This is so true. These so-called reporters are just scribes. Why are they even there? And they should be very worried that AI will take their jobs, we'd never notice the difference.
Senator Schumer is only worse than Collins in that as the "leader" he's done nothing. No Child Tax Credit, no taxes on those making over $50,000,000, no voting rights, no banning of gerrymandering, no clamping down on Trump's corruption when he had the chance. Like the GOP, Schumer only cares for his own power.
Yes, there is. He could have voted against the CR. And, instead of "forcing the tariff bill," which he wrote that he did on Facebook, despite the fact that he had known for weeks that Senator Whitehouse was at a environmental conference in South Korea, he could have scheduled the vote when Whitehouse returned. Mitch McConnell was allegedly sick on the day of the vote, so JD Vance broke the tie.
Schumer continued to say nothing about his roll in this. He categorized it as a "win" because Republicans had to "own" it. He categorized the CR vote as a sign of his leadership because he said voters would have blamed Democrats, but the polling showed the opposite. In both cases, he totally demoralized Democratic voters, and proved he is a folder, not a fighter or a leader.
If Schumer couldn't "force the vote" why did he say he could? I've provided four difference sources since I'm not on Facebook and X. There were many more.
This is on YouTube. And, we hear Schumer say he'll force the vote. It starts at 0.21.
This is from the Senate floor. "Later this afternoon, Senators Wyden, Kaine, and I will force a vote here in the Senate to put an end to Donald Trump’s stupid and reckless trade war."
Oh thank you for this clear delineation of the finely crafted art of deflection so over used by the republican americans. Collins from my state is a master of the process.
Okay, I have to ask. How does she keep getting elected? Does she really bring a lot of federal money into your state, and is her repeated use of "concern" as big of a joke inside the state as it is to the rest of us?
Large unenrolled voters in Maine, she has played well over the decades her “moderate “ image. Her actual votes in recent ten or fifteen years have been in the Right camp. Yes, she’s good for defense money here, no more so than Chellie Pingree or
Yes, $$ military shipyards. She used to be a moderate Republican and did a good job. But she has no backbone, especially compared to Olympia Snow who was great. Now without Murkowski as her guide dog she can barely function if someone says no to her.
Statements about Medicaid in Texas, and a question. In 2023, 4.2 million Texans got Medicaid. Total Medicaid spending in fiscal year 2022 was $57.3 billion in Texas; the federal government paid 65.3% of these Medicaid costs.
31.3% of Texans lived below the poverty level. There were 4,869,500 uninsured people in 2023. That’s 16.3% of the state’s population compared to 8.0% of the U.S. population being uninsured.
I just wonder why Texans keep on voting for Republicans, when so many people are poor, and now, a number of them will lose Medicaid. "Owning the libs" doesn't seem like enough of a reason.
Speaking for myself, I'm old fashioned, too. I believe as you do. I wish more people would realize that if they put in a little effort to be informed politically, so we could avoid a repeat of what we're going through now. I don't hold out a lot of hope for that, since it appears that an awful lot of people don't want to invest the time, don't have a lot of time, and/or want magical solutions to everything.
Jennifer Rubin has nailed it again!! Thanks for calling out the media for letting members of Congress get away with words and not actions.
Susan Collins is my senator and her "concern about the power of the purse", while she chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, is beyond insulting. She literally holds the most powerful position relating to the power of the purse.
But this is nothing new. We have been listening to her "concerns" since 2016 and still have seen nothing that implies she will actually do anything.
That to me is a related, but slightly different, sickening issue.
Depending upon the religious denomination of their voters, "thoughts and prayers" are the only thing their voters do too! I can't tell you how many times I used to ask my parents whether their southern baptist church was running a clothing or winter coat drive. The answer was *always* no. Instead of doing something, the church had a prayer request phone tree or something like that running 365 days a year.
Unfortunately, I think Republican "Congressional critters" *are* actually doing the job many of them were elected to do. They were elected by MAGA to do "MAGA things." The first, and perhaps only, thing on that To Do list is "Own the libs!" By not doing anything to stop Lord Cheeto and Elon's Muskovites, they're doing that.
They're each elected to represent the interests of the voters in their district or state. None of them were elected to represent the majority of Americans, and I doubt any of them actually care much about the people in their district or state who don't vote. Because those people may not actually show up on Election Day. Yes, I understand a lot of Republican voters have (finally) gotten angry after realizing the authors of Project 2025 don't really care if you're a poor or middle class Democrat or poor or middle class Republican. You're both going to get hosed. But I have yet to be convinced voters in many states are going to vote for somebody else, unless of course it's somebody to the right of them in a primary challenge because they dared to say one word against Lord Cheeto. How long has Collins been in Congress? I think she may have the undisputed world record for use of the word concerned, without ever facing any consequences for her decision to not actually do anything.
