The official funeral of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, held Tuesday at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., was a spectacle of reaction that underscores certain fundamental truths about American and world politics.
First, American imperialism is irrevocably committed to a global policy of militarism, seeking to use its military power in a desperate effort to maintain its dominant world position despite decades of economic decline.
Graham was one of the most persistent and aggressive supporters of American military operations around the world, summed up in Trump’s statement, in the course of his tribute to Graham, that “he was truly hawkish; he never saw a war he didn’t like.”
This was not an offhand or joking remark, as Trump read out an obviously scripted tribute, filled with mawkish language crafted by his speechwriters. Trump praised Graham’s record in the Senate, pushing through record military spending, huge tax cuts for the wealthy and the Supreme Court nomination of reactionary Justice Brett Kavanaugh. But his main focus was on Graham’s advocacy of the use of American military power.
Second, on the twin fronts of Ukraine and Iran, American imperialism is in the initial stages of a world war targeting not only Russia and Iran but ultimately China, perceived by all factions of the US ruling elite as its most dangerous economic and military rival. The merging of these two fronts was signaled this week by the Ukrainian attack on an Iranian cargo vessel in the Caspian Sea.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky justified the attack by describing Iran as an active participant in the war between Ukraine and Russia, because it has supplied Russia with combat drones. By that logic, every NATO country could be targeted by Moscow for air strikes, since they have sent the weapons and supplies used by Ukraine to bomb Russian oil refineries, military installations and urban centers.
Both Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Washington to attend Graham’s funeral. Each met separately with Trump on Tuesday morning before the ceremony, making their pitches for stepped-up US military support for the US-NATO war against Russia and the US-Israeli war against Iran.
Third, the most reactionary forces in American society are being mobilized behind the program of war abroad and dictatorship at home. Trump was followed to the rostrum of the funeral service by Sean Hannity, the fascist commentator from Fox News; Tony Perkins, president of the fundamentalist Family Research Council; Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of the fanatical anti-abortion group Pro-Life America; and evangelical minister Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham.
The entire ceremony was saturated with fundamentalist Christian religion, not only in the remarks of the speakers and the reading of Bible verses, but in the emphasis on Lindsey Graham’s personal adherence to “scripture,” as Trump put it, another unfamiliar word put in his mouth by speechwriters. It is well known that Trump’s bedtime reading is not the Bible but a volume of the collected speeches of Adolf Hitler.
Fourth, the program of global war against the rivals of American capitalism has the unstinting support of the Democratic Party. Leading Democrats paid tribute to Graham during a ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda before the funeral service. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sat in the front row and helped lay a wreath, and other Democrats were seen touching the casket in a gesture of affection.
All 100 senators were invited to meet separately with Zelensky, in a show of support for the war against Russia. Leaders of both parties announced agreement to pass bipartisan legislation imposing even more sweeping sanctions on Russia—with a few additional sanctions on Iran to ensure Trump’s support. The first test vote was to be held Tuesday evening.
“We are proud to announce an agreement on legislation to stop purchasers of Russian oil and gas from fueling Putin’s war machine and to continue restricting the Iranian regime’s ability to support terrorism and build its nuclear program,” a bipartisan statement said. “There is no greater way to honor Senator Graham’s legacy than to move forward with this bipartisan agreement, and we look forward to today’s vote.”
The statement was issued by Republican senators Darline Graham of South Carolina (Lindsey Graham’s sister and appointed successor), Jim Risch of Idaho, Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Katie Britt of Alabama, and Democratic senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. Blumenthal said he had worked with Graham for more than a year to win support for the bill.
The legislation would impose heavy penalties on countries that purchase Russian oil, including China and India, which are among the largest customers, although Trump will have the power to waive sanctions on US allies like India and impose them only on China if he cites “national security” reasons.
Fifth, there is the role of the corporate media, which treated the event at the National Cathedral with the greatest respect. Fox News, of course, broadcast the entire proceeding live. All the evening television news programs gave prominent coverage, while being careful not to focus on Trump’s declaration of Graham’s love for war. NBC, for example, did not even mention it.
The day began on a note of farce, courtesy of the Washington Post, which under owner Jeff Bezos is an open ally of the Trump administration. The Tuesday edition of the Post carried an op-ed column claiming that Graham was “beloved by the Iranian people,” under the byline of Reza Pahlavi, identified by the newspaper only as “a leader of the Iranian democratic opposition.” Actually, Pahlavi is the son of the late Shah, whose bloodstained police-state regime was overthrown in 1979 by one of the great mass popular uprisings in history. He is no more a “democrat” than Graham was a “man of peace,” as he was described by Sean Hannity at the National Cathedral.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the Graham funeral, however, was the enormous security cordon around the event. The National Cathedral audience was carefully vetted, surrounded by Secret Service agents and other police, to ensure that no one seeking to speak the truth about Graham’s record as an advocate of militarism and an apologist for mass murder—including the Israeli genocide in Gaza—could get within miles of the ceremony.
The denizens of official Washington, Democrats as well as Republicans, live in constant fear of the American population. Their main concern is that the program of world war, requiring massive attacks on the living standards and democratic rights of the American working class, is leading to an explosion of the class struggle in America. They are right to be afraid.