There's little 'faux' about folksy Graham (Lindsey, not Bob) BLUMENTHAL ALERT

The State ^ | 6/1/03 | Lauren Markoe

[wimpycat]

Washington: Anyone who followed Monicagate knows that it made enemies of now-U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sidney Blumenthal, a former adviser to President Clinton.

Graham, then in the House and a prosecutor at the president's 1999 impeachment trial, accused Blumenthal of trying to save Clinton by smearing Monica Lewinsky, the White House intern with whom the president had an affair.

With the publication of "The Clinton Wars," Blumenthal takes his turn to write the history of the impeachment saga and, not surprisingly, pegs Graham as one of the era's most shameless villains.

Expected to land in the top 10 on The New York Times best-seller list, Blumenthal's account describes Graham alternatively as "bumbling," "peevish," and possessed of a "shambling, faux-folksy manner."

More seriously, he charges Graham with publicizing an allegation he knew had no basis in fact: that Blumenthal orchestrated a campaign to discredit Lewinsky.

"He's owed me an apology for years," Blumenthal said in a phone interview Thursday.

As for Graham's elevation to the Senate this year, Blumenthal concluded that the South Carolinian's "exploitation of the impeachment trial has worked very well to advance his ambition."

Graham said he hasn't read the book and doesn't intend to.

"God, no," he said. "I know everything I need to know about Sidney Blumenthal without reading his book."

Asked about Blumenthal's charge that his famously folksy manner is but a crowd-pleasing act, Graham -- who grew up in tiny Central in rural Pickens County -- quipped that he is as real a country boy as they come.

"Have you met my family? Have you met my friends?"

[aristeides]

Sidney Blumenthal is no more credible than Jayson Blair.

[wimpycat]

During the impeachment saga, I remember reading a pro-Clinton article where the author (I forget who) said something about Graham always mispronouncing Blumenthal's name...he would pronounce it "Bloomingthal".

[aristeides]

There's a good chance that little tidbit was fed to whoever the author was by Blumenthal himself. And why should we believe anything that Blumenthal says?

[NYC GOP Chick]

And why can't someone make fun of his dopey name without it being anti-Semitic? I'm Jewish, and I don't see anti-semitism lurking everywhere. Maybe Sid the Sock Puppet should learn that not everyone who despises him does so because he's Jewish, but because he's a slimy prick on wheels.

This "victim mentality" reminds me of this militant lesbo who lived next door to me for one semester in college. I was *furious* about how she had a rather loud orgy in her room the night before classes were starting and despite repeated requests from me, they wouldn't shut the hell up. So a few days later, I walked into the living room to hear her whine to some leftists that I don't like her because she's gay. She didn't see me walking into the room at that moment, so I just pointed out that I don't care if she's gay or straight, but that I am very angry about how rude and selfish she is. A few of the lefties giggled at that.

[Constitution Day]

BUMP!

[wimpycat]

I doubt he was consciously making fun of Blumenthal's name. He probably just mis-pronounced it. Sort of like Bush I and II constantly mis-pronouncing "nuclear".

[NYC GOP Chick]

And even if he was making fun of his name, SO WHAT??? Mocking Sid the Sock Puppet doesn't equal anti-Semitism. Yeah, I'm sure there are some people who hate him because he's Jewish, but by and large, most people despise the rodent because he's a smarmy, compulsive lying sack of turd.

[Miss Marple]

Don't hold back...tell us how you really feel! LOL!

Blumenthal is doing his best to get someone, anyone, in the Administration to comment on the Clintons. He attacks everyone he can in his book, and other than some print refutation by journalists, no one else is saying a darn thing.

In my opinion Blumenthals' book was intended as a vehicle to get everyone arguing about the Clintons again. Thankfully, that isn't happening.

Clinton seems to be determined to get his name in the papers, though (witness his 22nd Amendment spiel). Fortunately, no one in the administration responds to him, either. This is a good tactic, as Clinton becomes more and more marginallized.

