Sen. Susan Collins, we're being told by Beltway media, is "toughening" up her concern about Moscow Mitch McConnell's coordination with Donald Trump on impeachment. She's gone from saying it "would not be the approach" that she would have taken to saying it is "inappropriate." Whoa —tough stuff indeed, undoubtedly accompanied by a furrowed brow.

The new comments come from Maine Public Radio, in a friendly interview Monday about her thoughts on how impeachment should proceed. You won't be surprised to find out she's saying it should be "bipartisan," like the Clinton impeachment, as in, "I remember submitting the only bipartisan question with Senator Russ Feingold at the time." Because she's such a moderate, remember? She's also "open" to witnesses, but is quick to condemn House Democrats because they, "having issued subpoenas, to Secretary Pompeo for example, did not seek to enforce those subpoenas in court, and instead rush to get the articles of impeachment passed before Christmas, and yet have not transmitted them to us in the Senate." That, she says, is "an odd way to operate." And that "tough" bit about McConnell? Yeah, not so much.

"And I have heard Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, saying that the President should be impeached, found guilty, and removed from office," Collins said. "I've heard the Senate majority leader saying that he's taking his cues from the White House." You know what's coming next. "There are senators on both sides of the aisle who, to me, are not giving the appearance of and the reality of judging this in an impartial way." Because it will always be "both sides" for Saint Susan of the fictional bipartisan Concerned Caucus.

But "What can you do as a single Republican senator, to convince Senator McConnell 'you shouldn't be doing this,'" Collins was asked. She said, "I have a very thick notebook that I've compiled with what we did last time," but says that she hasn’t "made that recommendation" to her colleagues—she doesn't say McConnell. “And I have shared with my colleagues my belief that the Clinton approach, the approach to the Clinton trial, worked well,” she concludes. Then the interview is over.

She wasn't asked about that "100%" endorsement she got from Donald Trump last week. She has had nothing to say about the fact that Trump is helping fundraise for her online while she is supposed to be an "impartial juror" in his impeachment. She has no explanation for what sure looks like Trump trying to bribe her, possibly because the press hasn't asked her about it directly.

Seems like it's about time for that question to be posed.

Published with permission from Daily Kos.