Republicans use concerned simply because they've all got communications people who have explained to them (potentially with the use of crayons and pictures) how utterly stupid it would be to say anything else and create a media firestorm that they (the communications staffers) will have to clean up. In other words, the politicians won't say "I don't care" or anything like that because there's no upside to telling the truth.
The voters are the problem. Politicians like Collins are the symptom. Most of them know their voters won't vote for a Democrat, especially if they represent a southern or midwestern/Great Plains district or state. They're safe because their voters identify as pro-birth, anti-choice "Christians."
Indeed. We are 'concerned' that our legislators aren't doing their jobs. If we have any (collective) sense next time they come up for re-election, we can turn our 'concern' into voting them out of office. The action would be appropriate.
I love this. "Concerned" is right up there with "thoughts and prayers."
Have you thought about tackling "reckless"? I'm sick to death of that one. "Reckless" means acting without considering the consequences. THEY ARE COMPLETELY CONSIDERING--NO, PLANNING-- THE CONSEQUENCES of their vile, vicious, illegal, immoral, contemptible, despicable actions.
I am 82 years old and not given to tantrums but this cowardly lack of caring action drives me to jump up and down and shout words to express my “concern” that will definitely shock my neighbors.
I, too, am up there in years (75) and I will be jumping right along with you! I hope it gives you at least a pinch of comfort to know that you and I are far from alone.
So true -- every time Susan Collins says she's "concerned", you know it's the prelude to her voting the GOP line. I have had it with her and her concerns.
They think that statement is enough. It's like filling a wheelbarrow with dirt and thinking that's enough. No, your job isn't completed until you empty the wheelbarrow!! Words in the wind.
Love “words in the wind.” That should become our response to the lies spouted at town halls or any other gathering of liars. The problem is these people have lied for so long that they no longer feel shame. If they repeat something often enough people question themselves rather than questioning the lie.
Susan Collins is a real piece of work, as we say in New York.
This is the same Susan Collins who said, after Don the Con's first impeachment (followed by the Senate's failure to convict):
"Being impeached will teach Donald Trump a lesson".
In a way, she was right-- but it wasn't the lesson she intended. The only lesson he was taught (or at least the only lesson he learned) was that he could do whatever the hell he wanted, no matter how illegal, and nothing's going to happen. So Don the Con followed up the acts that got him impeached once with a real whopper-- he organized a mob with the intent to overthrow the US Government!
Collins can't possibly be so stupid as to have thought that ducking a conviction would have taught Trump a lesson that he ought to behave. Now, it was an attempt on her part-- and a pretty lame one-- to justify her vote not to convict him the first time around.
Fingers crossed that the voters in the State of Maine have had enough and will show her the door when she comes up for re-election in 2026 (of course we can hope for the best, that she decides not to run for another term).
"Frankly, I am concerned that members of today’s corporate media think their job is stenography; not journalism." Thank you, Jen!
Brilliant summation. Best line of all.
I wish she'd interview them. Maybe they've had an epiphany recently.
Dan Bacon has.
* Trump won Nebraska with 59.6% vs. 39.1% for Harris.
* Don Bacon won re-election in Nebraska's District 2 with 50.9% of the vote.
* Kamala won district 2 with 51.6% of the vote.
* This is an eminently winnable Congressional district in 2026 for Democrats, especially as Bacon is contemplating retirement.
that's a great idea-they need somebody to push back and clarify the depth of their "concern"!
I was just about to post the same. Thank you.
Republicans are to blame for their weakness and cowardice but corporate media gets some blame too. Either they’re stenographers or just incompetent!
I agree. Mainstream media has lost its way.
Well said..............
>"think their job is stenography"
This is so true. These so-called reporters are just scribes. Why are they even there? And they should be very worried that AI will take their jobs, we'd never notice the difference.
US fighting fascism with a furrowed brow--what next?
And no one furrows their brow like Senator Collins!
Senator Schumer is only worse than Collins in that as the "leader" he's done nothing. No Child Tax Credit, no taxes on those making over $50,000,000, no voting rights, no banning of gerrymandering, no clamping down on Trump's corruption when he had the chance. Like the GOP, Schumer only cares for his own power.
I don’t think much of Schumer either but there’s not much he can do as the leader of the minority party.
Yes, there is. He could have voted against the CR. And, instead of "forcing the tariff bill," which he wrote that he did on Facebook, despite the fact that he had known for weeks that Senator Whitehouse was at a environmental conference in South Korea, he could have scheduled the vote when Whitehouse returned. Mitch McConnell was allegedly sick on the day of the vote, so JD Vance broke the tie.
Schumer continued to say nothing about his roll in this. He categorized it as a "win" because Republicans had to "own" it. He categorized the CR vote as a sign of his leadership because he said voters would have blamed Democrats, but the polling showed the opposite. In both cases, he totally demoralized Democratic voters, and proved he is a folder, not a fighter or a leader.
