239 Comments
User's avatar
Carol Pladsen-Bloom's avatar

Is being in Congress even close to a full-time job, 'cause writing a book should take up a lot of time? Even a ghost writer has to ask questions.

Joey's avatar

I can't believe you are even asking the question.

Kristopher Giesing's avatar

> Cassidy could join Murkowski in opposition

Nope. He folded like an umbrella, as they say.

This was all kayfabe: giving Murkowski and Collins the fig leaf they can take back to their constituents without actually threatening the outcome.

Pathetic.

Richard Seligman's avatar

Bill Kristol's comment, "Gag me with a spoon!" sums it up quite well. This appears to be Senator Cassidy's last chance to do the right thing!

DanceThisMessAround's avatar

So. Did Cassidy enable Murkowski or Collins to vote no? Those two do not get a pass in this cluster. No integrity, no pride, just pure weakness coming from all of these people. Just curious if any of these folks will get a payout from the weaponization fund? Yeah, cause that is what I am thinking.

Ernest Messinger's avatar

Senators Murkowski and Collins have GOP permission to vote NO because the Senate has enough votes. Cassidy and Tillis will cave and vote for Blanche. It is just the MAGA way...

JaneJ's avatar

Some media coverage of Cassidy agreeing to vote for Blanche is bizarre to me--seriously, who cares that Cassidy got choked up at the end of his worthless speech? That's lazy and silly and not news.

JVG's avatar

RE “For example, White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf suggested that they were considering guidance to deny visas to visitors who they suspect are entering the country for the purpose of delivering a child here.” Wondering how they would suspect that… Maybe looking at Russian women planning to stay in Trump’s condos in Florida for a one or two month visit? That’s been a trend, I’ve read. 🤷‍♀️

At any rate, it’s not a bad idea, but it’s going to take some AI work to figure out who’s pregnant and how far along. Seems problematic, you say? So is the industry that facilitates it, and that makes espionage by foreign governments easier. Not a widespread phenomenon, you note? Probably true, but it doesn’t need to be to cause natsec challenges down the line.

Left in WashState's avatar

And.....down goes Cassidy. Jeez, what a party of spineless smucks.

max skinner's avatar

Is it too late to add Cassidy to Tillis's book on wimpy Republicans?

Joey's avatar

Can we add Tillis to Tillis's book on wimpy Republicans?

Robert J Danolfo's avatar

Bill, Andrew and Jim, Thanks for the reporting, commentary and analysis. I'm having a hard time deciding if Tillis was born stupid or actively works at it. Isn't there one member of his family willing to tell him he's embarrassing them? What a pitiful disgrace of a human being. Meanwhile, Carlson, loathsome as he is, has one item I particularly agree with, there should indeed be punishment for elected officials who lie to the public. In which case the entire Republican party would be in prison. Honestly, who would miss them? Then there's Steven Miller, with his wall to wall combination of racism and nazism in a visual package that would make a dollop of horse manure look good. Anyway, I can't imagine where confirming or not confirming Blanche will make much of a difference in the dynamics, there seems to be an abundance of enablers around.

Tom Fee's avatar

Charlie Brown and the football with Trump nominees. It was planned that Collins and her fellow Alaskan Fraud could vote no but for whatever reason the biggest fraud and coward Cassidy would vote yes

AleChic's avatar

Just saw Cassidy will vote for Blanche, I guess the threat of loosing out on all his post-Senate GOP "fun" at the country club was too much for this shameless hack. Tillis and Cornyn are garbage. I've been looking at the faces of these white, privileged assholes for far too long. Don't buy their post-Senate books, tell your local bookstore to not carry them, send some emails and phone calls over to HarperCollins about a boycott. Not a penny more to these fuckers.

Gail R Kelso's avatar

Lisa Murkowski manages to ably represent a very needy red state & still not be played by Trump. I admire her.

Jennifer Phillips's avatar

If Cassidy votes to confirm, that and his confirmation vote for RFK Jr. will be his lasting legacy and likely all that is remembered of his Congressional service. He'll join Collins, Tillis and Murkowski as those in Congress who have most helped dismantle democracy in the MAGA era.

Oregon Larry's avatar

Fool me once, fool me twice, fool me thrice again; and I'll be a Repuglicain. I'm sure they've all learned their lessons.

Kate Fall's avatar

The Murdoch family controls Harper Collins. The economy of publishing books nobody will ever read fascinates me. The Murdochs spend a lot of time on it. You’d think the GOP has perfected the scheme, but there’s always a new wrinkle, like gaming best seller lists and now feeding LLMs.

Richard Kane's avatar

They don't want you to read them, they just want magat and christian nationalist organizations to buy them in bulk to give out to their illiterate members.