I think a good followup question would be, “So when you say something is a huge embarrassment, it’s a meaningless statement. You don’t care if something is embarrassing. Why even bother to say it?”
From all the way back to 2016/17, the thing that surprised me the most was how completely spineless the Republicans were about Trump; the way they capitulated with barely any effort on his part. I never expected them to have any moral principles of course; but I always thought they at least had pride.
But no; they were completely willing to grovel and humiliate themselves almost immediately. No self respect at all.
If any Republicans in Congress or elsewhere had a spine, they would point out that Trump’s tariffs (even the threat of tariffs) is damaging to America’s trade and economy.
Phillip Mamouf-Wifarts was a prophet.
Especially considering how many really didn’t want him to be the nominated as a candidate in the first place.
By now all the non-loyalists have been purged, and anyone who dares not toe the line faces swift and severe retribution. It’s really sad and frightening, but also kind of understandable considering the circumstances.
It looks like we can expect even more cowardice as the economy goes down the tubes.
Even on Capitol Hill, which lobbyists were hoping would be a key avenue for influencing the president without provoking his ire, fear is spreading among GOP lawmakers as the market hemorrhages trillions of dollars. But so far, most Republicans are unwilling to call on Trump to back down.
Industry “absolutely will not get back up from Congress” right now, the trade group executive conceded, adding that Republicans are “holding hands jumping off the cliff and hoping that it’s a very short drop.”
Back then, when the “adults in the room” controlled the party, they thought Trump was a stooge they could control. They thought he’d eventually realize how hard it is to be president and that he’d need them to function. The few Republicans who challenged him openly retired and haven’t been heard from since. He is a force of nature who has flung their party around the way a wedge tornado tosses trailer homes.
Lisa Murkowski talks about Republican cowardice:
Murkowski Calls Out Her Colleagues For Abandoning Their Constitutional Duties
Strikingly, she admitted to a crowd of nonprofit leaders at an event that “we are all afraid,” referencing the societal upheaval that Trump has enacted in his first few months back in office, as he slashes federal services, guts federal agencies, defies court orders and risks economic collapse through tariffs.
“It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before. And I’ll tell ya, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right,” she said.
Yeah? Is that what she thinks her constituents should do..shut up, bend over and take it for fear of worse punishment? Then what do we need HER for?
She’s a disgrace to the office she holds. So are all of them not publicly opposing Trump’s lawlessness. Cowards and fools.
(woOt!)
Here’s a really good article on a top contender for the most spinless, gutless Republican in the U.S. Senate - Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.
Cassidy, an M.D. previously known as a strong supporter of immunization, expressed misgivings about supporting RFK Jr. to head HHS, but voted to confirm him anyway, on the grounds that he’d meet with Junior regularly to head off any nasty developments - like Junior purging the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to substitute antivaxers who’d advise the CDC on recomended vaccines (it’s now widely expected that Junior is going to do just that). No response from Cassidy on that prospect, or on Junior naming a ludicrously unqualified antivaxer, David Geier, to head up a vaccine-autism study.
Cassidy is a coward interested only in fending off a challenge from someone even more MAGA than he is.
The thing is though, they never even tried to control him. They’d bluster about “a line in the sand” and then Trump would leap over it like Bob Beamon in the Mexico City Olympics, so they’d draw another line, and he’d leap over that, so they’d draw another line, and so on. They moved the goalposts of acceptable behavior so often they were pretty much on wheels by the end of his first year in office. Once he learned they were never actually going to do anything, that was pretty much the beginning of the end.
So true!
By the way, the thread title reminds me of a sign I saw at this weekend’s protest.
“Why Are Eggs So Expensive?
Because All The Chickens Are In Congress!”
“Which came first, the tariff or the egg prices?”
Well, at least we’ll get some mileage over on the schadenfreude thread.
They kept him in check.
What changed was losing the election. That changed everything. That was the beginning of Trump47.
Republicans trying to figure out whose wrath they most fear:
7 Republicans stuck in the middle of the Trump-Musk divorce - POLITICO
In the wake of the schism, some Republicans are stuck in the middle debating their next moves. Do they side with Trump, the leader of the party whose influence and authority looms over so many aspects of life? Or do they back Musk, whose massive fortune could provide a boost to anyone running for reelection — or running to succeed Trump in 2028 — even as he threatens to withhold donations to lawmakers who back the Republican megabill? Could they attempt to appease both?
Musk, 53, is already drawing a future-forward line between himself and Trump, 78, and urging Republicans to come to his side.
“Some food for thought as they ponder this question,” Musk wrote on X in response to far-right activist Laura Loomer wondering how Republicans would react. “Trump has 3.5 years left as President, but I will be around for 40+ years.”
Well, that is THE question, isn’t it? How many million in cash is equivalent to a Trump endorsement in getting votes.
… or will you? 
What he’s really saying though, is “Do you want to be someone’s lapdog for 3.5 years, or for 40+ years?”