yustyoking

            June 19, 2011: Senator Lindsey O. Graham from South Carolina, a portly gentleman with opinions, goes on Meet The Press. Having learned nada from Newt Gingrich’s debacle, Senator Graham channels Dick Cheney: If we don’t defeat Moammar Gaddafi, it will mean the end of NATO, we’ll lose all respect in the world and the price of oil will double. Calling Gaddafi “the madman of the Middle East,” the Senator claims Gaddafi, if left in power, will organize the other nations of the region against us. He concludes by stating that any politician who disagrees with him on Libya “isn’t living on the same planet.”

            Brothers and sisters, here we go again! A total flashback to Vice President Dick Cheney telling the American people, during the run-up to the Iraq war, that leaving a quiescent Saddam Hussein in power would lead to all kinds of dangers for U.S. security. Calling Saddam a “snake in the grass,” Cheney insisted we needed to cut off the head. America, rich at the time, a little arrogant, somewhat naïve, smarting from 9/11, the people bought Cheney’s arguments. After all, the man’s a pro. You don’t screw around with Dick Cheney.

            For Lindsey Graham to beard a war-weary public, who are focused on the flailing economy, and call for greater military commitment, shows an almost delusional misreading of public sentiment.

            It’s true that Libya’s, Syria’s and Yemen’s autocrats are not going quietly into that dark night. Does Graham expect us to make war on all of them?

            How Gaddafi in North Africa, isolated even among the Arab nations, will bring down the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, I cannot fathom.

            America’s position in the world, mercifully, isn’t dependent on Moammar Gaddafi. (Thank God for small favors!)

            As for Gaddafi uniting the oil nations against us in a wave of sticker shock, FORGET IT! Gaddafi has remained in power all these years because his fellow leaders view him as a total nut job and avoid contact as much as possible. He’s a catastrophe for his own people, but elsewhere in the world, Gaddafi has no standing.

            Of his three attempts at foreign policy, only one brought beneficial results. His first incursion was bringing down a passenger jet over Lockerbie, Scotland. This disaster stained Gaddafi’s reputation permanently, repudiating any claim of human compassion he might utter. His second venture succeeded: He got America to remove Libya from the list of outlaw nations. Normalizing trade and diplomacy, Gaddafi was at least greeted on the world stage as a legitimate head of state. His third foray, speaking before the United Nations General Assembly, ended less than triumphantly. Diplomats candidly called him “weird,” “unconnected to reality” and “the lights on, but no one home.”

            Bookends, Lindsey Graham and Moammar Gaddafi are a matched set.

            It will be interesting to see if America buys the same sales pitch from Senator Graham that we bought from Vice President Richard Cheney ten long years ago.

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