What’s going on in the Senate is kind of a politics of escalation. We’re getting sort of like the Mideast: pay back everybody when you’re in charge.

Meaning of the quote

The quote suggests that the political situation in the US Senate is like a constant back-and-forth of payback and retaliation, similar to the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. When a party is in power, they try to get back at their opponents, creating a cycle of escalation and hostility instead of cooperation.

About Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham is a U.S. Senator from South Carolina who has held the position since 2003. He has a diverse background, having served in the U.S. Air Force and worked as a lawyer in private practice before entering politics. Graham is known for his strong stances on national defense and foreign policy, as well as his occasional bipartisanship on certain issues.

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More quotes from Lindsey Graham

Detainee policy in this war is hard, it’s complicated, but we must get it right. We would be better off as a nation if we could close Gitmo safely and start a new prison that he could use that the world would see as a better way to doing business.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

We’re failing when it comes to controlling spending.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

There’s a lot of things we can do to balance out what Obama’s done and going forward show the American people the Republican Party can govern. I want a coalition of tea party people, independents, moderate Democrats trying to find a way to move this country forward before we become Greece.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

The healthcare bill not only is a monstrosity in terms of growing the government and cutting out the private sector, the way it was passed was sleazy. Every old Washington trick was used to pass the healthcare bill.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

We’ve got fifty people at Gitmo that are too dangerous to be let go that will never go through a normal criminal trial. Let’s create a new legal system, so they’ll have their day in court.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

Why did we go to war? Why did we pick people from South Carolina, California, and all the places in between to go to a foreign land and risk their lives and have some die? To make sure that Saddam Hussein could do no more damage to the region or us than he has already done.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

What’s going on in the Senate is kind of a politics of escalation. We’re getting sort of like the Mideast: pay back everybody when you’re in charge.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

It puts limits on criminals’ rights to destroy unborn children without the permission of the woman.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

The courtroom is a quiet place, Judge Roberts, where you park your political ideology, and you call the balls and you call the strikes.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

We don’t have a lot of Reagan-type leaders in our party. Remember Ronald Reagan Democrats? I want a Republican that can attract Democrats.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

The American consumer is also the American worker, and if we don’t do something to protect our manufacturing base here at home, it is going to be hard to buy any retail goods.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

We will never win this war until we understand the effect that Guantanamo Bay has had on the overall war effort. And we’ll never get the support of the American people if we can’t prove to them that these folks that we’re dealing with are not common criminals. We’re going to keep them – keep you safe from them.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

The sooner we get started with alternative energy sources and recognize that fossil fuels makes us less secure as a nation, and more dangerous as a planet, the better off we’ll be.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

I dare say there may be some men and women in the Armed Forces who are so decent that they would say: Give the Iraqi people money, we do not want to be paid back. That is the strength of our country.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

Conservatives have a different view of a lot of issues versus our friends on the other side. The election determines how that shakes out.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

President Bush has shown great leadership. He has said that the 21st century will not be ruled or dictated by terrorists, dictators, and murderers. He is absolutely right. God bless him for his resolve.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

Iran is part of the problem, not the solution. And the Russian government is ignoring reality.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

We cannot win this war on terror if people are undercutting us. And one way to undercut us is to empower Iran.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

The politics of judges is getting to be red hot.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

If you increase taxes now on – at any level, it’s going to make it harder to create jobs And we’ve lost 2 1/2 million jobs since the stimulus package passed. We’re at 9.6 unemployment. So I don’t think we tax too little, I think we spend too much.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

Well, the big elephant in the whole system is the baby boomer generation that marches through like a herd of elephants. And we begin to retire in 2008.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)

Social Security must be preserved and strengthened. But we need to be candid about the costs and willing to make the tough choices that real reform will require.

Lindsey Graham

American lawyer and politician (born 1955)