Lindsey Graham Legacy as a "Trump Whisperer" and Expert Politician, with Michael Knowles

We're losing something of our humanity here when people die who we consider political opponents or with whose political views we disagree. Yes, both sides do it, but the left does it a lot more than the right. That's how it goes. And this is for a few reasons. One, I think it's because for the left, they don't really have a serious sense of religion. They don't have a sense of eternity. They don't have the memento mori. They're trying to cheat death all the time. The first image that came to my mind when I saw these people celebrating Lindsey Graham's death is the epigraph above the bone chapels that you can sometimes see in Europe. These are chapels made of bones and skulls. And the epigraph's written right above a skull. It says, as you are, I once was, and as I am, you will be. So the ancient wisdom is de mortuis nil nisi bonum, of the dead we say nothing but good. It's not that we want to lie. It's not like we want to pretend that we didn't have disagreements with Lindsey Graham or anybody else. But it's that when someone dies, you focus on the good things. And this is ancient wisdom that goes back to Cylon of Sparta in the 6th century, okay? It's on pretty good authority. And so when you think about Lindsey Graham, you say, all right, the left is gonna say really nice things about Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He was an austere religious scholar. They're gonna say really nice things about Fidel Castro. He stood athwart the United States or whatever. But of Lindsey Graham, he's the worst guy ever. And I think on the right, Lindsey Graham might be more controversial than he is on the left, because he very much was a leader of the neocon faction, very interventionist foreign policy. He was considered pro-amnesty and pro-immigration. But I met Lindsey Graham one time. I think I only met him one time. It was back when Senator Cruz and I launched the Verdict podcast. This was during the first Trump impeachment. And one of the earliest, earliest episodes, Senator Cruz brings Lindsey Graham by the studio. And it was this kind of weird shag carpeting in a basement near the White House in DC. And Lindsey Graham, the first thing that struck me about him was he was so funny. He was very funny on the show. And then off camera, it was dialed up in order of magnitude. Lindsey Graham, I can say, is the single funniest guest I have ever interviewed on any show. He was instantly likable. He was deeply knowledgeable. He was very generous with his time. And it is curious that people who didn't agree with him on the right, people who come from different foreign policy factions or what have you, generally speaking, if they knew him, they only have nice things to say about him. And his colleagues on the left who knew him personally only have nice things to say about him. Even, what's his name, Al Franken. I'm good enough, strong enough, and gosh darn it, people like me. Al Franken, yeah, when he was in the Senate, there was some interview that he gave where he was complaining that all the senators tried to tell him jokes and how annoying it was. And he said, basically, the only one that's funny is Lindsey Graham. I mean, so why do I mention this? Not just to focus on the good things, and it's the difference between a flatterer and a diplomat. The flatterer lies to ingratiate himself. The diplomat just kind of focuses on the good things. But I think there's actually a political lesson for us here, which is whether you love Lindsey Graham, whether he drove you up a wall, Lindsey Graham was an extremely effective politician. And he was extremely effective for a few reasons. He was good to people as much as he could be. He was good to people even when he disagreed with them. And two, he understood that politics, at least in America, comes down to party. It comes down to supporting the party. You think about all those guys who ran against Trump or who were attacking Trump in 2016. The difference between Lindsey Graham and the rest of those guys is those guys are now screaming on Twitter or Blue Sky or Substack. Those are the only outlets they have. And Lindsey Graham remained at the center of power. He was effective. Trump seemed to get choked up when he was talking about him just the other day. Lindsey Graham understood that you need to support the party. You need to win together, that politics is a team sport. It can't all be about you. And then the more you learn about his biography, you realize this was a really selfless guy. This is a guy who, when his parents died, he decided he was gonna raise his 13-year-old sister. He's one of the only people in Congress who seems not to have enriched himself during his time there. He never gave into the- Yeah, he does. He was great. So he was clearly a patriot. Even if you disagreed with him, he clearly loved his country. He served his country in the military, in the Senate. And he really advanced the GOP. We might not have a Justice Kavanaugh if not for Lindsey Graham. And so even if you don't like his views on immigration or on foreign policy or what have you, there's a lot of good in this man's life. And the fact that the left prefers Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to Senator Lindsey Graham