Sen. Graham Responds To Obama: I Hold You ‘Ultimately Responsible’ For Benghazi

[DonViejo]

Source: TPM

Sen. Graham Responds To Obama: I Hold You ‘Ultimately Responsible’ For Benghazi

DAVID TAINTOR 2:30 PM EST, WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 14, 2012

Sen. Lindsey Graham released the following statement in response to President Obama's press conference comments on Republican criticism of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice:

“Mr. President, don’t think for one minute I don’t hold you ultimately responsible for Benghazi. I think you failed as Commander in Chief before, during, and after the attack.

“We owe it to the American people and the victims of this attack to have full, fair hearings and accountability be assigned where appropriate. Given what I know now, I have no intention of promoting anyone who is up to their eyeballs in the Benghazi debacle.”

-30-

Read more: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/sen-graham-responds-to-obama-i-hold-you

[hobbit709]

1. That posturing nincompoop needs a comeuppance.

[Voice for Peace]

32. :) well said

[deutsey]

2. I've detested this hack since the Clinton impeachment debacle

[benld74]

3. Unfortunately, my youngest has Grahams 1st name. Good thing she has better manners than he!!!!

[freshwest]

4. Will he hold Daryl Issa responsible for leaking classified information that will get people killed?

BTW, you miserable GOP traitor, your side lost the election. The parents of the slain have asked your side to not politicize their deaths. Your side also claimed Stevens had something wrong with him. The slime that oozes out of your mouths is disgusting and shows the kind of filth you are. You can shut the hell up now.

[DCKit]

17. Issa was, but was Graham also among those who voted to slash...

the State Department's security budget by $500 million?

Why wasn't Graham personally standing guard at the embassy? Obviously he and his cronies have the time to spare. They haven't done shit in almost four years, yet they're still collecting their taxpayer funded paychecks.

Put those fuckers in Congress to work!

[FrenchieCat]

5. Did Graham hold Bush Jr. "Ultimately Responsible" for 9/11/01?

His quote here “Mr. President, don’t think for one minute I don’t hold you ultimately responsible for 9/11. I think you failed as Commander in Chief before, during, and after the attack." surely was said to the media in that case as well, no?

[railsback]

12. Yeah, what a piece of crap this guy is

Everyone is looking for Graham holding Bush responsible for over 3000 deaths and two lost skyscrapers on American soil. So far, no luck.

[FreeBC]

6. Lindsey got his feelings hurt again :(

[MurrayDelph]

7. Dear Lindsey

Get your head out of John McCain's ass and start working on fixing REAL problems.

[Drale]

8. So does he completely

hold Bush ultimately responsible for 9/11, how about FDR for Pearl Harbor or how about Abraham Lincoln for the Civil War? Wow he's a idiot.

[The Second Stone]

9. What an a-hole

Graham is an idiot.

[geek tragedy]

10. Shorter Lindsey Graham:

See how much I hate Obama, Tea Partiers. Please don't primary me. Benghazi Benghazi Benghazi.

He's hoping that prancing before the cameras regarding Benghazi will allow him to cave on immigration without costing him his primary contest.

[still_one]

11. And I hold the Republican Party for 9/11. Graham was the asshole who was at strum thurmonds

Birthday party wishing for the good ole days of segregation

He is just another racist

[ceeRoy]

18. No

I think that was Sen.Trent Lott

[still_one]

34. You are correct. Graham is still a jerk

[loyalkydem]

13. Newsflash

we hold you responsible for the obstruction the past 4 year. Douchebag

[Dubster]

14. Spam deleted by gkhouston (MIR Team)

[ciking724]

15. Chuck Toad made the comment that Congress received the same information

that the White House and Susan Rice received from the CIA. Somebody needs to keep repeating this if it's true.

[underpants]

38. They are finishing this story in the press because no one will watch or read the hearings

well not no one but not most people.

The problem is that this is clearly them capitalizing on death AND it shows the RW News treatment had 9/11 happened during a Democratic presidency.

[SoapBox]

16. So I have to say again...STFU Puke!

Idiot. Moron. Idiot...

These Pukes and Baggers make me so mad!!!!!!!

[sakabatou]

19. But if you're Republican, it's ok, right, Graham?

[reflection]

20. What a fractious, po faced scold.

I honestly don't recall a sitting President being this disrespected by a Senator while the event in question was still being investigated. I wonder what we can all hold Senator Graham responsible for?

"I think you failed as Commander in Chief before, during, and after the attack?" My heart wanted Obama to tear this guy to shreds but my head understands that Presidents have to act Presidential, even in the face of unadulterated insolence.

[dgibby]

36. If Graham's still in the reserves,

that statement could get him a Courts Maritial. I'd love to see him in the dock on that one!

[Roland99]

21. That whiny-ass prick? Screw him.

[sinkingfeeling]

22. And I hold the Bush/Cheney administration responsible for 9-11-01. And that

happened on US soil with the entire military failing to protect.

[atreides1]

23. Got to wonder if he said the same thing to Bush

But I guess with Lindsey, it's okay if the white guy failing gets thousands killed!

“We owe it to the American people and the victims of this attack to have full, fair hearings and accountability be assigned where appropriate. Given what I know now, I have no intention of promoting anyone who is up to their eyeballs in the Benghazi debacle.”


But 9/11 he and McCain had no problems with!

Graham needs to take a vacation to Fire Island and find himself, while McCain needs to retire and live in one of those 7 houses that his wife owns!

[onethatcares]

24. I'm glad to see I wasn't

the only one thinking about how he held * to the same standards after 9/11/01.

