Lindsey Graham: The Obama of the GOP

I take some very serious issues with Lindsey Graham. I’ll admit, to an extent, it seems a little personal. After all, Graham and John McCain ridiculed Rand Paul’s filibuster over whether or not the President believed he had the authority to kill American citizens. However, the latest evidence of his cluelessness – to say nothing of his inability to understand a basic concept like “liberty” – may well elevate him to the lofty position of Obama of the GOP.

You see, recently I bid a fond farewell to the First Amendment under the Obama administration in a piece here at TheBlaze. Like Obama killing American citizens without due process, he seems to have the support of the senator from South Carolina.

Graham, who has been in office long enough that one would imagine he’s stumbled upon the bill of rights from time to time, recently said he doesn’t know if the First Amendment extends to bloggers. "Who is a journalist is a question we need to ask ourselves," he said. "Is any blogger out there saying anything—do they deserve First Amendment protection? These are the issues of our times."

These are the issues of our time?  Did he really say that?

First, the First Amendment extends to every single American. In addition to freedom of the press, it also protects the freedom of speech. That means that obviously it extends to bloggers. The idea that it wouldn’t shows just a profound lack of understanding on something so basic.

However, that’s only part of the way Graham has brought new heights to the term “stupid.”

(AP Photo) 

His very question goes against the grain of what the freedom of the press means. The idea behind it was so to ensure that power is questioned. Anyone who had the money for a printing press instantly became “the press."  Credentials weren’t necessary. College education wasn’t necessary either. You just started cranking out your paper and distributing it wherever you wanted. It was a thing of beauty.

Today, the process is even easier. Most American households have a computer. Today, the printing press is as much a metaphor as a literal thing. Digital presses, or what most refer to as “blogs," are as common as hair. The access to the technology is much more readily available as it was during the era of our nation’s founding.

The fact that Graham seeks to question whether or not a blogger deserves the same protections that the legacy media enjoys should be a cause for concern for his constituents. Any argument that precludes them could easily be a slippery slope towards stealing away even more liberties. After all, saying that the First Amendment only applies to print can also be extrapolated to mean that the Second Amendment only applies to flintlocks.

Of course, Graham also believes that these are the issues of our times. Drone strikes, a rancid economy, and a host of other things are going on, but whether or not bloggers get to enjoy freedom of the press is really the important question.

My own question is, is this really up for debate? At what point did this become the question of our times? The courts have routinely treated blogs the same as newspaper and television media.There’s a reason for that.

If his tenuous grasp on the First Amendment wasn’t enough to saddle him with the label of “Obama of the GOP,” then we have his comments on Fox and Friends Thursday morning.  In light of the news that the United States government is listening in on Verizon phone calls, Graham said that as a Verizon customer himself, he has no issues with the government spying on him without a warrant.

Both of these situations shows that somewhere in the course of his life, Graham missed what the very essence of being an American really is. We are supposed to be protected from our government, as well as by it. The Constitution serves as a wall between the power of the state and our daily lives.

Graham, in his effort to look tough on terrorism and crime, has instead opted to hand the terrorists one of their biggest victories in this war.  If their goal is to destroy America and our freedoms, then Graham may well be one of their greatest allies.

After all, bombs alone won’t destroy what we stand for. It takes someone like Graham who has no appreciation for freedom to do the last little bit. He seems only to eager to do his part.