On the other hand, he really liked dogs
By 
One thing that I was actually wondering about just a bit is whether the fact that Lindsey Graham had turned himself into the most disgusting imaginable lickspittle for Donald Trump and Trumpism, even though he was fully aware of how contemptible Trump is, would somehow affect the ancient transoceanic practice that Orwell noted at the time of James Joyce’s death:
The academic critics could not resist the opportunity to kick Joyce’s corpse. The Times gave him a mean, cagey little obituary, and then—though The Times has never lacked space for letters about batting averages or the first cuckoo—refused to print the letter of protest that T. S. Eliot wrote. This was in accordance with the grand old English tradition that the dead must always be flattered unless they happen to be artists. Let a politician die, and his worst enemies will stand up on the floor of the House and utter pious lies in his honour, but a writer or artist must be sniffed at, at least if he is any good.
In retrospect I’m a little embarrassed at my naiveté. Of course the most fulsome encomia have poured forth, from people who are more than willing to tell you that Donald Trump is an existential threat to liberal democracy, at least in the context of a fundraising email, but who think that somebody who abandoned all of his putative commitments in a conscious decision to prefer evil to good was actually a pretty great guy, if you look past some “policy disagreements:”
“Jill and I are shocked by the sudden passing of Lindsey Graham,” former President Joe Biden said in a statement Sunday.
“Lindsey and I served together in Congress for over a decade, and worked closely on many issues throughout the years. We traveled the world together as members of the Senate Foreign Relations committee. We disagreed often, and sometimes loudly,” Biden wrote. “Lindsey and I did agree on the profound importance of public service. Like me, he loved the Senate as an institution, even with all its flaws and complexities.”
“To his family, his staff, his constituents in South Carolina, and everyone who loved him: Jill and I are keeping you in our prayers,” Biden’s statement concluded.
My expectations of Biden in this sort of situation are needless to say non-existent, but this emetic effusion turns out to be typical among Democratic party elites:
Rep. Jim Clyburn, a longtime Democratic representative from South Carolina, also expressed condolences to Graham’s family, writing in a social media post that he and Graham “maintained a relationship grounded in mutual respect, even when our political differences were significant.”
“His commitment to public service and the people he represented will remain an enduring part of his legacy,” Clyburn said.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., recalled Graham as “a man who loved his work, his country, and his family. “
“Lindsey had a zest for life and the Senate that made you want to get to work on a bill with him or at least debate him. He brought joy to his job,” Klobuchar said.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in a statement that he was just with Graham at last week’s NATO summit in Turkey.
“At a private dinner at the Ambassador’s residence, he was working every senator on a strategy to end the war in Ukraine. Typical Lindsey,” Durbin said. “Lindsey was part of every important policy issue and an indispensable player in every Senate ‘gang.’ He was a fierce Republican partisan one day and a key bipartisan ally the next.”
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a social media statement that he was “heartbroken” to hear of Graham’s death.
“Lindsey and I disagreed on plenty over the years, but I never doubted his love for this country or his commitment to serving it. He was a fierce advocate for the causes he believed in, especially our nation’s security and the men and women of our armed forces,” Warner said in a statement . . .
“I am saddened to learn of the passing of my former colleague, Senator Lindsey Graham,” former Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement. “He was full of wit, energy, and charm, and he cared deeply about the Senate and the people of South Carolina. Doug and I are sending our thoughts and our prayers to his friends and loved ones.”
I can understand and even to some limited extent agree with the view that the hours immediately after a man’s death are not the right time to point out that he had betrayed everything Donald Trump’s actual opponents are fighting to preserve, because he was in point of fact an utterly loathsome traitor, who betrayed all those things in full awareness that he was doing so, out of nothing more than his eagerness to put his own political ambitions ahead of basic human decency.
There is, in other words, an argument for maintaining a decorous silence about such things in the hours and days immediately after someone’s death, not that I actually buy that argument under current circumstances. But what there is absolutely no argument for is this genuinely disgusting need to utter pious lies about the worst of the worst, which is exactly what Graham became, for the least defensible of reasons. Doing so simply sends up a huge banner that says we don’t actually believe anything we say about anything, because this is all just an elaborate game that we’re playing.
If you want to know why things like Graham Platner happen, part of the reason is because the Democratic establishment’s reaction to something like Lindsey Graham’s timely death sends that message loud and clear, especially to the people that they’re grifting with all their lies about how implacably opposed they are to Donald Trump and all his works, and all his pomps.
. . . and in case you’re wondering whether the many fascists in our midst feel any obligation to reciprocate in kind, here are the comedy stylings of Frau Miller:
Jill and I are shocked by the sudden passing of Lindsey Graham. Lindsey and I served together in Congress for over a decade, and worked closely on many issues throughout the years. We traveled the world together as members of the Senate Foreign Relations committee.
Did your staff write this?