How To Write About Lindsey Graham While Ignoring What Living In The Closet Does To A Person

Brian Stelter used his CNN.com column, Reliable Sources, to report that "Once upon a time, Lindsey Graham was a Republican senator who was not afraid to exit the Fox-verse and appear on other networks. But, in recent months, Graham has been appearing almost exclusively on Fox. In fact, he’s become a regular fixture on the president’s favored network. Since September 1, 2019, Graham has appeared at least 36 times on either Fox News or Fox Biz. He has appeared twice on CBS News in that time frame. We couldn’t locate any other interviews he has sat down for on other networks."

Just in time for Mark Binelli's Lindsey Graham profile, How Lindsey Graham Lost His Way for Rolling Stone. Interesting piece for people interested in Lindsey Graham, although there is one glaring flaw. The phrase "closet case" was never really talked about. Binelli skirted around the "rumors" that Graham is gay, but gave more space to denial than to assertion. It reminded me of the nonsense journalists used to cover up for other obvious closet cases like Mark Foley (R-FL), Denny Hastert (R-IL), Ed Schrock (R-VA), Jon Hinson (R-MS), Steve Gunderson (R-WI), Aaron Schock (R-IL) and Larry Craig (R-ID)-- to name a few-- before they were "officially" outed. I don't know or care who Lindsey Graham has sex with or if he does or he doesn't. What's important is the nature of closet cases and it has been covered extensively by some Republican politicians who were outed.

Two who explained it well are former raging homophobes Robert Bauman, once a closeted GOP congressional leader, and Roy Ashburn, once a closeted California state Senator. Here, watch Ashburn explain how toxic it is for a legislator to live in a fearful, dark closet and how it turns someone into an inveterate liar who eventually loses track of the difference between truth and lies.





This statement by Ashburn is typical of the Republican closet cases who have been outed and everyone knows Lindsey Graham is always ever so close to saying approximately the same thing: "I was in hiding and so casting any kind of vote might, could, in some way lead to my secret being revealed. That was terrifying to me; it was paralyzing. And so I cast some votes that have denied gay people of their basic equal treatment under the law. And I'm not proud of it." As I noted in 2012 the Lavender Scare is an integral part of conservative politics.

Robert Bauman's book, The Gentleman From Maryland: The Conscience of A Gay Conservative, is more important if you want to understand what makes closeted politicians like Lindsey Graham tick. Bauman had come a very long way from living as a a self-loathing, denier who voted against gays while sneaking out of his marital bed to troll for quickie sex with other males in the shadows of the Capitol by the times he was able to muster the clarity to wrote his book. He sought to warn future Republican elected officials against the hypocrisy of the closet. His warnings have gone unheeded by three generations of conservative closet cases in Congress and government. Remember, Bauman wasn't just some run of the mill Republican. He was one of the founders of both the Young Americans for Freedom and the American Conservative Union and served as chairman of each. He was a leader of anti-gay hysteria among Republicans in Congress, while he was sneaking around-- a married man-- having sex with underage boys. Eventually he was arrested with a 16 year old, shunned by his colleagues, rejected by his constituents, divorced by his wife... his life a shambles.

Benelli's Graham (closeted) is worried he could lose his seat-- the only thing he has in an otherwise miserable existence-- if he doesn't pretend to be a raging right-wing maniac and Trumpist. That's the story. Binelli's anecdotes are very good and make it worth reading. This was a good one by McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt: "People try to analyze Lindsey through the prism of the manifest inconsistencies that exist between things that he used to believe and what he’s doing now. The way to understand him is to look at what’s consistent. And essentially what he is in American politics is what, in the aquatic world, would be a pilot fish: a smaller fish that hovers about a larger predator, like a shark, living off of its detritus. That’s Lindsey. And when he swam around the McCain shark, broadly viewed as a virtuous and good shark, Lindsey took on the patina of virtue. But wherever the apex shark is, you find the Lindsey fish hovering about, and Trump’s the newest shark in the sea. Lindsey has a real draw to power-- but he’s found it unattainable on his own merits."

David Woodard, is a political-science professor at Clemson University. He ran Graham’s first two campaigns for the House and recalls the first-term congressman as quickly becoming the unofficial social director for his freshman class, though he added, "You’re going to find Lindsey knows a lot of people, but he’s not close to anybody." Binelli closes his very long profile by asking Woodward what motivates Graham to stay in politics after all these years. "I’ve thought about that. He’s alone. It’s not like he has a family, a child. His time, when he’s away from the spotlight, I think is a lonely time. He’s more comfortable in the spotlight where he’s Senator Lindsey Graham, talking about things he knows a lot about. I thought he wouldn’t run in 2020. And then he did the Kavanaugh thing, and he’s the Trump buddy. If Trump wins a second term, he might wind up in the Cabinet, maybe Secretary of Defense? The South, and South Carolina in particular, has a history of sending ’em back. He’s got Thurmond’s seat, and Thurmond had that seat until he was 100. So he could have a long way to go."