https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/06/opinion/sunday/lindsey-graham-brett-kavanaugh.html
Grahams closest ally and constant companion in the Senate, a man he claimed to revere beyond measure, was John McCain. And Trump, at the beginning of his campaign, bizarrely and grotesquely mocked McCains long, brutal years as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese. Trumps belittling of McCain never ceased, and Graham took proper offense for a while. Then Trump became president, started inviting Graham to play golf and Graham parted ways with his nerve and his spine. What beautiful fairways you have, Mr. President. What a virile tee shot.
Thats the sad part I mentioned. And this is the absolutely pathetic twist: McCain, battling brain cancer, stopped spending much time in Washington, and as his health deteriorated, Grahams ardor and cheerleading for Trump intensified. McCain, you see, wasnt just Grahams friend. He was his road to greater relevance. And Trump presented a veritable expressway. So Graham switched vehicles and directions, and pressed the pedal to the metal.
He went from defending Jeff Sessions to pushing him toward the exit, from sounding the alarm about Russia to hyperventilating about the Justice Department and the F.B.I., from calling Trump a kook to savaging the media for portraying him as one, from wanting to put Trump on a bed of nails to fluffing his pillows and smoothing his duvet. At times he gushes so much that he makes Rudy Giuliani look withholding.
Shocker of shockers: He now has a nearly open line to the president and the president in turn calls him. White House reporters routinely mention this and him. He has all the TV time that he could ever want. On Thursday he got a prime spot at The Atlantic Festival in Washington, where he was interviewed by the magazines editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. On Friday he got a big profile in the Style section of The Washington Post.