Joe Manchin Becomes Famous for Being Awful
Joe Manchin, a Democratic senator from West Virginia whom we have been blessed to avoid paying attention to for most of his 11 years in office, decided 2021 was his year. No longer content to sit on the sidelines while other politicians made headlines for being evil pieces of shit, Manchin pulled out all the stops.
He all but singlehandedly blocked his own party from passing legislation that would address climate change, help families pay for childcare, and expand affordable healthcare—all things a Democrat should theoretically be down to to vote for. Instead, Manchin spent much of the year stalling Senate Democrats from passing President Biden’s Build Back Better bill, presumably to force changes that would benefit West Virginia coal miners or something. (Please pay no attention to Manchin’s largest corporate donors or the fact that he reportedly takes weekly calls with Exxon.)
But just days before Christmas, Manchin revealed his hand on, of all places, Fox News: He would not vote for the bill he spent months watering down, citing his sudden grave concerns about the national debt. Even the coal miners think he sucks. Will Manchin just admit he’s a Republican already and stop annoying everyone with his stupid antics in 2022 so that the world can burn in peace? One can only hope.
