Things in the Senate haven't changed much, but on the Judiciary Committee we now have Lindsey Graham as the Chairman, succeeding Chuck Grassley. Today is his first chance to act in that role, during opening ceremonies confirmation hearings for William Barr, nominee for Attorney General. His performance has already received a fairly universal panning on Twitter, as he continues to show himself as the Trump stooge into whom he has morphed.

Here, dear readers, is a sampling. In just his opening statement welcoming Mr. Barr,

Sen. Graham extracted this promise from William Barr:

He warned Barr to keep his memos to Trump short and sweet...in crayon and with cartoon pictures, if possible...

He propagated conspiracy theories about the FBI:

Now, I hope you all have strong stomachs, as you follow along the questioning process. Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster for the alternating questioning by Dems, Sen. Feinstein, Leahy, and Durbin, who have so far provided some intellectual and ethical relief.