Schumer is not in charge of when anything is voted on. 👹
If Schumer couldn't "force the vote" why did he say he could? I've provided four difference sources since I'm not on Facebook and X. There were many more.
This is on YouTube. And, we hear Schumer say he'll force the vote. It starts at 0.21.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZMfT93-Pgg
This is from the Senate floor. "Later this afternoon, Senators Wyden, Kaine, and I will force a vote here in the Senate to put an end to Donald Trump’s stupid and reckless trade war."
https://www.democrats.senate.gov/news/press-releases/leader-schumer-floor-remarks-on-trumps-reckless-trade-war-ahead-of-senate-vote-on-his-resolution-to-repeal-tariffs
Thie from Adirondack Daily. Schumer says he’ll force a vote to rescind Trump’s blanket tariffs.
https://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/local-news/2025/04/schumer-says-hell-force-a-vote-to-rescind-trumps-blanket-tariffs/
This is from Yahoo. Schumer says he'll force a vote to rescind Trump's blanket tariffs. https://www.yahoo.com/news/schumer-says-hell-force-vote-120400713.html
Hand wringing and pearl clutching.
Brilliant!
Strongly worded letters from Democratic leaders
Bunch of cowards. They must think we’re stupid. Shameful.
Oh thank you for this clear delineation of the finely crafted art of deflection so over used by the republican americans. Collins from my state is a master of the process.
Okay, I have to ask. How does she keep getting elected? Does she really bring a lot of federal money into your state, and is her repeated use of "concern" as big of a joke inside the state as it is to the rest of us?
Large unenrolled voters in Maine, she has played well over the decades her “moderate “ image. Her actual votes in recent ten or fifteen years have been in the Right camp. Yes, she’s good for defense money here, no more so than Chellie Pingree or
Angus King. So frustrating,
Never discount the power of inertia, which ties in nicely with apathy and inattention.
Yes, $$ military shipyards. She used to be a moderate Republican and did a good job. But she has no backbone, especially compared to Olympia Snow who was great. Now without Murkowski as her guide dog she can barely function if someone says no to her.
I'll ask another question: how does Ted Cruz keep getting re-elected? He's been into destruction ever since we got him in 2010.
Because no one likes to “own the libs“ more than a rural Texan. And there’s lots of them.
Statements about Medicaid in Texas, and a question. In 2023, 4.2 million Texans got Medicaid. Total Medicaid spending in fiscal year 2022 was $57.3 billion in Texas; the federal government paid 65.3% of these Medicaid costs.
31.3% of Texans lived below the poverty level. There were 4,869,500 uninsured people in 2023. That’s 16.3% of the state’s population compared to 8.0% of the U.S. population being uninsured.
I just wonder why Texans keep on voting for Republicans, when so many people are poor, and now, a number of them will lose Medicaid. "Owning the libs" doesn't seem like enough of a reason.
I can't think of any other reason. I think they like Trump and, by extension, Republicans, who hate the same people they hate.
You brought the receipts!
Lots of ignorant, i.e. stupid, Texans unlike this Texan who does research candidates and issues.
I, too, do my research on candidates and issues. Good on you for doing that.
Pat and Susan, I do too. Call me old fashioned, but I believe it's our responsibility as citizens.
Speaking for myself, I'm old fashioned, too. I believe as you do. I wish more people would realize that if they put in a little effort to be informed politically, so we could avoid a repeat of what we're going through now. I don't hold out a lot of hope for that, since it appears that an awful lot of people don't want to invest the time, don't have a lot of time, and/or want magical solutions to everything.
I can remember when she was so concerned she had a frank talk with each of her Lean Cuisine dinner choices. It was galvanizing.
Jennifer Rubin has nailed it again!! Thanks for calling out the media for letting members of Congress get away with words and not actions.
Susan Collins is my senator and her "concern about the power of the purse", while she chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, is beyond insulting. She literally holds the most powerful position relating to the power of the purse.
But this is nothing new. We have been listening to her "concerns" since 2016 and still have seen nothing that implies she will actually do anything.
Remember when someone wrote something with chalk on the sidewalk in front of her house many years ago? I think she's scared. She sure acts like it.
Well that nails it, just being concerned, is definitely not doing the job they were elected to do
It's rather like their offering their thoughts and prayers after a disaster. It sickens me.
That to me is a related, but slightly different, sickening issue.
Depending upon the religious denomination of their voters, "thoughts and prayers" are the only thing their voters do too! I can't tell you how many times I used to ask my parents whether their southern baptist church was running a clothing or winter coat drive. The answer was *always* no. Instead of doing something, the church had a prayer request phone tree or something like that running 365 days a year.
