Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) faced an eruption of rage from Tea Party activists at a town hall meeting Tuesday for his decision to work with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) on climate change and clean energy legislation.
In a New York Times op-ed published Sunday, Graham and Kerry discussed their commitment to achieving bipartisan legislation.
Sen. Graham has also independently expressed his own concerns on global warming:
I think the planet is heating up. I think CO2 emissions are damaging the environment and this dependence on foreign oil is a natural disaster in the making. Let's do something about it. I'd like to solve a problem, and if it's on President Obama's watch, it doesn't bother me one bit if it makes the country better off.
At a Greenville, South Carolina town hall, angry attendees called Graham a "traitor," of "going to bed with John Kerry," and making a "pact with the devil."
This unhinged response is reflected in the conservative blogosphere, where Graham has been called a "fake Republican," "RINO" (Republican in name only), a "traitor," "disgrace," "asshat," "democrat in drag," and a "wussypants, girly-man, half-a-sissy":
WATCH, via Think Progress: