"Brief and sudden illness"???

[PCIntern]

It sure must have been brief, because he was scheduled to be on MTP this morning.

Another “interesting” senatorial scenario…

“I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but”…

Nah, I don’t want to say anything inappropriate at this time, it’d be utterly tasteless. And crass.

Nope, I’m taking the High Road….for now.

[H2O Man]

1. Recommended.

The High Road can include saying nice things, like I hope he is okay.

[durablend]

3. The weather's fine there

Mitch said so. Nice and warm.

[Conjuay]

54. "But it's a dry heat"

[Omnipresent]

35. He's definitely not ok.

[H2O Man]

82. Respectfully disagree.

[Omnipresent]

83. No

He is dead.

[H2O Man]

84. Yes.

I know he is dead. Indeed, that is exactly why I said I hope he is okay.

[Omnipresent]

85. You forgot that sarcasm symbol

[H2O Man]

86. No.

It is not a case of "forgot." I never use that symbol.

[displacedvermoter]

40. I hope he has a very nice funeral.

[JPK]

62. For a funeral

Is a pink chiffon appropriate?

[Lifeafter70]

2. But we already know where all roads lead

Just saying

[FascismIsDeath]

4. Yea but 71 year old men just up and die all the time. Lets not get carried away.

This was unexpected for sure but not unrealistic at all.

[PCIntern]

5. You're absolutely right...

And please let me add that that can also be said in Russia with the epidemic there of defenestrations and poisonings.

But all jokes aside that’s true. I just wouldn’t classify a heart attack or stroke as an illness. But that’s me.

[FascismIsDeath]

11. It depends on what caused the heart attack, if that is even what happened.

But it could be as simple as pneumonia or something like that.

[PCIntern]

12. There'd be symptoms of pneumonia...

There’s either a lot more to this story or nothing at all.

[The Madcap]

63. Explosive diarrhea?

Seems to be in the news a lot lately.

I thought "illness" was a strange choice, but I don't doubt the cardiac arrest angle, especially after a long flight and likely poor sleep.

[PCIntern]

67. I normally analyze language and word usage

But many individuals are not aware of the distinction among descriptors so whoever composed the press release may have done so, unknowingly confusing illness with episode or condition.

It may well have been a blood clot. The exact same thing happened to the wife of a patient of mine who flew back from Israel. She dropped dead two days later, never having been sick.

[paulkienitz]

13. Sure, could be completely innocent, but given where it happened in the world,

and the abruptness of it, conspiracy ideas are gonna be inevitable.

[Katinfl]

37. You are right. Heart attack or a stroke is not a sudden illness. So why be so secretive?

be straightforward with the cause of death and end the speculation.

[agingdem]

41. Assuming soulless Lindsey had a heart,,

and unless he had an undisclosed history of coronary heart disease, reprehensible Lindsey died of a sudden heart attack..the cause is irrelevant because Trump’s ass-kissing toady is still dead..thoughts and prayers!

[liberalgunwilltravel]

19. Maybe he had the same brief and sudden illness

As Nelson Rockefeller. Except instead of a 25 year old woman …

[John1956PA]

21. You have a good memory for salacious 1970s political trivia.

[PCIntern]

38. Happy wasn't so Happy after the event

[displacedvermoter]

46. Megan Marshack was the lady who made Happy

unhappy. Covered up nicely, but the story still brings out a nasty chuckle from fans of "salacious 1970s political trivia", which I admit, I too enjoy...

[liberalgunwilltravel]

58. What can I say?

I’m old. Also a native of NY State and the beneficiary of the SUNY system that Rockefeller started. Pat Moynihan and Jacob Javits were the Senators I grew up with. Back when there were still honorable Republicans. And in today’s world, Nelson would be considered a Social Democrat, except for his misguided views on recreational drugs.

[wolfie001]

33. ....

[allegorical oracle]

26. Yep. Had a very healthy friend who suffered a brain aneurism while shopping. She

was in her 60s and died in surgery when surgeons couldn't staunch the resultant brain hemorrhage. Overall, sudden may be a kinder way to go than lingering for years.

[Bumbles]

29. Lindsay had already lingered for too long.

[Buckeyeblue]

65. You're right. And we no nothing about his health.

Maybe he had some heart issues or something else. I don't know if he exercised. He looked like a drinker.

[LeftInTX]

6. Check out how he looked recently

Congestive Heart Failure?

Although it's not brief and sudden, he may have had it. People can have it for decades, but maybe it caused his cardiac arrest last night?

[CincyDem]

7. "Brief & sudden illness" vs. an "event" like a heart attack ?

A serious question for the medical types around the board...what's the difference. Not looking for conspiracies or anything but it just seems like a difference without distinction.

