Sen. Lindsey Graham isn't just Sen. John McCain's favorite sidekick—he also likes to fashion himself as a "reasonable Republican," unlike lunatics such as Sen. Ted Cruz. But Graham is facing multiple tea party challengers in the South Carolina GOP's U.S. Senate primary next year, and there's only so much sanity the tea party can handle,
therefore:
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham reiterated his pledge to block all of Obama’s nominees for executive branch positions until Congress is allowed to hear testimony from those on the ground during the Benghazi terrorist attacks in 2012.
“I shouldn’t have to do this – to make these threats,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Actually, Graham doesn't have to make those threats. Not only have many of the Benghazi survivors
already testified, several more are scheduled to testify later this month.
If Graham has a reason to believe that isn't enough, he should make his case, but that's not what he's doing: He's simply copying Ted Cruz's shutdown tactic, and applying it to nominations. Moreover, Graham isn't even convinced that his tactics will work. In his words:
“The only way this will work is if my GOP colleagues get behind me and Democrats too and support my request to find out exactly what happened,” he said.
That's exactly the same thing that Ted Cruz said about the government shutdown. Instead of making an argument on the merits, Cruz decided to write a ransom note. Cruz didn't get what he wanted, but along the way he managed to make a lot of people suffer. Graham's actions are taking place on a smaller playing field, but as a tactic, blocking the president's ability to nominate senior members of his administration is exactly the same.
If Graham wants to fend off his tea party challengers by concocting Benghazi conspiracy theories, that's one thing. But he shouldn't make the rest of the country suffer just so he can gain a political edge.