tells you a lot about the left, and it tells you a lot about Lindsey Graham. The Kavanaugh soundbite for me is, because the way he talked about war this past year was upsetting. But then when you remember what he did for Brett Kavanaugh when the chips were down and people were turning on him by the minute, including within the GOP after Christine Blasey Ford came out of nowhere to allege he had raped her or attempted to sexually assault her years earlier. And then we had that other moron who claimed he was a gang rapist, obvious liar represented by Avenatti. I mean, the pile on Kavanaugh was just so brutal. And it did take courage. It took a lot of courage to stand up to the mob. And he was at the center of it as a former military lawyer. I think he was running Senate Judiciary at the time. And his voice was very respected in that circle in particular. And he put it all on the line for Kavanaugh. This soundbite is making the rounds. We've cut the longer version. Watch. Did you meet with Senator Dianne Feinstein on August 20th? I did meet with Senator Feinstein. Did you know that her staff had already recommended a lawyer to Dr. Ford? I did not know that. Did you know that her and her staff had this allegations for over 20 days? I did not know that at the time. If you wanted an FBI investigation, you could have come to us. What you want to do is destroy this guy's life, hold this seat open, and hope you win in 2020. You've said that, not me. You've got nothing to apologize for. When you see Sotomayor and Kagan, tell them that Lindsey said hello, because I voted for them. I would never do to them what you've done to this guy. This is the most unethical sham since I've been in politics. And if you really wanted to know the truth, you sure as hell wouldn't have done what you've done to this guy. Are you a gang rapist? No. I cannot imagine what you and your family have gone through. Boy, y'all want power. God, I hope you never get it. I hope the American people can see through this sham, that you knew about it and you held it. You had no intention of protecting Dr. Ford. None. She's as much of a victim as you are. God, I hate to say it because these have been my friends. But let me tell you when it comes to this, you're looking for a fair process. You came to the wrong town at the wrong time, my friend. It's a great line. And you could feel his righteous indignation on behalf of Justice Kavanaugh. And we were all feeling it. Those of us on the right or in the center who were just willing to give the guy a fair shot felt it too. Lindsey Graham gave voice to it in a way no one else could or did. That's absolutely right. There's another story going around about how Lindsey Graham was going to raise money for someone whose foreign policy views he opposed. I think it was Blake Masters in this case. And someone asked, well, why are you out here supporting this candidate that you disagree on the war? He says, who cares? Yeah, I think he's wrong on Ukraine. But you know what? I want the Republicans to win so that I can remain chairman of my committees. Okay, this is a team sport. We need to go out here and help each other. And this to me is really one of the great recommendations of Lindsey Graham and how he so clearly understood politics and excelled at politics is with some politicians. You look at like a Liz Cheney or some of these guys who get a little squishy. They'll say they vote with the Republicans 94, 95% of the time. Why would you oppose this person? You say, yeah, they vote 94, 95% of the time when it's easy. But on the crucial votes, on the votes where your vote really matters, you're with the Democrats. You make it easier if you're a Liz Cheney or an Adam Kinzinger, you're gonna go support the Democrats on impeachment, which is the crucial issue. Where it matters, where are you? And with Lindsey Graham, you say, look, he had honest disagreements on foreign policy and immigration and what have you. But when it mattered, when it really mattered to the party, to the political movement, Lindsey Graham showed up and he actually had a lot of guts and he used his immense political skill that he learned as a trial lawyer in particular. He put that on the line and he was very, very effective. And it's funny to say because we all complained about his views on some of those issues. But the Republican Party would be in a much better place if we had guys with the political sense, insight, and guts of Lindsey Graham. No BS, no agenda, no fear. For the first time since World War II, our national debt has exceeded the gross domestic product. America's reckless government spending keeps catching up with us. Higher inflation, higher prices, higher cost of living expenses, and higher interest payments on the national debt. Every dollar Washington spends on interest is a and they can do that by diversifying with a time-tested asset known for weathering the storm. Consider physical gold from Birch Gold Group. Text MK to the number 989898 and Birch Gold will send you a free info kit on converting an existing IRA or 401k into a tax-sheltered IRA and physical gold. You don't pull the ripcord on your parachute once you've already hit the ground. Don't wait for economic turbulence to diversify. Text MK to the number 989898 and consider owning some gold from Birch Gold.