Susan Collins is the Lucy of politics and we are Charlie Brown. Over and over we have believed that she will leave the football there and then she always, always pulls it. Why can’t we learn, we ask one another after yet another disappointment? But maybe — may be — this time will be different. Collins has said she will oppose Kash Patel’s nomination to had the FBI.
Collins noted recent actions at the Justice Department and FBI, from prosecutors resigning after facing pressure on how to handle certain cases to FBI agents facing firing over their work on Jan. 6 cases.
“In this context, there is a compelling need for an FBI Director who is decidedly apolitical. While Mr. Patel has had 16 years of dedicated public service, his time over the past four years has been characterized by high profile and aggressive political activity,” Collins said in a statement.
“Mr. Patel has made numerous politically charged statements in his book and elsewhere discrediting the work of the FBI, the very institution he has been nominated to lead. These statements, in conjunction with the questionnaire sent to thousands of FBI employees, cast doubt on Mr. Patel’s ability to advance the FBI’s law enforcement mission in a way that is free from the appearance of political motivation.”
What I am wondering, and admittedly hoping, is that Patel is the bridge too far and maybe he will be the Rubicon, the river that won’t be crossed (until some Trumpian madness dictates that it will be crossed.) And that’s wishful thinking on my part, considering the cowardice of the GOP.
But Collins could be the canary in the mine. Maybe she is. In all events, this is an interesting and unexpected development and bears scrutiny.
Patel is a strictly Trumpian creature. He would never be seriously considered for the post of FBI director in any sane and normal world. His “children’s books” which show pictures of a dog urinating on Adam Schiff or photos of Schiff’s head on a watermelon (which is then smashed) are infantile, vicious propaganda and we won’t even get into the anti-Semitic aspects of this imagery.
The post of FBI Director is a ten-year term for a reason: it’s designed to be apolitical and overlap presidential terms. There is nothing independent or apolitical about Kash Patel. He is a Trump lapdog, first, foremost, and always. He is there to do Trump’s bidding, not uphold the Constitution or the law.
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I’ll believe it when it happens—-and is verified by an independent third-party.
When Collins votes against any R, it means it WILL pass. It means her vote is meaningless.
She is a disgrace.
Probably true.
“Patel is a strictly Trumpian creature. He would never be seriously considered for the post of FBI director in any sane and normal world.”
True, but the same could be said for every one of cabinet picks.Possibly Patel is the straw that broke the camel’s back, but I wouldn’t bet on it. I mean you’d like to think one or two R senators are starting to get tired of this, or have had more time to think about what they are actually doing, or have had time to hear from a lot more of their constituents.
Let’s see what the Portland (Maine) Press Herald thinks. I mean, they know her pretty well …