A PORTRAIT OF HYPOCRISY

Senator Lindsey Graham, a sidekick for the late Senator John McCain and caddie for former president  Donald J. Trump travelled to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky. This happened only weeks after he voted against aid to Ukraine, despite the bi-partisan nature of the bill, support by 20 Republicans and passed by an overwhelming majority. While President Zelensky was gracious,   Senator Graham was hypocritical to the end calling for Ukraine’s accession to NATO membership and providing a lesson for the conscription of additional Ukrainian military. He was soundly rebuked by the courageous people of Ukraine for the latter as Graham went on a teaching moment regarding earlier mandatory military service for Ukraine’s youth. (Graham did serve in the US military, but only as an attorney. He never saw any fighting.) Ukraine should probably deny him future entry, but Ukraine is much too civilized and democratic for that.

This most recent game by the Senator from South Carolina deserves some attention and much opprobrium. Graham is the chief clown of the Senate, but even so his behaviour here is embarrassing for the Senate even by his standards.   There are other clowns: McConnell, Cruz, Vance.  These are four of the worst U.S. Senators in terms of hypocrisy. Graham’s and McConnell’ s records are lengthy so they have a history of which no one could be proud.

Graham has served in the Senate for twenty one years, assuming the seat vacated by Senator Strom Thurmond, a well known racist. Graham’s term is up in two years so his duplicity can be explained  since he sits in Trump’s pocket and loyalty is core for Trump. There is a democratic solution for such scoundrels to be applied by the electorate. I would not get too excited about the chances of his removal since this is South Carolina, the first state to secede from the Union which precipitated the Civil War.

Graham was a relatively unknown, but respectable member of the United States Senate, particularly when he was in the company of the much adulated war hero Senator from Arizona, John McCain. He always followed Senator McCain’s lead. When Senator McCain passed away Graham was left to his own devices. Having run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2015-16 and embarrassed himself, he sought the favour of then President Donald J. Trump who had disparaged him during Graham’s short-lived campaign. This was embarrassing but not unusual for other Republican pretenders such as Little Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz and quickly forgiven for the sake of politics. Trump not only disparaged Ted Cruz but called his wife unattractive and his father a co-conspirator in the President John F. Kennedy assassination.

All was forgiven apparently on the links of Mar-a-Lago. Graham chose to become and continues to be Trump’s “caddie”. But he insists on being an international player. His recent lesson on military conscription in Ukraine has been ridiculed in Ukraine as being “none of his business” and in the United States as being “not exactly the purview of a US Senator, particularly one who is not supporting Ukrainian defence.”

So now Lindsey Graham is an international clown and a shameless one, whose message to Ukraine is “We are not giving you any weapons to defend yourself, but do send your children out to die.” It is difficult to imagine a more despicable character.

This is meant to disparage Lindsey Graham, and not only him.  My purpose is to shame those who speak loudest about patriotism and democracy, but serve as Russian assets. Poor John McCain must be turning over in his grave. Senator Graham, at the very least, please never mention that John McCain was your friend.

March 21, 2024                                   Askold S. Lozynskyj