On climate bill, he wants to take back his ball and go home
The incoherent one has a pretty favorable profile in the New York Times Magazine, “Lindsey Graham, This Year’s Maverick.”
The onetime supporter of bipartisan climate action has some choice words for enviros, says he’s not gay, and makes big news dissing the tea party crowd:
“Everything I’m doing now in terms of talking about climate, talking about immigration, talking about Gitmo is completely opposite of where the Tea Party movement’s at,” Graham said as Cato drove him to the city of Greenwood, where he was to give a commencement address at Lander University later that morning. On four occasions, Graham met with Tea Party groups. The first, in his Senate office, was “very, very contentious,” he recalled. During a later meeting, in Charleston, Graham said he challenged them: ” ‘What do you want to do? You take back your country “” and do what with it?’ . . . Everybody went from being kind of hostile to just dead silent.”
In a previous conversation, Graham told me: “The problem with the Tea Party, I think it’s just unsustainable because they can never come up with a coherent vision for governing the country. It will die out.” Now he said, in a tone of casual lament: “We don’t have a lot of Reagan-type leaders in our party. Remember Ronald Reagan Democrats? I want a Republican that can attract Democrats.” Chortling, he added, “Ronald Reagan would have a hard time getting elected as a Republican today.”
Graham can’t quite decide how he feels about enviros:
Two weeks ago, I found Graham in his office contemplating a coming scheduled visit to the White House to explore potential areas of agreement on energy and climate legislation. To him, consensus building is a game of inches, and the meeting (which was later postponed) would likely amount to no more and no less than a positive increment. “I fully understand 70 to 80 percent of my [Republican] conference is going to reject any idea of putting a price on carbon anywhere,” he told me. For that matter, he said, “the environmental groups are great to deal with “” but they think the planet’s gonna melt in five years. I don’t. I think carbon pollution, all things considered, is bad for human beings. But it’s not what I think of when I wake up in the morning. . . . I offer myself as a bridge, and I take a beating for that, and I get rewarded for that. It’s a business. Politically, it is who I am now. There’s no use for me to try to play another game.”
So on the one hand, two weeks ago he said he thinks carbon pollution is bad for human beings, though not so bad he thinks about it a lot. But on the other hand he told WVOC radio in South Carolina one week ago:
“I will work with the president, Democrats and Republicans to come up with an energy policy, but I’m not going to it in the middle of an oil spill when the political environment doesn’t favor what I want,” he told WVOC radio in South Carolina. ”I’m not going to do it between now and November when the oil spill dominates the politics and headlines.”
Seriously. Now we have to wait for Graham to stick his finger in the wind and decide when the political environment suits him.
I’ll tell you who he sounds like to me — my 3 1/2-year-old daughter after she tells me she wants waffles with cream cheese but then after I make it she won’t eat it even though she asked for it. Why? “Because I don’t want to.” Yesterday, she came up with her best excuse yet: “Because that’s what three-year-olds do.”
You can spend a long time trying to figure out why Lindsey Graham does what he does (see In the mother of all flip-flops, Graham rejects his own climate bill, endorses Lugar’s “half-assed energy bill,” which means he “just made the problem worse”).
The Politico asked me to explain Graham’s incoherence:
Some see GOP leadership pulling Graham’s strings, essentially yanking him back just days before he planned to introduce a bill with Kerry, Lieberman and a large coalition of energy companies, environmentalists, retired military brass and religious leaders. Others see tea party politics back in South Carolina, where incumbent Republicans are losing their jobs and Sarah Palin is anointing a new face for the party in gubernatorial nominee Nikki Haley.
“People can spend a long time trying to figure out the explanations for things that don’t have explanations or are partly unknowable,” said Joe Romm, senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress and lead author of the ClimateProgress blog. “I guess that’s what journalists and I do. But if you look at the totality of the statements, it’s impossible to say he doesn’t understand the nature of the problem and what the solution has to be.”
There’s no explanation, I think, beyond “Graham is just doing what politicians and/or 3-year-olds do.”
Previous in TP Climate Progress
Language Intelligence: Lessons on persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga
“the environmental groups are great to deal with — but they think the planet’s gonna melt in five years. I don’t. I think carbon pollution, all things considered, is bad for human beings. But it’s not what I think of when I wake up in the morning. . . .”
No it wont melt in five years, but keep in mind what happens in the next 5 years WILL CAUSE IT TO MELT IN 50.
Is this how extremist the republican party has become?
It seems there is a huge disconnect here- what is next a Charismatic leader? A Secret Police force? A means test who is a ‘true American’ and one who is not….
Dangerous times we live- with a vocal minority -the Tea Party- that is edging closer to the Nazi Party.
