The Lieberman Files

The Passing of Lindsey Graham

Matt Lieberman — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 19:01:09 GMT

As many of you know, my dad, John McCain, and Lindsey Graham were known as the three amigos - an unusual bipartisan trio who shared strong points of view on a handful of issues and who genuinely enjoyed eachother’s company. This true friendship was forged both in Washington and on trips around the world that were focused on America's interest - and the fundamental human interest - in the growth of freedom and democracy to improve people's lives and better secure peace in the world.

Let me get this out of the way: many independents and Democrats and even moderate Republicans who greatly admired Lindsey during his three amigos days became dismayed (to say the least) as he politically tacked towards total support for Trump. He said this about himself so it's not speaking ill of him to say it again here: he was a politician that wanted to remain in office and remain relevant and he correctly diagnosed what was required to achieve that. You can respect him for that or despise him. Either way, the course he chose was not unusual in politics; in fact, it's the norm.

Politics aside (for those of us still able to say those words), Lindsey was a fun, funny, good-hearted, charming, and smart guy. And an effective senator.

Below is his 8 minute eulogy for my dad from two years ago. It's the best of what Lindsey was. I hope you'll watch it.

Matt

https://x.com/i/status/2076309497258168826

My Daughter's Thoughts About Graham Platner

Matt Lieberman — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 20:24:20 GMT

Finally, and unapologetically, Graham Platner has stood down. It’s remarkable he lasted this long given the litany of actual and credibly alleged bad acts that have been raised. He and his campaign emitted a huge and persistent cloud of toxic smoke. Finally, his supporters started to choke on it and pulled their support. Why did it take so long? For that matter, why and how did Ken Paxton defeat John Cornyn in the Texas GOP senate primary despite a cloud of misconduct almost as bad. Partisan political instincts clearly have the power nowadays to trump (pun intended) our better - or even just pretty good - human instincts, our most basic sense of right and wrong.

As she describes, my daughter, Willie Lieberman, is a poltically partisan person of the Left. She’s also a person of sound instincts. Her voice is worth listening to.

Politics should inspire the best, not excuse the worst.

Matt

_____

On the Graham Platner situation, from someone on the Left who never supported him

I can’t help wondering whether many of the people who dismissed Lyndsey Fifield’s allegations that Platner had been violent toward her would have reacted differently if she had never been tied to the Republican Party. Many people used her politics to write off her accusations, applying a level of skepticism that, I suspect, they wouldn’t have applied if the political identities had been reversed. Only when another woman came forward with overwhelming evidence supporting her allegation of rape did many of those same people finally accept that at least one woman’s allegations against Platner were credible.

This was a man who had long spewed hateful, misogynistic rhetoric online. There were already troubling accounts about how he treated women in his personal life. At one point, he even had a Nazi tattoo. None of that proves Lyndsey Fifield’s allegations. But it should have made people more willing to take them seriously, instead of so quickly dismissing them as politically motivated or unworthy of consideration.

When, in the big year of 2026, will women stop needing mountains of evidence before we start believing them?

I faced two separate incidents of sexual harassment at my old job, both substantiated through an internal investigation. Would I have been believed if I hadn’t had evidence that I’d texted a friend right after it happened?

This issue is pervasive across party lines — people on the Right have also dismissed allegations when they didn’t suit their agenda. But this issue isn’t merely a political one. It’s a human issue that seeps into the real world and affects countless victims.

If you supported Platner until the very end, I hope you’ll ask yourself why the earlier allegations weren’t enough to at least merit serious consideration, and whether you would have reacted the same way if the politics had been different.

-Willie Lieberman

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July 4th Weekend

Matt Lieberman — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 22:36:32 GMT

We've made it a quarter millennium. I like that description better than semiquincentennial. I immediately know what it means. And it suggests not only that we've come a long way but also that we might reasonably hope we still have a long way to go.

I was not quite nine years old at the Bicentennial. It was a big deal, something special, a true celebration - clearly a bigger deal than your average July 4th. It doesn't feel any different from any other year this year, however. Much of that I attribute to a president who makes everything about himself - and who most Americans really don't like. Personal distaste aside, he has also more blatantly sought to use his power for his personal, non-governmental benefit than any president who has come before. Not that his predecessors have all been morally pristine, but the scale and nakedness of his self-dealing blows everyone else away. Perhaps worse, he has undertaken to expand his power in a myriad of ways that have stretched the system of “checks and balances" our founders so carefully calibrated to the very point of breaking. As I've written here many times, the judicial branch has usually held its ground, and so our constitutional system has also, thus far, held.

Anyhoo, things could be better. But without a doubt in my mind, I still say that this is the one place I'd ever want to live. It's also the place, more than any other, that people around the world would move to if they had to or could. Even in this state of things, we remain the promise and the reality the world looks to whether they admit to it every day of the week or not.

We need a change. We need a corrective for the next quarter millennium and beyond. Stay tuned for more on that.

For now, happy Independence Day and God Bless America.

Matt

Early Summer In New York

Matt Lieberman — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 21:44:18 GMT

I hope everyone is well! I'm sure I'll have some July 4th photos and maybe even a thought or two to send your way soon. Meantime, enjoy.

