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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWTH? Lindsey Graham’s ‘pool room’ education
Posted with permission.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/lindsey-grahams-pool-room-education?CID=sm_fb_maddow
Lindsey Grahams pool room education
05/26/15 09:20 AMUpdated 05/26/15 09:26 AM
By Steve Benen
It was a few weeks ago when Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) shared a pretty dumb observation with a Boston audience: Everything that starts with Al in the Middle East is bad news. To bolster his point, the Republican even started rattling off some examples: al Qaeda, al-Nusra, al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula, etc.
What Graham apparently didnt realize is that al, is the Arabic word for the. One of the Republican Partys most prominent voices on foreign affairs shared an insight that made him appear quite foolish.
At the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Oklahoma City, Graham didnt make things any better. The BBC reported:
Everything I learned about Iranians I learned working in the pool room, he said. I met a lot of liars, and I know Iranians are liars.
In context, Graham didnt seem to be arguing that Iranians were dishonest pool players in the South Carolina hall where he used to work, but rather, he got to know dishonest pool players, giving him finely tuned lie-detection skills, and those skills now tell him that Iranians are just like those pool sharks he used to know.
Iran, of course, is a nation of roughly 78 million people. Whether or not Graham knows any of them is unclear.
The National Iranian American Council was not impressed with the senators comments. The senators repulsive remarks are racist, period, NIAC President Trita Parsi said. This type of discourse should have no place in American politics. Graham essentially admits to being a bigot, because nothing says Im stereotyping more than basing judgment of an entire people solely on a handful of interactions in a pool room.
In the broader context, lets not brush past the fact that Graham isnt just some random guy spewing nonsense. Hes a senator, a presidential candidate, and a policymaker seen by the Beltway media as a leading GOP voice on matters of international affairs.
Perhaps its time for political observers to reconsider Grahams reputation?
bluesbassman
(19,379 posts)Truly an odious person and it's disturbing that he is allowed anywhere near the levers of power in government.
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)trotted out. Enjoy the levity
Botany
(70,582 posts)The man (Sec. Moniz) who helped to write the deal w/Iran on nuclear weapons has a PhD in Physics from Standford, taught physics @ MIT, and knows the nuclear fuel and weapons' cycle cold. He also got written into the deal that we can go anyplace @ anytime in Iran and inspect to make sure that Iran is living up to the deal for the next 20 years but good old Lindsey just knows it is a bad deal because he worked in a pool hall. What an ass hat.
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)erronis
(15,330 posts)The only thing that the Graham ilk have going for them is their willingness to take bribes (whoops, I mean contributions) and to spout talking point from civic-minded lobbyists like ALEC, NRA, KOCH, USCOC.
Too bad the IRS budget is being cut by the GOP so we can't investigate the influence buying.
Ikonoklast
(23,973 posts)Good way to get punched in the nose by a Persian.
Tom Ripley
(4,945 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)okaawhatever
(9,462 posts)trusty elf
(7,401 posts)[img][/img]
valerief
(53,235 posts)marble falls
(57,208 posts)lofty1
(62 posts)At first glance, I thought Lindsey had some kind of run in with some bad boy types from Iran, hanging out in pool halls in South Carolina during the 70's.
Now who is he trying to impress with that racist comment?
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)Volaris
(10,274 posts)I guess that means all of us smart people can go find something else to do now. DAMMITT!
Yeah, the Clown Car Show is going to be especially entertaining this go-round
GOLGO 13
(1,681 posts)the cool kids like him?
Shooting pool is ok. Hanging out at a pool hall was a thing back in the 70's. Republicans are so lame.
edhopper
(33,615 posts)[img][/img]
maddiemom
(5,106 posts)hysterically over the top long before their nominating convention. Prejudiced, blanket condemnation of any national, racial, or religious group was supposed to have been overcome by education in the last half century. (Yeah, right; but very discouraging as our national rationality just keeps sliding away).