Guest Post by Colonel Morris Davis, Attorney and Former Chief Prosecutor for Guantanamo Military Commissions. Colonel Davis is a Prince William County resident.

South Carolina has a reputation for setting the political bar as low as it can go and seeing who can slither under it. It’s the place where in the 2000 presidential primaries Karl Rove put the shiv to John McCain’s bid with a whisper campaign asking people if they’d be less likely to vote for McCain if they knew he’d fathered an illegitimate black child. While McCain hadn’t, oddly enough, the long-time South Carolina senator and leading segregationist Strom Thurmond had and hid the fact for decades until his death. It’s the state currently under the stewardship of Governor Mark Sanford who last year gave the phrase “hiking the Appalachian Trail” a whole new meaning when he lied to his wife and his constituents about his whereabouts while he was bumping bellies with his “soul mate” down in South America.

The bar was recalibrated downward again last week at a Tea Party Patriots rally in Greenville, S.C., by William Gheen, head of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC). Interestingly — at least to me — Gheen and I are from the same small town, Shelby, N.C., and we’re both graduates of Shelby High School, although I’m several years older and don’t recall ever meeting him. Gheen fired up the Tea Party base and had all of the Patriots in the crowd cheering when he said:

“Barney Frank has been more honest and brave than you (referring to South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham). At least we know about Barney Frank, nobody’s going to hold it over his head. Look, I’m a tolerant person. I don’t care about your private life, Lindsey, but as our U.S. senator, I need to figure out why you’re trying to sell out your own countrymen, I need to make sure you being gay isn’t it.”

ALIPAC issued an email press release saying:

The national border security organization known as Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) is officially calling for U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to make his homosexual lifestyle public knowledge in the interest of political integrity and national security.

“U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham is gay and while many people in South Carolina and Washington, D.C., know that, the general public and Graham’s constituents do not,” said William Gheen, President of ALIPAC.” I personally do not care about Graham’s private life, but in this situation his desire to keep this a secret may explain why he is doing a lot of political dirty work for others who have the power to reveal his secrets. Senator Graham needs to come out of the closet inside that log cabin so the public can rest assured he is not being manipulated with his secret.”

On the ALIPAC website, it says Gheen is a “veteran campaign consultant” known for “creating new voter outreach methods.” There’s nothing new about the slash and burn tactic of ambushing opponents with sleazy innuendo. Rove and others of his ilk in the radical right mastered the tradecraft long ago. The citizens of South Carolina have swallowed the bait before — ask John McCain — but I hope by now they have wised up and won’t let Gheen set the hook and drag them over the transom.

What brought the wrath of the radical right down on Senator Graham is that on occasion he breaks ranks with right wing orthodoxy and, heaven forbid, works with colleagues on both sides of the aisle on legislation. Isn’t that what our elected representatives in the legislative branch are supposed to do? If, as Gheen, ALIPAC, and the teabaggers seem to expect, all elected representatives stay in strict lockstep with the party then every vote in the Senate is a preordained 59-41 tally. What’s the point in convening Congress if there’s guaranteed gridlock and an immovable impasse? We don’t need fewer members like Senator Graham, we need more; members who don’t have their heads so far up the rear ends of the Svengalis that pull the strings of their parties that they’ve lost sight of why the voters sent them to Capitol Hill.

It’s disappointing to see groups like ALIPAC and the Tea Party Patriots try to stake a false claim to patriotism. The motto of Gheen’s organization is “fight back with ALIPAC,” but it appears the only fighting Gheen’s a veteran of is a verbal ambush of his own making on a career military officer. Gheen never served a day defending the country as a member of the armed forces (another PINO – Patriot In Name Only) while Senator Graham has been a member of the U.S. Air Force for 28 years. It’s one thing to talk the talk like Gheen, but Senator (Colonel) Graham has walked the walk in defense of America.

I was the chief prosecutor for the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay when the Supreme Court struck down the judicial system created by President Bush’s executive order and put the ball in Congress’ lap to craft a solution. Senator Graham invited me to his office and asked one thing: “What do you need from me to get the job done right?” That’s the attitude I’ve seen from Senator Graham; what’s the right thing to do, not what’s most politically expedient or what’s tracking best in the polls. In my view, that’s called integrity and there’s not enough of it on Capitol Hill.

The people of South Carolina elected Senator Graham to represent them in the legislative branch of government, not to be head deacon at their church. William Gheen and his type want to derail a good man — an actual patriot, and a dedicated public servant — by pandering to prejudice. I don’t care about Senator Graham’s sexual preference or if he even has one, but I do care about the direction our country is headed. We need leaders with integrity and principles who put the needs of the citizens ahead of their political fortunes. We need more Lindsey Graham’s and the citizens of South Carolina should be proud he’s their senator. I hope they don’t get teabagged by a d-bag like Gheen.

