Senator Lindsey Graham was a great American patriot. He was a freedom fighter. He was a throwback to an older Republican party that shunned isolationism and understood that America must never retreat from its friends, its allies, or the cause of freedom.
He was a great friend of Israel at a time when far too many in American politics are turning away from Israel. And even retreating to a hateful bigoted antisemitism, that is plaguing the socialist leaning Democratic party today, and even I say with regret, infiltrating some extreme elements in the GOP.
On this and most things regarding foreign policy, Graham knew the difference between right and wrong, good and evil. He passed away Saturday. But he would not have been happy with the events that transpired Sunday in the Middle East.
Here’s how President Trump, a dear friend of Lindsey Graham’s, reported to Fox & Friends this morning: “So something that nobody knows. Yesterday they had an 11-hour meeting. Everything’s 11 hours with these guys. You know, you can’t settle one sentence in one hour and one minute. It should be one minute. And everything was agreed to yesterday.”
Mr. Trump added: “And they leave the room and they call back and they say we had to make a couple of changes. They got to make changes. We’re not going to make changes. Always changes. They just, you know, they’re professional negotiators. That’s all they are. I don’t even call them good at it. They haven’t gotten anything from me.”
If I understand the chronology here, yesterday meaning Sunday, according to Mr. Trump, there was an 11-hour meeting with Iran of course, and everything was agreed to. Presumably that means opening up the Hormuz Strait, and denuclearizing Iran, and moving the enriched Uranium out of that country. Then, the Iranians walk out of the room shortly after, call back and say we have to make some changes.
The next thing you know — we’re still on yesterday, Sunday — the Iranians hit an oil tanker in the Strait, and then proceeded to bomb Oman, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Six of our Gulf allies.
Presumably these decisions were made within an hour or two, after this 11-hour meeting agreement that turned out to be a complete lie. Which of course that’s what the Iranians do, they lie. It’s the nature of their immoral, gruesome, barbaric, Nazi-like regime.
Now, in response to that, as I understand the chronology here, reported by Mr. Trump, the commander-in-chief has decided the United States will become the guardian of the Strait of Hormuz, and restore the naval blockade on Iranian ports for Iranian ships. And later today, Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social that he will be making a Speech to the Nation on Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern. Somehow it seems that the American response to Iran’s warfare escalation should be greater. Now we may hear about that Thursday evening, but not tonight.
And by the way, in addition to Iran’s repeated violation of the ceasefire, and the memorandum of understanding, by bombing oil tankers and our Gulf state allies and American military bases, our satellite pictures have discovered that Iran appears to be using the roughly $5 billion worth of oil sales given to them prematurely, to rebuild their nuclear installations at Pickaxe and Parchin Mountains.
To be sure, we bombed them heavily in recent days. And that’s important. And to be sure when you cross a red line with Mr. Trump, you will pay for it. Yet I would think the late Senator Graham would want even bigger strikes at Iran right now, this evening.
And perhaps those bigger strikes are in fact coming. I hope so. I knew Lindsey down through the years. I loved his wickedly hilarious sense of humor. And the good work he did as the budget chairman on one, big, beautiful bill last year.
By the way Senator Ron Johnson, a free market supply-sider, may well become the next Senate budget chairman. Wouldn’t that be something. Graham also defended Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his September 2018 Supreme Court confirmation hearings. He was not really an economic guy, and I never agreed with him and his gang of eight bipartisan attempts to solve immigration, or climate change, or other domestic matters. Yet when it came to defending America, and our allies, and the freedom that has made this the greatest country in the history of history, my hat’s off to the late senator, Lindsey Graham.
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