The planet may not literally melt in five years, but all the human institutions that depend on cheap energy and a stable moderate climate may very well melt in a practical sense in that time. Graham takes a dangerous position by suggesting we postpone climate action even longer.
Some good news…
WASHINGTON – The government is handing out nearly $2 billion for new solar plants that President Barack Obama says will create thousands of jobs and increase the use of renewable energy sources.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100703/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_jobs
At some point, people such as this man, need to be left behind.
here is some news from Saskatchewan, thei unprecedented flood of the week’ this time in Yorkton:
Dean Clark, fire chief in Yorkton, said early reports indicated some homes were so extensively flooded the basements were washed out and the homes may not be fixable.
“When we get the water dealt with we’ll be able to assess that,” said Clark, who said the damage was freakishly intense given that Yorkton isn’t near large water bodies and doesn’t have a river running through it.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen rain come straight across,” he said.
Homes in other low lying areas throughout the city were flooded, but not as significantly as downtown.
Yorkton is not the only area on the Prairies to feel nature’s wrath.Earlier this week, heavy rains delivered 80 millimetres of rain to parts of Saskatoon, flooding basements and knocking down trees and power lines.
In southeastern Alberta, flash flooding last month at Irvine, near Medicine Hat, forced dozens from their homes and stranded others. Some had to be rescued by boats or a helicopter. The same system washed out a section of the Trans-Canada Highway near Maple Creek, Sask.
Premier Brad Wall announced Friday that a cabinet committee has been formed to co-ordinate the province’s response to “unprecedented flooding faced by Saskatchewan people.”
“The heavy rains have caused widespread havoc — and needs of Saskatchewan people must be addressed as quickly as possible,” he said.
The premier toured the flood zone in Yorkton, calling it “shocking.”
“If folks could see the street we’re on now, they’ll know that most of this block is under water. These basements don’t have a couple of inches in them, they’re full to the rafters, some of the water’s on the main floors already,” said Wall.
“It’s unbelievable that much rain could fall in that short a span on a part of the province that’s already saturated. All of Saskatchewan’s like a big sponge that’s full right now, there’s no place for water to go.”
As CO2 levels approaches 400ppm- the end of summer arctic ice will have retreated to possible 2007 levels in the Polar regions-
Graham better hope for the best regarding the effects of climate change feed-backs.
A heat wave in CT- 90 degrees today- 94 tomorrow, 97 on Monday, 99 ON Tuesday, 98 Wednesday….already 7 days of 90 degrees this season-add 5 onto this total- up to 12—the average here is 19-20 -up to September 22nd- the equinox.
In any case Graham knows we might be teetering regarding climate change- he seems to have the facts- he is hoping for the best-but knows we are in deep trouble.
Isn’t there a way of getting something done without this gyrating flip flopper?
From the Canadian Prairies,here is news of the unprecedented flood,which is now a weekly occurrence:
Dean Clark, fire chief in Yorkton, said early reports indicated some homes were so extensively flooded the basements were washed out and the homes may not be fixable.
“When we get the water dealt with we’ll be able to assess that,” said Clark, who said the damage was freakishly intense given that Yorkton isn’t near large water bodies and doesn’t have a river running through it.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen rain come straight across,” he said.
Homes in other low lying areas throughout the city were flooded, but not as significantly as downtown.
Yorkton is not the only area on the Prairies to feel nature’s wrath.Earlier this week, heavy rains delivered 80 millimetres of rain to parts of Saskatoon, flooding basements and knocking down trees and power lines.
In southeastern Alberta, flash flooding last month at Irvine, near Medicine Hat, forced dozens from their homes and stranded others. Some had to be rescued by boats or a helicopter. The same system washed out a section of the Trans-Canada Highway near Maple Creek, Sask.
Premier Brad Wall announced Friday that a cabinet committee has been formed to co-ordinate the province’s response to “unprecedented flooding faced by Saskatchewan people.”
“The heavy rains have caused widespread havoc — and needs of Saskatchewan people must be addressed as quickly as possible,” he said.
The premier toured the flood zone in Yorkton, calling it “shocking.”
“If folks could see the street we’re on now, they’ll know that most of this block is under water. These basements don’t have a couple of inches in them, they’re full to the rafters, some of the water’s on the main floors already,” said Wall.
“It’s unbelievable that much rain could fall in that short a span on a part of the province that’s already saturated. All of Saskatchewan’s like a big sponge that’s full right now, there’s no place for water to go.”
Here’s what a real Senator looks like. Prepare to be blown away:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiLV-Xeh8bA
Joe wrote: “I’ll tell you who he sounds like to me — my 3 1/2-year-old daughter …”
I’ll tell you who he sounds like to me — he sounds like somebody the corporate media is grooming to be the next President of the United States.
“This Year’s Maverick” ?!?