Is there some political reason its better (if that's possible) to die of a brief and sudden illness that to announce that he died of a heart attack of a cardiac arrest?

[PCIntern]

9. Exactly.

This has caused my eyebrow to be raised.

[RandySF]

10. No

Unless you die in some kind of comprising situation.

[pnwmom]

14. Could also be a pulmonary embolism caused by deep vein thrombosis.

Everyone knows what a heart attack is, but fewer people know about DVTs and P.E's, which can happen after long plane flights. And a P.E. can damage the heart or cause a stroke.

They might not know exactly how he died unless they do an autopsy.

[videohead5]

16. I was thinking the same thing

He was just on a very long airplane ride. It's pretty easy to put two and two together.

[Roy Rolling]

17. Ding! Ding! Ding!

We have a winner!

Just returning from a long flight is the key. A pulmonary embolism checks all the boxes. Not a shockable rhythm, it’s why he needed immediate transport.

I think, technically, a pulmonary embolism’s symptoms are nearly identical to a “cardiac arrest”. Defibrillator usually detects the difference in electrical rhythm. (From a retired EMT)

[ananda]

18. I know someone who died of that..

and never knew she had it.

It was sudden and unexpected.

[wolfie001]

32. I remember that young NBC reporter, David Bloom, who was traveling with the troops in Iraq

He seemed in shape but not "combat-ready". All of the sudden the body is in stressful situations. Sad.

[pnwmom]

73. There is a very common genetic variation that increases the risk of a DVT

and most people don't know they're at risk till they've had their first. It wouldn't matter how combat ready they were if they had the gene.

[GPV]

15. Are we thinking poison?

[onenote]

47. I'm not. I doubt many are.

[JMCKUSICK]

22. Cardiac arrest is certainly a sudden medical event

I know there are many of us who happen to have had symptoms that we heeded which made us long term medical issue sufferers rather than sudden medical event victims if you will.

There are many people who never have a sign before the Big One.

[Lovie777]

27. Odd choice of words, indeed..........................

[RandySF]

8. The reporting is

that DC Emergency Services desponded to a cardiac “event” at his house on Capitol Hill. I don’t know if he died or at the hospital.

[lostnfound]

20. ETTD. Coincidentally he just met with Zelensky and announced sanctions on Russia.

i think it was probably just a heart attack. Years of stress from selling his soul and from travel.

One never knows however.

[Trueblue Texan]

23. I've been sleeping...

Who are we talking about?

[wolfie001]

31. .........

[Trueblue Texan]

53. Truly a beautiful day in the neighborhood!!!

[wolfie001]

70. Yep! Zero sympathy from me

[Trueblue Texan]

24. OMFG!!!!! Lindsay Graham CROAKED?!!!

PER-AYYYYZZZZZE Jesus if this is true!!!

[twodogsbarking]

25. I had to do it.............

[Vinca]

28. He just came back from Ukraine - 20 hours on a plane - blood clot?

Conspiracy me can't help but think now is the time for Russia to poison Ukraine supporters in this country. Our intelligence and federal law enforcement (excluding ICE) has been gutted.

[Boo1]

42. This was my thought

DVT after extended plane ride.

But just a thought, could be anything.

[LisaL]

64. Blood clot could cause cardiac arrest.

Certainly a possibility.

[wolfie001]

30. russki operative

That's my opinion. Just ask Ivana for confirmation.

[rampartd]

44. i would love a look inside that box

i wonder how many video discs fit in there?

[JPK]

68. What if

Some golfer shanks a ball and it lands on her grave? Does he get a drop or does he have to play it from where the ball landed?

[NCDem47]

34. I think he drank himself to death.

You saw it in his television appearnaces and odd behavior

I've seen it up close and personal. The body can only take so much abuse.

[MrsCheaplaugh]

49. I can't handle too much alcohol now, and I'm only 63

For a 71 year old man who's out of shape, heavy drinking is deadly.

[tavernier]

71. I know. I'm 79 and I can't get through that fourth Manhattan anymore.

Have to switch to wine. But the docs say women should stop at one wine so that has to be the nightcap. It’s a bitch getting old.

[The Wizard]

79. Getting old beats the alternative.

worm food

[bucolic_frolic]

36. Stress at the top

The wars, the temperatures of global warming, the anger and scheming, the paranoia, the travel, the infighting, the greed.

This is not a relaxed and tolerant space, and no one is getting any younger.

He rose high in life and deserves the respect of office, I suppose. But to me he was just misguided.

[Kid Berwyn]

39. Journalese for "Heart Attack."

“Extended Illness” is cancer.

Simplifies pathology to save time for readers.