75 Thoughts to “Don’t Let a D-Bag Teabag Sen. Lindsey Graham”

  1. marinm

    It’s unfortunate that Mr. Davis chooses to use the term teabagger as I think it softens the impact of this article. I personally also feel that the allusion of racism still existing in the first para and making it appear as the entire state (sets the bar low) somehow condones it.. I want the last 5 minutes of my life back for having read the article.

    I’m disappointed. I was hoping for something of substance and feel robbed.

  2. Emma

    I had the same reaction, marinm. That language debases his argument and lowers him to the same level as he feels Gheen stands.

  3. TWINAD

    Of course, I’m breaking ranks with the above comments. I LOL’d at the last sentence. And also think it’s true. He is a d bag.

    This is the “main idea” of his piece:

    “The people of South Carolina elected Senator Graham to represent them in the legislative branch of government, not to be head deacon at their church. William Gheen and his type want to derail a good man — an actual patriot, and a dedicated public servant — by pandering to prejudice. I don’t care about Senator Graham’s sexual preference or if he even has one, but I do care about the direction our country is headed. We need leaders with integrity and principles who put the needs of the citizens ahead of their political fortunes. We need more Lindsey Graham’s and the citizens of South Carolina should be proud he’s their senator.”

    Well said, Colonel, and I like your sense of humor, too.

  4. Emma

    Funny to read Davis’s last sentence, considering all of the recent left-wing cries for “civility” in the political arena.

  5. I would not say that Colonel Davis would classify himself as a ‘left-wing person.’

    Additionally, how do you feel about the term swift-boat? How does that differ from the word Tea-bag used as a verb, as it was in the title?

    I would say that anyone who deliberately starts lies about someone for political gain is very much a douche-bag and then some.

  6. and Oh PU-LEEZ on the civility front. Not going to play the game. I am a centrist so I am going to say that if Gheens spread lies about Graham for political gain, then he is simply a POS. Don’t blame the left for it either. The left wouldn’t have me.

    How convenient to give someone a pass who has set out to ruin a person politically by stating they are gay (yea that still carries a stigma) and then to condemn the person who calls that person out on the act.

    🙄 Such hypocrisy.

  7. TWINAD

    There would be no piece written by the Colonel calling Gheen a dbag if it wasn’t for the “right wing” attacks on civility as apparently displayed at this rally. What gave Gheen the right to try to “out” Graham? If there is anything to out anyway? Pandering to the lowest common denominator. Yuck.

  8. Emma

    @Moon-howler Apples and oranges. “Swiftboating” refers to a type of unfair political attack. It does not disparage the “attackee.” “Teabagging” and “teabagger” are ad hominem attack words. Apples and oranges.

    Gheens did wrong. But Davis undermines his credibility with his language.

  9. Censored bybvbl

    Okay, where are the TPers who say that their movement is not full of these nutso racists and homophobes? Waah, waah, the Colonel’s language was coarse. ..but the silence about Gheen’s slander is deafening.

  10. Censored bybvbl

    “Swiftboating” refers to a type of unfair political attack. It does not disparage the “attackee.”

    Tell that to John Kerry.

  11. Swiftboating is the same form of political character assassination as Tea Bagging. I suppose those who aren’t tea bagging shouldn’t worry. If they are, then they should be called out on it.

    When I no longer see Obamacare written, I might start holding to a higher standard and turn up my nose at the expression, Tea Bagging. What I find amazing is last summer it was perfectly acceptable and all these folks came out with tea baq earrings, tea bags on hats, tea bag here, tea bag there. The average person didn’t know it was a [gasp] bad word. Actually most people probably don’t know a lot of words that people use as sexual terms.

    So I guess my feeling is, get over it. If a person acts like our friends Wolverine or Cargosquid, then I will be polite. If someone like this POS Gheen assassinates someone’s character…well…all bets are off. I probably would call them something worse than a tea bagger….at least worse in my mind.

    And it looks like Colonel Morris just invented a new way to use the word. Swiftboating was last decade. Teabagging is this decades form of obnoxious political assassination.

  12. marinm

    I just thought that a member of the Coffee Party or at least someone that talks up those virtues would instead of putting out a hit piece would take the high road and provide a thought provoking article that would provide information so that people in the center (like myself) can have more information to make an informed decision.

