After almost 12 years, it’s familiar by now, but sadly, the pattern in which Senator Thom Tillis raises hopes that he’ll act with courage and then backs down at the last minute continues to repeat itself in maddening fashion.

The latest incident: Tillis’s utterly inexcusable vote last week to endorse President Trump’s nomination of an embarrassingly unqualified lawyer named Emil Bove for a lifetime appointment to a federal appeals court. Bove is so unqualified and has committed so many questionable acts that more than 900 former Justice Department officials weighed in to oppose him.

After Tillis broke with Trump recently on his disastrous megabill and announced his decision to retire next year, it raised hopes that he was now free – not unlike the late John McCain – to put the good of the country ahead of Trump’s demands.

The bottom line: Unfortunately, as his vote last week showed, Tillis is no John McCain. And that means North Carolinians will have to endure a continuing series of inscrutable votes and policy stances for the next 18 months.

For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.