Bill Cassidy Loses Primary; RFK Jr. Will Be His Legacy
Senator Bill Cassidy just lost his campaign for reelection to his Senate seat in Louisiana. With that, his career in federal government is likely over. It's no secret as to why this happened. In early 2021, Cassidy suffered from a spasm of patriotism and voted to convict Donald Trump during his impeachment trial after the latter spurred on an attempted insurrection in the capitol that left several people dead, scores injured, and became the most famous stain on American democracy since the Bill Clinton era. Trump turned his retribution cannons on Cassidy, pumped the primary cycle full of vitriol for Cassidy, and managed to shove him from office.
But here's the thing: fuck Bill Cassidy.
In the years since Trump's second impeachment trial, Cassidy did his absolute best to throw as much unrequited love at Donald Trump as he possibly could. The moment the political realities became evident, Cassidy's principles melted away. He spoke glowingly of Trump in his second term. He touted how well he and Trump work together, even as he acknowledged that Trump hates him. He was a reliable pro-Trump vote on nearly everything.
And he was the most important vote in confirming RFK Jr. to his current role as Secretary of HHS. And given how his vote to confirm Kennedy gave his colleagues cover to do so means that he may be the man most singularly responsible for Kennedy's appointment other than Donald Trump.
Bill Cassidy ismoreat fault, because he actually knows better. RFK Jr. is an idiot with a brainworm, whereas Bill Cassidy is a doctor. A real doctor who worked in a charity hospital for the uninsured in Louisiana and, to his own testimony, has seen what happens when children don't get vaccinated. He knew better, and yet he still provided the deciding vote to confirm Kennedy, almost definitely because he saw it as a way back into Trump's good graces. Clearly, that didn't happen.
And while he swore up and down that he had given Kennedy a real good talking-to and got all of the assurances that he would not screw with vaccines or change the CDC's page stating that vaccines do not cause autism, that did not happen either.
He fucked us all to save his own skin, and ended up bloody and skinless anyway. He claimed it would be okay because of said assurances" and because of his promise to monitor everything Kennedy did.
Monitor Kennedy he did, perhaps, but it certainly didn't go beyond that. Save for a few contentious congressional hearings and Cassidy occasionally complaining to local news media about Kennedy's actions at HHS, the man simply didn't do anything to try to fix the mess he had a heavy hand in creating. He didn't sign up to help the impeachment effort against Kennedy. He didn't call for any new legislation to curb the chaos that is happening at HHS and its child agencies right now. He even had kind words to say about Kennedy's approach to processed foods in the past few weeks.
Taking a moral stand is not a one-time project. Cassidy's vote to convict Trump in 2021 was the right vote. Nearly everything he's done since negates that moral stance, as he engaged in the most pathetic forms of boot-licking in an attempt to save his political career.
It didn't work. Trump doesn't work that way. Neither does Kennedy. Once you're on the enemies hit list, you're never coming off. The Senate will probably be worse for losing Cassidy generally. The Senate Health Committee certainly will be. And that's too bad.
But fuck Bill Cassidy for foisting RFK Jr. as HHS boss on this country.