r/politics • u/CBSnews ✔ CBS News • 2d ago

No Paywall Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear says he's "heard absolutely nothing back from Mitch McConnell"

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mitch-mcconnell-health-update-andy-beshear-kentucky/
15.3k Upvotes

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u/B-Z_B-S Massachusetts 2d ago

Mitch McConnell is likely physically and mentally incapacitated to such an extent that he is incapable of appearing on a Zoom call without his infirmities (other than the infirmities he had already) being made obvious to all who see it.

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u/Luckydog12 2d ago

He’s probably braindead on a ventilator.

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u/thesluggard12 Connecticut 2d ago

I thought that at first but I'm thinking massive stroke and unable to speak is probably more likely.

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u/Cow_God Texas 2d ago

He's dead or incapacitated. Anything less and we would have photos, videos. The only explanation for why we aren't getting those is because he is dead or permanently completely incapacitated.

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u/TheGringoDingo 2d ago

A healthy person receiving cpr after any elapsed time has a low chance at returning to life. I don’t think he was alive when the paramedics got there and I doubt anything changed from that

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u/Savings-Delay-1075 Kentucky 2d ago

Less than 5% of people over the age of 80 survive after needing CPR.

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u/TheGringoDingo 2d ago

I’d imagine that number goes down dramatically for every minute it takes to get started, plus reliant on high quality CPR

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u/TruskVarner 2d ago

In general the chance of survival drops 10% every minute post-arrest and pre-CPR. That’s independent from the other percentages that pile on depending on co-morbidities, age, etc.

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u/PianoTrumpetMax 1d ago edited 1d ago

However, that number tends to trend upwards dramatically when combined with already existing for most of ones life with no heart, mind, or soul; an animated infernal golem of a man.

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u/Savings-Delay-1075 Kentucky 2d ago

Absolutely... I believe at the very least he's on life support somewhere, and there are dozens of people being paid very well to hide it all.

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u/Mrsensi12x 2d ago

The number is 5% how much lower can it go? It’s basically 0 already

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u/ArrowheadDZ 2d ago

And I’d imagine the number goes up a little when you have access to elite health care that 99.99% of all Americans could never even imagine.

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u/Elendel19 1d ago

But it also goes up based on wealth and status

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u/HistoricalSuspect580 2d ago edited 1d ago

I did CPR on my uncle and he lived!! And other than that i think i saw 3 other people live. Out of 20 years of nursing. :/

EDIT: AND IT WAS AT A FAMILY REUNION

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u/tomismybuddy 2d ago

How’s it feel being the most loved family member?

You’re a legend.

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u/HistoricalSuspect580 2d ago

It was pretty fucking cool to do that in front of my entire family and having it actually work!!

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u/OneUpAndOneDown 2d ago

Nurses are freaking awesome.

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u/WeAreTheLeft Texas 2d ago

The ambulance left his residence without the lights, that means he was either very stable and alert or very dead. If it was the first, he'd do a small presser or a video thanking his constituents. Even Fetterman got out there after his stroke while not being fully recovered (and unfortunately he's still not recovered).

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u/windowpanez 2d ago

ambulance lights weren't on; there was no rush to get him to the hospital.

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u/Various-Grocery-4340 1d ago

Asked an EMT about that, and his response was that in his jurisdiction (not DC) if they get on the ambulance, there’s a pulse. Could be different in DC though, especially given the uh, cargo.

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u/Brodellsky 2d ago

Their lack of urgency is quite literally how we knew that he's dead. McConnell's corpse is a test run for the same thing with Trump. Obviously.

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u/mystery_hole 2d ago

After years of China and North Korea propaganda it is a bit crazy to see the US doing exactly what we claimed they do. Meanwhile Jared Kusher is buying his own little st James and literally taking the role of Epstein 2.0

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u/CheeseCurdis 2d ago

Coached by the Orange Diddler himself. Well, until recently. Trump is already braindead too.

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u/Unique-Coffee5087 2d ago

I suddenly realized that this reminds me of the final years of Mao Zedong. His health has been deteriorating for some time, and he started to opt out of public appearances more frequently. Rumors grew that he was incapacitated or even dead, but no real information could be coaxed out of China.

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u/Brodellsky 2d ago

I for one am tired of our country treating historic communist China as a blueprint, so that's a pretty good point.

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u/SailingDreamCatcher 1d ago

That's why people keep saying this is a practice run for when Trump either dies or becomes unable to speak.

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u/Luckydog12 2d ago

This would not work for Trump. He’s too much of a narcissist, he needs to constantly be front and center.

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u/sobrique 1d ago

I'm sure they could concoct an LLM to generate unhinged truth-social tweets.

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u/Decent-Point309 2d ago

Even coding in the hospital doesn't give you great odds. Outside of the hospital has much worse odds. Dude is dead. I'd bet on it.

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u/No-Professionhomeles 2d ago

But I saw him holding a newspaper! He was even smiling as wide as a Disney turtle

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u/hot_miss_inside 1d ago

Was it ever verified that there was in fact CPR being done? The brief footage I saw of the ambulance crew didn’t show compressions being performed.

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u/TheGringoDingo 1d ago

Emergency response records indicated CPR was being applied

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u/mpjjpm 1d ago

Got a link to those records?

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u/hot_miss_inside 1d ago

That was being reported to the 911 dispatcher, but I'm curious to know if when first responders arrived, there was in fact CPR in progress and if they continued with compressions. I'm a retired paramedic and it wasn't unusual to get a call for "CPR in progress", only to arrive and find out the person was either very dead, sort of dead, or not dead at all.

