Joe Manchin on Acosta: ""I'm not getting into that feeding frenzy."

[melman]

“If he made a mistake or a judgment call or something like that, does that affect the way he’s doing his job now? I’m going to basically judge him on what job he’s doing and how he’s doing it,” said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who voted to confirm Acosta. As far as calls to resign, he said: “I’m not getting into that feeding frenzy.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/08/alexander-acosta-jeffrey-epstein-1402230




This guy just never disappoints.

[AlexSFCA]

1. defending the indefensible

[dalton99a]

2. Talks like a Republican, thinks like a Republican

Disgusting

[pnwmom]

4. 60% of the time he votes with the Democrats, including on all key votes.

This even though he comes from the state with the highest percentage win for Trump in the country.

We are lucky we have him in the Senate, and not some R who would be voting with us 10% of the time.

[Demsrule86]

6. Consider that had Manchin voted against the ACA, it would be gone.

You think a Republican woukd have voted the same?

[LanternWaste]

15. Context is often inconvenient to self-righteousness

Disgusting, indeed.

[dalton99a]

16. Why the need to defend Acosta if Trump doesn't even know Epstein?

[democrank]

3. I'm not certain the standard "At least he's a Democrat" will work on this one

A conservative Democrat is one thing, a Trump enabler is a whole other story.

[Demsrule86]

5. Why ? We lost three senators who were conservadems, and now we are unlikely to win the

Senate ...this means no policy and no judges if we win the presidency Have you looked at the senate map?

[pnwmom]

7. Do we want a centrist Dem who votes with us 60% of the time -- including all key committee votes --

or do we want a right wing Rethug who will vote with us 10% of the time? That's the choice in a state that had the largest margin for Trump in the country.

[OnDoutside]

8. And where are we going to get another Dem Senator in WV ?

[jberryhill]

9. Perhaps you might explain what difference it makes

If Manchin adds his voice to the chorus which is impotently calling for Acosta to resign, what result does that accomplish?

Every single living organism in DC, from the bacteria in the soil to the pandas at the zoo, and everyone in between, could want Acosta to resign.

So what?

If Trump and Acosta want him to stay, he stays.

[dalton99a]

10. +1. Is Manchin ok with any of this:

AMY GOODMAN: So, in 2018, the Miami Herald published an award-winning series of articles exposing Epstein’s crimes and the high-powered people who protected him. The series is called “Perversion of Justice.” This is a clip from a video accompanying the piece, where we hear the voices of the women describing what happened to them.

VIRGINIA ROBERTS: I went from an abusive situation to being a runaway to living in foster homes to just already being hardened by life on the streets.

JENA-LISA JONES: The other girls that I personally know of that went were coming from trailer parks that were having gun shootings, drugs.

COURTNEY WILD: My mother was on drugs at the time, and she couldn’t provide for me. And I was pretty much homeless.

JACK SCAROLA: One child would be lured over, would be paid substantial sums of money, would be offered the further inducement of being paid a bounty for anybody else that she was able to bring to Epstein. A network developed where many young girls in the same kinds of circumstance wound up being victimized.

JENA-LISA JONES: The three of us slid into the backseat of the cab, and we drove, and I remember just driving down Okeechobee Boulevard and thinking how I had never been on Palm Beach Island before, in my whole entire life that I had lived in West Palm Beach.

COURTNEY WILD: By the time I was 16, I brought him up to 75 girls, all the ages of, you know, 14, 15, 16, people going from eighth grade to ninth grade. At just school parties is where I would recruit them from.

VIRGINIA ROBERTS: All Jeffrey cared about was “Go find me more girls.” His appetite was insatiable. He couldn’t stop. He wanted new, fresh, young faces every single day.

Acosta has to go.

[UTUSN]

11. Picky, ain't he?!1

[spanone]

12. Piss off Joe.

[Stinky The Clown]

13. Let's understand something. Manchin's state is the No 1 or No 2 most pro Trump state . . . .

. . . . depending on the poll.

This isn't like NY 14.

The fact we have a Democratic senator from West Virginia in 2019 is truly amazing. He votes as he does to keep his seat and represent his constituents. Now consider the alternative if he were to switch parties or be defeated.

I sure don't agree with a whole lot of what he supports, but he is what he is. I'll take him over any WV Republican.

[gratuitous]

14. Okay

But why did Manchin feel compelled to comment publicly? He has to know that by making a public statement, he fuels the "both sides" narrative and provides support for the forces of oppression. He should have availed himself of the opportunity to shut up in this instance.

[dalton99a]

17. +1. Manchin is defending a corrupt prosecutor who went out of his way to protect

a dangerous criminal - and got rewarded with a job in the Trump Cabinet

[maxsolomon]

18. he's AVOIDING saying something, while appearing to say something.

this is the "Art" of the Senate.

but I agree with you; he could have said less. "I'll wait until I learn more before I comment", or something.

[melman]

19. Not really

When he says...

"If he made a mistake or a judgment call or something like that, does that affect the way he’s doing his job now? I’m going to basically judge him on what job he’s doing and how he’s doing it'


That's not avoiding saying something. That is taking a side.

[maxsolomon]

20. True. It's dismissive.

Manchin's a survivor first and foremost.