Welcome to the Resistance, Bill Cassidy

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) may have lost his primary on Saturday night after becoming the latest scalp on Donald Trump’s belt, but at least he has his integrity.

Oh, wait, no he doesn’t. He traded that away last year in a futile bid to keep his job.

That’s when he, against his better judgment as a physician, paved the way for the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of Health and Human Services. Since then, he has tried to convince Louisiana Republicans that he is with Donald Trump all the way, even though the president has been railing against the senator — who voted to impeach him over the events of January 6 — and orchestrated his ouster.

On Saturday night, Cassidy made it very clear how he really feels. In brief remarks to his supporters, he savaged Trump’s character and job performance without ever mentioning the president by name.

“I’ve been able to participate in democracy, and when you participate in democracy, sometimes, it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to,” he said before taking aim at Trump for making up the Big Lie after his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden. “But you don’t pout, you don’t whine, you don’t claim that the election was stolen … you don’t manufacture some excuse. You thank the voters for the privilege of representing the state or the country for as long as you’ve had that privilege. And that’s what I’m doing right now.”

Cassidy added that the US “is not about one individual,” which is clearly one area of disagreement between him and Trump.

“It is about the welfare of all Americans, and it is about our Constitution. And if someone doesn’t understand that and attempts to control others through using the levers of power, they’re about serving themselves,” the senator added. “They’re not about serving us. And that person is not qualified to be a leader.”

Cassidy also made a reference to Trump’s chaotic style of governing and, in particular, his decision to go to war with Iran.

“Leadership should be steady, not erratic, thoughtful, not impulsive, and leaders should think through the consequences of their actions before embarking and then seeing the American people suffer those consequences later,” he said.

Finally, the senator took a swipe at the president for his relentless attacks on him.

“Insults only bother me if they come from somebody of character and integrity,” Cassidy said. “I find that people of character and integrity don’t spend their time attacking people on the internet.”

Of course, true to form, Trump celebrated the news that one of the lawmakers who committed the cardinal sin of impeaching him would lose his job.

“Bill Cassidy, after falsely using his ‘relationship’ with me during his political career, and winning Elections because of it, voted to impeach me on preposterous charges that were fake then, and now, are criminally insane!” he wrote. “His disloyalty to the man who got him elected is now a part of legend, and it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER!”

It is understandable that people feel different ways about Cassidy… and we don’t mean the vindictive president and his supporters, who made their opinions known on Saturday.

On the one hand, the senator has not previously stood up to Trump even though he clearly feels disdain for him. Over the past year and a half, there were plenty of opportunities for principled Republicans to do something, such as blocking RFK Jr.’s nomination or preventing a Fox News morning show host from becoming secretary of defense. He also could have kept the GOP from slashing Medicaid funds that will harm rural hospitals.

Cassidy didn’t do any of those things, nor had he spoken out against Trump before Saturday night.

Then again, he did vote to impeach, which showed more spine than most other Republicans have exhibited.

Also, it should not be forgotten that there is a real cost to opposing the president — not just in terms of the political careers of those who do so but also with regard to receiving threats and abuse — so doing so is more difficult than it sounds.

We have seen many times, e.g., in the cases of Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) or Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) this cycle, that Republicans not running for reelection feel liberated and are therefore no longer afraid to speak out.

If Cassidy joins their ranks, and it sounds as though he might, then the anti-Trump resistance should embrace him regardless of the senator having supported the regime for the past year.

The bottom line is that there should be no purity test when it comes to those willing to oppose, in big and small ways, the president’s mob-style reign of chaos, lawlessness, and corruption. And if Cassidy wants to play any role in that effort, then he should be welcomed with open arms.