[rampartd]

43. ok. i'm out of the gutter. for now

[GreenWave]

48. No meet the press today, just meet your maker.

[Sympthsical]

50. "sudden illness" has long been a PR euphemism for things like heart attack and stroke

Either the family wants privacy, or they're not definitively sure what caused the death yet and just want to get a notification out there.

Another common acute illness included in this verbiage is pneumonia. Sepsis, too.

Sudden illness is generally just a euphemism for unexpectedly. Usually to signal they weren't secretly suffering from some undisclosed issue. Like sometimes how an actor or whomever has cancer that's been kept from the public (i.e. when Alan Rickman died).

Edit: Dying suddenly at 71 isn't a crazy event. As the other poster noted, he just returned from a long trip. Maybe DVT.

[Blue Owl]

51. Wham Bam thank you Graham

[flying_wahini]

52. Poppers while dancing?

[QueerDuck]

57. 🤣😂 👊 Possibly. We'll never know... not that I'd want to know for sure.

I suspect that in the end, more truths will come out. All the things that LG wanted to keep secret (whatever they may have been) and all the things that his handlers and blackmailers were using against him to keep him in control and make sure that he toed the line. It will be interesting to see how this develops and how long it takes for the truth to bubble up to the top of the LG cesspool of lies.

[marble falls]

55. Me, too. However, when the inevidable finally takes TACO, all bets are off.

[marble falls]

56. Me, too. However, when the inevidable finally takes TACO, all bets are off.

[sinkingfeeling]

59. Maybe we should say, "Well done, Ukraine"?

[dweller]

60. Well damn

So SC Senate seat looking good now ?

🤔


✌🏻

[EnergizedLib]

61. I'm sorry he didn't suffer longer

If you are MAGA, please die.

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

66. Red-state, southern diet did him in? He looked rather bloated last time I saw his ugly mug on tv.

[Mz Pip]

69. If it was a heart attack

why not just say so? No one would be surprised.

I just find this wording odd. It’s the kind of wording that leads to speculation and conspiracy theories.

[LeftInTX]

75. They don't have an official cause of death.

He came home from Ukraine hours earlier
Spoke with Trump on the phone
Told Trump his was tired
Called EMS for chest pain around 8:30 pm


Emergency medical services received a call around 8:30 p.m. Saturday for a person with chest pains at a Capitol Hill home owned by Graham, according to the audio. About 25 minutes later, emergency personnel said that CPR was in progress and that a man at the house was suffering from cardiac arrest.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/07/12/lindsey-graham-longtime-south-carolina-senator-dies-71/

The blurb after his death was a press release from his staff.
I never read much into those things.

They are just meant to tell the public that someone
1 died
2 died of natural causes
3 wasn't running around sick.

Was brief illness a bad choice of words? Did he have some other health issues? Maybe.
But he just got home from Ukraine, so this brief illness was very brief. Other words, "Died unexpectly from natural causes", "Died unexpectedly after experiencing chest pain". His press people may not have had all the details. It's hard to get the right wording, when you're dealing with an emergency situation. People are not the best wordsmiths when they're dealing with emergencies. I hear poor wording from law enforcement frequently, then it gets refined.

[Mz Pip]

80. Fair enough

I guess with all of the speculation around McConnell’s hospitalization, it’s hard not to be a bit suspicious.

Though, I just read that Kash Patel said an investigation is underway.

[Grim Chieftain]

72. If it's sudden, it's not brief

Do these idiots even understand common definitions? You just can't fix stupid.

[LeftInTX]

74. Sounds like a heart attack

Graham died hours after returning from a trip to Ukraine, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky. The senator had been one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters in Washington.

Emergency medical services received a call around 8:30 p.m. Saturday for a person with chest pains at a Capitol Hill home owned by Graham, according to the audio. About 25 minutes later, emergency personnel said that CPR was in progress and that a man at the house was suffering from cardiac arrest.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/07/12/lindsey-graham-longtime-south-carolina-senator-dies-71/

[PCIntern]

76. I hadn't heard the "chest pains"

If so, then yeah. Most likely.

[LeftInTX]

77. His press people were probably rushed and wording wasn't the best

I see this alot. They are trying to convey death, natural causes, but they fumbled a bit on the natural causes thing. Maybe they wanted to convey that he didn't have a chronic illness and called it brief, leading people to believe he had a weeks long illness or something.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

78. Pulmonary embolisms and aortal aneurisms are both very sudden...

[republianmushroom]

81. Well that "Illness was sudden and very brief" but long lasting.

[Torchlight]

88. I'll take the high road for 18 more hours

then it's off with sanctimonious, self-serving attire (too itchy when I wear it, almost itchy on my eyes when others do) and then quickly back to the routine snark typical of most days.