Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Proud to Have Sen. Graham Serving in Washington

When Senator Graham potential nominee for the Supreme Court I was proud as a Gilbert Peach. However, the pride soon faded into a realism that we would lose a great Senator to the nomination. Sure, the seat would have been filled by a capable individual but it just would not be the same because no one is like Sen. Graham, who is one in a million. He would make a good Justice, but he makes an even better Senator and enjoys the hand to hand combat of politics. He also likes finding solutions to America’s problems.

While proud that he may have received the nomination I am even more proud that he is a United States Senator. This pride comes from having watched him and understanding who this remarkable man is as an American. He loves his job as a Senator because as he said “I’m a kid in a candy store. You can play at every area of the government that intrigues you. They can’t deal you out of the game. And I’m loving my job,” he said to the Charlotte Observer in June 2005. I love this attitude, it absolutely shines. I wish there were more like him because than Washington would be a more pleasant place.

Saturday, November 12, 2005

American Dreams, American Values

Sen. Graham is an outstanding American whose story exemplifies what America is all about: hard work and fairness. He serves our country honorably and with pride. He is intelligent, thoughtful, and enthusiastic in the way he carries out his duties.
He learned his first lessons about hard work from being employed in his family's business, a restaurant/bar where he racked pool balls. The lessons followed through college, when he got into academic trouble but worked out of it and graduated. Then in law school he flourished. He was in the top 15% of his class and earned a place in the Order of the Wig and Robe. He was an honor graduate from law school, no easy feat.
He helped raise his younger sister after his parents passed away while he was in college. He assisted with finding out how to receive the Social Security Survivors' benefits that eventually helped put both Lindsey and his sister through college.
Integrity, Service, Excellence






Source: BartECopp
After law school he entered the Air Force Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps. He has served in this capacity for 24 years and sat on the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals as a reserve judge.

He served a tour of duty in Europe during his six years in the active duty Air Force. He was also called up during the Gulf War. While performing the duty of preparing airmen for deployment he received a commendation.
In support of the Global War on Terrorism Senator Graham served a month long tour of duty in Afghanistan last August during the congressional recess and served a week in Iraq during this year's spring recess. While in Afghanistan he was helping to train the Afghan Lawyers in the rule of law and in Iraq he served as a Judge Advocate in office of the Multi-National Force-Iraq.







Source: Air Force News Service










Civilian Service

He has served in many civilian positions as well. He started out as the city attorney for the Town of Central and assistant county attorney for Oconee County. During this time he also had a successful private practice. He served two years in the SC Statehouse.







Community Service

Sen. Graham also serves his community in many capacities, such as being a board member for the Rosa Clark Free Medical Center and was fund raising chair for the Oconee Chapter of the American Cancer Society.







Fairness

He has shown an ability to be fair in many instances. He keeps an open mind when thinking about issues and seems willing to change his mind when faced with evidence that his position may be wrong. He also questions people from either side critically during committee hearings.







Source: AP




The best example of this is the way he questioned Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during the Abu Ghraib hearings. He is opposed to the Medicare prescription drug package because it is too expensive.




It is not all about party favors for Lindsey, because he speaks out when he feels it is necessary, to the chagrin of party leaders. When he spoke to the Iowa Republicans he criticized his party for not reaching out to minority voters. This was not well received at the time because they fear his independence.







Conclusion

Those outlined above are just some reasons that I admire, trust and support Lindsey Graham. He represents the American Dream and is an outstanding American. He is proud of our country and wants nothing but the best for America. He is someone of which South Carolina and America should be proud that he is one of our one hundred Senators.

American Dreams, American Values

Sen. Graham is an outstanding American whose story exemplifies what America is all about: hard work and fairness. He serves our country honorably and with pride. He is intelligent, thoughtful, and enthusiastic in the way he carries out his duties.
He learned his first lessons about hard work from being employed in his family’s business, a restaurant/bar where he racked pool balls. The lessons followed through college, when he got into academic trouble but worked out of it and graduated. Then in law school he flourished. He was in the top 15% of his class and earned a place in the Order of the Wig and Robe. He was an honor graduate from law school, no easy feat.
He helped raise his younger sister after his parents passed away while he was in college. He assisted with finding out how to receive the Social Security Survivors’ benefits that eventually helped put both Lindsey and his sister through college.

Integrity, Service, Excellence

After law school he entered the Air Force Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps. He has served in this capacity for 24 years and sat on the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals as a reserve judge.He now works in the Pentagon legal department.
He served a tour of duty in Europe during his six years in the active duty Air Force. He was also called up during the Gulf War. While performing the duty of preparing airmen for deployment he received a commendation.

Civilian Service

He has served in many civilian positions as well. He started out as the city attorney for the City of Central and assistant county attorney for Oconee County. During this time he also had a successful private practice. He served two years in the SC Statehouse.

Community Service

Sen. Graham also serves his community in many capacities, such as being a board member for the Rosa Clark Free Medical Center and was fundraising chair for the Oconee Chapter of the American Cancer Society.

Fairness

He has shown an ability to be fair in many instances. He keeps an open mind when thinking about issues and seems willing to change his mind when faced with evidence that his position may be wrong. He also questions people from either side critically during committee hearings. The best example of this is the way he questioned Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during the Abu Ghraib hearings. He is opposed to the Medicare prescription drug package because it is too expensive.
It is not all about party favors for Lindsey, because he speaks out when he feels it is necessary, to the chagrin of party leaders. When he spoke to the Iowa Republicans he criticized his party for not reaching out to minority voters. This was not well received at the time because they fear his independence.

Conclusion

Those outlined above are just some reasons that I admire, trust and support Lindsey Graham. He represents the American Dream and is an outstanding American. He is proud of our country and wants nothing but the best for America. He is someone of which South Carolina and America should be proud that he is one of our one hundred Senators.

Monetary Reserve

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