Commentary Culture Investigations

The most obvious occasion for civility in Washington is the sudden death of a public official. It shouldn’t be a time for score-settling and expressing glee. Lindsey Graham’s death led to both of these. They first called it a “sudden illness,” but it was later revealed as an aortic dissection, a collapse of a major artery.

MRC Free Speech America Vice President Dan Schneider and NewsBusters nightly-news analyst Jorge Bonilla joined the show to discuss the reaction.

Many Democrats paid heartfelt tributes to Sen. Graham, but several media figures couldn’t resist putting an anti-Trump spin on the occasion. On MS NOW, Joe Scarborough made it all about himself by insisting he told the president the war in Iran wouldn’t be as easy as Sen. Graham said it would be.

On CNN, Jake Tapper baked the original recipe for CNN. Graham was once a “maverick” who supported liberal policy goals alongside Sen. John McCain, but then he ruined it all by “affixing” himself to the president, becoming a close Trump ally. Leftist magazines like The Atlantic recalled how the senator was “complicit” in Trump’s evil.

Then there were mean-spirited people like the actress Margaret Cho, who chirped that people died in threes, implying McConnell had died along with Graham, and hinting she hoped Trump would be next. It’s amazing she plays someone else’s therapist on the ABC drama Will Trent. 

The Free Speech America watchdogs found Apple News and Google News suppressed negative stories on hard-left Graham Platner for months. They had no time for Nazi tattoos or Platner identifying himself as a communist. They also found the Big Four News Apps had next to zero interest in foreigners becoming delighted by America during their visit for World Cup soccer games. 

In a possible move to dissociate himself from his endorsement of Platner, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) jetted to Israel and became embroiled in a situation when his group crossed security lines in the West Bank. In an interview with the Israeli ambassador to the United States on “Face the Nation,”  CBS host Margaret Brennan tried to defend the Khanna. The ambassador pointed out that Khanna refused to involve the government in getting him a visa, that he booked the trip with groups opposed to Israel, and this controversy could have been avoided.

In Washington, controversy swirled over the hospitalization of former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The senator issued a statement with a photograph, but Democrats insisted a video would be better proof that he’s alive and well and talking weighty public policy issues. This raises the perennial and bipartisan problem that politicians (especially in the Senate) stay too long, not knowing when to quit. 

Enjoy the podcast below. The audio can be found here. 

