Graham was one of the more revolting specimens we have of why converts make for the most dangerous propagandists. Gabriel Lenz’s work on elite cues suggests that when leaders flip, a lot of their supporters update with them instead of treating the flip as a betrayal. So when the man that appropriately called 47 "a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot" later converted to the cult... it was a tribal signal that was devastating for democracy. It's hard to come up with a recent death, aside from the (for-all-intents-and-purposes) late Mitch McConnell, that gives us a better moment to reflect on the repugnance of these sycophants. This is no time for politeness. Good fucking riddance.
Thanks, Steven. A number that quantifies the choice you've described: NBC's obituary counts 63 Meet the Press appearances – tied with Bob Dole's old all-time record, second only to McCain (73). The last decade of those Sunday sit-downs was Lindsey doubling down on his shameful choice: sycophancy and power over truth and decency. As a native South Carolinian with a MAGA-washed mother from Myrtle Beach, Graham's toxicity cuts close to the bone. And she's the demographic that's most likely to absorb and regurgitate his bullshit, which she continues to do.
Guess et al. (in Science Advances, 2019) found Americans 65+ shared nearly 7 times as much false political content as the youngest users they studied. So Lindsey's choice was malignant propaganda amplified to the gullible. May his legacy settle where it belongs, deep in the sediment of rotten men. (BTW Phillips O'Brien just published a quotes-only ledger of what Graham actually said in many of his media appearances, and it pairs devastatingly well with your piece.)
Thank you for an honest accounting of this traitorous man. He was a hypocrite and as awful as the felon in his support of cruel policies. Some of the fawning statements touting his great sense of humor, for instance, are nauseating.
If one wishes to have a eulogy that is full of praise, one has to actually live a life worthy of it. Lindsay Graham did not.
This is an important, honest, eloquent and balanced assessment of a public life that could have been well-lived, but was not. We can’t really hope to understand what motivated this man…and what changed him so profoundly that he leaned into everything he said he despised. Thank you.
If there is any hope for the American mainstream media to regain their souls, they must cancel the upcoming White House Correspondents Dinner. That's for starters. Then they can start calling things like they actually see them, not hedge and mumble in headlines or in their stories. No both-sidesism when the truth knows better. When the press fears a loss of access over their commitment to free, hard-hitting, untrampled reporting, they defeat the very purpose of freedom of the press. The dinner is apostasy and they should be ashamed if they go through with it.
NYT, whose reporters were subpoenaed over the recent story on Drumpf switching planes, has not participated in the WHCD for years. I don’t know how many others do not. Some like Time magazine, People magazine, and Bloomberg only attend the main fundraiser and don’t participate or host related gatherings.
That's all true, but I'd like to see the whole "industry" take a stand, make a statement. I've said before, what would happen if all the gaggle of reporters who flock to his various pressers were to stay away, just not show up? And those who have his phone number, not call. Just a total blackout for a couple of days. Starve the man of his oxygen. There are features or other sources enough to be written up to fill the pages and the cable/streaming outlets. It would drive him bonkers. Imagine it. What a great message that would send: "You are crazy and irrelevant."
We can’t wishcast him into irrelevance. He could & would do all the things he wants to do. Maybe more & bigger to get attention. It seems kind of silly to do this just to aggravate him.
At any rate, it is not going to happen. The WH made certain when it took over the press passes, seating, scheduling & rotation of reporters to include plenty of his adoring fans (example: Breitbart News is a regular) so he’d always have friendly news media there. Besides, at these pressers his verbal meanderings give reporters leads & insights not otherwise released by the gov’t. Some of what he says become quotes used in court hearings.
Thank you Steven, for your honest accounting of a life lived for opportunity and obeisance to a felon who is out to destroy everything that made this country great. I actually felt a sense of relief when I first heard of his death. I felt guilty, but what you have written here is true.
"Tragically, he is one of many." This, 100%. Right now we focus on Graham because he just passed, but the entire Republican Party caved to Trump in 2016, with a handful of exceptions who became Never Trumpers, went on to start the Lincoln Project, and/or have done other valuable pro-democracy work. What happened?
In THE DESTRUCTIONISTS: The 25-Year Crack-up of the Republican Party (which I'm citing a lot these days), Dana Milbank traces it to the rise of Newt Gingrich but acknowledges that Gingrich didn't come out of nowhere either. We can trace it back to Reagan, back to Nixon's "Southern Strategy," back to the Republican Party that helped crash the world economy in the late 1920s (and then fought tooth & nail against the New Deal), and maybe back to the Tilden-Hayes compromise of 1877, at which point the Republican Party ceased to be "the party of Lincoln" and was well on the way to becoming, in effect, a white people's party.
I want to know more about how it happened so we can work double-time to prevent its happening again.
Thank you for your candor and for writing what we all know - but what many will not say (or allow themselves to even think). We know what Trump is; he has been this person his entire life. It is the enablers who really frustrate and anger me - those who could have stopped this, but for selfish reasons did not. And like we are all saying, the list is long. I am reminded of Liz Cheney's powerful words: "Tonight, I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain."
Every week is filled with a firehose of physical and political attacks. I assume the elections will be unfair snd that results will be disregarded. And I assume Trump family isnt leaving office at end of term.
Graham was one of the more revolting specimens we have of why converts make for the most dangerous propagandists. Gabriel Lenz’s work on elite cues suggests that when leaders flip, a lot of their supporters update with them instead of treating the flip as a betrayal. So when the man that appropriately called 47 "a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot" later converted to the cult... it was a tribal signal that was devastating for democracy. It's hard to come up with a recent death, aside from the (for-all-intents-and-purposes) late Mitch McConnell, that gives us a better moment to reflect on the repugnance of these sycophants. This is no time for politeness. Good fucking riddance.
