After Lindsey Graham spoke to the Columbia Rotary Club on Monday, I was unable to find time the rest of the working week to go back through all my notes and video and put together a report for you here. It did occur to me just to post something quick so I could put it on my Virtual Front Page that day — but there was nothing that jumped out at me as a headline. There was no quick, wire-service-type lede in the speech to me.
So it was with interest that I looked at the story Adam Beam wrote for The State the next day:
S.C. Sen. Graham: U.S. should spend more on foreign aid
Adam Beam – The State (Columbia, S.C.)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham on Monday called on the U.S. government to send more money to Middle East countries in turmoil to push them toward democracy.
Speaking to the Columbia Rotary Club, Graham — the ranking Republican on a Senate foreign policy subcommittee — said he is working on a $1 billion package of aid for Egypt before that country’s November elections.
“Egypt is the prize to be won,” said Graham, R-Seneca. “Foreign aid is a very complicated, controversial topic, particularly when you’re broke. But … it is good for the American people and the American government to reach out and help those who live in peace with us.
“Find me an example where two democracies went to war,” he added. “Democracies have a way, through the rule of law, of working out their problems.”
As I read it, I thought, Yes, that’s a perfectly adequate news angle, if you need to write a story out of the speech. And it underlined for me just how long it’s been since I thought like a reporter. From a news perspective, that works — it’s timely; it summarizes an important point from the speech. But to an editorialist, which I’ve been since 1994, there was nothing new to say about it. Because the essence of what he was saying was so predictable.
I’ve grown accustomed to Sen. Graham saying things that make sense about foreign affairs — and about the importance of engagement in the world, and how important it is to do what we can to foster civil institutions in areas of the world that are both dangerous and of strategic importance to us. He talks about this sort of thing all of the time. So when he states the patently obvious truth that even when we are experiencing tough economic times at home, we can’t cut back on our efforts to help these countries move beyond tyranny.
So when I’m listening to him say things like that — and it was just an informal, rambling talk about things on his mind, as you can see from the video — I’m unsurprised. I’m like, Yeah, that’s the kind of thing he would say about this. And I barely touch on it in my notes.
What would have jumped out at me, and concerned me, would have been if he had said something that seemed uncharacteristic, something like his statement awhile back about the children of illegals. But he didn’t. Which is just as well, since I had to leave before the meeting ended for another appointment, and couldn’t stay after to ask a WTF-type question.
Well, anyway, this being Saturday, I’ve made time to edit you a clip from the speech — it includes the part that the headline on Adam’s story dealt with. Here are some other things his speech touched on:
- “Tax reform I think is gonna happen… I hope and pray that the Bowles-Simpson plan could be modified and adopted, and Republicans and Democrats, sooner rather than later, can fundamentally change the tax code.”
- “To me, the best thing that we could do as Republicans and Democrats is to come up with a rational Energy Plan that would create jobs in this country and make us energy-independent.” He went on to advocate drilling for gas off the coast of SC. “After the Gulf experience, we all should be concerned,” but “the risk of doing nothing (is that) you become more dependent on fossil fuels from more dangerous parts of the world.” “A low-carbon economy is coming, that that’ll be a good thing. But we are a generation or two away.”…”When we ceased production in the Gulf, after the oil spill, we didn’t stop using oil, did we? What did we do? We bought more of it from people who hate our guts.” He saw the possibility for the U.S. to become natural-gas independent.
- He also noted that Japan should not prevent us from developing more nuclear power, “sooner rather than later.”
- “Entitlement reform has to be bipartisan and has to be done quickly.”
- He returned, near the end, to the importance of”taking those who would live in peace with us, and give them a chance,” and “staying involved in a very dangerous world.”
Another thing I would have wanted to ask him about if I could have stuck around is why he pulled out of the deal he and Joe Lieberman were working on with John Kerry to create just the sort of Energy Party-style plan that he still says is so essential. I’ve never yet heard a good explanation of that.
When I get him on the Brad Show one day (I hope soon), I’ll ask about that.
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US should send MORE money? That in of itself undermines a characterization of “mostly making sense.” We have spent huge amounts of money on Afghanistan and Iraq and the former is a losing proposition at this time and the latter is tenuous. We cut spending on those most in need in the US but spend it on killing people elsewhere?