Uncle Sam Cries Uncle

Matt Lieberman — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 21:34:00 GMT

Donald Trump will only ever declare victory. And so he did, last week, as he agreed to pay Iran hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars to open up the Strait of Hormuz, which had been open before we attacked them. So we’re paying this kingly sum to the ayatollahs in exchange for the status quo ex ante. In financial terms, it seems very much like we…

My Feelings Exactly

Matt Lieberman — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 19:15:45 GMT

Literally every day the problem of Israel and Jew hatred stabs me in one way or another. Maybe it’s reading the latest bit on antisemitic insanity - the latest double standard, the latest half-truth/non-truth. Maybe it’s an interaction with someone, even someone important to me, who has lost the capacity for moral reason specifically in regard to this…

Israel Day Parade vs Eid al-Adha

Matt Lieberman — Fri, 29 May 2026 16:39:34 GMT

On a beautiful spring afternoon in Morningside Park, I found myself watching a scene this week that felt like New York at its very best.

Hundreds of Senegalese Muslims had gathered to celebrate Eid al-Adha, the Muslim holiday marking Abraham’s readiness to sacrifice his son, Isaac - yes, a very “old testament” Muslim holiday. Families spilled across the …

Trump Is King! Trump's Run Amok

Matt Lieberman — Wed, 27 May 2026 16:07:29 GMT

Donald Trump does not merely want loyalty. He wants erasure of dissent. Not Democratic dissent - I mean maybe, eventually, he’d like universal adoration, but Democrats being Democrats gives him someone to fight with. The dissent that “dare not speak its name” in TrumpLand is Republican dissent. Some internal dissent has traditionally made political par…

A Timely And Important Op-Ed From Bret Stephens Of The NYT

Matt Lieberman — Mon, 25 May 2026 20:10:30 GMT

(Relatively) Good News About One Branch Of Our Government

Matt Lieberman — Mon, 11 May 2026 17:16:16 GMT

If you’re a regular reader here, you know I hold a dim view of our government. Our current executive branch, to an extent greater than any in memory, rapaciously tramples on and seeks to usurp as much power from the legislative and judicial branches of government as possible. The legislative branch is feckless and riven by hyperpartisanship. It achie…

Happy Mother's Day!

Matt Lieberman — Sun, 10 May 2026 19:11:18 GMT

Happy Mother's Day to all who are celebrating! I'm in Branford, CT with mom and family. Here are some photos from this last week, mostly from a cross town, cross park evening walk. Enjoy!

Upper East side playground around 530 pm

Assassination As Performance Art

Matt Lieberman — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 18:54:31 GMT

On Saturday night, Cole Allen tried to assassinate the President and as many of his appointees as possible. In theory, he claims in his “manifesto,” he was ready to kill as many innocents in the ballroom as necessary to get to his targets because they had “chose” to be there and therefore somehow could be deemed complicit. What I’m about to say notwiths…

What I've Learned About Tulips, And Other Pictures

Matt Lieberman — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 19:15:29 GMT

Tulips take their time. That's the lesson I've learned the last few weeks. It was around three weeks ago that I walked over to the Conservatory Garden in Central Park on the Upper East side. I think I shared a couple of photos with you from that visit. I didn't share with you other photos I took of banks of tulips seemingly ready to burst into flower. I…

The Severe Danger Of Trump's Madman Antics

Matt Lieberman — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 22:18:37 GMT

Our president this past week has acted like a wounded animal thrashing about in its death throes trying desperately to kill something else even as it sits on the verge of expiring itself.

His statements the last few days about what he might do, in our name, to Iran and Iranian civilization are sickening, repugnant, unhinged and unacceptable. They’re a…

UConn - Duke!

Matt Lieberman — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 19:59:16 GMT

Last night was one of the great, most exciting nights of my life. And yet - or consequently - I almost crashed to the floor unconscious.

Here’s what occurred:

Signs Of Spring

Matt Lieberman — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 17:48:42 GMT

Growing up, my annual spying of the green shoots and then purple and yellow flowers of the crocuses next to our neighbor's house across the driveway meant, strangely, a whole lot. Little, beautiful, hardscrabble perennials heralding the end of winter, the start of baseball season and little league, the holiday of Passover close at hand - a lot of symbol…

My Two Week Assessment Of War With Iran

Matt Lieberman — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 21:04:35 GMT

Here’s my quick take on where we are two weeks into this war with Iran.

I strongly believe that the war will end within or close to the time frame that the administration originally described: four to eight weeks. This is not based on a military assessment, but a political one. A large portion of Trump’s base constituency is ardently isolationist. He wi…

Offering a Smile From My Dad On The 2nd Anniversary of His Passing (aka, his "yahrtzeit" on the Hebrew calendar)

Matt Lieberman — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 19:21:14 GMT

A friend unearthed this appearance of my dad on David Letterman from sometime in 2003. My dad loved to smile. Or, put another way, he was often genuinely happy and therefore often smiling from a deep, genuine place. He also had a great, dry, sometimes corny sense of humor. I'm sure the Letterman staff wrote this top ten list for him, but you can see tha…

Unscapegoating Israel. And Yesterday's Primaries

Matt Lieberman — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 17:03:31 GMT

Well, more or less exactly as I was publishing my newsletter yesterday describing the damage Marco Rubio’s comments had done, the administration was trying to walk them back. This is par for the course with this administration. Trump has no problem saying one thing, either himself or through his designees, and then walking it back as necessary. Much lik…

Trump Scapegoats Israel

Matt Lieberman — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 18:46:55 GMT

The Trump administration is stating that the central and most proximate cause for America’s attack on Iran is Israel. Specifically, Israel was determined to take the actions now taken to decapitate the Iranian regime and more thoroughly degrade Iran’s missile arsenal and military capabilities. Secretary of State Rubio and others have put forth that Isra…