The reference to Rick Perry in the title of this post may be mysterious to you if you are under, say, 30 (or even a bit older than 30). Rick Perry was Governor of Texas, and he was running for President in November 2011. During a debate for Republican presidential hopefuls (which, yes, took place almost a year before the actual election), Governor Perry said that, if elected, he would eliminate three federal agencies, but he couldn’t remember all three of the agencies. After naming two (Commerce and Education–it’s always Education if you’re a Republican Presidential hopeful), he drew a blank. A long, painfully hilarious pause ensued in which his rivals sought to “help” him out. Finally, after shuffling through his notes looking for the third agency that he’d eliminate, he admitted that he couldn’t name it, and capped off the admission with the words “Sorry. Oops.” It was delicious, and my description can’t possibly convey the sheer cringeworthiness of the moment. You just have to watch it, which is easily done simply by typing “Rick Perry oops” in YouTube’s search box.
Anyway, I start with this ancient history because Darline Graham, Lindsey Graham’s sister, who is running to replace the late Senator, had her own Rick Perry moment in a debate last night. It came in response to a question from debate co-moderator Greta Van Susteren. By the way, Ms. Van Susteren and I shop at the same pharmacy. Just sayin’. In the interest of equal time, I should add that I have seen CNN Anchor Jake Tapper training at the gym I go to, which is just down the street from Van Susteren’s (and my) pharmacy. We’re all just one big happy neighborhood family.
I guess I just digressed. To return to the narrative, Ms. Van Susteren asked Ms. Graham about the importance of Taiwan and the South China Sea to U.S. national security interests. Now this is not an easy question to answer. After all, if you’re seeking Trump’s approval, the correct answer may be “Taiwan’s not important at all,” but, on the other hand, the answer might be “It’s very important.” It all depends on Trumpian imponderables (see below). Despite the inherent difficulty of the question, especially if you’re a Republican, people who are running for the U.S. Senate are generally supposed to have positions on important foreign policy issues, so some sort of answer was expected.
After asking for the Taiwan question to be repeated, Ms. Graham replied “I’m just going to be honest here; I’m not that informed on national security, so — but I do support the military. My brother was in the Air Force for 33 years…I’m not a polished politician up here. National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military.” Boos could be heard from the audience, and today the press is all agog (I’ve been wanting to use that word for a while) about her flub. I have a somewhat different perspective.
First, it’s refreshingly honest for a politician to admit to not having a position on an issue that she knows nothing about. Trump knows nothing at all about anything, but he has positions on everything–in fact, he has multiple positions on everything, depending on the time of day, which failures he has recently blundered into, what he saw on TV most recently, and whether he needs to distract the public with some big chaotic, norm-busting move. So even if Ms. Graham’s ignorance were disqualifying, which is for the people of South Carolina to decide, at least she was honest about her possible lack of qualifications.
Second, where she did blunder, and rightly incurred boos from the crowd, was in her transparently face-saving attempt to pivot to her support for the military and her brother’s service record. That was just embarrassing.
And finally, let’s remember what’s important: A person can learn about foreign policy issues. But not just anybody can be Lindsey Graham’s sister. You’ve got to be born that way. I mean, do you think you could be a nepo baby if you aren’t the child of some already-famous person? So let’s keep our eyes on the political and cultural fundamentals: The US is now pretty openly an aristocracy. Political offices are frequently inherited by widows, daughters and sons, and now, perhaps, siblings. Let’s not expect these people to be competent. It’s enough that they’re in the family.