Like a TV political drama I believe they somehow set Graham up. They have pictures & probably videos of him in various positions. Also like a TV drama the truth always has a way of rising to the surface perhaps not today or tomorrow but eventually. For all Graham believed about Trump I’m sure he still does ten million times over. In the end he has not only sold his soul to the devil all for nothing. We WILL know the secret.
I’ve always believed it gets back to Christian Ferry and his work for both LG’s short lived POTUS 2016 run while simultaneously working for some oligarchs. However, I could see a scenario involving something ugly/illegal from LG’s JAG years...
A) I f-ing love Don Winslow. If there's anyone who I'll take at his word on assessment of the motives of the Kremlin's puppets formerly known as the Republican party it's Don Winslow. B) My very unoriginal assumption in re LG was a J Edgar Hoover sitch, except the pool boy at issue is a 19 year old Slav named Bogdan, & is the employee of the Kremlin. But that seems disproportionate to his present years of antics. I'd like to think he'd just have resigned if this is all about a boyfriend. Thus it's gotta be worse than a pool boy, even 1 in the employ of the SVR. C) If in fact this is al (or even partly) l a product of GOP addiction to dark money, (& Lev/Igor revelations make it more likely that is some of the story) they should be elated that Dems want to do away with it. A long-winded way of saying, I concur with GO & DW that neither a pool boy pee tape or campaign contributions from Russia explain the entire party's extremist conversion.
Dirty as they are, it may be that these traitors simply want to stay alive, given the tactics of their backers. It is not conspirational to say democracy is under attack on many fronts and our opposition thinks and plans for the long term. We don't do that very well.
I have a new gadget I carry with me when reading anything about this admin. A Fear monitor. Secrets exposed, shame, the need to do the right moral thing to save the country, the public servant with a clear conscious, the compromised afraid his door handle will have poison, is it being dumb or terror holding someone back; Everything I read now goes back to this primal survival evaluation of every single person involved in this. History is going to have a hard time with balancing the ludicrous with the destruction of American institutions. Will it be just as confusing for historians?
I don't even think if he were half in the bag he could look as bad as he does. He is clearly torn about something very heavy. Nothing can be worth selling out your country. I am at a height of pisstivity that I didnt know existed. I dont care what it is that has rendered them lacking a single "pair" collectively because it's not worth selling out the country. If someone threatened awful shit on their loved ones, taking themselves out would remedy that situation. Thats crass & awful , never thought things like that before either, but if it were me, I'd be doing that before I'd sell out my fucking country. There will be no sacrifices for the common good, not with the crew we are working with. I went from research at voting time to having my life hijacked, and I find myself seriously, and for the first time EVER wondering about the future of the country & what it may mean for my kid & grandkids. These traitors get what they get, and it involves no sympathy, forgiveness or pity. ZERO fucks to give for traitors. I wondered if it was something that seemed like not so big in the beginning, but no. He completely did as you said a 180°. That's pretty straight to the point it seems. I didnt know much about him & didn't know he was the "Robin to McCains batman", but I cant help but notice his absence now. We wouldnt have come anywhere close to this place that we are now if he were still here, not quietly anyway. Knowing now the traitorous pansies they are makes me like him even more knowing he stood up to the Squatter before he passed away. Theres that. That's the only good thought I've had in 3 yrs a out the majority of them, from both sides as I'm fairly bitter about the silence from the other side. I have never expected much from them to begin with, but c'mon, an assoholic with these intentions, AND a pandemic?? I think it's more than fair to expect at least one to stand up and give a heads up ffs. Situation looking so bad theres no time to really focus on that. Anyone better than the current "ones" is improvement. I somehow think we'd be hard pressed to find worse tho. Ugh. Sorry for the rant. Comes from not catching my breath in between the daily horrors that come to light or out of a mouth. Twilight zone is all I got. Great piece as usual. I only recently knew your name but every one hits the nail on the head.
An explanation for Lindsey's 180 falls, I believe, under the heading of, "What's the worst thing you can think of?" In the closet? No, even in South Carolina, it's 2020, and to my knowledge, there has never been a hint of actual proof of that -- it's not like he has a Nestor at home that we've ever heard of. But little boys or little girls? That's MUCH worse. But, what's THE worst? A dead little boy or little girl that Trump somehow found out about. That would explain a lot, if not everything about Graham's sudden about-face.
Two words: Christian Ferry. Graham doesn’t want him to end up in the cell next to Ferry’s employer Paul Manafort.