Thanks for your thoughtful addition flagging Lenz’s work.
Thanks, Steven. A number that quantifies the choice you've described: NBC's obituary counts 63 Meet the Press appearances – tied with Bob Dole's old all-time record, second only to McCain (73). The last decade of those Sunday sit-downs was Lindsey doubling down on his shameful choice: sycophancy and power over truth and decency. As a native South Carolinian with a MAGA-washed mother from Myrtle Beach, Graham's toxicity cuts close to the bone. And she's the demographic that's most likely to absorb and regurgitate his bullshit, which she continues to do.
Guess et al. (in Science Advances, 2019) found Americans 65+ shared nearly 7 times as much false political content as the youngest users they studied. So Lindsey's choice was malignant propaganda amplified to the gullible. May his legacy settle where it belongs, deep in the sediment of rotten men. (BTW Phillips O'Brien just published a quotes-only ledger of what Graham actually said in many of his media appearances, and it pairs devastatingly well with your piece.)
Thank you Jonathon, for this information. I just followed you, because of your input.
“The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.” Marc Antony’s speech in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
That line has taken up residence in my head. It was never far away, but now it's front and center.
Thank you for an honest accounting of this traitorous man. He was a hypocrite and as awful as the felon in his support of cruel policies. Some of the fawning statements touting his great sense of humor, for instance, are nauseating.
If one wishes to have a eulogy that is full of praise, one has to actually live a life worthy of it. Lindsay Graham did not.
He left the world a far worse place than when he entered it. Good riddance.
Lindsey chose what was expedient to remain relevant in proximity to power rather than integrity.
That's it in a nutshell, folks. Thanks for stating it so succinctly, JB!
This is an important, honest, eloquent and balanced assessment of a public life that could have been well-lived, but was not. We can’t really hope to understand what motivated this man…and what changed him so profoundly that he leaned into everything he said he despised. Thank you.
If there is any hope for the American mainstream media to regain their souls, they must cancel the upcoming White House Correspondents Dinner. That's for starters. Then they can start calling things like they actually see them, not hedge and mumble in headlines or in their stories. No both-sidesism when the truth knows better. When the press fears a loss of access over their commitment to free, hard-hitting, untrampled reporting, they defeat the very purpose of freedom of the press. The dinner is apostasy and they should be ashamed if they go through with it.
NYT, whose reporters were subpoenaed over the recent story on Drumpf switching planes, has not participated in the WHCD for years. I don’t know how many others do not. Some like Time magazine, People magazine, and Bloomberg only attend the main fundraiser and don’t participate or host related gatherings.
https://www.npr.org/2007/05/02/9955601/times-opts-out-of-correspondents-dinner
That's all true, but I'd like to see the whole "industry" take a stand, make a statement. I've said before, what would happen if all the gaggle of reporters who flock to his various pressers were to stay away, just not show up? And those who have his phone number, not call. Just a total blackout for a couple of days. Starve the man of his oxygen. There are features or other sources enough to be written up to fill the pages and the cable/streaming outlets. It would drive him bonkers. Imagine it. What a great message that would send: "You are crazy and irrelevant."
We can’t wishcast him into irrelevance. He could & would do all the things he wants to do. Maybe more & bigger to get attention. It seems kind of silly to do this just to aggravate him.
At any rate, it is not going to happen. The WH made certain when it took over the press passes, seating, scheduling & rotation of reporters to include plenty of his adoring fans (example: Breitbart News is a regular) so he’d always have friendly news media there. Besides, at these pressers his verbal meanderings give reporters leads & insights not otherwise released by the gov’t. Some of what he says become quotes used in court hearings.
Really good points. A girl can dream, right? :)
Thank you Steven, for your honest accounting of a life lived for opportunity and obeisance to a felon who is out to destroy everything that made this country great. I actually felt a sense of relief when I first heard of his death. I felt guilty, but what you have written here is true.
"Tragically, he is one of many." This, 100%. Right now we focus on Graham because he just passed, but the entire Republican Party caved to Trump in 2016, with a handful of exceptions who became Never Trumpers, went on to start the Lincoln Project, and/or have done other valuable pro-democracy work. What happened?
In THE DESTRUCTIONISTS: The 25-Year Crack-up of the Republican Party (which I'm citing a lot these days), Dana Milbank traces it to the rise of Newt Gingrich but acknowledges that Gingrich didn't come out of nowhere either. We can trace it back to Reagan, back to Nixon's "Southern Strategy," back to the Republican Party that helped crash the world economy in the late 1920s (and then fought tooth & nail against the New Deal), and maybe back to the Tilden-Hayes compromise of 1877, at which point the Republican Party ceased to be "the party of Lincoln" and was well on the way to becoming, in effect, a white people's party.
I want to know more about how it happened so we can work double-time to prevent its happening again.
Thank you for this information
Today’s essay motivates me to find ways to do the opposite of “go along to get along.”
Good to hear!
I’m kinda loving former Capitol Cop Michael Fanone’s response to the news of Graham’s demise: “Rest in p*ss.”
He dishonored his oath to the country.
Thank you for your candor and for writing what we all know - but what many will not say (or allow themselves to even think). We know what Trump is; he has been this person his entire life. It is the enablers who really frustrate and anger me - those who could have stopped this, but for selfish reasons did not. And like we are all saying, the list is long. I am reminded of Liz Cheney's powerful words: "Tonight, I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain."
Every week is filled with a firehose of physical and political attacks. I assume the elections will be unfair snd that results will be disregarded. And I assume Trump family isnt leaving office at end of term.
That photo captures it all…
And hes used his position to illegally take 2 billion in gifts, insider trading, etc. He'll likely take another 20 billion.