    I think if more people took the high road in civil discourse – information can be better exchanged in a marketplace of ideas. Anyways, I still want my 5 minutes back – who do I send the invoice to? 🙂

    1. Perhaps Colonel Morris was speaking of someone who knows and likes Senator Graham. Perhaps he didn’t have his coffee party hat on. Again, let’s look at his main point: A man’s character has been assassinated for absolutely no reason other than he is a team player. Graham is not an ideologue. Do the ends justify the means?

      In my world, Colonel Morris was polite. What a hideous thing for Gheen to do. Just despicable!

  13. Why is it that the right fails to address the behavior and ALWAYS tries to deflect the main issue.

    Emma, and whoever else tried the tri-deflecta on this one…do you think Gheen was right to make any reference to Lindsay Graham’s sexual orientation, regardless of what it is? Is that a fair way to treat your political enemies?

    I don’t care what Colonel Morris called Gheen or who was offended. In another day, someone might have called Gheen out and put a hole in him….right there at Bladensburg.

    Was Karl Rove a decent human being to start a rumor about John McCain having an illegitimate black child in South Carolina? Is that any way to treat someone who has taken adopted a child of another race? Let’s talk about the act, not the language.

  14. Emma

    I’ve never heard a single Tea Party member call themselves by that name. I think people wore the teabags, etc., because it’s a little impractical to wear loose tea leaves as a political statement and nod to the Boston Tea Party.

    Sure, the tea-bag bling looked goofy, but the term “teabagger” came from the left, who relished the opportunity for a foul-mouthed epithet against people who have the nerve to disagree with them.

  15. Emma

    Moon-howler :
    Emma, and whoever else tried the tri-deflecta on this one…do you think Gheen was right to make any reference to Lindsay Graham’s sexual orientation, regardless of what it is? Is that a fair way to treat your political enemies?

    Did you conveniently overlook my statement in #8 that Gheen did wrong?

  16. Emma

    From the Coffee Party Facebook page: “Let’s work for a more tolerant and civil society one conversation at a time.” Just not this conversation, I guess.

  17. marinm

    Since I didn’t learn anything from this article and I had no idea who this Gheen guy was.. I fired up my trust google-machine (or bing if I want to ‘fight the establishment’) and went to the Jon Stewart video..

    1. He made the statement almost funny.
    2. I appreciate that he [Gheen] says that he doesn’t care about the Senators lifestyle and then goes on his way into lala land. He’s a tool.
    3. I learned more by watching Jon Stewart than I did with the above article.

    While I support his right to say what he wants I think he takes away from his cause by trying to out someone he has no proof on. And, assuming that he is gay:

    1. Who cares?
    2. Voters already either know or don’t care.
    3. I don’t get the connection between allegedly being gay and letting my lazy cousins hitch a ride over.

    So my response is Gheen is a tool and he takes away from his arguement and that the author of the above could’ve scored some points but instead shanked and threw a gutter ball.

  18. Censored bybvbl

    We have another person who spent much time in South Carolina to thank for the scumminess of present politics – Lee Atwater. He was very good at putting the sleaze in politics.

    I frankly don’t know how South Carolinians will respond to this trash. It is afterall the Bible Belt. The irony will escape them.

  19. No Emma, I didn’t overlook it. What I saw was a ‘yes but…..’

  20. “Let’s work for a more tolerant and civil society one conversation at a time.”

    Did you quote that from Colonel Morris? Didn’t think so. Did Colonel Morris write that piece for the Coffee Party? Nope. Didn’t think so. Did Colonel Morris connect or link to the coffee party with that piece? Didn’t think so.

    So why drag the coffee party into all this? I posted the article and I am definitely NOT a coffee party member. I tend to not be polite when my friends are attacked.

  21. As a proud TEAbagger (I refuse to let the left insult me), TEA Party member, or TEAHadist, I hereby condemn Gheen’s inappropriate “outing” of Senator Graham whether it is true or not. 1) Its not relevant 2) its rude, possibly slanderous, and none of his business. Your favorite whipping boy Beck, condemned Gheen in no uncertain terms today. He seriously condemned any actions like that. And he can’t stand Graham.

    That said, the above piece did two things. 1) it appropriately condemned Gheen and the local Tea Party for inappropriately cheering his “red meat” and letting their disapproval of Graham get out of hand. 2) it allowed him to portray Graham as a brave member that does not move in lockstep with the party.

    Well, 2 is false. He does seem to move in lockstep….with the Democrats, on many issues. It is the duty of the party with opposing principles to OPPOSE. The Republican party is supposed to be the party of less government, responsible spending, more liberty, and rule by law. Graham’s support of Amnesty, Cap and Tax, Gang of 14, and the bailouts, have tarnished Graham in the eyes of conservatives.

