Post Loss Clarity: Bill Cassidy Rediscovers His Spine As A Lame Duck Senator
from the where've-you-been-bill? dept
Just a few days ago, I wrote a post about how Bill Cassidy had been primaried out of returning as a senator for Louisiana and how all of this bootlicking of the Trump administration obviously didn’t do the job he hoped it would do. As a result, he has been left as a lame duck senator with a legacy that will be primarily about his decision to belay his own moral stances generally and his heavy hand in RFK Jr. leading HHS under Trump 2.0.
The point of that post was two-fold. First, I wanted to highlight just how damning to his legacy the appointment of Kennedy to HHS has become to his legacy. Second, I wanted to highlight that this supposedly serious senator was perfectly willing to give up on his principles the moment he thought, incorrectly as it turns out, that it would be politically expedient to do so.
And if you need a bow to put on that second point, you can get it now that Cassidy has flipped his vote on the Senate bill to end America’s involvement in the war with Iran until the Trump administration gets authorization from Congress.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who just lost his primary for renomination over the weekend after he faced opposition from Trump, voted “yes” to advance the measure, the first time he has done so after having repeatedly voted “no.”
“While I support the administration’s efforts to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, the White House and Pentagon have left Congress in the dark on Operation Epic Fury,” Cassidy said in a statement. “In Louisiana, I’ve heard from people, including President Trump’s supporters, who are concerned about this war. Until the administration provides clarity, no congressional authorization or extension can be justified.”
It’s amazing how post-election-loss clarity can assist someone in rediscovering their own spinal cord. Now, you can read Cassidy’s comments about how Congress has been left in the dark and that he’s hearing from people worried that maybe this whole warlord routine by Trump isn’t so great and believe that Cassidy came to all of these epiphanies in the last couple of days… if you want. But I’m going to point at you and laugh in your face if you do.
Now that Cassidy has nothing to lose, he’s decided to do the right thing. That isn’t some feather in his cap. It’s a self-indictment of all of his actions leading all the way up to his primary loss. If Cassidy thought this vote was the right thing to do today, what made it the wrong thing to do a week ago? The answer is nothing.
Even if a vote is taken and the bill passes, it would still need to get through the Republican House and survive a presidential veto. There is little chance of either happening. But that isn’t the point.
The point is that Bill Cassidy could have been a patriot over the past year and a half since Trump’s reelection, but he chose not to until he didn’t have a Senate seat to defend. And that makes him a coward.
Filed Under: bill cassidy, donald trump, iran, principles, rfk jr., spine
Comments on “Post Loss Clarity: Bill Cassidy Rediscovers His Spine As A Lame Duck Senator”
Not a winning proposition
“Among a host of yes-men, I promise not to be afraid to say »yes but«” just doesn’t have that much of a market.
Politicians are really bad at spotting confidence tricksters
Trump is, fundamentally, a confidence trickster, one of the most accomplished ones of modern history. Even now, there seem to be some Republicans who hope to gain from backing him against their vestigial consciences. They’re going to be very disappointed.
Re:
Trump is a lousy confidence trickster. But people keep thinking that surely he would not turn them into victims. I don’t get why, but it works.
Max Frisch epitomized this idiotic human trait in “Biedermann und die Brandstifter”.
The key is that you don’t need to hide your bad intentions; you just need to time their uncovering a bit. Transparent lies provide enough of an excuse for the victims to let themselves get stringed along.
As the lies get more transparent, the victims ultimately believe that they deserve what they do not want to believe they are getting.
Re: Re:
He’s a great confidence trickster. He doesn’t waste time trying to convince people that won’t fall for it.
Re:
Trump is hands-down the most prolific and successful con artist of the modern era, and possible all-time.
Its funny how many brave people show their bravery after the fact and not during when they had the actual position to do something about what they find so horrible.
All those people writing books after Trump’s first trials while golfing through the pandemic, and now those who should have retired long ago and are now trying to stick up for the little guy as a last ditch effort to get some credibility (Check out MTG and her “I quit and now I war with Trump but really he is a nice guy but someone really should stop him statements).
So much bravery from those who no longer have a cushy job they are trying to keep.
Surgery?
How can this happen? I’m fairly certain that the Congress critters have their spines and frontal lobes removed in the secret ceremony they all attend before being seated. Did he have his body parts preserved somehow? /s
Gross.
“But I didn’t think THOSE leopards would eat MY face?!?!”