives and liberals says something you brainless twit. -Six String Spiff

I seem to be commenting a lot here, but I have to reply to this comment too.

That is so true. The MSM would have us believe that it was Republicans who defeated this bill. The Democrats have the majority...they could have passed this bill without a single Republican vote.

Had the situation been reversed, with a Republican majority, the story would be about how Republicans deserted the leadership and didn't vote with their party.

Good point motherbelt

I was thinking the same thing.

When the GOP was in the Majority the MSM was all about how great it was that the Dems were "standing by their principles" and not giving into the President and his rubber stamp congress.

Implied of course is that Dems HAVE principles, repubs Don't. Dems are sincere, even though flawed. Republicans are insincere, pander to their base, and are hypocrites.

Anytime a bill got defeated the MSM was cheering on the Dems.

Now with the shoe on the other foot it's all about Republicans "getting in the way..""

Also, I'll never forget when the GOP got the Majority in 04 how many news stories were asking how Bush would reach across the aisle and "work" with the Dems to "get things done".

It seems that no matter what, whether in the majority or the minority the Republicans will be blamed for anything negative that goes on in Washington.

He is nothing more than a par

He is nothing more than a party backstabber, It's some sh*t when you have to beg your own team members to stay on their teams side. This jerk from day one (after being elected) has been telling us how important it is to work with the America hating democrats, no matter how many e-mail or phone calls to his office to tell him that it was the republicans that elected him.  The old dying media claims that he has no competition in the primaries, there is no way that he is going to be re-elected here in SC. The idiots in the SC republican party better break with sen. Graham (D-SC)(2002-2008) if they want to hold that seat and I will tell you why. Even  Average republicans here smell his stench, They want to know why they see graham (d-sc) standing with kennedy instead of  Sen. Demint (R-SC). they are not gonna vote for him again Including me who knows how important it is to keep the dempocrats out of power. Which just means the large section of democrats that live here are all going to vote for the democrat, and the majority of republicans are not going to vote for either one. 

So, this immigration bill is

So, this immigration bill is being kept alive, why, again? Could it be because of the massive pork that both sides have stuffed into it?

Just a thought...

Yes, this is what Bush will

Yes, this is what Bush will use as leverage against those coniving conservatives opposed to the bill, surrender your principles for pork!

Finally! A sensible explanati

Finally! A sensible explanation for the Islamic aversion to pork!

The Closed Mind Erects Strong Barriers

Mark hit the nail on the head

Mark hit the nail on the head with his last paragraph. And Graham's statement that this is no longer about immigration is ridiculous. If an immigration bill isn't about immigration, then what is? Is a defense bill not about defense (well, maybe not anymore, with all the unassociated pork congress-critters add in)? And no one should be surprised in getting booed for associating him/her self with the likes of Teddy Kennedy, unless they're doing so in MA, which is populated by the same morons who have kept Teddy in office for well over 40 years (and who are doing the same with Kerry).

The Closed Mind Erects Strong Barriers

Lindsay Graham is an embarras

Lindsay Graham is an embarrassment to all South Carolinians. Not only has he abandoned the conservative values and principles he claimed as his own when we elected him, by throwing in with the likes of Ted Kennedy and the gang of 14, he has demonstrated that he has none. He has insulted those of us who disagree with his position and his arrogance and condescension approaches that of Al Gore and John Kerry(to name a couple). He should be standing shoulder to shoulder with fellow SC Sen. Jim DeMint instead of cavorting with a bunch of hate-America-first, I-know-what-is-best-for-you liberal jellyfish.

joe3, SC

Graham doesn't seem to be w

Graham doesn't seem to be working WITH Kennedy, but FOR Kennedy on this one.

I'm sure a lot of Republicans across the country would be happy to contribute to a viable conservative candidate to knock this disgrace off in the primary. C'mon SC Republicans, you can do better than this.

Ted Kennedy's Word

Ted Kennedy was a strong supporter of the 1965 Hart-Celler Act signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson which dramatically changed US immigration policy.

This is what Ted Kennedy said about the 1965 bill.

"The bill will not flood our cities with immigrants. It will not upset the ethnic mix of our society. It will not relax the standards of admission. It will not cause American workers to lose their jobs."

Kennedy is now the chair of the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship, and remains a strong advocate for immigrants, both documented and undocumented

About the same time there wasn't enough room for citizens to have children.

The Unacknowledged Holocaust

Back in the 60’s the Federal Government came into the public schools and brainwashed us as little children with the message that the children we were about to have were unwanted because the population was rising so fast. They launched a program called Family Planning. They pushed birth control pills. I think you and I now both know that you only have to trick people for their few child bearing years and there is no going back.

Many of us never had a say.

I am the result of two living cells. One from each of my parents. They are the result of two living cells, one from each of their parents. I wasn't just born. I am a continuation of life. I am a living thing that reaches back into time perhaps 400 million years and the result of billions of joining of pairs of cells. It is possible that if you were to follow my cells back to my parent’s cells and beyond that my family tree touches every living thing here on earth. That is if we limit ourselves to believing life was created here on earth. If it rained down from the immensity of the universe it could reach back into that immensity of time and space, and who knows what relationships and who knows what species.

At least until I came up against the Federal Government and their plan to control the population.

I have seen the Federal Government do little else to control the population.

The open border, United States laws only apply to some, is a serious slap in the face. No, not a slap in the face, it reaches well beyond that. Maybe back to the beginning of time and stretch to the bounds of the universe.