    If bipartisanship is so important to Col. Davis, why not condemn the Democrats for not bending their principles and joining with the GOP? Why is it that bipartisanship only goes one way?

    Oh, and “swiftboating” is not a pejorative, except to liberals. The Swift Boat teams were never contradicted. They told the truth about that traitor Kerry. His record is horrible and as a reserve officer, after he returned and joined the “peace movement,” he illegally met with the North Vietnamese to present THEIR terms to the US. He lied about his fellow service members in the Winter Soldier hearings. I’m ashamed that he was in my Navy.

    1. Cargo, not everyone is either left or right. Plenty of Democrats have joined with Republicans. Remember about 3 weeks ago there were about 40 blue dogs who were holding out on the health care legislation? Does that not count?

      I don’t recall legislation called ‘Amnesty.’ When did that happen and what was the result?

      Cargo, you are in a partisan funk tonight. You truly are an ideologue.

      Swiftboating is what it is. It has become a pejorative term since 2004. And it stunk. Actually plenty of people contradicted the swiftboaters. I know an equal number of Vietnam vets who agree with Kerry. However, those who opposed his political views should stick with that and leave his military record out of the discussion. He was a vet. He did something I didn’t have to do. Good enough for me. Same with those who tried to detract from what John McCain did.

      Kerry was never one of my favorite people but the chances I would ever have to deal with him on a personal level were 2: slim and none. I was disgusted over what was said about him. I thought the swiftboaters were lower than snake bellies for their tactics.

  22. Morris Davis

    If you didn’t like that version of the article you’d have really hated the first draft. I see where this afternoon Lou Dobbs, not exactly a softy on immigration, said Gheen, the head of an anti-immigrant movement, is “a dangerous, dangerous distorter of reality” for claiming that Sen. Graham is gay. Kind of like getting chastized by the Grand Wizzard for being too much of a racist. I was never a big Lou Dobbs fan, but congrats to him for having the guts to speak out. I always set out intending to take the high road, but if you kick me in the nads you’re going to get a busted nose. Being civil doesn’t mean being passive in the face of abuse.

  23. The Blue dogs folded and voted for the HCR abomination. Graham supports amnesty for illegal aliens. I’m proud to be an ideologue. I have faith in my ideas and willing to support them. You didn’t realize that?

    Democrats have made the term “swiftboating” a pejorative because they feel that Kerry was wronged. The Swift Boat teams were willing to go to court. Kerry never contradicted them. His record is suspicious. And his actions as a Reserve officer with the North Vietnamese and his actions at Winter Soldier are reprehensible. Being a vet does not absolve you of bad decisions. His military record is part of his political views. They are intertwined. He used his military membership to advance his political career. He also used his “rejection” of the military to advance his political career.

    Why is it low for the swift boaters to challenge him and to bring forth knowledge that they had? Shouldn’t one’s character be examined in an campaign? McCain? Are you talking about some that accused McCain of being a screw up and a bad pilot? I seem to remember something. I don’t have a problem with that. If one can bring evidence of bad character and bad decisions, it should be revealed. His decision to stay in the POW camp and not accept special treatment does help to contradict any “favorite son” rumors.

    How do you feel about those that accused Bush of evading the draft even though he flew F102’s? Examination of his record was valid as was the defense of it. I looked into it thoroughly. His reserve time, as noted in public records, was fine. He completed all of it.

  24. I think that we’re just going to have to agree to disagree on “swiftboating.” To be honest, its not that big of a deal. Kerry’s actions strike a nerve with me because I feel he dishonored his service and betrayed his country. The Winter Soldier testimony was an abomination and his actions in meeting with the North Vietnamese, while still in the Reserve, should have resulted in a court martial.

    I accept that many don’t believe the Swift Boat guys. I believe that they raised valid doubts on Kerry’s actions, that, in conjunction with his “peace movement” actions, showed him to be of either monumentally poor judgment or poor character.

  25. Wolverine

    Just some thoughts:

    (1) Gheen definitely blew it. Not a smart move. There is more than enough in the political ammo box for conservatives to go after Graham without resorting to this kind of thing. End of my agreement with the Colonel’s guest post.

    (1) Colonel Davis started off his post by insulting practically the entire state of South Carolina. Not a very good idea, in my opinion, if your ultimate goal is to try to convince South Carolinians to support Graham against this kind of attack. “South Carolina has a reputation for setting the political bar as low as it can go…” In other words, South Carolinians are just a bunch of dumb rubes because they don’t follow my political philosophy. Gee, that will surely win you hearts and minds.

