Posted on 11/26/2005 4:55:05 AM PST by HonduGOP
Graham, McCain continue to stand for what is right
THIS NEWSPAPER did not endorse Lindsey Graham in 2002, but he keeps giving us reasons to be quite proud that he represents our state in the U.S. Senate.
On Oct. 7, we praised Sen. Graham for being among those who led the Senate to vote, 90-9, to reassert essential American values in the way we treat prisoners in wartime.
Later that month, he was one of seven Republican senators who tried to inject at least a little sanity into the federal budget by trimming out $125 billion worth of mostly ill-considered spending to help pay for Katrina relief. It was an inadequate gesture in light of a $318.62 billion deficit in fiscal 2005, but it was also, unfortunately, far more responsibility than the rest of Congress was willing to take on.
On Monday, we had fresh reason to cheer upon reading the front page of The New York Times, which reported that Sen. Graham was one of three senators — along with John McCain of Arizona and John W. Warner of Virginia — taken to the figurative woodshed by Vice President Dick Cheney over the detainee issue.
Mr. Cheney wanted the provision removed from a defense appropriations bill. As the Times reported, “The senators would not budge.”
Their stand has not only put them in hot water with the White House, but with many of their fellow Republicans in the Congress.
But the members of what Sen. Graham called their “little triumvirate” are not renegades. They are not in revolt against President Bush, but are determined to press the administration to achieve its goals in the war on terror without sacrificing the ideals that we are supposed to be fighting for.
And it’s not just a matter of principle. “I think I can help the administration by forcing this through,” Sen. McCain was quoted as saying. “I think I can help them more effectively pursue the war on terror in general and the war in Iraq in particular.”
We agree. The Abu Ghraib scandal may have done more to frustrate our nation’s ability to win hearts and minds in this struggle — in Iraq, through the Muslim world and among our Western allies — than anything else, including the failure to find weapons of mass destruction. And in order to build a stable and peaceful Iraq and defeat terrorism worldwide, we must win hearts and minds to our cause; we cannot do it through force of arms alone. The Bush administration has maddeningly refused to recognize this, and anyone who corrects that error acts in this nation’s best interests.
It’s worth noting that Sens. Graham, McCain and Warner were also among the “Gang of 14” who saved the Senate from self-destruction over judicial nominations earlier this year. But the three don’t agree on everything: Sens. McCain and Graham are steadfastly committed to increasing our efforts to succeed in Iraq, and voted against a Warner plan that they said smacked of a defeatist timetable for withdrawal.
Triumvirates aside, Sens. McCain and Graham have been an almost inseparable duo, joining to take stand after difficult stand to lead our nation in the right direction.
We recently published a letter from a reader who hoped to be able to vote for a McCain/Graham ticket for president and vice president in 2008. It’s a bit early to talk about endorsing anyone in an election that far off, but we can certainly understand where that reader is coming from.
BS to me.
...It’s worth noting that Sens. Graham, McCain and Warner were also among the “Gang of 14”...
Deport the rino trash!
The newspaper won't be crowing so loudly if the Charleston Naval Base is attacked by terrorists ....
I don't want either one of them.
This pair of RINO's?
In their dreams.
There is not, nor shall there ever be, a staunch 'moderate' anywhere in US politics.
Because their 'principles' keep sliding all over the map.
When the leftwing rag, "The State" of Columbia SC says someone is making them proud, be careful. There is no compliment here for Graham. He is supposed to be a conservative Republican, but is evolving into a McCain Republican only interested in Lindsey Graham and not the people of South Carolina. Another DC politician who has seen the bright lights of Washington and changes for the worse, much worse.
Meanwhile, the Defeatist editorial writers at "The State" snicker at another RINO fool.
McCain is running for President, no doubt about it...and Graham is dying to be on the VP spot. However, I think that George Allen has the best shot right now for the top spot. Wouldn't it be interesting seeing Georege Allen vs. Mark Warner, both Virginians going for the Presidency? I think that Mark Warner will beat Hillary in the Dem primaries.
...In their dreams...
And my nightmares.
And that alone, no doubt, would make them the darlings of this lieburral publication. And when they saw it in the NYT, well that must have sealed the deal.
Chris Matthews has already given his seal of approval
Agreed. Mark Warner is considered a rising star in the dem party. Described in political circles as youngish, handsomish, moderate . . . etc.
They wish. The rest of the country has more sense.
Hillary has the Clinton brand name in the dem primaries.
Hillary will crush all the dem primary candidates.
The liberals love Hillary because she votes like Barbara Boxer on most issues.
Hillary has a 0 rating the last two years by the ACU. She is to the extreme far left. She talks a good game for people in the middle but votes like an extremist.
Liberals also love their bill. They love that with Hillary they will get the Clinton Team.
Dem primary voters aren't sane Mark Warner won't even be a blip on the radar of the dem primary voters. Maybe he could be a VP pick but he has no chance of the nomination.
If it turns out that this is the best ticket the GOP can put together, I'll vote for Hillary and convince everyone I know to do the same.
And I loathe Hillary Clinton like no other politician on the planet. The fact is, the Republican party better get it together and quit acting just like the whiney assed bedwetting liberals they claim to differ from.
I think the Dems want a realisitic chance of winning. Mark Warner is a Southerner...the last two Democratic (and failed) Presidents were Southeners: Jimmah Carter and Slick Willie. I think that in the Southern Primaries/Super Tuesday Mark Warner edges ahead of Hillary. I expect a Mark Warner/Evan Bayh ticket against a George Allen/Tommy Franks (yes you read it here first) ticket for the GOP.
They are two reasons why the Republican majority in the Senate means NOTHING.
McCain won't last beyond a few soundbites of his last run. His temper will get him again. When he gets mad, he becomes totally irrational, to the point of missing the point he was angry about in the first place. He cannot be trusted with such a high office.
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