To be fair, it’s probably not just the kompromat but also his re-election chances if he pisses off the Trumpists. This is the deal the GOP signed up for when they started the Southern Strategy and even the “principled” ones have come to realize it’s ride or die.
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With what? Either it’s what we already know, in which case Graham is deeply stupid for thinking it’s not common knowledge, or it’s somehow worse than what we do know.
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Isn’t there a pic from Russia where he’s in a swimming pool naked, with kids in the background ? that would qualify as worse.
He went golfing with Trump and Trump told him, the Russians gave me all the video Lindsey.
I really and truly believe Republicans don’t understand their words and actions are recorded in a way in which they can be viewed again in the future. They certainly know the people who vote for them have the attention span of a gnat and their political opponents couldn’t message their way out of a wet paper bag.
What could he possibly have on Graham that’s not already obvious to everyone?
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This is the core problem: if you once support Trump for reasons of political advantage, you’re his for life. There’s no way to go back without shredding your career and your reputation. And a lot of Republicans have clearly looked around and said “Well, I’m in it now, I might as well go all the way.”
I believe that at some level Trump understands this, which is why the public acts of obeisance that he demands – i.e. endorsing his pathetic Big Lie – will tend to become more and more extreme. The very absurdity of his demands binds his subjects more firmly under his control. I don’t think he’s a smart man in most senses in which we use the word, but he has the abuser’s instinct both for discovering abuseable victims and for keeping them under control.
His method also neutralizes backsliders. If Kevin McCarthy or Lindsay Graham were to suddenly discover a spine and say “You know what? This guy is bad news for America, and we have no business supporting him,” then Trump can just say “Well, you’re a flip-flopping hypocrite, why should anyone listen to you?” Even if any of them wanted to take a moral stand, it would have no effect.
Perhaps if a group of Republicans – and here I’m not talking the ‘hundred retired generals’ or ‘sixty Republican postal inspectors’ who periodically pop up in the liberal media to decry the evils of Trumpism, but actual current household names – all took a stand together, it could turn the tide. But while many of them probably want to do it, no one wants to be the first.
There’s also the legitimate fear that if you speak out against Trump, you’ll catch a bullet from one of his genuinely insane fans. That’s a new factor in American politics, and while I don’t believe it’s the key factor at work, it certainly features in their calculations. Follow the Maximum Leader, or else.
Anyway, when America finishes as a fascist state – I give it about eight years, plus or minus – it’ll be because weak and greedy men thought they could grab a little power and then discovered too late that Donald Trump owned them body and soul.
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Every Trump supporter is a tale of Faust. It’d be interesting if the stories all came out at one point.
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Maybe he’s a serious chickenhawk?
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Also, like Mephistopheles, Biff is a known quantity. He’s been betraying and stiffing those who trusted his word his entire career, including people far more clever and ruthless that Graham. The rubes keep lining up to get fleeced, though.
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They do. They just know that the media that their constituents watch will not play those clips as long as they keep in line with dear leader. Right wing “news” media isn’t about informing the public as much as it’s about promoting a particular ideology, after all.
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I don’t even think it’s that, quite. It’s the fascist base that holds them in thrall; it’s not even Trump. When he was doing campaign rallies, he had a knack for throwing shit against the wall to see what sticks, then repeating it. That’s why, six years later, “Lock her up!’ still plays to his crowds; it’s like Foo Fighters playing Everlong at a concert when they have a hundred new songs since then. But now he’s trying to wrangle the mob to do what he wants, when it’s not what they want, and he’s getting booed. The more he tries to go against the visceral demands of the fascist base, the more likely they are to turn against even him.
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The republican party is a well funded machine run by big business. Believing any republican’s publicly spoken hypocrisy will have a significant impact on the voting population is a fools errand.
They are spokesmen for power and money, and say whatever is expedient at the necessary time.
It’s a winner take all game. Public decency and legacy mean jack shit to them.
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