This country is severly broken.

[Blue Hen Buckeye]

25. These scumbags are searching for something for impeachment.

[Rob H.]

26. Yet no chest-thumping like this when Shrub was in the White House

He and McCain are also the same hypocritical assholes who defended Condoleezza Rice's 9/11 testimony and voted to confirm her as Secretary of State.

From the article linked in the paragraph above, here's what Graham and McCain said at the time:

Asked if then-Sen. Mark Dayton's use of the word "liar" was justified, Graham pounced.

"Yes, that's even more unfair. Because it was all in terms of weapons of mass destruction and misleading us about the war and what was in Iraq. Well, every intelligence agency in the world was misled. And to connect those two to say that she's a liar is very unfair, over the line."

Before the vote, McCain noted from the Senate floor that the chamber had enough votes to confirm Rice to the job, questioning why Democrats wanted to debate her nomination.

"So I wonder why we are starting this new Congress with a protracted debate about a foregone conclusion," he said, adding that Rice is qualified for the job. "I can only conclude that we are doing this for no other reason than because of lingering bitterness over the outcome of the election."

&quot L)ingering bitterness over the outcome of the election"? Oh, the irony!

Note that Graham also claims, &quot E)very intelligence agency in the world was misled." Unless he means "misled by the United States," I have three words for Graham: Downing Street Memo.

And from the comments here, a list of attacks that happened during Dubya's terms. Not a peep back then from Graham or McCain:

June 14, 2002, U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan
Suicide bomber kills 12 and injures 51.

February 20, 2003, international diplomatic compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Truck bomb kills 17.

February 28, 2003, U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan
Gunmen on motorcycles killed two consulate guards.

July 30, 2004, U.S. embassy in Taskkent, Uzbekistan
Suicide bomber kills two.

December 6, 2004, U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Militants stormed and occupied perimeter wall. Five killed, 10 wounded.

March 2, 2006, U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan
Suicide car bomber killed four, including a U.S. diplomate directly targeted by the assailants.

September 12, 2006, U.S. embassy in Damascus, Syria
Gunmen attacked embassy with grenades, automatic weapons, and a car bomb (though second truck bomb failed to detonate). One killed and 13 wounded.

January 12, 2007, U.S. embassy in Athens, Greece
A rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the embassy building. No one was injured.

July 9, 2008, U.S. consulate in Istanbul, Turkey
Armed men attacked consulate with pistols and shotguns. Three policemen killed.

March 18, 2008, U.S. embassy in Sana’a, Yemen
Mortar attack misses embassy, hits nearby girls’ school instead.

September 17, 2008, U.S. embassy in Sana’a, Yemen
Militants dressed as policemen attacked the embassy with RPGs, rifles, grenades and car bombs. Six Yemeni soldiers and seven civilians were killed. Sixteen more were injured.

Edited to add: There's no bigger group of bloviating sore losers than the GOP. Romney lost, you dicks. Get over it.

[plcdude]

27. escellent find

This should be forwarded to Rachel and Lawrence.

[think]

28. TY for posting. /nt

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

29. "Senator, you are waste of space who gave George W Bush a complete rim job after he failed to

protect the nation in the morning of September 11 2001. Useless trash such as yourself is why the citizenry has all but tuned out of the political process. Kindly proceed to go fuck yourself."

Supreme Commander Corngood (Deez Nutz)

[BrainMann1]

30. They just will not go away

maybe after the next election old Grahammy will be gone, bye bye.

[OneGrassRoot]

31. If they pursue this, surely there's a way to tie in all the events re: 9/11/01 as precedence...

in response to their Benghazi accusations, finally shining a light on all of THOSE failures and flat-out lies and criminality, spanning years.

[glinda]

33. Didn't he get the memo? Classified Docs found at "Republican Girlfriend's home"?

Oh yeah! Guess he did and maybe is trying one last attempt at that Oct. surprise.

[lsewpershad]

35. See you

next election idiot.....repuke.

[Samantha]

37. Did you say this, Mr. Graham, to George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush* under similar circumstances?

I don't remember hearing you say it, so please refresh my memory.

http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/114173/a-40-year-u-s-embassy-crisis

"In this, Obama isn’t unique. Unfortunately, backing away from the crime scene has become an American habit in the Middle East and North Africa, where for 40 years now our diplomats have been killed, kidnapped, and targeted for assassination, and our embassies have been bombed, besieged, and most famously, overrun and captured in Tehran.

The White House is reportedly considering retaliatory options, presumably drone strikes and covert operations. However, given the public nature of the murders, it would be much more constructive if retribution comes not from the skies or in the dark, but rather in broad daylight, leaving no doubt as to who served justice to the murderers of Americans.

But don’t count on it. From Nixon through Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and both Bushes, American presidents have done virtually nothing to stem the terror targeting our diplomats and diplomatic missions. Obama is merely the latest embodiment of an ill-advised—and dangerous—presidential tradition."

Sam

[cheezmaka]

39. Lindsey, No matter how much you hold Obama responsible...

He's STILL the President...period! As far as your opinion on him as failing to be Commander-In-Chief; over 50% of the Nation DISAGREES with you!

[DCBob]

40. Of course the President is ultimately responsible for everything..

but that does not mean he did anything wrong.

[JI7]

41. poor Lindsey, Still Upset at not being Sec of State as he would have been with

McCain as President.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

42. Graham's mob probably organized it

[HuckleB]

43. All right. So, now we know the GOP aims to stall at all costs.

The party that wants power, but doesn't give a crap about the country.

Scumbags.