Halt. And he can do it using a Senate Protocol that allows for any single senator to block any nomination by placing a hold on it. But thats how Lindsey Graham is able to block all nominees, not why. To understand why graham wants to bring government to a halt, you have to meet Lindsey Grahams primary challenger, South Carolina state senator lee bright. Patrick henry said give me liberty or give me death. Weve got folks in our country thats getting above 50 that say give me liberty or give me a card. Lindsey graham, like john boehner and the House Republicans before him, is threatening to essentially shut down part of the government so he can defend himself from a tea party backlash. Recent polling found only 53 of South Carolina republicans have a favorable view of graham. For some context, grahams unfavorables in the state are 30 points higher than its fellow Senate Republican tim scott. Needing to turn around his numbers, graham is turning back to benghazi. Were just beginning on benghazi. And to the families, were not going to let this go. Lindsey graham is just doing what the modern gop does best, using political feeder to placate the base and leaving the American People with the damage. Talk about benghazi. Graham is going to block important, substantive nominations so he can win his primary. Did you want someone to run the federal reserve, the worlds most important economic body . Well, sorry, benghazi. I havent forgotten about benghazi. Did you want someone to run the department of Homeland Security . That cant happen because benghazi. What happened in benghazi. Did you want an undersecretary for Nuclear Security . We havent heard from one person in benghazi. Benghazi. Benghazi. Benghazi. Benghazi. You mentioned benghazi. Yeah. Americas news may not be secure, but at least Lindsey Graham will be reelected. This Administration Needs to be held accountable for benghazi a story of americans abandoned by their government at a time they needed their government the most. Joining me now, david brock, founder of media matters for america, and author of the newly released ebook called the benghazi hoax. And david, take me through the almost tultemic resonance that benghazi and the deaths of those four americans in that american consulate that night has taken on among the right. Well, sure. So, in this book, we outline 15 what we call hoaxes. And i think today, in your leadin, we saw the 16th. You know, behind every bully is a coward, and Lindsey Graham made a big deal of making friends with Hillary Clinton earlier in his days in the senate. Then he switched course on benghazi and basically accused her of having blood on his hands, and what changed there . Why is he playing politics with National Security is the primary challenge he has from the tea party. The Tea Party Challenger referred to him as a Community Organizers for the Muslim Brotherhood. And the truth is, and we try to get to facts in the book wait a second, he actually called him the Community Organizer for the Muslim Brotherhood . Thats right, so this is posturing. There are benghazi truthers at all levels of the Republican Party, starting with dick cheney, who went on talk radio last week and lied about secretary clintons role in this to the nut who heckled her last week. So, Lindsey Graham is looking at the benghazi truthers who are primary voters in South Carolina. And the fact is, the people he wants to hear from, chris, they were interviewed by the fbi, they were interviewed by the state Department Accountability review board. Those transcripts are available to the senate. And Lindsey Graham even met with some of them. So, this is like your 16th hoax. There was a report. I think part of the reason why Lindsey Graham timed this announcement to this morning where he went on fox friends and made this big deal about it, and im going to talk about what this means. I mean, hes putting a hold on all the nominees. He will actually block people from getting a confirmation, et cetera. There was a report on 60 minutes last night i want to play you an excerpt of, because i think the conservatives i read seem very excited that this is going to bring back this issue. Take a listen. Its now well established that the americans were attacked by al qaeda in a wellplanned assault. Five months before that night, morgan jones first arrived in benghazi. But on his first drive through benghazi, he noticed the black flags of al qaeda flying openly in the streets, and he grew concerned about the guard force as soon as he pulled up to the u. S. Compound. There was nobody there that we could see. Then we realized they were all inside drinking tea, laughing and joking. What was your reaction to the 60 minutes spot, david . Well, look, i think that they pose lingering questions about benghazi. And the truth is, there were 157 attacks on u. S. Diplomatic facilities since 1998. Most of those were under george w. Bush. Weve had 18 congressional hearings and 25,000 administration documents produced, no evidence of wrongdoing by the president , by secretary clinton. Even republican senator bob corker said months ago, we know what happened in benghazi. Hes satisfied that he knows it. So, in this report, i mean, ill Say Something about two of the sources in the report. One of them, gregory hicks, was presented as a socalled whistleblower by darrell issa, and you know, he previously lied and said that there was a military standdown order in benghazi. That never happened, didnt stop fox news from airing 85 prime time