Lindsey Graham, R.I.P.

Last Saturday evening we lost a solid, hardworking Senator,

a staunch conservative, and a true patriot; U.S. Senator 

Lindsey Graham (R-SC) suddenly passed away. 

Just two days after his 71st birthday and a day after returning 

from an official an official visit to Kiev, Ukraine, Graham 

died from what was reported as a "brief and sudden illness"

in his home. Graham's colleagues on both sides of the aisle in 

the Senate respected and admired him greatly for, among other

things, reaching and working across party lines on many issues,

including assisting Afghan refugees. Graham was a senator who

understood the United States' role in the world.

Graham was born in Central, South Carolina, the son of parents 

who operated a restaurant, a liquor store, and a pool hall. He was

the first member of his family to attend college, where he joined 

the Reserve Officer Training Corps. When Graham was twenty 

his parents died, and he took over the upbringing of his much 

younger sister Darline, who was 13 at the time. The service 

allowed Graham to attend the University of South Carolina

in Columbia so he could be Darline's legal guardian.

By the by, Darline has been appointed by South Carolina's

governor to serve the remainder of her brother's senate term.

And she's running for a full term in that senate seat!

Graham graduated with a BA in psychology in 1977, earning a

Juris Doctor from his university's law school in 1981.

Upon graduation, he was commissioned as an officer in the 

JAG Corps (Judge Advocate General Corps) in the United

States Air Force in 1982 and began active duty straightaway.

Graham worked his way up to the rank of Colonel, serving 

in the Air National Guard and later the Air Force Reserve.

In 2014 he received a Bronze Star for meritorious service as

a senior legal adviser to the Air Force in Iraq and Afghanistan.

His legal training and experience made him a good choice to be

on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A neoconservative, Graham was derisively called a "moderate

Republican" by the Tea Party. He called himself a "fairly conser-

vative Republican" and a "Reagan Republican" with "a twang of

moderation" and an "independent streak". But just when 

conservatives in the GOP were ready to write Graham off as a

RINO (Republican in Name Only) he would assert his conservative

leanings on a particular issue and quell the harsh criticism aimed at 

him --- his staunchly pro-life stance on abortion being one such 

instance, where he sponsored the Pain-Capable Unborn Child 

Protection Act, which bans abortion after 20 weeks of gestation

on a nation-wide basis, making exceptions to save the life of the 

mother, pregnancy through rape or incest. 

Graham also received awards from national animal protection

organizations for, among other things, supporting the end of the 

slaughter of horses, particularly that done for commercial purposes.

He also worked to ban shipping horses to slaughter facilities in 

other countries. 

Graham always supported the maintenance of the United States' 

military capabilities in order for our country to be able to defend

herself as well as to fulfill its responsibilities as an ally to nations,

especially those under threat from hostile neighboring countries

i.e. Israel and the existential threats from Iran and various terrorist

groups allied with Iran. 

Sen. Graham worked to preserve the United States' exceptionalism

in every way it is exceptional. His work is now finished, and he 

is rightfully honored as a faithful public servant and advocate for 

the well-being of our country and we, her people. Requiescat in pace,

Senator. Thank you for all you have done.

MEM

Unusual Justice

Well, former Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge 

Hannah Dugan finally received her sentence from the

Federal Court. To recap, Dugan was found guilty of 

one felony count for obstructing federal immigration

agents. After a jury found her guilty in December 2025,

she resigned from the bench. The charges stemmed 

from an April 2005 incident where the erstwhile judge

had a confrontation with Immigration and Customs

Enforcement (ICE) agents who were waiting to arrest

a defendant outside Dugan's courtroom, then directed 

the individual and his lawyer out of a private exit in

the jury room, a room only jurors, bailiffs, and the judge

are permitted to be in at any and all times in order to 

help the defendant to avoid capture. 

Dugan's defense team attempted to overturn the guilty

verdict by arguing that ICE proceedings are not covered

by the relevant federal obstruction statutes, but U.S. 

District Judge Lynn Adelman, one of the most liberal

federal judges in the country, officially denied the motion.

Under a barrage of threats of impeachment from Republican

legislators, Dugan resigned from the bench on the Milwaukee

County Circuit court in January 2026. Dugan faced a maximum

sentence of five years in prison. However, because she has no 

prior criminal history, her legal team requested a sentence of

time served, as she was already placed in federal custody for 

a brief time. Team Dugan also cited the severe professional and 

personal consequences that Dugan already endured. 

Federal prosecutors have suggested, though, that the legal guide-

lines indicated a prison sentence of 15 to 21 months.

Ah, but lo and behold! The former county judge was 

sentenced to receiving a $5,000 fine, no time behind bars,

and no probation. 

That's it.

That's all. 

