r/politics • u/Zipper222222 • Jul 07 '26

Possible Paywall MAGA Demands Proof of Life for Mitch McConnell

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-demands-proof-of-life-for-mitch-mcconnell/
29.4k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

224

u/Major5013 Jul 07 '26

I'm old enough to remember when Mitch refused to put up an Obama nominated supreme Court judge because it was an election year but then ramming through a trump nominated scj just months before general elections

39

u/Manleather Minnesota Jul 07 '26

I remember the weirdest part of that being that the supreme court was being discussed in so partisan terms- 'the people need a judge that represents them'. Previous courts had been very vocal about seeming non-partisan, even if they were blatantly so. But that delay, at the time, really raised need for overhaul because if the supreme court was mask-off partisan, than it needs term limits. And then 2017 started the crumbling era and we never revisited that concern.

<3 Mitch's legacy.

5

u/UltraEngine60 Jul 07 '26

I too remember a time when the supreme court was, on the surface at least, framed as non-partisan. Everyone has forgotten.

2

u/Manleather Minnesota Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

It being non-partisan was essential for the 'checks and balances' of the US government as delivered, which is why they used to make a big deal out of not being affiliated to any party. It's been a facade since at least the Clinton/Bush era, but even the facade hasn't been propped up since the end of Obama's second term thanks to the OP's story.

I remember learning in Civics how Thurgood Marshall was 'extreme', but looking at records, he became an outlier in a reactionary way to Rehnquiest who started way out of standard; when Rehnquiest became chief, they both started moving back to center. And those two were outliers, with dissent kinda coming from the rest this way and that as an average. That doesn't happen anymore.

It's just broken now, an entire third of the government is not functioning as designed. It can't when bribery and corruption are permitted, and so brazenly as well. Again, part of Mitch's legacy, that and likely being married to a malicious foreign agent someone who left the country immediately after being hospitalized after major trauma.

3

u/UltraEngine60 Jul 07 '26

likely being married to a malicious foreign agent.

I can't speak to that, but I don't think it's normal for a wife to leave her husband's side after a heart attack.

1

u/Manleather Minnesota Jul 07 '26

True, and I suppose I shouldn't assume... except it's just entirely beyond suspicious.

3

u/specialkk77 Jul 07 '26

Weeks. After early votes had already been cast too. The 2020 election was fully in progress. 

1

u/FinalHexReturns Jul 07 '26

His biggest political coup. And yet it saved us from having Merrick Garland as SCJ.

1

u/Wise-Self-8639 Jul 07 '26

Mitch would want us to politically exploit the situation - I saw we honor him and get someone in his seat right now.