Proving the axiom that even a broken clock tells the time correctly twice a day, neoconservative political analyst Bill Kristol posted an old video of Sen. Lindsey Graham, talking President Bill Clinton’s then-ongoing impeachment brouhaha. In the video, Graham is speaking with reporters and explaining how accusations from Democratic officials and the White House that this is a partisan bit of hackery by the GOP will not stand the test of time. In fact, Graham explains that if the shoe were on the other foot, the Republican Party could show how ethically solid they are.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: And somebody mentioned if a Republican president would have done this, let me just say this, it would be a good test for us. If a Republican president had done these things, would a Republican delegation going to tell him [sic] to get out of town? I hope so. I would like to think that we would have done that. Only time will tell, what happens here.
Well, surprise surprise: Time told, and Sen. Lindsey Graham is full of shit.
The sad part of all of this is that the Republican Party is now doing what it did then: Attacking the basic foundations of the country’s checks-and-balances system. In that way, the GOP is indeed passing its own internal test of craven corruption and win-by-any-means-necessary power grabbing.
These days, Sen. Graham has been making headlines by sticking his fingers in his ears while talking to reporters about how he promises to break his oath to look at the evidence against Donald Trump impartially, while threatening to impeach anyone with a “D” in front of their name.
A quick history for those who do not remember: Impeachment proceedings were brought against President Bill Clinton, initially over an investigation into real estate dealings. Then, under a Republican-controlled House, that investigation turned into thousands of pages of impeachment findings surrounding whether or not Clinton obstructed justice by willfully misleading investigators about an extramarital affair he had while serving as president.
I know: It sounds quaint by today’s standards.
