It’s quite an accomplishment to work your way through the United States political system to become a US Senator. In the United States, there are 3.1 million people per senator, to simplify the distinction and rarity. And to do it three times when counting elections, that is even more difficult. I wish one could say that doing this takes hard work and dedication, but the truth is that in our modern system, it takes a willingness to sell out your principles and ideals in support of the corporation. Especially when you’re doing it as a Republican.
Graham made his reputation for selling himself to the US Military Industrial Complex and the various corporations that comprises it. Most specifically to Israel. He became one of AIPACs triumphs early on, and was groomed as their number one middle east ‘warhawk’ in the Senate. He was among the loudest voices pushing towards war in Iraq – a war that destabilized the region to great benefit for both Israel, and the House of Saud. Dismantling the ‘Eastern Block’ eliminated competition for some, while strategic isolation of Syria provided a buffer to Israel.
Throughout his career, Lindsey Graham was one of Saudi Arabia’s staunchest supporters in all things. As a prominent foreign policy hawk and chair of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee overseeing the foreign affairs budget, he consistently fought off bipartisan efforts in Congress to block U.S. arms sales to Riyadh. Graham argued that despite being an imperfect ally, Saudi Arabia was a key counterterrorism partner, shared “life-saving intelligence”, and served as a necessary strategic hedge against Iran in the Middle East. After the Khashoggi assassination, Graham is quoted as saying himself “I’ve been their biggest defender on the floor of the United States Senate”.
In the end, the highest bidder for Lindsey Graham’s loyalty was AIPAC, and Israel has been effectively ‘managing’ the US and its military as a result of direct manipulations of Trump and his administration. Both through direct methods in control, as well as purported Kompromat as obtained through alleged Israeli Agent Jeffrey Epstein. Both Trump and Graham’s behaviors and obsession with suppressing the Epstein investigations around the world speaks volumes, and elevates the issue to histories most blatant and corrupt attempts to tank an investigation.
And now Graham’s legacy will not be that of one of the great US senators, but as a career lackey to foreign interests, a traitor who sold himself both domestically *and* to his foreign allies, and a sycophant to a billionaire pedophile demagogue pushing the United States to the brink and fostering the most extreme partisan division our country has ever seen. Graham enabled this, and even encouraged it when it fit his masters designs. No legacy to himself, Graham is now forever enshrined in the disgusting tangle of the United States of America’s most embarrassing and seemingly nonstop mistake.
May his efforts to destroy Democracy in our Republican bring shame to his ancestors as he dies a traitor to the REAL United States of America.