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Lindsey Graham may be a squish on a number of issues, but this flogging of Eric Holder is very well done:And why is the flogging delivered with authority?
Military serviceSo, unlike our nation's top lawyer, Graham has a clue about the Law of War.
Graham decided to join the United States Air Force in 1982, and served on active duty until 1988. Following his departure he stayed in the military, joining the South Carolina Air National Guard and the U.S. Air Force Reserves. During the Gulf War, he was recalled to active duty, serving as a Judge Advocate at McEntire Air National Guard Station in Eastover, South Carolina, where he helped brief departing pilots on the laws of war.
There would be no sin in Eric Holder just admitting that he's inexperienced in the topic, and seeking advice from people who know more. Senator Graham, for example.
This business of just Making Crap Up, when there is so much at stake, is dereliction of duty. Holder, if it's your own private concern, and you want to try something you read in a comic book, that's your prerogative. But you've a sworn obligation to do The Right Thing, in a job where you have systematically demonstrated cluelessness. This business of mixing civil law with the Law of War makes exactly as much sense as mixing domestic policy with international diplomacy. Holder, you're either are living in a unified-world-government fantasy land, or the least competent boob to occupy your office since its inception.
This country would be better served by Denny Crane as Attorney General. Do us all a favor, Holder, and RESIGN.
Update: Power Line
Okay, so Senator Graham is apparently in possession of a pair. That being the case I am requesting here, in the most public forum I have at my disposal, that he take them out of whatever drawer he keeps them in more often. If he were this principled and bold on domestic issues, he would be a hero. There is clearly a great deal of potential going to waste there. Oyster out.
ReplyDeleteDespite it's interruption by that "you're a fine man" horseshit, I applaud the Senator's momentary twinkle of intellectual seriousness.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it will evolve into something greater...such as entire days or even weeks of it.
Graham is utterly contemptible on many levels, but yeah, he was right here. Except when he said that Holder is a 'fine man.' He isn't.
ReplyDeleteSince Holder decided to go forward with this, dude should've bone up on research material beforehand. Now he looked and sounded like a first year law student getting his ass handed to him on a silver platter, garnished with them dainty pieces of parsley.
ReplyDeleteThe look on Graham's face seems to be a mix of incredulity, pity and disgust.
Holder should see if he can turn in his law school diploma for a refund. From his performance, don't sound like he learned anything.
I figure the statement about Holder being a, "Fine man" was probably from their status as memebers of the DC Cocktail League.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Graham does know something about the "law of war." Does he know anything about reality?
ReplyDelete1) Congress hasn't declared war since 1941, and both the wars it declared in 1941 ended long ago. The US is not, legally speaking, at war, nor has it been for more than 60 years.
2) KSM is not, as Graham puts it, "an enemy combatant caught on a battlefield." He was arrested at his apartment in Pakistan, and whether or not he's an "enemy combatant" is the QUESTION TO BE ANSWERED by a trial, not the answer that precludes a trial.
3) Graham talks about a "civilian court theory" versus an "enemy combatant theory." The comparison between the two is like the comparison between the theory of gravity and the theory that there are little glands on our feet that constant secrete an invisible glue to hold us to the ground and keep us from floating away, i.e. there is merit in one theory while the other is completely made-up bullshit.
Kn@ppster,
ReplyDelete1) There is no formal ritual in the Constitution or Code for declaring war. They gave an AUMF; that suffices.
2) Unforced confession to a sympathetic source (Al Jazeera) of having planned and organized an act of war settles that easily. Also, the Administration is not pretending that there is any question of his guilt. They have openly foretold his conviction and execution.
3) Several things here:
A) There are differences is procedure and jurisdiction between military commissions and civilian courts.
B) Civilians, captured soldiers, outlaws, and unlawful combatants each have differing rights under US law and the Geneva Convention.
C) Ridicule without evidence does not win an argument, nor make you look impressive. It makes you look like a jackass.
Senator Graham is in most cases a contemptible squish, but I cannot tolerate the disingenuous or the dim-witted, and you seem to be playing one of those two parts today. In this one, blessed case, the Senator is rock solid. Please educate yourself a little before criticizing.
That is an asswhooppin. Holder looks like a fool (in fact he is proven to be a fool). I would enjoy it on partisan grounds, except it shows just how screwed we all really are.
ReplyDeleteGrahamnesty is probably afraid that if he doesn't show something here, people will start looking at a Republican who does have something of substance to offer.
ReplyDeleteA Republican like Sarah Palin.