SEN. GRAHAM'S LOOSE LIPS SINKS OWN SHIP

LINDSEY GRAHAM THREATENS COUP

Would Cross Rubicon with troops if elected President.

Recent events in the Senate and in New Hampshire seem to indicate that Senator Lindsey Graham and his sidekick John McCain have apparently both gone over the hill. From their recent behavior I suggest they both go home and reread the US Constitution. After that, they should carefully peruse their oath of office, especially the part where they repeat the phrase "uphold and support the Constitution".

Admittedly, these two are "old guys" and maybe they have not been taking their meds lately. But they should both have thought again when they stepped over the bounds of protocol, propriety, and legality (and perhaps made themselves subject to the Logan Act) by unthinkingly signing on to a letter to the Iranian leadership drafted by wild-eyed and still wet-behind-the-ears-junior-Senator Cotten (R-AK). They were also the most animated of the ugly cheering squad in the Senate Chamber for far-right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as he brazenly used the Senate Chamber for his own domestic political purposes, undermined on-going diplomatic efforts, angling to press the US into an unwanted war, by undermining OUR elected President's foreign policy goals. The behavior of these two US Senators macks of either stenosis of the carotid arteries, plain old senility, or simple treasonous treachery.

Today (March 10, 2015) I read of another faux pas of Senator Graham, who seems to harbor aspirations for higher office. Apparently, he showed up in New Hampshire for a "pies and politics " rally. During his presentation at that conference he is reported ro have stated seriously that the first thing he would do when he was elected President, would be to "call US troops into Washington and force Congress to reverse the cuts to the defense and intelligence budgets". (Unlike Senator Graham, most logical, rational US citizens, even many in the military, agree that the defense budget has grown like a cancerous tumor on the government body. It now stands at a nominal $600 billion annually. It accounts for more than 55% of all government discretionary spending. Out of about $3 trillion dollars in tax receipts in 2013, we spent @$ 600 billion on defense/military, the largest single component of the budget. That year we ran a deficit of about $500 billion. In plain language we spent $500 billion more than what we took in...so we had to borrow the $500 billion. With a smaller military we would not have that big of a deficit each year. Do those figures make it appear as if we are in desperate need to expand the military defense budget? No. Our nation is truly "exceptional" in the military expenditure department. Our "defense" expenses are four times greater than China, ten times greater than that of Russia, and about equal to the sum of the defense expenditures of the 15 largest economies in world.) So Senator Graham's manic urge to bring out the troops, lock the Congressmen and his Senate colleagues in their offices and force them to raise the defense and intelligence budgets is both dumb and unconstitutional.

According to David Weigel a reporter for Bloomberg News (March 12, 2015) who was present at Graham's speech, there was little response to Graham's bizarre remarks. Perhaps the few reporters in the room either went slack-jawed upon hearing the Senator's proposal, or they simply remained silent, participating in a form of self-censorship all too prevalent in our present corps of so-called journalists. But we do know that no follow up questions were asked. Weigel's report in "Bloomberg's Politics" attempts to soften the blow and suggest the remark "was a joke". But he also states: "No one laughed". Reporters present in the room from Bloomberg, Fox and the Concord Monitor did not report it. Perhaps they were self-censoring and pre-editing also. With "journalists" attempting to curry favor with the candidate, the comment might have just wafted off into space to be forgotten, except for the actions of a local man who actually taped the Senator's remark. According to Weigel, three days later, Ben Swan, a libertarian reporter for the Free State Project, uploaded his "exclusive audio" onto his site. The audio of the remarks went viral. Upon hearing it some commentators called it "chilling". Others termed the remark a " threat to the Republic", while many simply stated the facts: "Graham announces plan to stage a coup", Graham's spokesperson quickly claimed it was a joke. Other defenders, who knew the man better indicated it was simple hyperbole...a common element of "Graham speak". Apparently, according to them, Senator Graham often plays to the crowd, blows his top and speaks hyperbolically. If so, his behavior, his penchant for loose lips, strictly cuts Graham out of the herd of possible Presidential candidates. We could not possible survive as a nation with a man like that in the White House.

The fact that not one major reporter in the room dared report this story is even more chilling. Reporters too often put their fear being cut out of interviews down the line ahead of the truth. When reporters accept this kind of speech, preferring to self-censor, to make personal excuses for a candidate's foibles, to protect a candidate, they do a grave disservice to the voters, citizenry and the nation as a whole.

This comment of Graham's fits like a good leather golf glove with the Senator's past history and thus "adds to the existing Graham narrative". Thanks to Ben Swann perhaps we may have cleared another unstable, war mongering blabbermouth off the Presidential trail.