Graham's America: "I'm not going to call a judge, I'm going to call a drone and we will kill you"

[kpete]

Soon-to-be presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) could be heard laughing on Saturday as he told a crowd of Iowa Republicans that if an American were suspected of associating with terrorists, he would order a drone to kill that person.

"If I'm President of the United States and you're thinkin' about joining al-Qaeda or ISIL — anybody thinkin' about that? — I'm not going to call a judge, I'm going to call a drone and we will kill you," Graham said at the Iowa Republican Party's annual Lincoln Day Dinner fundraiser.

Audio of the remark was captured by NPR.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/lindsey-graham-drone-kill-islamic-state?utm_content=bufferad4f4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

AUDIO:
http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/05/17/407385168/gop-presidential-hopefuls-serve-up-ice-cream-cheese-and-red-meat-to-iowans

[Octafish]

1. Little Napoleon is a Big Fascist - Lindsey Graham threatened to use force on Congress

From a couple months' back:

Why the media silence on Lindsey Graham’s vow to use the military to force vote in Congress?

By Bill Van Auken
world socialist web site, 14 March 2015

The protracted 2016 presidential campaign cycle has already begun, and with it the close attention of the media to the statements made by prospective candidates in hopes of discovering even the slightest “gaffe” that can be turned into a political news item.

All the more odd then that the remarks made at a New Hampshire town hall meeting by one Republican presidential hopeful, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have been virtually blacked out by all of the major print and broadcast outlets.

Asked by a member of the audience what he would do about automatic cuts to the Pentagon budget that would go into effect because of sequestration, Graham responded that the problem had left him sick to his stomach.

[font color="green"]He continued: “And here is the first thing I would do if I were President of the United States: I wouldn’t let Congress leave town until we fix this. I would literally use the military to keep them in if I had to. We’re not leaving town until we restore these defense cuts. We’re not leaving town until we restore the intel cuts.”[/font color]

The statement is extraordinary. A candidate for the presidency of the United States vows that, once elected, he would use the military to impose his—and its—will upon a recalcitrant Congress. Presumably, troops would hold members of the House and Senate at gunpoint until they produced the results demanded.

CONTINUED...

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/03/14/medi-m14.html

Thanks for the heads-up, kpete. This guy is getting readied to be Jebthro's Cheney.

[yellowcanine]

7. "I would literally use the military to keep them in if I had to." Well that would be a coup.

Good to know where he stands on democracy.

[Aristus]

2. Kileled for 'thinkin' ' about something.

Yep, that's a Republican's America, all right...

[Maedhros]

3. How the hell can anyone criticize Graham for saying this,

and yet support Obama when he actually does it?

[yellowcanine]

6. A little hyperbole don't you think? When has Obama ordered a drone strike on someone THINKING about

joining ISIS? Please elaborate.

[Maedhros]

8. He has executed suspected criminals with drone strikes without due process.

The last one was described by the Pentagon as a "propagandist." That's not too far removed from "joining ISIS."

[yellowcanine]

9. Even if true, not the same thing. "Thinking about joining" not the same as joining.

Big fat exaggeration on your part.

[Maedhros]

10. A little bit of pearl-clutching on your part, with regard to a throw-away line by Graham

delivered to supporters in Iowa. Yes - he engaged in some pretty offensive and callous bravado, playing the political tough-guy that his supporters want to see. We should expect this. Personally I find these kind of mocking OPs pretty useless - we know what Republicans are like; there really is no discussion of substance to be had in pointing and laughing at them.

However, there is a discussion of substance to be had about actual abuse of drone warfare, yet too many Democrats are willing to hand-wave away any objections to how the President uses drone strikes. I guess the bottom line is: does one believe in the Bush Doctrine? One must, if one believes that how we conduct our drone warfare campaigns is righteous.

[yellowcanine]

11. "there is a discussion of substance to be had" yes, but this is the wrong place for it.

You tried to graft that discussion unto a discussion about the bombastic Mr. Graham. Not really germane nor useful either, I would maintain. You want to discuss drone policy, start a new discussion.

[Maedhros]

12. Oh, I have. But you're right, I'm hijacking and I'll stop. [n/t]

[NutmegYankee]

18. Bullshit.

Killing enemy soldiers caught in the open, in the field, even if they happen to have US Citizenship, is not a crime and not unconstitutional.

[Maedhros]

20. Jingoism - it's not just for Republicans anymore. [n/t]

[NutmegYankee]

22. Well that was a meaningless response.

If you join an enemy group/army/nation, you can be targeted like any other enemy combatant.

[LuvNewcastle]

4. Any U.S. Senator who calls for killing

people who commit thought crimes needs to be removed from his job. It's one thing to be a fool, but it's quite another to flaunt it in public.

[johnnyreb]

5. Lindsey Graham on the torture pics, 2004:

"The American public needs to understand we're talking about rape and murder here. We're not just talking about giving people a humiliating experience," Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told reporters after Rumsfeld testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. "We're talking about rape and murder -- and some very serious charges."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/08/iraq/main616338.shtml

For a very brief moment Senator, I thought there was some hope for you.

[Octafish]

14. Can you imagine how bad it must be for them to have to maintain a complete blackout?

Hersh in 2004 reported it involved all manner of evil, including harming children in front of their parents -- "for information" -- from people who had NOTHING to do with 9-11.

“Debating about it, ummm … Some of the worst things that happened you don’t know about, okay? Videos, um, there are women there. Some of you may have read that they were passing letters out, communications out to their men. This is at Abu Ghraib … The women were passing messages out saying ‘Please come and kill me, because of what’s happened’ and basically what happened is that those women who were arrested with young boys, children in cases that have been recorded. The boys were sodomized with the cameras rolling. And the worst above all of that is the soundtrack of the boys shrieking that your government has. They are in total terror. It’s going to come out.”

It never did though. Corporate Owned News does as its told. They will go no where near anywhere near following up on war crimes, let alone the treason leading up to the wars for profit. The example also shows BFEE power over the press.

It's like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. getting no air time at all when he stated his father thought the Warren Commission was crapola.

Who's that leave, when "journalists" won't even bother to report, let alone investigate, treason?

[johnnyreb]

15. Today's Republicans are prone to succumb to the madness.

In their dependency world of thievery, projection and responsibility-avoidance, they can only reconcile the horror of their own conduct by embracing full-on barbarism.

song:
http://www.mp3c.cc/track/-27403387_108194621

[7wo7rees]

17. Just simply heartbreaking. nt

[kentuck]

13. Something very disturbing about these Republicans that talk about "killing" all the time...

Like a chill on a cold, rainy day...

[Thor_MN]

16. So before announcing a bid for the presidency, he declares that not only would fail to uphold the

Constitution, he would actively violate it. Great plan there, Lindsey!!

[Bonobo]

19. Unfortunately we have ceded the moral authority to criticize such rhetoric IMO. nt

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

21. After having his masculanity questioned

Lindsey's decided to thump his chest and get his war on.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

23. What a humanitarian!