And so.
A mere two days after his 71st birthday, South Carolina’s Senator Lindsey Graham has moved on to heaven’s Senate.
To say the least, the senator’s out-of-the-blue and quite sudden death has shocked. Shocked and saddened, both political allies and opponents.
A mark of just how well-liked and respected he was came from this one-time opponent — President Trump. Said the president: “He was always working, and was a true American Patriot,” the president posted, calling the senator “one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known.”
The presidential tribute was particularly notable as Trump and Graham had once been political rivals when the two opposed each other during the 2016 GOP presidential primaries.
In this press account discussing the relationship of the two, Graham’s recalling of his relationship with the president went this way:
During and after a brief presidential run in 2016, Graham sparred with the president, writing on Twitter, “If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed … and we will deserve it.”
After Trump was elected for his first term and the two met, however, Graham grew to become one of the president’s staunchest allies, supporting his initiatives and defending him during controversies. The two golfed together and spoke frequently.
Graham explained this change in a 2018 interview with the Associated Press, saying former Sen. John McCain taught him that the country must move forward after elections and that “you have an obligation” to help the president.
McCain’s message got through to Graham. Again, it was this: “the country must move forward after elections and that ‘you have an obligation’ to help the president.”
Exactly. And safe to say, Senator Graham, both got the message and took it to heart.
Notably, Senator McCain’s daughter Meghan McCain took an emotional take on the passing of her father’s dear friend in an episode of Citizen McCain with Meghan McCain on 2WAY. (The opener is here.)
Along the way, I had the opportunity to meet Senator Graham. He was decidedly open in discussing his views of both President Trump and the state of the GOP. To say the least, the senator who was once a Trump opponent had become a friend and supporter.
It should also be noted that Senator Graham had become what can truly be called a “Senator’s Senator.”
Having (in the long ago!) worked in the Senate (for Pennsylvania’s senior senator, John Heinz), I can attest that the United States Senate is every bit the “Club” that has been frequently mentioned over the years. There are, in a country of hundreds of millions, a mere 100 members. All representing their states and their own beliefs that they campaigned on.
President John F. Kennedy, himself a former senator, wrote his best-selling book Profiles in Courage of United States Senators who were fearless when standing up for principle and core beliefs. That was Senator Graham to a tee. Yes, he once opposed President Trump and was not afraid to say so. But over time, he changed his mind and, remarkably, became a Trump ally. To say the least, the senator had political courage in spades.
Safe to say, Senator Graham will be missed. He was a seriously good United States senator. A role model indeed for future U.S. senators. The word is that his staff is inconsolable, and having been there for a senator who passed way too soon (Senator Heinz passed in a plane crash), I understand.
It is safe to say that time moves on for everyone. And now it was Senator Graham’s. But behind him, the senator leaves as a role model for both senators and staffers.
And a considerable role model he was.
READ MORE from Jeffrey Lord:
Graham Platner Never Read Sun Tzu
Will America Make it to 500?
America at 250 — and Beyond
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In the aftermath of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, which brought World War I to a close, the commander-in-chief of the victorious Allied armies, French general Ferdinand Foch, reportedly observed: “This is not peace. It is an armistice for 20 years.” Foch believed that the treaty was too lenient, that it almost ensured that Germany would regain its ability to existentially threaten its neighbors. Tragically, when Germany invaded Poland on Sep. 1, 1939, Foch’s prophecy reached its horrifying fulfillment.
With each passing day, it has become increasingly evident that the June 17 “ceasefire” between the U.S. and the negotiations it supposedly enabled has completely fallen apart. In the last several days, Iran indulged in attacks on civilian targets in the Gulf states and on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, limited in kinetic effect, but highly provocative. Even with hints of a desire to resume negotiations, these strikes sent a clear signal that the shot callers — I use the criminal gang terminology deliberately — had no intention of allowing good faith negotiations. (RELATED: Why Are We Still Negotiating with Iran?)
In return, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has delivered successive nights of hammer blows, at first against coastal installations and weapons threatening the Strait of Hormuz, but eventually escalating to critical infrastructure targets, the Bushehr nuclear power plant, and the Aq Tekeh Khan railway bridge on the border with Turkmenistan. As of the evening of July 12, CENTCOM has acknowledged over 400 successful strikes on military facilities and supporting infrastructure in just the last five days. (RELATED: Let’s Get it Right This Time)
While the Bushehr strike drew the most headlines, destroying the bridge was arguably the most significant…
While the Bushehr strike drew the most headlines, destroying the bridge was arguably the most significant, since it cut, at least temporarily, the primary route through which China and Russia have supported Iran’s military activities. The route has also served the shipment of sanctioned Iranian oil to China. This is a strategic blow of immense consequence, all the more effective because it hits hard while minimizing casualties among the civilian population. (RELATED: The Iran War: Fasten Seat Belts)
