It was difficult to listen to the testimony of Marie Yovanovitch vis-à-vis the incendiary tweets of Donald Trump and try to imagine anyone more miserable and petty than the president. And on any other day of the universe, when Trump was on full display as a corrupt, monomaniacal, and ignorant wretch, it would have been beyond most people’s imaginations to conceive of anyone worse.
But then comes Lindsey Graham riding into town on a jackass to bail out his friend.
Admittedly we overuse the expression “There’s a special place in hell for….” but sometimes it’s perfect. Still, because hell remains theoretical—no one has been there and done a Yelp review—let’s just say that Lindsey Graham lacks (or has lost) the basic humanity required to lead, to feel, and to be.
To wit, after the most recent shooting in another school in another town we’d never heard of “until,” Graham was asked for a comment, especially since he represents leadership in the party that has erected barriers to every piece of gun legislation even hinted at. Graham’s response to the need for more stringent control of firearms?
“Impeachment has sucked all the oxygen out. But I hope we will revisit. I really do. I am ready to do something yesterday.”
In other words, if the Democrats hadn’t been so concerned about Trump jeopardizing our national security and trying to extort a United States ally, those kids in Santa Clarita would not have been shot. Graham’s golden boy Donald Trump expropriated the term human scum to deride his enemies. Too bad, it would have fit so well with Senator Graham. And I wonder if he would have scapegoated the Democrats so glibly were he asked for a comment by one of the victims' parents—would he just have mumbled, “sorry your child was shot, but those Democrats, you know?”
Yeah, we know. We know that throughout these impeachment proceedings and the lead-up, the Democratic-led House (together with moderate Republicans) has been sending legislation over to the Senate where Acolyte-in-Chief Mitch McConnell has let it all fester, in many cases blocking legislation that would benefit the average American Trump promised to rescue. But that’s not even the point, nor do I wish to become embroiled in another battle over guns. (You like guns? Buy all you want. Collect them. Store them. Fondle them. Just don’t shoot anybody with them.) If Graham had admitted he’s a gun-lover and that’s the end of it, we could have crossed him off as another tone-deaf Republican and moved on. But to blame the Democrats for distracting Congress out of doing its job because it’s doing its Constitutional duty scratches at depths of cowardice that would leave even Trump envious.
Like most people I was impressed by the testimony of Marie Yovanovitch yesterday. In many ways she reminded me of Christine Blasey Ford in her resolute steadiness and steely integrity. But there was a time when we would not have been so impressed—when the behavior of Ms. Yovanovitch would have been exactly what we expected from a State Department employee anywhere in the world. Now, however, with Trump in charge, we’re shocked when anyone displays mere competency, let alone courage.
Contrast Ms. Yovanovitch with Lindsey Graham, whose humanity has eroded so quickly and so thoroughly that he seems incapable of good judgment or lucid thought. His empathy? Oh that vanished long ago, only to be replaced and subverted by a corrupt sycophancy. It's a Trump requirement and Graham is fine with it.
If the Democrats hadn’t started impeaching the president, we would have had gun legislation by now.
Let that rattle around in your head for a while. Of course if kids hadn’t been killed and wounded the day before, we could have laughed at Graham's idiocy. When children's lives are lost, though, it isn't that easy.