Tone deaf Joe Manchin

I saw this clip earlier today; I think the visual says more than the audio:

West Virginians are kayaking to Joe Manchin's yacht and demanding he explain why he's stopping the reconciliation bill from advancingpic.twitter.com/Q09OC1aEHo

— Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) October 1, 2021

Consistently hypocritical Shelley Moore Capito

From last week, here is Senator Capito expressing her apprehension at the possible fate of Afghanistan’s citizens:

We left the Afghans who had helped us, whether it was through interpretive services, intelligence, all kinds of services. We left many Afghans behind. It was a rushed and hurried exit. Quite frankly, I think it was humiliating for the United States and for the world to see.

Her statement was consistent with what Capito has previously stated as she and the WV GOP have regularly attacked President Biden for his supposed lack of concern for the fate of the Afghans who helped us. But, as I pointed out in a follow-up post, neither has done anything to aid them. Yesterday, Capito had yet another opportunity to show her support for those she purports to care so deeply about as stopgap legislation to fund the government included money to help with the resettlement of Afghan refugees. As this morning’s Washington Post reports:

The evenly divided Senate narrowly turned back a Republican amendment Thursday that sought to curtail assistance to Afghan refugees who were rapidly evacuated to the United States and that would have made it more difficult for them to obtain Real IDs.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) sought to attach the amendment to legislation to fund the government into early December, which is expected to pass later Thursday with bipartisan support. Cotton’s amendment received 50 votes, one short of the number needed to succeed. The tally broke along partisan lines.

In addition to providing stopgap funding to keep the government open, the spending measure includes emergency funding for the resettlement of Afghan refugees who fled amid the takeover of the country by the Taliban and U.S. military exit.

Yesterday, Capito along with West Virginia’s Democratic senator, Joe Manchin, met with West Virginia media. Afghanistan was apparently not discussed.

Finally, the Post’s report hints at why Capito and her fellow Republicans voted to deny aid to the Afghan’s – fear of Trump:

In a statement Thursday, former president Donald Trump urged fellow Republicans to vote against the larger spending legislation, arguing that the provisions affecting Afghan refugees amounted to “a major immigration rewrite” that would provide “free welfare and government-issued IDs.”

“We’ve already seen some of the horrible assaults and sex crimes that have taken place,” Trump said. “But these terrible assaults will just be the tip of the iceberg of what’s coming if this isn’t shut down. . . . This bill must be opposed.”

(The next sentence in the Post’s report is interesting: “Trump provided no evidence for his assertions.” Is mainstream media finally giving up its stenographer role when it deals with Trump?)

Will any West Virginia stenographer ever ask the senator about this? Of course not, that's not their job.