Sens. McCain & Graham Dedicate Morning to Discrediting Paul Filibuster (Graham Even Uses a Shame Chart!)

Sens. John McCain (l) and Lindsey Graham (r). (Getty Images).

Following the conclusion of Sen. Rand Paul’s nearly 13-hour filibuster of the White House's secretive drone program, GOP senators Lindsay Graham (S.C.) and John McCain (Ariz.) took the opportunity to deride his efforts as absurd and “not helpful.”

"I don't think that what happened yesterday is helpful to the American people," Sen. McCain said after reading aloud a Wall Street Journal editorial that characterizes Sen. Paul's concerns as "ridiculous."

“To allege that … our government would drop a drone hellfire missile on Jane Fonda,” he continued, “that brings the conversation from a serious discussion about U.S. policy to the realm of the ridiculous.”

He also accused Sen. Paul of giving ammunition to the filibuster reform crowd:

Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsay Graham had this to say: “This idea that we’re going to use a drone to attack a citizen in a cafe in America is ridiculous.”

See for yourself:

Later, while speaking on the Senate floor, Sen. Graham continued his criticism of Sen. Paul.

"I don't remember any of my GOP colleagues coming here to say Bush would kill Americans with a drone," said Graham. "The chance of you being killed by a drone because you went to a Tea Party rally ... is zero."

Sen. Graham even brought a chart and everything:

Twitter

Basically, as of this writing, the White House's unofficial response to Sen. Paul's filibuster has come from two GOP senators and a Wall Street Journal editorial.

This is very simple. If you think we are & should be at war always & everywhere, you're with McCain and Graham. If not, you #standwithrand.

— David Freddoso (@freddoso) March 7, 2013

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Featured image Getty Images. This post has been updated a bunch.