Today is now the day after the day, and it’s now officially too late to call a special election, yet Mitch McConnell is still alive as of this afternoon.
Now, can we all get away from the deep, dark conspiracyy to hide his death and be content with the standard “he’s sicker than they’re telling us” conspiracy grumbling?
I’m not sure how many people are claiming that he’s dead. (I mean, some number of people say any damn thing any time.) But sheesh, that old staring jerko has been in the hospital for a long time.
He’s allegedly at a rehabilitation facility now, which is not a hospital. For a frail octogenarian with multiple ongoing health issues, being in some level of extended care for a couple of months after a significant health event is not that unusual.
And everyone sure is being quiet about it.
Which is, frankly, why this thread has over 700 posts. 
His doctors and medical professionals are legally prohibited from sharing information publicly without his consent (or his “power of attorney” person, probably his wife, if McConnell is unable to provide that consent himself). And, as has been discussed at length, there is little recourse if a Senator is unable to perform their duties for an extended period.
Because it’s been an information vacuum – and because what information has been released by his staff has been fairly minimal – not surprisingly, lots of speculation ensues.
The people the doctor is allowed to share with (typically some family) are not bound by HIPAA, for what it’s worth. When my dad was in intensive care and everyone thought he was dying, a bunch of his friends stopped by to see how he was doing. (He was a doctor at that hospital, so he had a lot of friends who could literally walk over.) The nurse would ask me if i knew this person and wanted to talk to them. After a couple, I realized this was the nurse saying to me, “I’m not allowed to say anything to these people, but you are.” So I greeted all of them and gave them an update, since I knew my father would have wanted that.
To the extent his Senate staff know what’s going on, they could share too, if they chose to.
Absolutely.
It comes down to:
The issue isn’t why he’s lying, the question is why they’re doing any of this. Why they’re talking about conversations with him, posting “proof of life” photos, and so on. They don’t have to. If you can answer why they’re doing any of that, you’ll get the answer about why they’d lie.
Fair point. I’m pretty confused by those creepy proof of life photos.
The benefit of lying for McConnell’s staff is obvious. If McConnell is unable to remain a senator, they are all out of a job.
Trump made a huge deal about “Sleepy Joe” and mental acuity of his opponents. Any hint of weakness in a Republican must be hidden. I don’t think it’s more complicated than that.
I’m sure Trump has long since deemed McConnell a RINO. He ‘s not part of this coverup, unless someone has pointed out a political advantage for him.
At the same time, we can also be sure that Trump doesn’t know what is actually going on because he’s 100% incapable of keeping his mouth shut and would have blathered anything he was supposed to keep secret.
Which is exactly why I no longer believe the government is hiding knowledge of extraterrestrial life - he’d have spilled all the details and he’d be telling stories about how the Emperor of Sarbax-5 came up to him with tears in his eyes (all eight of them!) and said “Sir, we didn’t want anything to do with your planet when Sleepy Joe was here, but it’s the hottest planet in the quadrant now because of everything you’ve done”.
True.
And for a frail octogenarian with multiple health issues who has for some weeks been unable to carry on a coherent conversation for ten minutes with a couple of reporters, it’s in no way unusual for them not to recover.
(I conclude that he’s unable to present coherently at a brief press conference because if he can, why not hold one and settle all the rumors?)
He’s been discharged.
Well, that sure sounds like he is recovering from a stroke. Probably all the evidence we’re going to get for a while.
Quite possibly all we will hear until after he leaves the Senate this winter.
From this evening’s Chicago Tribune:
“On the advice of my doctors, I’ll maintain an intensive regimen of physical therapy from home…”
He’s 84 with one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. How intensive can the PT be? Probably teaching him to use a Walker.
He might be. But people sometimes go home to die, when the hospital says they can’t do any more for them. Especially if good hospice care is available at home.
Let me know when he’s held that press conference.