Like a TV political drama I believe they somehow set Graham up. They have pictures & probably videos of him in various positions. Also like a TV drama the truth always has a way of rising to the surface perhaps not today or tomorrow but eventually. For all Graham believed about Trump I’m sure he still does ten million times over. In the end he has not only sold his soul to the devil all for nothing. We WILL know the secret.
I’ve always believed it gets back to Christian Ferry and his work for both LG’s short lived POTUS 2016 run while simultaneously working for some oligarchs. However, I could see a scenario involving something ugly/illegal from LG’s JAG years...
A) I f-ing love Don Winslow. If there's anyone who I'll take at his word on assessment of the motives of the Kremlin's puppets formerly known as the Republican party it's Don Winslow. B) My very unoriginal assumption in re LG was a J Edgar Hoover sitch, except the pool boy at issue is a 19 year old Slav named Bogdan, & is the employee of the Kremlin. But that seems disproportionate to his present years of antics. I'd like to think he'd just have resigned if this is all about a boyfriend. Thus it's gotta be worse than a pool boy, even 1 in the employ of the SVR. C) If in fact this is al (or even partly) l a product of GOP addiction to dark money, (& Lev/Igor revelations make it more likely that is some of the story) they should be elated that Dems want to do away with it. A long-winded way of saying, I concur with GO & DW that neither a pool boy pee tape or campaign contributions from Russia explain the entire party's extremist conversion.
I agree Greg Olear. Lyndsey has a desperate look about him. Almost a panicked look. Great article
Dirty as they are, it may be that these traitors simply want to stay alive, given the tactics of their backers. It is not conspirational to say democracy is under attack on many fronts and our opposition thinks and plans for the long term. We don't do that very well.
I have a new gadget I carry with me when reading anything about this admin. A Fear monitor. Secrets exposed, shame, the need to do the right moral thing to save the country, the public servant with a clear conscious, the compromised afraid his door handle will have poison, is it being dumb or terror holding someone back; Everything I read now goes back to this primal survival evaluation of every single person involved in this. History is going to have a hard time with balancing the ludicrous with the destruction of American institutions. Will it be just as confusing for historians?
I don't even think if he were half in the bag he could look as bad as he does. He is clearly torn about something very heavy. Nothing can be worth selling out your country. I am at a height of pisstivity that I didnt know existed. I dont care what it is that has rendered them lacking a single "pair" collectively because it's not worth selling out the country. If someone threatened awful shit on their loved ones, taking themselves out would remedy that situation. Thats crass & awful , never thought things like that before either, but if it were me, I'd be doing that before I'd sell out my fucking country. There will be no sacrifices for the common good, not with the crew we are working with. I went from research at voting time to having my life hijacked, and I find myself seriously, and for the first time EVER wondering about the future of the country & what it may mean for my kid & grandkids. These traitors get what they get, and it involves no sympathy, forgiveness or pity. ZERO fucks to give for traitors. I wondered if it was something that seemed like not so big in the beginning, but no. He completely did as you said a 180°. That's pretty straight to the point it seems. I didnt know much about him & didn't know he was the "Robin to McCains batman", but I cant help but notice his absence now. We wouldnt have come anywhere close to this place that we are now if he were still here, not quietly anyway. Knowing now the traitorous pansies they are makes me like him even more knowing he stood up to the Squatter before he passed away. Theres that. That's the only good thought I've had in 3 yrs a out the majority of them, from both sides as I'm fairly bitter about the silence from the other side. I have never expected much from them to begin with, but c'mon, an assoholic with these intentions, AND a pandemic?? I think it's more than fair to expect at least one to stand up and give a heads up ffs. Situation looking so bad theres no time to really focus on that. Anyone better than the current "ones" is improvement. I somehow think we'd be hard pressed to find worse tho. Ugh. Sorry for the rant. Comes from not catching my breath in between the daily horrors that come to light or out of a mouth. Twilight zone is all I got. Great piece as usual. I only recently knew your name but every one hits the nail on the head.
An explanation for Lindsey's 180 falls, I believe, under the heading of, "What's the worst thing you can think of?" In the closet? No, even in South Carolina, it's 2020, and to my knowledge, there has never been a hint of actual proof of that -- it's not like he has a Nestor at home that we've ever heard of. But little boys or little girls? That's MUCH worse. But, what's THE worst? A dead little boy or little girl that Trump somehow found out about. That would explain a lot, if not everything about Graham's sudden about-face.
July 1, 2023
Senator Graham 'booed' at a Trump rally in Pickens, South Carolina