

"Welcome to Afghanistan, Senator. And might I say that's some mighty idiotic camouflage you're wearing."

Image source: CC BY 2.0



But bluster is a process, not a single undertaking, which is why Senator Graham is back at it, this time making his case for the United States boycotting the upcoming Olympics in Russia.

"I love the Olympics, but I hate what the Russian government is doing throughout the world," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told NBC News on Tuesday. "If they give asylum to a person who I believe has committed treason against the United States, that's taking it to a new level." Graham even suggested that Putin's actions should raise the specter of the pre-World War II Berlin games hosted by Adolf Hitler's regime. "If you could go back in time, would you have allowed Adolf Hitler to host the Olympics in Germany? To have the propaganda coup of inviting the world into Nazi Germany and putting on a false front?" Graham said of the Games.

Sort of takes your breath away, doesn't it? Snowden, arguably a whistleblower, could get asylum in Russia and suddenly Putin is on par with murdering millions of people? Whoo boy. Now, to be fair, Graham does say it isn't only the Snowden issue that earns Putin his Hitler status. There's also their support of Iran, the Syrian government, and some supposed threats to Israel. Still, boycotting the Olympics on the grounds that Snowden's potential asylum is the straw that breaks the camel's back is a level of insanity I haven't seen out of Graham before.

"What I'm trying to do is let the Russians know enough is enough. How much more are we going to let them get away with before we make it real to them?" Graham said.

And apparently the best method for making that "real" to Russia is boycotting the olympic games? The only time we've ever boycotted the Olympics was back in 1980, when the United States was mad at the Soviet Union for invading -- you guessed it -- Afghanistan. Yay, synergy! Unfortunately for Graham and any band of merry idiots that would like to join him, Olympic boycotts are not for the government to decide. That's up to the USOC, who has decidedly no interest in any boycott.

In response, U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky tweeted Wednesday, "While we acknowledge the seriousness of the issues at hand, we strongly oppose the notion that a boycott of the Olympic and Paralympic Games is in our country's best interests."

He couldn't be more correct. Why? Well, let's start with American hypocrisy when it comes to offering asylum to whistleblowers and end with the fact that the Olympics barely matter on the world stage. But keep shaking those fists, Senator. Maybe some day someone will think you have something serious to offer.