Friday, March 15, 2013

Sens. John McCain, Arizona Republican, and Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, would do well to make amends for their unreasonable and callous rebuke of Sen. Rand Paul and the Tea Party — unless they are willing to give up their seats to a new generation of Republicans.

Mr. Paul stood speaking for 13 hours last week, upholding our Constitution, while Mr. McCain and Mr. Graham were having a cozy dinner with President Obama. This is not your grandmother’s Republican Party. We have never before seen the degree of flagrant disregard and shredding of our Constitution and Bill of Rights as we have from this administration. Conservatives must become more protective and active in this regard, for we are in a fight to preserve our very American way of life and our freedom.

Mr. McCain and Mr. Graham clearly forgot Ronald Reagan’s “Eleventh Commandment”: “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.” Just a few weeks before Mr. Paul’s filibuster, the two had Obama administration officials in the hot seat for hours, seeking answers to the horrific attack on our consulate in Benghazi, Libya, where four Americans were slaughtered. That inquisition was not too dissimilar to what Mr. Paul did in filibustering to delay a vote confirming John O. Brennan to lead the CIA in order to get answers from Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on the use of drones to kill Americans on American soil.

It does not bode well for the future of our party that those who very possibly have been in Washington too long scold and admonish a patriot who endeavors to uphold and protect our God-given rights against those who seek to rule over us. Mr. McCain and Mr. Graham will either join us, lose their seats or fracture the Republican Party.

LORRAINE RYAN

Berwyn Heights, Md.

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