    (2) And “have their heads so far up the rear ends of the Svengalis who pull the strings of their parties”? This is part of a reasoned, mature argument made by an experienced attorney? Sounds to me more like the sort of distasteful stuff you see on the uber-partisan blogs. It is also what you might find in the often disgusting comments section after a WaPo article. Don’t see that kind of thing much at all on Moonhowlings.net — which is exactly why I keep coming back here.

    (3) Actually, from what I know about the Colonel, the theme of this post did not come as a total surprise. This has made me recall once again that incident late last year when Colonel Davis was fired as Asst. Director of the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division of the Congressional Research Service (CSR). The published reasons for the firing were that he went out of school and published a couple of articles in the WaPO and the Wall Street Journal which were very critical of President Obama’s decision to continue with military trials for some of the terrorist detainees. As far as I understand it, the CSR’s stock in trade is to maintain total impartiality with regard to policy recommendations and research for all members of Congress. It looks like Colonel Davis was accused of wandering off the reservation on that one. He and the ACLU defended his actions and claimed a wrongful dismissal on the basis of the First Amendment and the argument that, by writing about the military trials decision, he was not delving into a subject for which he was responsible at the CSR. That argument could be made, I suppose, although, as I recall, a court didn’t buy into it. The CSR didn’t buy into it either. And I wonder what kind of outside pressure the CSR got in that case? In all this, I haven’t even delved into the public story of why the Colonel left the USAF over the Gitmo issue. I personally think that the good colonel is a wee bit of a “rogue” himself — just like Graham. Birds of a feather, perhaps? Not a criticism. Just an observation.

    ( 4) I do get mighty weary of that old song about how, if you have not served in the military, you are somehow wrong in daring to criticize the political views of someone who has. Carried to a “logical” conclusion, that would mean that I and Cargo and several others on this blog would be able to claim immunity from criticism by Moon or Elena or many others here of our expressed political opinions. LOL. Fat chance of that!! I wouldn’t even try that one. I honor military service as appropriate. But I don’t care if you served for six months or 28 years. If I disagree with you politically, I will not hestitate to say so — as politely as I can, of course. Lindsey Graham’s past service gets no pass from me when the issues are contemporary. And that is the way it ought to be.

    (5) And so I will launch myself right into the “Swiftboating” debate. This may seem like I am going back on my opinions in (4) above; but it is germane to my argument. I’ll let you in on a little secret. I worked with the Swift Boats in Vet Nam for awhile. My job was to advise them of potential attack targets, vector them in on those targets, and ensure that the patrol areas they vacated to go on the attack were adequately covered by other Swifts. You know what was one of the hardest parts of my job? I personally found it very difficult to keep a lid on those Swift captains, most of them at the grade of lieutenant j.g. The ones I encountered were out there to fight, and I sometimes had to pass them word that the attacks they themselves were proposing were too dangerous. You should have heard the arguments and crap I got back when a target was deemed a “no-go.” But I had to keep in mind what I was told before I undertook that mission — about the Swift captain who did not listen and took his boat into an ambush from which none of our men came back. I gained a great deal of respect for those Swift guys. They were a breed apart, in my personal opinion — they and the others in the “Brown Water” Navy.

    Ergo I read all the Swift Boater material against Kerry from just a bit closer perspective than many others. Quite frankly, I found it credible. And I do not believe that Kerry was able to refute it to any extent. But, that aside, I had it in for Kerry for what he did after he left Viet Nam. I found that to be unforgiveable, especially that farce called the “Winter Soldier” hearings. As far as I am concerned, Kerry got exactly what he deserved in 2004. Disagree with the war, and I will give you no problem. But call me and my fellow comrades-in-arms what Kerry and his friends called us is not something I will ever forget.

  26. Wolverine

    Ooops — make that “CRS” vice “CSR” in (3).

  27. Visitor

    I love that on my computer screen and inch and a half below the line that reads:

    A Place for Civil Debate: not your typical ideologue blog

    is the lead story:

    Don’t Let a D-Bag Teabag Sen. Lindsey Graham

    Jon Stewart has nothing on you in comedy writing.

    Who is the next guest poster going to be? Howard Stern? Sarah Silverman? Andrew Dice Clay? Maybe you can add in a porn section like Huffington Post!

  28. Starryflights

    Very well-stated, Colonel. You and Senator Graham are fine, patriotic Americans. Gheen is a liar and a coward.

    The people of South Carolina voted for a fine man to represent them in the Senate. Gheen’s lies are like slaps in the face to the citizens of South Carolina.

  29. Visitor, no one has been uncivil to you. Yet. There is the difference. You have been free to come on this blog without anyone calling YOU names. I can put that all into past tense if you would like. In fact, let’s do that.