Iranian state media quickly claimed that only “ancillary” facilities were hit at Bushehr, suggesting that the attack had somehow failed. Instead, this suggests an incredibly high level of precision on the part of the U.S. Anyone familiar with nuclear power facilities — and this is Iran’s most important — understands that the reactor(s) are nestled within a complex web of systems designed to take the generated power and feed it into the electric grid. Precisely destroying these facilities renders the power plant functionally useless without risking a radiation release by hitting the reactor containment dome.
Similarly, the Iranians claim that they’re already well on their way to restoring the bridge. Perhaps, although self-serving lies are the common coin of Iranian media releases. Regardless, a bridge once destroyed can be hit again, and again, if need be. And one suspects that, in the days ahead, CENTCOM will do just that.
At the NATO summit in Ankara, President Trump insisted that the “ceasefire” was done, and that the U.S. would resume combat operations. Although Trump also acknowledged that he’d received some kind of back-channel plea to resume negotiations, this landed at the very same time that yet another Iranian plot to assassinate him was revealed. One suspects that this plea was met with due skepticism in Washington.
But are the gloves really off? After the first two days of massive U.S. strikes, Trump called a halt to further U.S. attacks, simultaneously insisting that the “ceasefire is over,” while leaving open the door to some kind of resumption of negotiations. Then, unsurprisingly, a tentative attempt to restart negotiations in Oman was torpedoed by the IRGC’s refusal to even consider the terms offered, underscored, predictably, by yet another attack on shipping. This prompted the heaviest U.S. response to date, over 140 strikes in a single night.
So, the back and forth continues, and while one might hope that our current actions represent an exercise in “4D chess,” it’s very difficult to see exactly how the diplomatic process can solve the fundamental conflict between U.S. objectives and those of whoever is currently calling the shots in Tehran. With respect to the latter, it seems clear that, while there are multiple contending factions, some of them at least wishful of a peace deal, it’s the IRGC calling the shots.
No reasonably objective observer can be the least bit surprised that negotiations have proven — and likely will go on proving — utterly fruitless. No amount of parsing of the day-to-day back and forth between Iranian and U.S. negotiators can obscure the fundamental truth, namely that neither the IRGC nor its proxies, notably Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, will allow their entire reason for existence to be bargained away.
Instead, what they want is relief from military pressure and economic sanctions. Above all, the IRGC needs relief from the economic crisis that has undermined the IRGC’s domestic authority as well as its ability to continue subsidizing Hezbollah and the remnants of Hamas. They need this to reestablish their authority over a subdued but restive population, and, even more, to serve their ongoing dreams of spreading the Islamist revolution. These are mutually reinforcing existential needs, absolutes that the IRGC will never willingly place on the bargaining table.
This war has never been about the kind of limited national objectives that could be addressed in a negotiated settlement.
In the end, this war has never been about the kind of limited national objectives that could be addressed in a negotiated settlement. No one who has paid meaningful attention to the course of the Iranian revolution from 1979 to the present day should harbor any such illusions. As I’ve argued for several years, the Iranian regime has always been at war with both the “little Satan,” that is, Israel, and the “Great Satan,” the U.S. That we’ve tried to ignore or palliate their hostility has only allowed it to grow ever stronger. (RELATED: We Are at War With Iran’s Mullahs)
For decades — and over multiple U.S. presidencies — the abiding concern has been fear that Iran will gain a nuclear weapons capability. Whether Republican or Democrat, this became an exercise in “kicking the can,” culminating in the most egregious such exercise of all, Obama’s ridiculously misnamed “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” or JCPOA. The “P” might better have stood for “Pretense” rather than “Plan,” since this was all it was, a fig leaf to hide the fact that Iran would never negotiate away its nuclear ambitions.
Unbelievable though it may seem, American policymakers comforted themselves with the notion that, at worst, a nuclear-armed Iran would be no worse than North Korea — I actually heard this whispered by individuals on the edge of the negotiations when I was still in government. Let that sink in. The reasoning partook of a kind of Alice-in-Wonderland internally coherent and thoroughly circular logic. Its adherents maintained that, while we’d failed to keep the Kim family from realizing its nuclear ambitions, and despite their occasional verbal challenges to their neighbors and to the U.S., their nuclear program was not a threat to the wider world. Given the difficulties of doing something about North Korean nukes, living with them is considered the easier solution, certainly the path of diplomatic least resistance.
There was a weird plausibility about this, but one that utterly ignored the differences between North Korea and Iran. The Kim dynasty, after all, had always been dependent on China, and the Chinese were unlikely to let them off the leash unless as a supplement in a larger direct nuclear confrontation between China and the U.S. — a situation that spelled much bigger worries than the North Korean supplement to China’s nuclear arsenal.
More fundamentally, it had always been quite clear that the Kim regime looked inward rather than outward. Even their most strident saber-rattling always had a “don’t mess with us” quality, a leave us alone — at most a “give us what we want” vibe — in exchange for not vaporizing Seattle or San Francisco.
