It’s not your job to be as confused as Nigel is

Joe Manchin everybody:

I doubt Manchin “misspoke;” I think he realized after the fact that arguing that a SCOTUS nomination coming open in the fall should lead to the current Senate waiting until the new Senate is seated in January before holding a confirmation vote was a bridge too far even in David Broder’s Magic Kingdom of Eternal Comity.

But even if he did, his restated position is just as absurd: It’s not “hypocrisy” to play tit for tat with the Republicans: it’s simple self-preservation if you’re a Democrat, which he still is, technically.

Look, I get it: this is the best we can hope for from the miner’s lady, stranger to blue water. And there’s no sign yet that Manchin is looking to possibly defect from Biden’s nominee to replace Breyer, so there’s that.

But this little fiasco just underlines what a lousy hand Biden et. al. are stuck with playing, although no doubt he could transform rags into bullets if he would just lead with leadership, like Pres. Bartlett did on The West Wing.