    Maybe you should just find a new blog if you don’t like things here. Notice, I am still being civil.

    Frankly, many of our stories are on rather uncivilized topics. Take Westboro baptists for example. How about the rogue truck yesterday?

    And thanks. I wish I had one millionth of Jon Stewart’s talent.

  30. Wolverine, the fact that Colonel Davis sticks to his guns regardless of which administration he feels is doing wrong sets him far above others in my opinion. Good for him for standing up for men of principle and for principles in general.

    Actually, you have, upon occassion, told me I could do better. I am throwing that back now. You went after a person and attempted to discredit them rather than looking at the person Davis was attacking: Someone who is an obvious scumbag for calling out a person on their sexual orientation (yet unproven)

    How many people here find that repugnant behavior? That was the point. And South Carolina needs to set its political bar a little higher if they want to avoid that kind of derision. Mark Sanford is nothing to be proud of. It doesn’t stop there.

    I will be out for the day.

  31. Emma

    Moon-howler :
    No Emma, I didn’t overlook it. What I saw was a ‘yes but…..’

    You’re putting words in my mouth and attacking me rather unfairly. I just don’t see this as a black and white. I acknowledged that Gheen was wrong. My feelings on gay issues have been quite clear on this blog, so please don’t even go there with me.

    Davis expressed himself very poorly, used “teabaggers” in the plural to broad-brush an entire group (do you think of that word when you think of cargosquid?) and generally lowered himself to Gheen’s level with his vernacular and tone. That was my point. You can choose to twist it any way you like to make it seem like I felt that Gheen was somehow justified. I have read time and again here how words matter. Do they or don’t they?

  32. Nope. I thought of people who were character assassinating someone.

    It should be no surprise that this blog tends to hold the BOCS chair to the fire. However, it is always done over political issues. No one attacks him personally.

    This is something that bothers me when I see it. I would defend the chair to the hilt over personal issues if I felt he were wrongly attacked or attacked over issues that had nothing to do with job performance.

    And Emma, yes, you did put a but on it. It is one thing to say, I agree, the act was reprehensible but I wish Colonel D had chosen different words. It is another thing to think that one offsets the other.

    Gotta go work today so I am not the most patient.

  33. Emma

    Oh, brother, that is what I said and what I meant. You’re putting a lot of stock in one 3-letter word, and the two sentences I used were separated by a period. There was no “offset.”

    But go ahead and see it that way, if you feel that advances the dialogue. Enjoy your day.

  34. Emma, I think th edialogue got stimied a long time before we got to it. A reprieve from work for a moment. It is probably’far-left’ that i find off putting.

  35. Please see comment #23. The author was in moderation because he has not posted here beforel I think hje makes some very valid points about civility. I totally agree with him.

  36. I find Col. Morris’ history fascinating. Whether or not he is a rogue, I can’t say, but he certainly strikes me as a rebel which, in politics, can be brave or foolhardy, depending on your viewpoint. Since I’m not a fan of group behavior, I will venture to say Morris is brave.

    The piece really struck me as something that would be published in WAPO–minus the d-bag reference which I highly dislike. D-bag was one of the ultimate “dirty words” when I was growing up. I find it offensive, even though I rather enjoyed Morris’ play on juxtaposing it with “teabag.” However, I dislike the “teabagger” and “teabagging” as well. Those terms are just “dirty” to me. They are graphic.

    I’m no priss either. I’ve said and written worse. And if I read those words on a more sordid Internet site, I would take them with a grain of salt. If my friends wrote those words in an email because they were being bad that day, I would overlook it. But the problem is, all of those words have become mainstreamed. It seems it is now okay to use a woman’s personal hygiene tool as a serious insult. It’s misogyny accepted. But I don’t accept it.

    I don’t know how the “swiftboating” term came to be compared to “teabagger,” but unless I’m missing something, there is nothing sexually explicit in the term swiftboating. Correct me if I am wrong.

    From this post, I learned a lot about the SC situation and more about nasty politicos who want to use a person’s sexuality as an insult, leverage or….a dirty state of being. While there is something to be said for the threat of blackmail, there’s no excuse for calling out anyone’s sexuality. How many of our Congress people pay for escorts, prostitutes and porn? How many of them cheat? How many abuse one another to satisfy their sexual whims? Should we call them all out and continue this trend of getting nothing done?

  37. Starryflights

    Lou Dobbs To Anti-Immigration Leader: I Don’t Even Know You Anymore
    Jillian Rayfield | April 22, 2010, 4:17PM

    Lou Dobbs has been known to make an off-color remark or two about immigration, but even he has his limits.

