Outside the Beltway

“Susan Collins” by Gae Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Leadership from Senator Concerned

Tweets count, right?

Steven L. Taylor
21

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I have been struck by the fact that in the media coverage I have seen concerning the killing of a Colombian man by ICE in Maine, I have heard numerous statements from Senator Angus King, but I have heard no sound from Senator Concerned Collins.

The best I can find from the senior Senator about the shooting are these two tweets.

This strikes me as insufficient.

Indeed, this new video report appears to quote the tweets, but shows a statement from King: Senators Angus King and Susan Collins share what they know about ICE investigation.

King was interviewed this morning on All Things Considered: Maine Sen. Angus King talks about fatal shooting of a man by federal agents.

Meanwhile, via NOTUS: Protesters Swarm Sen. Collins’ Maine Office After ICE-Involved Shooting,

Plus, this seems kind of relevant from April, Collins votes for $70B ICE funding with no reforms.

Update: A bonus profile in congressional leadership.

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21 responses to “Leadership from Senator Concerned”

  1. HelloWorld Avatar
    HelloWorld

    Platner shouldn’t have dropped out. This incident in Maine would have been a gift to change the conversation. Why would Collins involve herself in this at all at this point, she has no opponent.

    1. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
      Steven L. Taylor

      Well, she should speak up because she is currently one of the leaders in the state.

      And the alternative hypothesis: this will give the replacement candidate an excellent place to start, especially since she is currently doing nothing about the situation. There will be a new candidate.

      5
      1. HelloWorld Avatar
        HelloWorld

        Good point, thinking ahead. It really does show if she cares or not.

        1
    2. Kevin Avatar
      Kevin

      There’s as much, if not more, evidence that Platner is a rapist as there is evidence that Donald Trump is a rapist. Surely there’s someone in Maine who can beat Susan Collin’s who isn’t a rapist. Platner didn’t need to change the conversation, he needed to have never run in the first place.

      1
      1. HelloWorld Avatar
        HelloWorld

        That is a stretch. Platner has 1 accuser that says he is a rapist, but she cannot produce ANY evidence. In any case, that ship has sailed, and I agree that I find it hard to believe the DNC/DCCC has such a hard time finding candidates in nearly every state. Could it be that the DNC and DCCC have a checklist that might be unrealistic (not referring the character at all, but other litmus test like items)?

        1. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
          Steven L. Taylor

          As I keep trying to note, there is no checklist. There is no litmus test. And candidates can self-select into running.

          Platner’s candidacy illustrates this.

          4
        2. Jen Avatar
          Jen

          I outlined candidate recruitment in another thread. While it was for Republicans, I can’t imagine it’s that much different for Democrats.

          Parties only really actively recruit when literally no one has expressed a desire to run, and even then, they talk to people in the state first. Candidates by and large self-select, and parties by and large do not get involved in primaries.

          1
        3. Kevin Avatar
          Kevin

          How is it a stretch? If anything, the Trump rape accusation had more things to be skeptical of, given the time that had passed between the event and the lawsuit. What physical evidence she possessed was apparently not helpful, as it was barred from use in the trial.

          What there is in both cases is testimony / claims from the women and contemporaneous statements they’d made at the time of the rape, and the known characters of the accused.

      2. HelloWorld Avatar
        HelloWorld

        I agree with Jen, as I have also seen firsthand how this works with the republican party. Only, I take it a step further. I knew Marco Rubio’s name before he even ran for anything due to my connections in DC. Once he was elected, you could see a junior being put front and center from the start as he was being groomed. JD Vance is another example of someone who the establishment republicans picked and groomed, and its no secret who pushed and funded that.

        Democrats have no litmus test? How do you explain the establishments INSISTANCE of running Mario Cuomo in NYC, despite 13+ women claiming sexual harassment – and they stood by him.

        I can guess at some of the criteria just based on what I see happening. Steven, I may disagree with you on this, but I am persuaded that the Democratic party’s problems are structural and fears that they will not be fixed in time for the midterms are amplified.

        1. Gustopher Avatar
          Gustopher

          Cuomo lost. It turns out Democrats aren’t big on rapists and sexual harassers. Go figure.

          Might not be a big issue for you, but it is for the rest of the voters.

          (Anthony Weiner also lost a primary the same day Cuomo did. It really was not a good day for people who resigned in disgrace for sex offenses)

          1
        2. wr Avatar
          wr

          I don’t understand why you say the Dem establishment insisted on running Andrew Cuomo. (Actually, you said Mario, but I suspect this is just a brain-bleat…) The only person I saw who insisted on running Cuomo was Cuomo himself — unless we decide his ego is big enough to count as a second person. People are constantly talking about how this candidate or that is “run” by a corrupt establishment, but as Dr. T keeps pointing out, the parties don’t actually have that much power.

          Cuomo wasn’t run, he ran. And thanks to the people of New York, he lost.

  2. Joe Avatar
    Joe

    Did you intend to refer to two tweets and then post the same tweet twice?

    1. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
      Steven L. Taylor

      No, it is just me proving, yet again, that I need an editor/i am not great at proof-reading my posts!

      Thanks for noting it. It is now fixed.

      1
      1. Michael Cain Avatar
        Michael Cain

        No, it is just me proving, yet again, that I need an editor/i am not great at proof-reading my posts!

        Off-topic, but this gets worse for me every year. My fingers used to be reliable at transcribing what I was thinking. They’re much less trustworthy these days.

        1. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
          Steven L. Taylor

          This is a lifelong struggle for me! Just terrible at proofing.

  3. Jen Avatar
    Jen

    This strikes me as insufficient.

    It is. She’s a coward. She’s worried about upsetting Trump. She’s worried about upsetting what probably amounts to a handful of Maine Republicans who support what ICE is doing. And, because she’s a vulnerable incumbent, she probably wants to focus-group the heck out of this before landing on an opinion.

    Her non-response to this event is not going to go over well.

    3
  4. Neil Hudelson Avatar
    Neil Hudelson

    This event is why I have not been able to get worked up about the prospect of switching Senatorial candidates mid race. By the numbers (though polling is very, very scant at this point there was that whole 2024 election with pretty decisive numbers), most Mainers do not want Republicans to control the Senate, want Trump’s power to be checked, and do not want Susan Collins to return to the Senate. She is a weak and cowardly person, and she is a weak and cowardly candidate. They are looking for a reason to vote against her. Platner was giving them a reason to keep her around.

    Between today and the first Tuesday in November, there are going to be approximately 15-20 stories just like this, opportunities over and over for Susan Collins to do anything to show her independency. She will almost certainly fail every opportunity.

    Barring credible rape allegations or similar against the new candidate, I would put money down right now in July that Collins goes down in flames come November.

    3
  5. Daryl Avatar
    Daryl

    Collins does not care for brown-skinned people only orange-skinned people.

  6. Scott F. Avatar
    Scott F.

    MIKE JOHNSON: Uh, I don’t know…

    In this moment, Stephen Miller’s hand had apparently slipped out of position to operate his Speaker Johnson Puppet’s mouth.

    1
  7. Gustopher Avatar
    Gustopher

    And of course no body cameras.

    Do we need state laws that require an officer to have a body camera turned on when they shoot a gun? Can such laws bind federal officers?

    I’m thinking up to six months’ jail time, a fine of $500,000, and three years probation where they can hold no law enforcement job or own a gun.

  8. Charley in Cleveland Avatar
    Charley in Cleveland

    Herr Miller wants 2,000 arrests a day, and obviously there are not 2,000 violent criminal/mental patient migrants to round up, so anyone who LOOKS Hispanic, African or Middle Eastern will have to do.

    1

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