Unfortunately, I think Republican "Congressional critters" *are* actually doing the job many of them were elected to do. They were elected by MAGA to do "MAGA things." The first, and perhaps only, thing on that To Do list is "Own the libs!" By not doing anything to stop Lord Cheeto and Elon's Muskovites, they're doing that.
They're each elected to represent the interests of the voters in their district or state. None of them were elected to represent the majority of Americans, and I doubt any of them actually care much about the people in their district or state who don't vote. Because those people may not actually show up on Election Day. Yes, I understand a lot of Republican voters have (finally) gotten angry after realizing the authors of Project 2025 don't really care if you're a poor or middle class Democrat or poor or middle class Republican. You're both going to get hosed. But I have yet to be convinced voters in many states are going to vote for somebody else, unless of course it's somebody to the right of them in a primary challenge because they dared to say one word against Lord Cheeto. How long has Collins been in Congress? I think she may have the undisputed world record for use of the word concerned, without ever facing any consequences for her decision to not actually do anything.
Republicans use concerned simply because they've all got communications people who have explained to them (potentially with the use of crayons and pictures) how utterly stupid it would be to say anything else and create a media firestorm that they (the communications staffers) will have to clean up. In other words, the politicians won't say "I don't care" or anything like that because there's no upside to telling the truth.
The voters are the problem. Politicians like Collins are the symptom. Most of them know their voters won't vote for a Democrat, especially if they represent a southern or midwestern/Great Plains district or state. They're safe because their voters identify as pro-birth, anti-choice "Christians."
Perfectly true! Very well said. And "crayons and pictures"-that must be where 🍊💩got the sharpie idea for hurricanes😂
Indeed. We are 'concerned' that our legislators aren't doing their jobs. If we have any (collective) sense next time they come up for re-election, we can turn our 'concern' into voting them out of office. The action would be appropriate.
Fabulous essay--thank you Jen!
May I suggest you send a copy to each of the named Republicans (and any appropriate Dems) who professed to being "concerned"?
Yes!
I love this. "Concerned" is right up there with "thoughts and prayers."
Have you thought about tackling "reckless"? I'm sick to death of that one. "Reckless" means acting without considering the consequences. THEY ARE COMPLETELY CONSIDERING--NO, PLANNING-- THE CONSEQUENCES of their vile, vicious, illegal, immoral, contemptible, despicable actions.
I was just about to comment on “thoughts and prayers!” So disingenuous. 😡😡😡
I am 82 years old and not given to tantrums but this cowardly lack of caring action drives me to jump up and down and shout words to express my “concern” that will definitely shock my neighbors.
I, too, am up there in years (75) and I will be jumping right along with you! I hope it gives you at least a pinch of comfort to know that you and I are far from alone.
Do it! Do it!
I like the photo of the sign on Defending Democracy that this administration is causing us to use F*** like it was a comma!
I admire the pithy phrase “stenography not journalism.” Exactly right.
So true -- every time Susan Collins says she's "concerned", you know it's the prelude to her voting the GOP line. I have had it with her and her concerns.
I am concerned that trump has lost his mind and all the repubs have lost their spines. (Kinda rhymes :-)
They think that statement is enough. It's like filling a wheelbarrow with dirt and thinking that's enough. No, your job isn't completed until you empty the wheelbarrow!! Words in the wind.
Love “words in the wind.” That should become our response to the lies spouted at town halls or any other gathering of liars. The problem is these people have lied for so long that they no longer feel shame. If they repeat something often enough people question themselves rather than questioning the lie.
Well the word does begin with "con" does it not?
SPOT ON, JOANNE 👌👌
A very satisfying essay, Jen.
Their lack of action does greatly concern me.
thank you. Yes, these words have lost meaning and I simply don't hear them anymore. If action doesn't follow words are meaningless.
Susan Collins is a real piece of work, as we say in New York.
This is the same Susan Collins who said, after Don the Con's first impeachment (followed by the Senate's failure to convict):
"Being impeached will teach Donald Trump a lesson".
In a way, she was right-- but it wasn't the lesson she intended. The only lesson he was taught (or at least the only lesson he learned) was that he could do whatever the hell he wanted, no matter how illegal, and nothing's going to happen. So Don the Con followed up the acts that got him impeached once with a real whopper-- he organized a mob with the intent to overthrow the US Government!
Collins can't possibly be so stupid as to have thought that ducking a conviction would have taught Trump a lesson that he ought to behave. Now, it was an attempt on her part-- and a pretty lame one-- to justify her vote not to convict him the first time around.
Fingers crossed that the voters in the State of Maine have had enough and will show her the door when she comes up for re-election in 2026 (of course we can hope for the best, that she decides not to run for another term).
Yup that's her. The same one that couldn't see Kavanaugh was a sexual predator because he told her he wasn't.