Judge Adelman said that despite federal sentencing guidelines

calling for incarceration, "For several reasons, prison is not 

necessary to satisfy the statutory purposes for sentencing,"

making this statement from the bench. But again, let's refer 

to the charges that brought the former Judge Dugan to 

Federal Court. 

The former judge attempted to obstruct a pending proceeding

before the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS),

the defendant being an alien here illegally to begin with, then 

being charged with assault and battery on two people as well.

If this criminal were to have gotten away with fleeing ICE and the 

FBI, who knows what mayhem he may have committed against

innocent law-abiding citizens? Or whatever other crimes against

anyone? 

Judge Dugan was never a supporter of President Trump's immigration

reform, resulting in tighter laws regarding entering our country 

illegally, and she was thought to have acted in the manner which she 

did being out of sorts with Trump's reforms. Thankfully agents were

able to capture and arrest the fleeing thug in front of moving traffic.

At the sentencing hearing, Judge Adelman found that Dugan had

abused her position as an official holding public trust, and that 

the conviction in this case makes the point "affirm(ing) that no one 

is above the law," 

But with the astonishingly light sentence, and the strong likelihood 

of some big-monied lefty or a left-wing political organization coming

forth to pay Dugan's fine, and Dugan not even receiving parole let alone

a prison sentence, how is the conviction, then, being paired with the 

super-light sentence meted out, affirming Judge Adelman's statement?

And here's food for thought: what if the case was about, say, one of 

the participants in the January 6, 2021 ruckus at the Capitol, and the

judge hearing the case did for the defendant(s) what Dugan did for the 

defendant in the case she was going to hear? And the judge brought up 

on the same charges? Would the judge hearing the case be anywhere 

as lenient in sentencing the defendant(s)? Furthermore, what if the

presiding judge was a strong left-winger like Judge Adelman?

The Peasant thinks it would be a different story altogether, wouldn't 

you, my sharp readers? Just wait 'til you get two paragraphs further 

down!

This episode put the law enforcement agents and the public at risk.

Doesn't this merit a stronger sentence for Judge Dugan? 

As it stands, Hannah Dugan can no longer be a judge in any court

because of her record as a convicted felon. But she says that she will

look for a different job in public service. Methinks the ex-judge has

a misbegotten notion of what a public servant and public service is.

A person in that position would not take any action which would place

law enforcement people and the public at large in peril, while making

it all the more difficult for the former to function. 

Finally, there is the ol' Liberal Double Standard: the law is not applied 

equally and fairly to people of certain political persuasions in too many

cases. Here, local conservative talk show host Vicki McKenna said on

her show when the sentence came down that Dugan was given the 

ridiculously light sentence by a judge with a left-bent just like her

because, well, she's a member of The Club, as McKenna terms it. 

The Club is basically the Liberal Establishment, and its members 

look after each other, doing things like running interference for them

and covering for them. And how do they treat conservatives? 

They clobber them! They throw the book at them! They apply

a completely different standard! And if the public is adversely affected,

who cares? They're just a bunch of peasants after all!

Folks, it's time to give Lady Justice back her scales of Justice minus the

imbalancing weight attached to them. And it's long past time we elected

truly impartial judges to helm our courts, as well as government 

officials who will nominate other such judges. Let's close The Club 

for good!

MEM

Race Preferences Aren't Preferred So Much Anymore

The age of miracles has not yet passed! The U.S. Supreme Court's

2023 ruling against racial preferences is becoming a landmark 

ruling carrying immense consequences for many people.

On June 18 the infamously left-wing Wisconsin Supreme Court

ruled unanimously (!) that a state program that issued scholarships

based on race violates the U.S. Constitution, and the lefties are 

climbing the walls and crossing the ceilings all over the country.

I saw in the Wall Street Journal (weekend 6/20-6/21) opinion section

that Justice Annette Ziegler wrote the majority opinion for the court

that the Constitution requires "that every person 'must be treated

based on his or her experiences as an individual --- not on the basis 

of race,'" and that the state cannot "use as a factor in affording 

educational opportunities among its citizens."

The liberal majority on my home state's top court are still suffering

a combination of shock, horror, and conniptions in reaction to the 

surprise ruling. This case was brought by the Wisconsin Institute 

for Law and Liberty (WILL) against a 1985 Wisconsin law that

reserved need-based scholarships via a grant program for "Black

American," "American Indian," "Hispanic", and a sprinkling of 

Southeast Asian undergraduate students in Wisconsin's private 

and technical colleges. 

Earlier this month Iowa's supreme court ruled that a scholarship 

program reserved for black University of Iowa students studying 

physical sciences was "Impracticable" under the SFFA (Students 

For Fair Admissions vs. Harvard College) ruling (2023). Given this 

trend, it would behoove state governments to repeal these grant

programs and end the discrimination brought about by them or 

else the courts will. Either way, this type of discrimination will 

soon be gone and good riddance.

MEM