We haven't seen too many speaking engagements lately outside of universities and democrat fundraisers, have we? He's wearing thin on a lot of people.

[Dan from Michigan]

By Sid's standards, I guess I'm an "anti-Semite" for calling Carl Levin "Lenin", Feinstein "Feinswine", and Schumer "Scumer".
And I'm anti whatever nationality Debbie Stabenow is for spelling that name Stabusall-Stabmenow.
And I'm anti WASP for calling Gore, Alwhore.
And I'm anti-Irish for calling Ted Kennedy a drunken murderer. Whoops! That's a little tough.

I know! Maybe he doesn't like Sid since he's "Sid Vicious".

[NYC GOP Chick]

Actually, if you think about it, keeping the Sink Master's name in the news can be a good thing for us. While it does make the acid churn in our stomachs, it does repeatedly remind everyone that the Nanny State Nine now trying to run for the White House are so *small*, dull and inconsequential.

[NYC GOP Chick]

I believe that Stabenow is also Jewish -- and I have as little use and affection for her as you do. LOL! :)

[Dan from Michigan]

Stabmenow is a Methodist(although a lot of people think she is Jewish). She kept her first husband's last name after her marriage ended.

[NYC GOP Chick]

As a Jew, I'm relieved to hear that. :)

[MHGinTN]

Actually, Blumenthal is worse than Blair because Sid Vicious is not a drug addict and isn't considered mentally derranged, yet he is a vicious liar and dissembler. And yes, the outing of Blumenthal by the 'sworn under oath' Hitchens certainly writes 'L-I-A-R' wherever one sees Sid Blumenthal's name.

[miss marmelstein]

I recommend that everyone go to Christopher Hitchen's website. His July Atlantic Monthly review of Blumenthal's book is posted. It has the most detailed account of the infamous lunch where Blumie talked to Hitchens about Kathleen Willy's poll numbers (and how they were about to drop).

[NYC GOP Chick]

I couldn't find the original piece on salon (and I always feel so dirty when I go there), but I did find this in a long and tedious suck-up piece in Washington Monthly:

Beyond the false accusations, Blumenthal was subjected to a malicious invective that sometimes verged upon the anti-Semitic. Michael Ledeen of the National Review compared Blumenthal to the "Jewish consiglieri" of the Mafiosi. Vanity Fair quoted a blind source disparaging "a certain kind of Jewish family" from which Blumenthal came. After the impeachment was over, Rep. Mary Bono cheerfully told Blumenthal that her fellow GOP Judiciary Committee member Lindsey Graham "sure had a good time making fun of your name." The revelation of this right-wing anti-Semitism, normally assumed to be obsolete outside the Buchananite fringes, is disturbing. And yet Blumenthal recounts these comments with equanimity, as if he has become so inured to his Kafkaesque fate, so accustomed to the perils that befall a foot soldier in the Clinton wars, that he scarcely needs to note the vileness.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0306.greenberg.html

[areafiftyone]

The only thing I don't understand is why Graham is cozying up to Hillary lately!

[wimpycat]

He isn't "cozying up" to Hillary. For whatever reason, they both had a similar interest in that bill for benefits for reservists. We all know Graham is pro-military, so I don't wonder about him, but Hillary may be trying to ingratiate herself with the military crowd. Besides the legislation involved, they both had a political interest to play up their "working together" on this legislation. Hillary working with Graham sends the message: "See, I care so much about the military, I'm willing to work with the 'shameless villian' who persecuted my husband to make sure military personnel get what they need!" Graham can say to his critics, "See, I'm a professional. I'm bi-partisan."

It's quite easy to understand. Don't think for a moment that they like each other any more than they did. But it makes sense to work together when they happen to share the same opinion on an issue, and there's no danger of that happening too often, I'm sure.

[wimpycat]

*gag*

[CholeraJoe]

I served in the Air Force with Lindsey Graham. He was then and still is a country boy and a pitbull in the courtroom.