Senator Lindsey Graham: Agree or Disagree?

The author has no respect for the Republican Senator from South Carolina, Lindsey Graham. While his close friend, John McCain was alive, I believed Graham was a real Republican. However, after Senator McCain’s death in 2018, Graham abandoned his principles and morals and joined the Trump Party, becoming one of his most devoted minions. Hypocrites can never be trusted.

Graham is now under attack from members of Congress on both sides of the aisle.

On Friday afternoon, during a White House news briefing, Graham made a suggestion”

Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military? the South Carolina Republican asked in a tweet.

Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated by Brutus and others in the Roman Senate on the Ides of March. Graham was also referring to German Lt. Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, who tried to kill Adolf Hitler in the summer of 1944.

The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out. You would be doing your country – and the world – a great

service, Graham said.

This author is a man of peace who considers it a badge of honor to be labeled a “pacifist.” This author was born just after the end of WWII, in 1946. Every war this nation fought since his birth, the United States was defeated by a lesser equipped and far less expensive army.

The truth is that no one wins a war; the people always lose.

This author always tells the truth, and this is a hard one. At this moment in history, a single egomaniac has his finger poised above the button that will launch a weapon so vile and destructive it would begin the end of life on earth. Would killing this one monster to save the lives of over seven billion people be a crime? Someone is executed every day somewhere in the world legally; why would it be a sin to end one useless life to save humanity?

No one man should have this much power. In America, the people suffered for four long years, as a single man was given the power of an autocrat after his Party surrendered their own powers, their integrity, and their principles. However, in November 2022, the people used their own power, their right to vote, and evicted him from the White House.

The author seriously doubts the Russian government or the Russian people have the courage to do the same and remove Putin from office, placing him in prison for his war crimes, or, if preferred, his attempt at genocide.

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar expressed her own opinion about Graham’s suggestion, which supports the principles of this nation.

I really wish our members of Congress would cool it and regulate their remarks as the administration works to avoid [a third world war], the progressive congresswoman Ilhan Omar said in a tweet. As the world pays attention to how the US and [its] leaders are responding, Lindsey’s remarks and remarks made by some House members aren’t helpful.

In this author’s own defense, he has watched and read about dozens of murderous dictators who denied the value of human life, and ignored human rights entirely. When Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan, this author felt no sorrow. Or when Muammar Gaddafi was assassinated by the people of Libya, there was no regret. Maybe a more dramatic example is how two actions took the lives of hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children who were blameless. On August 6 and 9, 1945, Harry Truman decided to drop atomic bombs on the Japanese people living in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. His justification was that these two actions would end WWII.

This author is not an elected official who has a solution. This author does not agree with Graham, but a part of me would be pleased if Putin suddenly fell off the edge of the Earth. The people of the world are nervous and even scared, and a single man is responsible for those deep concerns. They feel helpless because all they can do is analyze and report what is happening thousands of miles away. This author is just one of the millions whose only choice is hope, which is leaving fear behind. For these people, the sad reality is that they must trust their government, and many do not.

“The Truth Lives Here”

Op-ed by James Turnage
Edited by Jeanette Vietti

Sources:

The Guardian: Outcry after US senator Lindsey Graham suggests Putin’s assassination; by Joan E Greve in Washington and Vivian Ho
NPR: Sen. Lindsey Graham’s apparent call for Putin to be assassinated draws backlash; by Bill Chappell

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Gage Skidmore’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inline Image Courtesy of DonkeyHotey’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License