Why Your Enemies May Be The Highest Compliment

Late on Saturday evening, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina died in a sudden and tragic fashion. It was unexpected for everyone.

A few hours later, my wife gave birth to our fifth child, a bouncing baby boy, which led to some internet memes about how Lindsey Graham had been reincarnated in my son.

I’ll say this: If my son grows up to be a multiple-term senator who stands for American power in the world, never enriches himself from his office, and has the hatred of all the people who hate America the most, that would be pretty great.

You can judge a man by his enemies.

You know who was very happy when Lindsey Graham died? Iran and Russia.

You know who else was really, really happy? The echo chamber of evil; the dirtbag Left and horseshoe Right. They hug each other; they help each other; they maximize each other. They collaborate on destroying America.

They’re all pretending to be opponents, but they’re not. They all hate the country.

Here’s the thing: If you are judging who loved the country more — the senator who spent 33 years in the United States military spanning the active duty Air Force, South Carolina Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve, the senator who stood for American peace through strength and stood staunchly alongside our allies like Ukraine and Israel against Russia and Iran, the senator who never made a penny off his office — or pseudo-socialists like congressman Ro Khanna, who is worth $250 million, or the influencer class, who get thrills from terrorists and dictators and openly celebrated Graham’s death — I’ll pick Senator Lindsey Graham every single time.

If these are the people who celebrated Lindsey Graham’s death the most, then hell, Lindsey Graham may be one of the best senators of all time.

Lindsey Graham stood for American strength. These jackasses stand for American weakness, surrender, and collapse. They think America is a nefarious force abroad, that America’s allies are the problem, and that terrorists are freedom fighters against American and Western imperialism. They’re propagandists for the people who would love to see America laid low.

And, of course, they help each other.

This is not about connecting the dots. It’s the same dot. They believe the same things. They may disagree from time to time about issues such as transing of the kids, but that’s pretty much the only issue. The rest of the time, they’re centered on their primary issue: that America sucks and that America and those who stand for her and her allies are forces of wickedness in the world.

When you think America is imperialistic, when you think it’s evil, when you think the world would be better off if we were governed by the Chinese, the Russians, the Iranians — all of the people who hate America the most — that our enemies are better than our allies, and that those who stand for America deserve to die, you are the bad guy.

Let’s be clear. Lindsey Graham was an American success story. He was the son of pool hall owners. They owned a bar. He grew up helping his parents run the business. They lived in a room behind the bar. They moved into a mobile home. He was the first person in his family to go to college. His parents died 15 months apart from one another. His mom had Hodgkin’s lymphoma. His dad died from a heart attack.

Graham became his sister Darline’s legal guardian. She’s nine years younger than he is, and she is the person who’s going to be replacing him in the Senate.

Graham joined the Air Force ROTC, served as an Air Force JAG officer, and then served in the South Carolina National Guard and Air Force Reserve. He retired as a colonel after 33 years of service to the country.

He was in the U.S. House from 1995 to 2003, and then the U.S. Senate from 2003 until his death over the weekend.

He was an extraordinarily powerful senator. He was chairing the Senate Budget Committee at the time of his death. He had previously chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee. He had served on the Appropriations, Armed Services, and the Environment and Public Works Committee.

And, of course, he was most famous for being extremely national security-oriented, making sure that the United States remained at the forefront of military development. He was the strongest advocate for aid to Ukraine. He was very much in favor of sanctions on Russia and Iran, very pro-Israel, very pro-Saudi. He was very active in debates around NATO. He thought it was important that America remain the global hegemon.

In the 1990s, he was very active in the impeachment of Bill Clinton, was vocally critical of President Trump in 2016, and then later they became close partners. He had some serious legislative accomplishments on issues ranging from law enforcement to the economy. He was very hawkish on border security.

And of course, he was very much known as one of the most congenial members of the United States Senate.

Senator Graham’s ideology was, at its core, extraordinarily pro-American and aligned with American exceptionalism.

Senator Graham was one of the good ones. He will be missed.