Yeah, Mitch is evil, and competent. And needs to be gotten rid of.
Will no one rid us of this turbulent Senate Majority Leader?
There are endless Mitch McConnells ready to step in if you get rid of this one.
Yeah, yeah, “both sides do it.” Or at least it’s nice to pretend they do, because then one doesn’t actually have to address the misdeeds of their side. Can we please give this false equivalency narrative a rest?
They’ll just go to their fall-back stance:
I was just thinking today that Mitch needed a thread all his own.
When we discuss in other threads how the Pubbies won’t stand up to thump because they’re afraid of him, or afraid of losing the support of their constituents, I think that’s only partly true. I don’t think it’s Donnie, it’s McConnell who has them by the balls.
My question is HOW does he control them-- what practical rewards and punishments does he have at his disposal to make sure no one in the Senate steps one millimeter away from the party line?
McConnell has done more than anyone in this era, and perhaps ever, to destroy consensus politics. Nowhere is this better illustrated than when he said one of his proudest moments is blocking the nomination of Garland. One of his proudest moments: Not working to forge an agreement on a contentious issue, or even overcoming a personal challenge. But basically one of his proudest moments is saying f-u to a good fraction of the nation, millions of people.
You can invoke Harry Reid and say tit for tat. Fair enough. But I wonder if Reid would ever say that his nuclear option was one of his proudest moments, or just something he felt he had to do to keep the wheels turning.
“If the US has someone whom historians will look back on as the gravedigger of American democracy, it is Mitch McConnell” - Christopher Browning in a remarkable piece.
I think history will look on Mitch as being the biggest enabler of Russian interference in order to gain a party edge. He totally blocked Obama from raising Russian Interference in the 2018 elections.
Well, this may be a first. HD admits that McConnell is bad, albeit via the usual,“Oh, yeah? Well, you guys started it!” red herring.
First of all, it’s obvious that “no one in the Senate steps one millimeter away from the party line” is silly hyperbole. For just one example, the late Senator McCain killed the ObamaCare skinny repeal when he broke with the party line and voted with the Democrats.
But secondly, and in answer to your question, against, it’s obvious: Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh (and all the other judges that the Senate has been able to confirm, thanks almost entirely to the caucus’ unity).
I’ve said I see him in a similar light to Harry Reid. If you’re saying you think Harry Reid was “bad” then I suppose I can see how you think I’m saying that McConnell is “bad”.
I believe both men have advanced their partisan interests at the expense of Senate norms and its traditional comity. I suppose that’s “bad” in the sense that I think the government would have been better off if none of it had happened, but I also think it would be extremely foolish for Republicans to try to adhere to old traditions when guys like Harry Reid come in and shit all over them.
Basically, if the Dems want to have a no-rules street brawl - and their history shows that they do - then I’m glad we’ve got a brawler like Senator McConnell on our side too.
I must be getting tired. I read the title as Forrest Trump.
I don’t know about that. I despise the motherfucker with all my heart, but he’s very very good at what he does - that’s what’s made him such a problem.
One part of what’s made it work for him so well is a total lack of interest in grandstanding - and let’s face it, it’s a rare Senator who doesn’t feel like his/her face deserves to be on the TV all the time. If he were a publicity hound, he’d have been a lightning rod a decade ago, and it would have made him way less effective. So right there you narrow it way down.
He’s also dramatically changed the role of the Senate during his time as Majority Leader in particular, although this really started during his time in the minority; being in the majority just allowed him to perfect it. As far as he’s concerned, the Senate doesn’t have to do anything. And unless there’s something in it for his true constituency (the American overclass), it won’t, while he’s in charge. Which is why confirming extremely conservative Federal judges is practically all the Senate is doing these days.
And he can confirm them much faster, having reduced the time of debate down from 30 hours to a mere 2 hours. For a lifetime appointment to the Federal bench. Which is one hell of a thing, when you think about it, yet the Dems either didn’t try to make a big ruckus over it, or didn’t succeed. Either way, another of Mitch’s gifts is a sense of what he can get away with.
Etcetera.
No, there isn’t an abundance of Mitch McConnells waiting to step in, should he have a heart attack or something. (He’s 77 so he won’t be there forever, thank God, but I wouldn’t count on him choosing to step down anytime soon.)
You can believe in unicorns, AFAIAC. Doesn’t mean they exist.
I actually looked for a quote the other day I recalled hearing from McConnell but couldn’t find it via Google. Does anyone remember him saying something along the lines of “We’re gonna bring back gridlock in a big way?”
I’ll join the chorus and say he is the most loathsome man in politics, and if we’re rating politicians by loathsomeness*competency, then there is no close second to him.
He’s like Moriarty, sitting in the middle of his spider web. When he twitches, the Pubbies grab their balls protectively and jump, crying out, “How high, Mitch?”
I can’t remember the circumstances, but didn’t he once filibuster one of his own pieces of legislation when it looked like there would be too much bipartisan support for it?
Well, I should’ve done as you did instead of relying on summaries. Thanks for pulling the official history out of your overcoat; I see it’s much more of an open question than I had thought. I still think the weight of intervening history probably pushes the ‘accepted’ understanding of who can be impeached into the realm of established precedent, but who knows?
We can give it a rest as soon as it isn’t false. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Regards,
Shodan
OmG - I couldn’t agree with this more than I do. “The Turtle” has been my least-favorite person in D.C. for a LOOOOOOONG time (and is currently at #2 on my list only because of the influence the “person” in the W.H. has).