Graham Crackers: the Saga Continues

I was reminded (yet again) of one of my more prescient observations which I remain pleased to have made. 
 
It came about this time by the latest of Lindsey Graham’s head-spinning, soul-sucking pronouncements on behalf of Trump.
 
“I tell you what,” he said on CNN this past Sunday, “if Trump were President, Putin wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine because he’s afraid of him.”
 
Now, yes, of course, I know all the obvious and correct responses to this.  Like how “if Trump was president, Putin would be waltzing through Ukraine since not only would Trump support him, but Ukraine wouldn’t have gotten any aid from the United States without it being pushed by Trump.”  And “It’s well-accepted from evidence in the Mueller Report and elsewhere that Putin tried aggressively to get Trump elected president, which is the opposite of someone being afraid of him.”  And “It seems far more likely that Putin has something (or a lot of things) on Trump from his years as a businessman in Russia, and so there’s a much better chance that Trump is terrified of Putin.”  And “What does Putin or Trump have on Lindsey Graham that has made him lose his spine and total self-respect and become a quivering blob of Trump errand boy???”  That and “How utterly stupid do you think the American public is – or are you only talking to the Republican base that believes this garbage?”
 
And yes, all of these thoughts rumbled around in my head as I heard Lindsey Graham (R-SC) blather like Dickensian urchin begging for even just the tiniest scrap of Trump love.  It’s a sad, pathetic performance that has been going on for almost seven years now, ever since Graham said about Trump in February, 2016 I think he’s a kook, I think he’s crazy, I think he’s nuts.  I think he’s unfit for office” and even after Trump actually humiliated Graham by actually giving out his personal phone number to embarrass him.  The long list of things that Lindsey Graham has since said and done and reversed himself on in order to, it seems, solely please his Great Daddy Figure Trump in the most awkward, infantile and, at times, weepy, red-faced, handkerchief-rending ways that you almost expect him to pause a moment while he shakes in a fever and has to sip his mint julep to steady himself has become so unending that there’s pretty much no need to repeat them.  Sort of like noting that when it rained today, it was wet.
 
But what most rumbled in my head – and does almost every time he’s spoken for the past seven years – is a conversation I had about 20 years ago, give or take a few years.
 
This was the time when elected Republican officials were beginning their early stages away from just political disagreement and becoming uncompromising idealogues.  The era of impeaching Bill Clinton for the crime of being “Slick Willy,” slamming Hillary Clinton for being a smart woman, insisting Barack Obama was a Muslim Kenyan and more.  And through it all, Lindsey Graham would occasionally stand out from the Republican Party with a few thoughtful comments contrary to his party.
 
And it was during this period that I was having a conversation with a friend who said, “Y’know, I sort of like Lindsey Graham.  He’s about the only sane Republican.  I don’t agree with him on many things, but he’s fair-minded and I sort of see supporting him as a rational voice in the party.”
 
To which I said – “I don’t.  I find him smarmy.  He does say occasional things that are fair-minded, but you don’t get bonus points for being fair.  We’ll all supposed to be fair.  I’m glad he is, but it only stands out because the rest of the Republican Party is so reprehensible it makes him seem reasonable.  But I don’t think he’s reasonable.  I get the sense that most of the time he’s only saying things that any person should say, but it’s only on the surface because at heart I find him deceitful and nasty and obnoxious.”
 
I’ve always been pleased of that observation.  And the only thing I’m sorry about is that for the past two decades he hasn’t proven me wrong.