Senator Lindsay Graham went on the record and said that the Republican Party needs to distance itself from the fringe. He looks at various media that is known for whipping up people into a frenzy and he feels it is hurting his party. His distain extended to Glenn Beck:
“Glenn Beck is not aligned with any party. He is aligned with cynicism and there has always been a market for cynics. But we became a great nation not because we are a nation of cynics. We became a great nation because we are a nation of believers.”
He extended his criticism beyond individuals to include movements like the ‘birther’ movement and speculated what it would have been like to write the founding documents of this country in an environment where news channels were on 24/7:
Reflecting comments made earlier in the day by his colleague and close friend, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Graham said he was deeply worried about “the passions of cable TV” whipping up the emotions of the public. “If you get rewarded for being a jerk you are going to keep doing it,” he said, before labeling “Talk radio, MoveOn.org, and the 24-hour news cycle” as the main culprits in polarizing the nation.
“Can you imagine doing D-Day with cable television?” he asked. “Can you imagine writing the Constitution — you know, O’Reilly says Ben Franklin’s giving in on something. Can you imagine having to do that in this environment?”
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