Get Fucked, Bill Cassidy

The Louisiana senator knew better, voted otherwise, debased himself — and America is going to pay for it.

Senator Bill Cassidy lost his primary in Louisiana. Kicked to the curb like a dog. I mourn the loss of occasional resistance to the MAGA Trump agenda. Mr. Cassidy, a doctor, knew that the MAHA bullshit was some bullshit, and he sometimes represented a check on the worst things that could happen. Except he did not check the worst things that could happen. Still, even that charade was not loyal enough for President Donald Trump’s worshipers.

Mr. Cassidy voted to impeach Mr. Trump after the damnable January 6 insurrection, and he has my gratitude for that. He did the right thing once and then never again (still, more than I can say for most Republicans). The soon-to-be-retired senator supplicated himself for a man he voted to convict for trying to overturn a democratic election. So he saw the president clearly—knew Mr. Trump was an insurrectionist, a fascist, a villain, that Trump agenda would lead and has led America to disaster—but Mr. Cassidy did not act with that clear sight. I imagine his bumbling as if Mr. Magoo’s eyes were fine.

Mr. Cassidy voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, even knowing he was a quack, instead of doing what he knew and believed was right. He accepted promises from Mr. Kennedy that he knew were lies, and when Secretary Brainworms broke those promises, Mr. Cassidy took it like a bitch.

And when Mr. Trump endorsed his primary challengers anyway, did Mr. Cassidy finally grow balls? No.

If Mr. Cassidy had pledged to be a check on Mr. Trump while the president was at the absolute nadir of popularity—currently 37 percent according to a New York Times/Siena poll, had Mr. Cassidy pledged to send the tariffs to hell, end the Iran war, and defend civil rights and liberties, he might have at least lost with dignity, or even won. Instead, he swayed in the crossroads, endorsed things he knew were wrong, and more importantly, everybody, friend and foe alike, had watched him play Hamlet, so everybody knew he hated himself for what he was doing. That self-hatred makes a man stink like the worst coward. So Mr. Cassidy has been deservedly punished.

Anybody in the Republican primary electorate who wanted reasonable opposition to Mr. Trump has either already left the Republican Party and will no longer be voting in their primaries, or looks upon Mr. Cassidy’s weakness with disgust.

At least Chad Thomas Massie has the balls to oppose this president. Big Data Poll’s tracking survey from May 12 to 14 has Mr. Massie ahead of Trump-endorsed challenger Ed Gallrein 50.6 to 49.4. The age crosstabs are remarkable. Mr. Massie wins Gen Z 81 to 19, Millennials 68 to 31, Gen X 53 to 47. He loses one bracket: voters 65 and older, 61 to 39. Every age cohort goes Mr. Massie’s way except the olds. Because Mr. Massie has convictions and acts in accord with those convictions, win or lose, he will be remembered as someone who stood and fought.

Hermann Hesse in Demian said: “only the ideas that we actually live are of any value.” Mr. Cassidy, then, offered the electorate no value. By letting his actions conflict with his knowledge, ideals, and will, the senator has surrendered the power that he was too feckless to wrestle and wield.

Still, it feels bad to mock him. I hate to kick broken men. But this dark place America finds itself in is as much the fault of its half-hearted enablers like Mr. Cassidy, enablers who don’t even like this shit—as much as it is the fault of the true believers. In his middling, Mr. Cassidy made America worse. He has paid a price: he will retire on a senator’s pension and presumably do some consulting gigs to keep his family in luxury. The consequence of his failure will be an easy, comfortable life, so long as he is untroubled by any pesky guilt when children he could have saved die from preventable diseases. Because the consequences of the senator’s weakness are harms the rest of us will suffer.

What a wretched creature. He has my pity, not sympathy. As his career closes, I hope he confesses to his fecklessness and apologizes to the country he helped ruin. In his parting shots, he clearly shows he can still articulate some principles. He should re-dedicate himself to them for the rest of the year, work hard to repair the damage he has done before he fades from the civic stage.

If Mr. Cassidy had shown courage and gone down for his bravery, I would wish him well. Instead, I give him the same farewell I would the most noxious Trumpist: Rest in piss, Bill Cassidy, you won’t be missed.

Housekeeping

In progress remain four mega-essays: Monuments Are for Winners and the White House Correspondents’ Dinner; NO KINGS 3: Augurs; Principles First 2026 Conference Report, The Unprincipled Principles; and We Are Still Talking About Jeffrey Epstein, (previously named Throat Goat Donald Owes America the Epstein Files). When we see how Mr. Massie’s primary ends, I should know, finally, where that essay can stop.

Thank you for your patience. My release cadence has been erratic, but not for no reason. I had anticipated each of these to have been completed and scheduled this weekend, but the Partisan Hex HQ’s hot water heater had other plans for the weekend. (And the replacement was made significantly more expensive by Mr. Trump’s disastrous tariff regime.) I must now rededicate myself to shilling t-shirts, stickers, and other merchandise from our Spreadshop, as well as encouraging readers to become paid subscribers of this publication.

- Hex