Lindsey Graham must be tired of being a Senator from South Carolina. In the last two weeks, Lindsey has \u201ccome out\u201d as Donald Trump\u2019s biggest supporter. He\u2019s been on This Week with George Stephanopoulos.<\/em> He\u2019s been on Meet the Press. <\/em>I missed him on CNN<\/em>, but I bet he was there too. Lindsey is trading on his friendships with the deceased Senator McCain and the very alive President Biden, to bolster his former reputation as a bipartisan \u201cstraight shooter\u201d. He\u2019s reaching out on \u201cMainstream Media\u201d to those Republicans who can\u2019t stomach Trump. He’s trying to create (the magic word) a \u201cpermission structure\u201d to let them come back to Trumpism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And how is he doing it? Air Force Reserve Colonel Graham (retired) is disparaging Four-Star Generals (retired) Mattis, Kelly and Milley. All have made strong statements against another Trump term in office. Kelly has gone so far as to say that Trump matches \u201cthe definition of Fascism\u201d. But Graham\u2019s trashed their reputations, saying they \u201cfailed\u201d to stand-up armies in Iraq and Afghanistan when the US withdrew from those nations. Of course, he takes no blame for those failures himself as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, nor does he allow any of the blame to fall on the former Commander-in-Chief, Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What does Lindsey want? My guess; he sees himself as the next Secretary of Defense in the Trump Administration; a suitable \u201cfinal act\u201d for the sixty-nine year old retired Air Force Reservist. Graham would probably be seen as the \u201csolid-establishment guardrail\u201d in a sycophantic second Trump Cabinet, a figure like Leon Panetta on the Democratic side. Of course, he\u2019s not. Lindsey told us himself the week after John McCain died; \u201cI\u2019m no John McCain\u201d. And then he completed his about-face from a Trump opponent to his best golf buddy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He did falter in his loyalty on January 6th<\/sup>. He told Trump, and the world, \u201cIt\u2019s been a good ride\u2026 but count me out \u201d. But when he saw the Trump could shed all responsibility for the Insurrection, Graham was right back on the MAGA bandwagon. And that\u2019s where he really stands today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, there\u2019s more self-interest in his statements than just a possible future cabinet position. Even if Trump\u2019s loses, Graham hopes that the race is close enough that it brings the Senate \u201cover the threshold\u201d and Republicans regain control. Sure, it won\u2019t be the \u201ckinder-gentler\u201d Senate of Mitch McConnell. If the Republicans are in control, they\u2019re likely to be dominated by MAGA forces, guys like Ted Cruz (GO COLIN ALLRED!!) and Josh Hawley. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So again, Graham can play on his image as a \u201cmoderate\u201d (much like McConnell\u2019s false image of moderation) to regain his Chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If he\u2019s Chairman again, he\u2019ll move ahead with the Federalist Society plan to radicalize the Judiciary in the style of Justices Alito and Thomas, and Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n So why am I \u201cpicking\u201d on Lindsey Graham?\u00a0\u00a0After all, there are a whole plethora of disappointing Republican Senators; Tom Cotton of Arkansas, John\u00a0\u00a0Kennedy of Louisiana and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin to name a few.\u00a0\u00a0All were \u201creasonable\u201d Republicans until Donald Trump came along.\u00a0\u00a0All abandoned their \u201creasonableness\u201d to jump on the MAGA bandwagon.\u00a0\u00a0Graham is just one of many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No, my \u201cbone to pick\u201d with Graham is a bit more personal. Graham had too older \u201cmentors\u201d in the United States Senate, both men I highly respect. One was John McCain, the \u201cmaverick\u201d Republican Senator from Arizona and 2008 Republican candidate for President of the United States. McCain was a conservative Republican, but one who was willing to visibly break with his party in order to follow his convictions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And McCain and Joe Biden were friends back from when McCain was a Naval Aviator assigned as a military advisor to the Senate. Even though Biden and McCain often differed on domestic policy, they were aligned on most foreign policy, and good friends. And they brought Graham into their relationships, becoming \u201cthe three amigos\u201d. My \u201cbeef\u201d with Graham is not only did he break from both of his old \u201camigos\u201d, but he continues to use his former relationship to further his own political fortune, even though he doesn\u2019t honor their bipartisanship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He’s been two-faced for a long time.\u00a0\u00a0If he needs to be a Trump apologist, that\u2019s his mistake.\u00a0\u00a0But he shouldn\u2019t be using his image as an \u201camigo\u201d to help him do it.\u00a0\u00a0It surely must disappoint Biden. Make no mistake, Graham was completely correct when he said: “I’m no John McCain”. That’s too bad for America. We could use him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Final Act<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Disappointment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n