    In an interview with anti-immigration big-wig William Gheen, Dobbs called Gheen “a dangerous, dangerous distorter of reality” for claiming that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is gay.

    http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/04/lou-dobbs-to-anti-immigration-leader-i-dont-even-know-you-anymore.php

    Even Lou Dobbs can’t tolerate Gheen!

  38. El Guapo

    Calling a senator gay is little more than a cry for attention. As leader of a cyber anti-Hispanic organization, William Gheen got a lot of air play over the past few years while amnesty was being considered. He even briefly had his own radio program. He’s definitely not part of the brain trust of the anti-illegal immigration movement, and most media quickly recognized him as a lightweight resulting in him getting less and less attention.

    His ignorance is obvious. He called for Napolitano’s resignation because her agency issued a visa to the Detroit Christmas underwear bomber (first of all, the State Dept issues visas; 2nd, the visa was issued before Napolitano was head of DHS) and suggesting that Census data could be used to identify illegal aliens.

    His organization consists of little more than a website with a debate forum. Gheen quickly bans any participant that disagrees with him. The postings on the forum are peppered with anti-Hispanic comments some even by Gheen himself.

    It would be in the best interests of the anti-illegal immigration movement to criticize and distance themselves from William Gheen and people like him.

  39. pinko, to someone my age, a tea bag is frigging tea bag. One of those things that holds loose tea leaves and you steep in your cup. I don’t care what your young folks have do9ne to dirty it up. As for the D-b reference…not one of my favorites either but every once in a while it just serves to describe a person best. In this case, I think Colonel Dvis was right on the mark.

    And now I have to say it….I honestly cannot believe so many people here are honing in on Colonel Davis’s outrage over what has been done to a decent human being. I sort of like his analogy about being kicked in the nads…someone is going to get a bloody nose. Good for Colonel Davis.

    Let’s look at what has been done. You might not like Lindsey Graham’s politics but it doesn’t mean that stateman is open to every slimy bit of slander out there. That is my real problem with politics.

    Frankly, I am disappointed that very few of you share his outrage.

  40. Elena

    Maybe what was missed was the, CLEARLY, Colonel Davis holds Senator Graham in very high esteem. You know what, I may have not chosen the words d-bag, but at some point, we all have our breaking point. WHERE was the outrage over gheens tirade from the RIGHT or, really, any of you? I try very hard to be civil, but everyone once in a while, I want to pull a Jon Stewart or a Colonel Davis because I am sick and tired of bullys! Gheen is why the TEA party is a joke in my opinion. Only really, they aren’t a funny joke, they are are dangerous joke. Here was a perfect opportunity for TEA party leadership to immiediately denounce Gheens disgusting behavior, but all I have heard is crickets.

    Furthermore, any guy that can manage to piss off the right AND the left is my kind of guy! I

  41. Elena

    Yeah, here’s a guy that has lots of credibility on John Kerry………………NOT!

    http://mediamatters.org/research/200408060010

  42. Yep. Truly an opinionated man. Kerry is still a traitorous……forget it.

    1. Cargo, I dont’ think you are looking at the situation through they eyes of many people his age and of Vietnam war age. It is a complicated, complex issue to many of us. I certainly do not think Kerry is a traitor. Obviously the millions who voted for him didn’t either.

  43. Agreed, Elena. I am still grossed out by the number of people who refuse to look t what this Gheen clown has done. I think it is just unacceptable behevior. You don’t out people as a political ploy.

    To me it would be like saying in response to a Westover visit during a military funeral…welll I did hear he was gay. NO. Unacceptable behavior.

    I would have called him a scum bag. Same difference. But I am not civil.

  44. Moon,

    I am looking at it from the point of view that while he was a commissioned officer in the United State Naval Reserve, he did meet with North Vietnamese agents, assisted them in presenting a political document that he expressed agreement with, that were terms for a negotiated end to the Vietnam war. He did this while we we still in conflict with them. He assisted the enemy. If he had done this as a civilian, I have no problem with it.

    His testimony at Winter Soldier damaged our war effort, demoralized troops and prisoners, and slandered our troops with lies. As an officer, if he had knowledge of such actions, it was his duty to come forth. So either he is lying, or he was a coward and should have be prosecuted for malfeasance.

    I believe that he gamed the system to get his medals, which he PRETENDED to throw over the White House fence. He lied again. If he was so adamant in his beliefs, he should have done anything to resign his commission. He’s a moral coward and a traitor.

    However, I know that my feelings and opinions won’t convince you. Nor am I concerned with the opinions of the voters in America. My opinion of them is not so high, either. Most have not wished to educate themselves about the character and history of the candidates. Too many would agree with their opposing parties policies if their candidate’s name is in front. And most Americans don’t follow history. Hopefully, this is changing. So, to save bandwidth, let’s agree to disagree and move on.

  45. Wolverine

    Moon. as far as I am concerned, my views of Gheen’s actions were expressed in para (1) of my post. “Outing” in politics is practiced by gays and anti-gays. It always winds up rebounding badly on anyone who does it. I find it disgusting either way, and I don’t feel like expending much of my time on it. I am certainly not inclined to second a condemnation of the entire state of South Carolina over the misstep of one South Carolinian.

    Nor do I take orders from the opposition on how to express my negative opinion of a specific action. It seems sometimes in the blogs that, if you don’t jump up and down, start rawhide whipping someone with whom others are in disagreement, and fuming adequately at the mouth, some folks are ready to make you out as a complicit villain and now even as a “joke.” I don’t buy that either. I do so “love” it when someone else deems my expressed level of outrage inadequate. I must have missed class on that day on the proper and accepted ways of expressing outrage.

    Colonel Davis does, indeed, seem to hold Sen. Graham in very high esteem. I did once. I no longer do. Why is that? Because Graham is doing political things with which I am in strong disagreement. That makes me a “bully” to oppose the Colonel, to, in essence, fight back? To me that is politics. So, what is being suggested here? That, if I happen to disagree with a guest poster, I should genuflect to him because certain others on the blog agree with the poster’s views? Doesn’t work that way in my camp. I disagree with the message, I will say so. I disagree with the tactics I will also say so. The Colonel started off by taking Gheen to task for a specific action. I could agree with him on a dislike for that action. But the Colonel also revealed his strong political bias and did so in ways I consider to be demeaning and insulting. That’s when my tolerance ends. I don’t care if you have scrambled eggs all the way from the tips of your shoes to the top of your military cover and your chest is covered with medals. I will not salute when I have a strong disagreement with your views and the way in which you express them.

    Was I going after you, Moon? No, I was going after Colonel Davis for expressing his political views in a way which I felt was insulting to many and not worthy of someone who was a high-ranking officer in the USAF military justice system. But, then, if you want to start talking about an entire state setting the bar too low and throw in a sexually errant governor, let’s all of us move on to New York, where a former DEMOCRATIC governor resigned when his extra-marital sexual activities were uncovered by the media, where a DEMOCRATIC congressmen resigned under accusation of groping his aides and is now under FBI investigation for financial irregularities, where the sitting DEMOCRATIC governor is accused of misusing the influence of his office and refuses to resign, where the DEMOCRATIC chairman of the House Committee on Taxation is being investigated for not paying his own taxes and resisted for a long time even taking a temporary step-down from his chairmanship position, and where the DEMOCRATIC leader of the State Senate is now being investigated for suspected financial improprieties and refuses to step down. So, let us all take a page from the Colonel’s book. Repeat after me: “New York has a reputation for setting the political bar as low as it can go…” But, let me opt out here. The people in New York have some problems. It is up to them to solve them. It doesn’t help for me to start castigating all of them as if they were all guilty of being political lowlifes. So I won’t.

  46. @Moon-howler
    “Scum” is okay. Pond scum. Tile scum. Works for me. : )

    Incidentally, I did note Gheen is a jerk.

  47. starryflights

    cargosquid :Moon,
    I am looking at it from the point of view that while he was a commissioned officer in the United State Naval Reserve, he did meet with North Vietnamese agents, assisted them in presenting a political document that he expressed agreement with, that were terms for a negotiated end to the Vietnam war. He did this while we we still in conflict with them. He assisted the enemy. .

    Those are damn lies, cargo. You are a very gullible idiot.

  48. starryflights

    And if I were Senator Graham I would challenge this fellow to call him gay in front of his face if he has the guts. And then I’d give him a good punch in the nose!

  49. Elena

    Starry,
    You know I agree with the place you are comin’ from! But maybe you could leave off idiot in future posts to Cargo. Kerry fought for his country, more than many did in that time period, and to be villified by the extreme right was disgraceful to say the least.

  50. Wolverine, I agree that the Democrats in NY (and NJ) have their fair share of scum bags. It just didn’t seem to fit. I don’t know what party Gheer belongs to. He might be like me, an independent for all I know.

    And I think it is fine to dislike Graham over political decisions. I actually cannot agree with him on several issues. But I don’t have to impugn his character because he doesn’t agree with the Howlers. Actually there is a lot I don’t agree with him on, come to think about it. But he is a decent man and he doesn’t allow himself to become an ideologue. To me that is a good thing.

    I just have very strong feelings about attacking any politician that way.

    Starry, I think you are on to something…the punch in the nose.

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