segments saying there was one, but all the testimony from the military officials said that never happened. And the other witness appears to be some type of british mercenary who, apparently, in conversations with fox news, asked for money to talk. And so, you know, fox news even drew a line there, but it was good enough for cbs. David brock from media matters, thank you very much for your time. Thanks. Joining me, former governor of minnesota and former president ial candidate, republican tim blunty, now with the services roundtable, represents Financial Services companies. The last thing you did in politics was attempt to navigate the mind field of a republican primary, a National Republican primary, it should be noted in running for president. Put yourself in Lindsey Grahams shoes. There are drern things he cannot back away from. He is one of the architects of the comprehensive Immigration Reform bill. He is on the record being quite angry at ted cruz and his ilk for the government shutdown. If you are him, if you are Lindsey Graham, how do you go out and win that primary in South Carolina . Well, chris, good evening. And first of all, before we talk about the primary in South Carolina, lets just make sure we understand Lindsey Graham and his motives. Ive known lindsey for years. Hes a member of the United States armed services. Hes been involved in security and military matters with passion and sincerity for many, many years. And to say, you know, his concern about benghazi is somehow a concoction around the South Carolina primary, first of all, isnt true. It isnt the Lindsey Graham i know, and i dont think anybody who really knows him would say its lacking in sincerity. And number two, if you were going to think about benghazi as a primary issue, you know, most of the tea party or many of them, libertarians or tea party types, are noninterventionists. Lindsey tends to be interventionist right, which is why its a politically expeditious issue for precisely that reason. On to the first point irks dont think he is faking that he is concerned about benghazi. Im not saying that. I dont doubt his intentions. But of course, the trick in politics is a matter of emphasis. There are a whole lot of issues that Lindsey Graham did not get up before the nation today and say that he would hold every single president ial nomination hostage to other than benghazi, right . So, the choice that a politician decides to emphasis at certain point are partly the product of the circumstances theyre involved in. But your premise is, look, this is a concoction in precipitation for a primary fight and hopefully a primary victory, in lindseys case, but this ignores a decade or more of committed history on exactly these kinds of issues taking essentially same or similar positions that Lindsey Graham has put forward. And to assign political motive to that and say its insincere and inconsistent with his past record doesnt withstand scrutiny. By the way, chris, less than a half hour ago on your network, not fox, on Msnbc Brandon Webb was on Chris Matthews show, yes, absolutely. I watched the interview. In fact, i know brandon quite well. Raising, though, chris, legitimate questions about the issue. Yes, look, right. So, the point, though, is, show me the other issues that Lindsey Graham had said he is going to put a hold on every single president ial nominee, including the federal reserve, which i imagine your clients in the Financial Services roundtable cant be crazy about, any other issue where he is going to put a hold on every nominee other than this one issue. Well, i dont know of any others that hes done that, but i do believe he feels strongly about this. And just because he threatens to put a hold, or in fact, puts a hold on certain nominees, doesnt go to the issue of how long he will keep the hold on or under what circumstances he might release them. Look, hes frustrated. He thinks this is an important issue. It has a lot of people on both sides of the aisle raising questions. Usually when theres a debate like this, a good way to open, you know to address it is just open it up to the facts. So, thats all hes trying to do. And again, i dont think its insincere, and its consistent with a decadelong service on these issues. Do you honestly think honest question do you think a politician faced with the situation Lindsey Grahams in, which presumably, he wants to win reelection, that there is nothing about his behavior that changes because of a primary challenge to his right . Well, i cant speak to how he thinks each day because i dont talk to him each day no, but a republican take a republican member, a standard republican member of the senate or the house of representatives, are you telling me that the threat of a primary challenge has no effect whatsoever on their Political Behavior . Well, if the standard, though to answer that question is are you willing to engage in abnormal procedural activity in the United States congress, then every one of them or nearly every one of them would be guilty of that charge. You know, the senate hasnt passed a budget in nine years. They passed financial matters or budgetary matters on extraordinary procedural maneuvers. So, if your standards going to be invoking or ignoring procedures in an abnormal way, then they all have dirty hands. Well, i agree with you that the abnormal has become normal. Former governor tim pawlenty, appreciate your time. Thank you. John judas with the new republic where he just wrote the cover story on the