More Pavlov

This is how it works:

Lindsey Graham: "I think there's a side to President Trump that's very much like Ronald Reagan."

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) April 7, 2017

Graham, who wants ground troops in Syria, said he told Trump this was "the first step" in a journey. "He said yeah, I believe you're right."

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) April 7, 2017

More Graham: "I said, I was very proud of him. He said a lot of people had called, 100 countries had called the White House and thanked him"

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) April 7, 2017

Graham despises Trump. But Graham has learned (as have all intelligent people) that Trump is easily manipulated, and the key is to condition him and then to be the last person to talk to him before he makes a decision. Graham is a hawk who wants the U.S. to get into wars, and unlike David Frum he loves war more than he fears Trump's ability to handle one.

Incidentally, although the Democrats are well-served in the current environment by doing everything they can to frustrate Trump's domestic agenda, they should at least be preparing themselves for the possibility of deploying these tactics should the right circumstances arise. My belief is that Obama deftly manipulated Trump into keeping Obamacare around, for instance (obviously Trump tried to dismantle Obamacare, but only after rejecting the "repeal first" strategy favored by some Republicans).

But to keep our eyes on the ball: Graham's ass-kissing is scary and is part of the Pavlovian experiment I wrote about in my last post.