But the Iran of the mullahs — and now the IRGC — always entertained much more expansive nuclear ambitions. Although willing to wave the “peaceful purposes” or “only for self-defense” placard when discussing their nuclear desires, these assertions, so comforting to U.S. and European politicians of a certain stripe, were always fundamentally deceptive. (RELATED: Ending the Ayatollah’s Nuclear Threat: No Better Time Than Now)
The regime of the mullahs was always radically expansionary in its goals, messianic in its intent to spread its own harsh version of Islam throughout first the Middle East and then across the globe. In 1979 and this past week, in the streets of Tehran during the Ayatollah’s recent funeral procession, “Death to America” meant exactly what it said. (RELATED: A Six-Day Funeral and a Long War)
We deceive ourselves when we believe that we can do a deal so long as the IRGC exerts effective veto power over any negotiations. One way or the other, they will hold out for money, missiles, and a nuclear weapons arsenal. They will never deny the Islamist fanaticism that justifies their very existence.
Nor will their followers let go easily. The Basij militia has fully earned its reputation for cruelty and brutality. Even if the remaining top-tier IRGC leaders could be driven into exile or killed outright, the thousands of street thugs would remain. They’ve left a trail of blood that no apologies can erase. It would require a truly breathtaking level of forbearance for a new regime, a moderate and U.S.-friendly regime, not to stand aside while a long-suffering populace wreaked vengeance on the Basij. A regime up to its elbows in innocent blood should expect nothing less than an equally bloody response. (RELATED: No Pieces of Paper Ever Bound the Islamic Republic)
Six weeks ago, before the June ceasefire and its subsequent disintegration, I laid out three basic considerations for achieving current victory and a lasting peace. First, we must completely break the IRGC’s ability to interfere with shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. We come close, and then we let our foot off their necks. This won’t do. So long as they maintain even the illusion of control, they continue believing that they will ultimately prevail. It’s the lever they’ve counted on for decades, with good reason. (RELATED: Iran War: The End of the Beginning)
The world — and previous U.S. governments — have always flinched at the thought of the oil market disruptions. Moreover, there can be no half measures, no deals that allow the IRGC to publicly collect tolls or covertly collect tribute. We should always remember that the IRGC is more than the fount of worldwide Islamism — it’s also a world-class criminal enterprise.
Second, we must break the IRGC’s hold on critical infrastructure. In the last few days, we’ve made a start with our strikes on the bridge to China and the Bushehr nuclear plant, but we can do more, much more. We shrink from measures that would hurt the people of Iran, because a fundamental human decency ultimately guides our actions. That should always be our guide, but this scarcely precludes further deep strikes at specific IRGC-related targets. And yes, that includes bouncing the rubble around their various nuclear weapons sites.
Third, we must find a way to encourage the people of Iran to finally assert themselves against IRGC tyranny. We must be very careful here. If we make promises that lead them out into the streets, unarmed, then we’re simply inviting more massacres. Instead, we need targeted pain, pain inflicted on IRGC personnel right down to the local level. The Kurds have the capability to do this. It may be, as I argued in May, that disaffected regular army members might also play a role. In the end, this war will only end with “boots on the ground,” but they don’t have to be ours.
Finally, and for all of this to lead to a genuine peace, we need to be absolutely relentless. Short-term dealmaking only encourages the IRGC to believe that they can wait us out, hopeful that the coming elections will usher in a U.S. Congress that will allow them a way out. Short-term dealmaking, after all, appeals to many “moderate” Democrats, while the radical Democratic Socialists appear eager for an outright IRGC triumph. Humiliating Donald Trump, after all, has become their overriding purpose, more important than our national interest.
Our Gulf state allies have long feared this, afraid that they will be stuck alone with a vengeful and dangerous neighbor if the U.S. walks away with the job undone. Interestingly, there are quiet whispers that these same Gulf state allies have finally drawn the correct conclusion, making more active contributions around the edge of the latest U.S. strikes. In this regard, we also need to remove our restraining hand on Israel and Saudi Arabia when it comes to Hezbollah and the Houthis. The IRGC must finally be deprived of all the tools it uses to threaten the region.
This can’t go on, and we can’t create a lasting result by continually striking hard and then stepping back. For an enemy as intransigent as the IRGC, nothing short of a comprehensive attitude adjustment will do, less “hearts and minds,” more “take them by the balls and squeeze.” In other words, we need to let Marshal Foch be our guide. Failure to finish what we’ve started means that someday, sooner or later, we’ll have to do it all over again, and likely at greater disadvantage. We’ll never have a better opportunity than right now.
READ MORE from James H. McGee:
The Christian Slaughter the World Ignores
‘We Have Only To Be Lucky Once’
Society’s Right to a Speedy Trial
James H. McGee is a retired nuclear security and counter-terrorism professional. His most recent novel, The Zebras from Minsk, was featured among National Review’s favorite books in 2025.  You can find The Zebras from Minsk and his previous thriller, Letter of Reprisal, in paperback and Kindle editions at Amazon.
Image licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.

