Comrade Who? Lindsey Graham Purged by Party

Lindsey Graham: the loneliest man in Washington?

I'm no fan of Lindsey Graham. But you got to feel bad for the guy. Imagine being a member of a totalitarian political party that terrorizes you into conforming or tears you to pieces if you don't. You might have a glowing record of party loyalty... but set one toe over the line, stray one millimeter out of group-think, and it's purge time faster than you can say 'Joe Stalin'. This is what's happening to Lindsey Graham right now. Just what was Graham's thought crime?

"I think the planet is heating up. I think CO2 emissions are damaging the environment and this dependence on foreign oil is a natural disaster in the making. Let’s do something about it."

For this the poor bastard is shouted down at town halls, accused of “going to bed with John Kerry," making a “pact with the devil," and variously referred to as a “fake Republican,” a “RINO”, a “traitor,” a “disgrace,” an “asshat,” a “democrat in drag,” and a “wussypants, girly-man, half-a-sissy” by the wingnut blogosphere.

As I said, I'm no fan of Graham, but what the hell? The guy has one of the most conservative voting records in DC, has worked tirelessly for his party for decades and is now 'an enemy' because he chose pragmatism and common sense over dogma?

It's very apparent by now that 'grassroots' conservatives have no sense of decency, respect, honor, intellect, individuality or shame. But that they are also the kind of hysterical moral cowards who'd have thrived in Stalin's Politburo might still be news to some.