future of the tea party. John, i want to begin with a Little Senate hate, because i think its something you and i see eye to eye on. Can we get rid of the hold . Why is it the case that any member of the senate can singlehandedly block a nominee by not giving unanimous consent . Its not in the constitution. Its a part of the tradition of the senate. So is the filibuster. I think that those kind of measures make it very hard for our democracy to function. And not only that, right, there is a way in which in the past, those have been bound by a certain kind of institutional norms, traditions, et cetera, that we have gotten out past recently, particularly from the Republican Party . In the past, for instance, filibusters were extraordinarily rare. What i remember from my childhood was over civil rights. That was the main issue. But they happen once in a decade, maybe. But in the last 20 years, theyve happened repeatedly, and its become so that you cant pass a bill without 60 votes. Thats an extraordinary thing, and i think that thats happened largely because of a change in the Republican Party which has polarized the parties in washington and made it very hard for the government to function. Just little bit of data here. So, were about to enter, i think, into a protracted battle over a nominee to the d. C. Circuit appellate court, which is considered the sort of most Important Court in the land beneath the supreme court. And in terms of nominees, clinton had 77 of his judicial nominees confirmed at this point of his presidency, bush 92 and barack obama coming in third at 75 . And heres a great upside down example of what this obstruction looks like. You have a situation now in which senator Chuck Grassley is basically saying that president obama, in trying to appoint a nominee to fill a vacate seat on that court is engaged in courtpacking. Are we officially through the Looking Glass . Well, i think we are in a period where its going to be very hard for the government to function, and really, youre going to have to see a change in the parties. In california, the solution turned out to be the democrats getting the kind of majority where they could pass things without worrying about the filibusters or blocking. So, maybe thats the solution. Yes, you just wrote a piece in which you basically think the path out of the wilderness from this sort of deadlock of destruction and obstruction and dysfunction is basically just winning all the way around. You point to california, the only way out of this is just overwhelming maximum majorities, but thats not plausible nationwide, is it . Well, theres two paths. Thats one path. I think its very hard to imagine that, especially because of the house of representatives. I think you could imagine the senate, as happened in 2008, getting a vetoproof majority or 60 votes, which are necessary to get past the filibuster. The other possibility is for the republicans to become more of a centrist party. That also might happen, and it might happen in the wake of the shutdown and the reaction of the Business Community to what occurred and to the danger, really, that the republican right poses to the country. So, thats the other possibility, that youll see a kind of a change where the people who are now dealing with the obama people, people like senator corker, senator ayotte, will become the norm, and the ted cruzes will become marginalized. In order for that to happen, of course, and this gets back to the point i was just making with tim pawlenty, there has to be a shift in political incentives so that Lindsey Graham and others face people essentially to their left in primaries, rather than a man like lee bright, who says tyranny is what barack obama, harry reid and the rest of the liberals are trying to force upon our land. John judis from the new republic, thank you for your time. Thank you. Coming up we need a responsible, permanent solution to the problem of those who are here illegally. But first, we must follow through on the broken promises of the past to secure our borders and enforce our laws. During this address that republican senator marco rubio famously took that famous sip of water, which inspired our continuing series i see you, marco rubio, to retract his constantly evolving position on Immigration Reform. The latest twist. Wed love to hear from you on twitter and facebook. The obama care fearmongering continues. Now its sharply focused on the initial implementation of the Affordable Care act. Tonights question whats the latest myth a rightwing buddy has told you about the healthcare. Gov site or obama care. Ill share your replies later on the show. Stay tuned. The secret is out. Hydration is in. [ female announcer ] only aveeno daily moisturizing lotion has an active naturals oat formula that creates a moisture reserve so skin can replenish itself. Aveeno® naturally beautiful results. [ male announcer ] rocky had no idea why dawn was gone for so long. But hed wait for her forever and would always be there with the biggest welcome home. For a love this strong, dawn only feeds him iams. Compared to other leading brands, it has 50 more animal protein. To help keep rockys body as strong as a love that never fades. Iams. Keep love strong. Now you can keep love fun with new shakeables meaty treats. Big news from marco rubio today. In the latest installment of our recurring series, i see you, marco rubio. For a while now, weve had our eyes on marco rubio, and his backandforth on Immigration Reform, waiting for the moral