Lyrah and Madelynn did a good job on this topic in the latest edition of the Spectator P.M. podcast, but I did want to pass along a take on that very large, steaming turd of a “study” laid down by CNBC, which claimed that Tennessee and Texas are the two worst states in America to live.
The study itself is a big, fat nothing. It claims that Tennessee is the worst state in America to live, followed by Texas, Indiana, Louisiana, and Georgia to round out the bottom five. (RELATED: The Spectator P.M. Ep. 229: CNBC’s ‘Top States’ Ranking Is the Top Flop of 2026)
What are the top five states? Vermont, Maine, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Connecticut.
Oh, OK.
Here’s what CNBC’s article on the 10 worst states to live had to say about Tennessee…
Tennessee Republicans, led by Gov. Bill Lee, make no apologies for a rash of state laws targeting the LGBTQ+ community, including a so-called “bathroom law” requiring transgender people to use the facilities designated for their sex at birth. The state also explicitly bars localities from adopting their own antidiscrimination ordinances. To underscore the point, Lee signed a resolution earlier this year designating June “Nuclear Family Month.”
“The nuclear family, consisting of one husband, one wife, and any biological, adopted, or fostered children, is God’s design for familial structure and has been the bedrock of society since the creation of the world,” the resolution states.
Its sponsors deliberately timed the observance to coincide with the month when Tennessee’s more than 300,000 LGBTQ+ people celebrate Pride.
Inclusiveness isn’t the only area where the Volunteer State falls short. Tennessee also has one of the highest violent crime rates in the nation, according to FBI statistics. And it has the third-highest rate of drug deaths, according to the United Health Foundation.
Tennessee’s violent crime rate is almost solely a product of the historically out-of-control lawlessness in Memphis, something which has been greatly curtailed thanks to President Trump’s commitment of federal resources to pin down the criminal element in that city.
But militant heterosexuals interfering with Pride Month being a key factor in down-ranking a state which has been growing by leaps and bounds over the space of the past decade and more on quality of life doesn’t sound much like a scientific study. (RELATED: ‘Reverse Okies’ and Blue State Refugees — Another Wave Appears To Be Building)
But Scott Cohn, the San Francisco-based CNBC reporter authoring the listicle on the cable channel’s website, assures us that This Was Very Professionally Done, You Guys…
As more companies insist their employees return to the office, they know they need to offer something in return to attract and retain good people. That’s why finding a place where people will want to live is an increasingly important factor as companies decide where to set up shop.
“Quality of place, especially investing in quality of place, is the top thing you can do for talent attraction and retention,” said site selection consultant Larry Gigerich, managing executive director of Ginovus in Indianapolis, and chairman of the Site Selectors Guild.
CNBC is placing increasing emphasis on Quality of Life, one of the 10 categories of competitiveness in our annual America’s Top States for Business study. It is our annual ranking of every state’s business climate, now in its 20th year. Under this year’s methodology, the category makes up 11.6 percent of a state’s overall score, up from about ten percent last year.
To score the states for quality of life, we use hard data on factors like crime rates, air quality and healthcare. We also consider the cost and availability of childcare, inclusiveness of state laws, and reproductive rights. Some states offer exemplary quality of life. But these ten states do not make the grade.
Those are what Scott Cohn thinks are the important factors in quality of life? How easy it is for a woman to kill her unborn baby, and how friendly the local libraries are to Drag Queen Story Hour?