Could the NY Times please be a little more blatant when they are shilling for Republican politicians?
Mike Roddy (#8) – In 1974 I was editor of the Beaverton High School newspaper and the political editor was perhaps the quietest and nerdiest guy I ever met in my life. He was a real political junkie named Jerry Bishop.
I remember coming into the newspaper classroom and Jerry was interviewing this older man and it was Wayne Morse. It was probably one of the better interviews Morse did, because Jerry knew more about politics then than I know now.
I don’t remember what I might’ve mumbled to Morse, who worked closely with my uncle, but I wish I’d thanked him for being one of only two U.S. Senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that sealed our involvement in the Vietnam War, which Morse courageously opposed from the beginning.
Morse resigned from the Republican party when Eisenhower chose Nixon as his running mate, feeling Nixon was an unrepentant commie baiter. Morse registered as an independent and brought a folding chair to sit in the aisle between the two parties. Later in 1955 Lyndon Johnson convinced Morse to become a Democrat.
Morse held the U.S. Senate philibuster record of over 22 hours when in 1953 he opposed the Tideland Oil Legislation that took off-shore drilling rights away from the federal government and gave them to corrupt states like Texas where the oil industry ran the state legislature, essentially privatizing public property. The longest philibuster and third longest were those opposed to Civil Rights legislation by Strom Thurmond and the recently deceased Robert Byrd. (Incidentally, Republicans kept Thurmond voting with them in the Senate for at least two years after he died, inspiring the “Weekend at Bernie’s” movies.)
The YouTube clip you show illustrates a Senator serving the best interests of the people, not merely the corporations that most guarantee re-election. Morse was intimately familiar with the constitution, as Obama is, and Morse was Dean of the University of Oregon Law School at age 31. That, unlike those of the vast majority of Senators today, was a life well-lived. Thanks for sharing that, Mike.
Ronald Reagan not get elected? Neither would
Lincoln or Grant – insufficiently enthusiastic about States Rights.
Teddy Roosevelt – too enthusiastic about social justice
Dwight Eisenhower – too supportive of Social Security.
Richard Nixon – founder of the EPA? you must be joking.
George H. W. Bush – the man who raised taxes? F%#^
The only ones I can think of who would have a chance are Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. Which says something about the GOP.
Good segment by Rachel Maddow (“There they no again”)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf3cTao0oQQ
Republicans pulling a bait-and-switch?
Glad you liked it, Richard. That clip is about as bracing as it gets, and brought tears to my eyes. You were lucky to have been able to meet Wayne Morse, and it must make you proud to be from Oregon.
Today’s senators wouldn’t be moved by that clip. Their main reaction would be to consider it a case study in how to lose the next election (Morse was defeated in 1968, along with other antiwar senators like Fulbright). “Principle”? That’s for suckers.
Since our politicians have sold out, the ones who really need to see that clip are climate scientists. Morse refused to put up with any bullshit from TV reporters. Neither should our scientists, when reporters stick microphones in their mouths and expect them to apologize for “Climategate”.
Lindsey Graham is mired in self indulgence…..he reminds me the
Beatles Song…”Nowhere Man”….”leave it till somebody else lends you
a hand.”
Mike Roddy (#13) – As with everything else you so eloquently write, Mike, my only response is “Exactly.”
That clip also moistened my eyes and I was struck by how completely prepared he was with his eloquent and powerful talking points.
I think here at Climate Progress and in other ways we’re developing the talking points that Joe, you, the rest of us Romm ‘n Legions, all climate scientists and those who care about our future can use, repeatedly in our own words and voices, in every medium now and to the end of time, which unfortunately appears to be rapidly approaching.
Morse died within months of my one-time, inconsequential (at least for him) meeting. My favorite bookstore, even more than Powell’s that was smaller than most McMansion master bedrooms when it first opened nearby, is the used bookstore Cameron’s in downtown Portland, which has the same orange crate shelving for magazines (every Science, Nature, Scientific American, etc) as when I became a regular several decades ago. In addition to Mr. Cameron’s pipe smoke, the thing that most defined it was the campaign poster of Wayne Morse he proudly displayed for decades above the till.
You’re right, Mike, Wayne and amazingly moderate Oregon Republicans like Governor Tom McCall make me proud to be from Oregon, as do episodes like the one in this post about the Graham cracker state.
I see a lot of Wayne Morse in you, Joe and the other All-Star commenters here, Mike. Maybe we can all channel the inner Wayne Morse that lies within each of us together.
Senator Russ Feingold representing the State of Wisconsin and Congresswoman
Barbara Lee of the State of California are not sellouts. Congresswoman
Barbara frequently attended and spoke eloquently at the 20 plus
anti-war demonstrations I participated in, both prior and during George Bush’s Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Russ Feingold record is also flawless.