A sort of update/continuance of my post this morning on the action of one asshole, Joe Manchin, in proclaiming despite a shitload of evidence to the contrary, he’s not going to vote for the ‘For The People Act,’ because the voting-reform bill is too ‘partisan’ and would destroy the country.

Bullshit — as I noted this morning, Manchin is delighted by the Koch people, who hate the ‘For The People Act,’ and keeps Joe loving his middle-of-the-road destroyer-of-democracy:

Worth noting here that the Koch network (Americans for Prosperity) lobbied against the For the People Act in the first quarter of 2021.
The report says they engaged with House and Senate lawmakers.
Lobbying report: https://t.co/GRpqPj5tzg pic.twitter.com/kheUdCG8ld

— Brian Schwartz (@schwartzbCNBC) June 6, 2021

In context, James Downie at The Washington Post this afternoon, looked at Manchin as delusional:

What makes Manchin’s stances so aggravating? It’s not that his views are insincere.
Unlike with some other senators, there’s no doubting the West Virginia senator’s earnestness. He hasn’t changed from running as a Green Party candidate and ardently backing a higher minimum wage to merrily voting against it, as Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) has.
He hasn’t consistently promised to put principle over party only to fall in line when Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) commands, like Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) or a number of other Republicans have.

Perhaps the issue is the laziness of Manchin’s centrism. Rather than a mix of substantive policy stances, some left and some right, Manchin simply takes the middle of the two parties’ stances.
For example, President Biden wants a 28-percent corporate tax rate, while Republicans want 21 percent. So Manchin backs 25 percent.
Democrats want a $15-an-hour minimum wage, while Republicans want $10? Manchin supports $11.
One gets the sense that if Manchin were told one side believes two plus two equals four and the other side believes it equals eight, he’d conclude that it equals six — and that saying otherwise divides the country.
But this approach is not unusual in Washington, particularly among media voices who cling to a “both sides” view of politics.
So that is not the crux.
…
This hopeful haplessness was evident when Fox News’s Chris Wallace asked Manchin whether he was being naive to expect Republican support, given Senate Minority Leader McConnell’s promise to block “100 percent” of the Biden agenda.
“I’m not being naive,” Manchin insisted.
“I’m going to continue to keep working with my bipartisan friends and hopefully we can get more of them.”
Again, he has hope but no “how” — the epitome of naivete.
Worse still was his claim on CBS that “my Republican friends and colleagues see the deadlock also. This is not something they desire or wish.”

That’s past naivete or foolishness — it’s straight-up delusion. Manchin has become the Senate’s Walter Mitty: a man who believes himself the champion of a fantasy and who has hope but no plan.
He believes he will save the country by recruiting “10 good Republicans,” even though dreaming doesn’t will into existence that many Republicans who will cast a fair-minded vote.
Anything that would snap him back to our partisan reality he either ignores or treats as divisive.
Meanwhile, McConnell and the rest of the Republican Party laugh all the way to the ballot box.

That’s what makes Manchin so infuriating. In his mind, he’s the hero of this story.
In truth, he’s the patsy. And the country pays the price for his delusions.

However, Manchin just might be just your run-of-the-mill piece-of-shit asshole.
Even Chris Wallace understands — you’re one fucked dude:

“Just a final question, sir … aren’t you being naive…?”
Or a crazy man, maybe, Chris didn’t ask…

(Illustration out front: ‘Art Critic’ by Norman Rockwell, found here)