All of the top 10 worst places for Scott Cohn, a veteran legacy corporate media reporter out of San Francisco, to live are red states. Rounding out his bottom 10 are Utah, Missouri, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. (RELATED: Y’all Street Is Eating Wall Street’s Lunch)
And they want you to believe this is credible.
Hilariously, four of the worst states to live, according to Cohn’s listicle, are in the top 10 of CNBC’s best states for business — Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, and Indiana. So the two worst states to live in America are among the top 10 best states to do business. Cool story, bro! (RELATED: Go South, Young Man, Go South)
It would have been a bit more believable if Scott Cohn had told you that these were the top 10 worst places for the LGBTQIA++ Alphabet People to live, or that they were the top 10 worst places for women wanting to have abortions — or men wanting to have wanton sex without fatherhood — to live.
But nope. Scott Cohn and his team of “researchers” at CNBC decided to impose San Francisco values on red states and found Tennessee and Texas to fail the biggest of all.
Imposing San Francisco values — which are the values real people are fleeing from all over the country — on places that don’t want to be San Francisco is what legacy corporate media has been doing for 50 years, and people are absolutely sick of it. (RELATED: What Migration Patterns Within the U.S. Tell Us About Policy)
What’s interesting about this study, if anything, is how little Cohn and the suits at CNBC who pay him seem to care about hiding any of this. There was a time when network news would work hard to promote the fiction that the propaganda they were offering was balanced and straight and objective. But that time is gone, and while they’ll blame it on Fox News and the internet segmenting the media market, that isn’t close to the whole story.
What’s really happening is that the boomers on whom the American media model was based have aged out of the prime demo, and the generations who’ve come after are far more cynical about mass media. Nobody under 60 really thinks the holy media miracle of Watergate was all that big a scandal, for example, at least compared to far worse behavior since then that outlets like CNBC treated with kid gloves. We all know that we’re being treated like mushrooms — the sanitized version of that old military analogy is that we’re kept in the dark and fed poop all day. (RELATED: A Defense of Generation X As Its Moment Approaches)
And eventually, people get tired of being treated like mushrooms.
Go to Scott Cohn’s website, and you’ll see a perfect example of how this works. He’s got two video reports he did for CNBC featured at the top of the page, displaying his work — one, from eight years ago, telling the viewer the shocking news that an Idaho prison is violent, and another, from 10 years ago, exposing Remington, the gun manufacturer, for product liability. And down the page, there’s Cohn as a guest on the awful John Oliver show, which somehow survives on HBO (at least, until the Ellisons get hold of Time Warner).
It’s classic 1980s-1990s “TV journalism,” complete with the hackneyed premises — “Water is wet! Film at 11!” — and overwrought propaganda designed to make soft people outraged.
Boring.
Scott Cohn has nothing to offer to anybody younger than a boomer, and so he’s reduced to writing stupid listicles to get clicks on CNBC’s website. And the stupider the listicle, the more clicks.
So pissed-off Tennesseans and Texans who shared that dumb survey with “get a load of this crap” messages attached probably did more for Scott Cohn’s flagging media career than anything else that has happened to him of late.
It’s pitiful. But it’s an immaculate rendering of what legacy corporate media has become and refuses to move beyond, and why it won’t last much longer in its current formation.
READ MORE from Scott McKay:
Yes, They’re Communists, and Yes, They’re Lying About It. For Now.
Let’s Be Honest — Why Is Poor Mitch McConnell Still in the Senate?
American Education Is in Almost Irredeemable Decline

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