Regarding two democracies, Hamas and Israel may not be in a full blown war but that is a problematic situation. We didn’t like Hamas being a freely elected party and what happens if the Taliban is elected to power one day, will Graham rejoice in democracy then?
Life must seem so simple when you’re Lindsay Graham, ordained by God Almighty as a “representative of the best of humanity” (Lindsay’s definition of an American…ergo if you are anything else then you represent something less than “the best of humanity.”) How simple? Take his breezy comment about Afghanistan at the very beginning, his “vacuums happen” line. “The Russians left Afghanistan, the Taliban moved in”—as if lil’-ol’ us had nothing to do with it, as if we didn’t funnel billions to the mujahideen, weapons, etc. In some perverse way I kind of envy these people who “know what they know” to borrow your phrase from your earlier post…who have the gift of erasing their knowledge of any history that might possibly, remotely challenge their triumphalist view of history and America’s role in the world.
Yet Lindsay of course is much more coherent than most in his party…I’m glad at least to hear him support means of promoting democracy around the world (in the form of foreign aid) that don’t involve the threat or actuality of military intervention. But surely this message was tailored for the Rotarians…I doubt seriously you’ll hear the current crop of GOP Prez hopefuls (maybe with the exception of the doomed Huntsman) touch this idea in public with a 10-foot-pole.
Phillip, you’re misrepresenting what he said. But if you represented it correctly and fairly, I realize you would still disagree.
I agree with him that there has been no more positive development in recorded history than the rise of the world’s first, and longest-lasting, liberal democracy in history to unipolar power in the world. There could have been so many worse outcomes than that. Much, much worse. And I can’t think of any likely outcomes that would have been better than that. And that’s what he means, and I agree completely.
And you and I argue about that a lot.
You think it’s chauvinism. And yeah, there are warm feelings of identification (of the sort that I don’t feel for a sports team or a political party, but most people do). But mostly there’s a detached calculation.
I’m perfectly capable of seeing the flaws in this country, although I suspect what I see as flaws are very different from what you do.
Got to run. I’ll go into those flaws when I get back…
Where’s the H&H Love? Come on man that was good stuff!!!
“After the Gulf experience, we all should be concerned,” but “the risk of doing nothing (is that) you become more dependent on fossil fuels from more dangerous parts of the world.”
-LG
How many politicians have made a comment like this over the past 40 years? It must run into the hundreds. Yet nothing really can be done to become energy independent. The only way that can occur is politically impossible. We would have to drastically reduce energy consumption. The McMansions and huge SUVs would have to go. Gasoline would have to be about $10/gallon. We’d have to reduce our consumption of meat. We’d have to walk more and build in the distant suburbs less. Until a politician wants to push for that kind of world they are simply engaging in political talking points.
Graham is like every other mainstream GOP politician. He talks endlessly about cutting the size of government, reducing spending, getting the government off the backs of people. But when it comes right down to it he wants to spend more and more and more. Probably more than your typical Democrat. The difference is he wants to spend it on worthless stuff like the military and foreign aid and manned missions to Mars. The Democrats are more concerned with people having food and jobs. I just wish Lindsey and the other Republicans would at least be honest and admit they want to spend tons of money. This deceitfulness is just so unbecoming.
“…worthless stuff like the military and foreign aid…”
You mean, the two things the federal government EXISTS for — dealing with other countries, either diplomatically or militarily? You mean those two things? OK, you can add regulating interstate commerce, if you want to get into the mundane…
I should have said “excess” military and foreign aid. And that would be anything beyond what is needed for bonafide defence of the homeland. I would currently put that at about 1/3 trillion wasted each year.
Graham didn’t specify what he wants to eliminate to pay for his little project. Since he has fallen into line on the no-new-revenues theme, he is obliged to come up with the money from some other program. Tell the voters what it is, Graham.
I’m sorry, is it just me or is that eagle one of the stranger podium props to rear it’s ____ head?
There’s a story behind that, but I forget it at the moment… It’s been there for years…
No funding for Egypt until they stop bombing Israel.