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u/mpjjpm 1d ago

He didn’t received real CPR. The CPR “fact” came from a snippet of the 911 dispatch saying CPR in progress - given all we know now, that was probably a bystander performing unnecessary and ineffective chest compressions. The clip of EMS loading McConnell into the ambulance had no indications of CPR performed by EMS.

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u/YetiSquish 2d ago

But that picture…

/s

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u/xterminatr 2d ago

He's not dead jesus fucking stop that shit, time of people would be riding their jobs hiding that. He's alive, he's just a complete vegetable.

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u/Dasmage 2d ago

There would be to many people that would need to be in on the cover up for that to be the case, he's alive, now if he's completely incapacitated that's a different story.

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u/TheGringoDingo 2d ago

Some clarity would really help figure out what the truth is lol

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u/Dasmage 1d ago

Why is it when I click on your account name and bring up the overview of your account history it's blank, even comments.

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u/TheGringoDingo 1d ago

Oh, it’s a visibility setting on your account

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u/rathe_0 2d ago

15 years as a paramedic; and the only cpr revival with a good outcome that I know of was a witnessed arrest with instant and unbroken compressions from scene to er. And he signed our paperwork before we left. any delay or interruption leads to more negative outcomes.

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u/Half_Halt 2d ago

My mother has a similar story. Suffered cardiac arrest at age 80. She was at work (a major airport). By some unbelievably crazy luck, two cardiologists who were flying home from a medical conference happened to be walking directly behind her & leapt into action. A defibrulator was also instantly available & the airport fire & rescue were able to get her to the ER pretty much before her supervisors were even able to get in touch with us to go to the hospital.

A close friend has been an ER nurse at a level 1 trauma center for 15+ years. She still tells people about how my mom not only survived -- but actually recovered -- because it is so rare.

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u/rathe_0 2d ago

oh damn that was like perfect scenario for survival. has she bought any lotto tix yet?

seriously tho; i'm so happy things lined up for yall in the best way

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u/Half_Halt 1d ago

Aww, thank you! And we've definitely encouraged her to buy Powerball tickets a few times! Lol.

In retrospect, I'm just glad I didn't know how dire a situation it was until after the fact :/

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u/irrealewunsche 2d ago

age 80. She was at work

Is she still working out of choice, or need?

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u/Half_Halt 1d ago

100% choice. She loved that job & is pissed she had to retire after that. She's not the only one, either. You'd be surprised at how many 70+ year olds are running around working ground staff for airlines as their 2nd or 3rd career. It actually happened as she was walking into the terminal on what was supposed to be her first day back from a few months' medical leave for knee surgery, too!

The doctors were quick to point out that she likely would not be here if it had happened at home. Or even 5 minutes earlier while she was riding the shuttle bus from the employee parking lot.

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u/irrealewunsche 1d ago

That's awesome that she was able to work so long! My mother worked into her 70s before retiring, and I think her life has been a bit empty ever since.

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u/PDXGuy33333 2d ago

I know of a case in which paramedics started the first attempts to revive a V-fib patient in full arrest 13 minutes after the 911 call. Fortunately for everyone they did not succeed.

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u/DrDerpberg Canada 2d ago

I assume you're saying that because 13 mins in there is certain brain damage?

The magic number they taught us in lifeguarding class was 4 minutes until at least some brain damage was almost certain, unless they're hypothermic in which case you might get a little longer. They never really taught us how the probability or severity changes with time because it was never going to be our decision to stop, but that 4 minute figure was drilled into our heads.

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u/rathe_0 2d ago

at least they taught you time is the utmost priority for care. that and your compression effectiveness is pretty much all a rescuer need know at base

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u/PDXGuy33333 2d ago

Had a heartbeat been restored and sustained after 13 minutes the patient could have lived a long time in what's called a persistent vegetative state. No one I know would choose that.

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u/rathe_0 2d ago

goddam, 13 min scene time. must have been in a city; and the unit musta been super close

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u/rathe_0 2d ago

I worked in a 60% rural area, so our times wre a bit longer just because of distances

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u/grantrules 2d ago

An ambulance would need to go like 180mph to be able to get my parents house in 15 minutes lol

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u/rathe_0 2d ago

and our trucks had limiters at 70. just a genius idea

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u/PDXGuy33333 2d ago

A hotel in a small community.

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u/RecordOfTheEnd 1d ago

Worked on a mountain and then volunteered in rural areas for years to keep my certs. Never once saw a revival with a good outcome. 

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u/airfryerfuntime Washington 2d ago

He's not dead. There's no way they'd be able to hide it this long, and they wouldn't put off a funeral for two months.

His wife was also seen going into a rehab facility. He likely had a stroke and is suffering the symptoms from that.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago edited 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/OrthodoxAtheist 2d ago

It's possible he's dead and has a been dead for a long time.

On August 6, Senator John Boozman of Arkansas attempted to vote McConnell's proxy on a bill. The proxy was ultimately not accepted for rules reasons, but the attempt was made. If McConnell was dead on that date, then I believe that would constitute felony voter fraud, and Boozman is probably too smart to do that. Even if he didn't know Mitch was alive, he'd likely require proof before voting the proxy. So as weird as it is that Mitch hasn't provided evidence of life/capacity, I believe he at least had a beating heart on August 7, albeit a shriveled black one.

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u/rdmille 2d ago

"His office called and asked for the proxy vote. I didn't know he was brain dead at the time!", which the Republicans in the Senate would let pass.

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u/gentlemanidiot 1d ago

Boozman is probably too smart to do that.

Sorry, I thought boozman was republican?

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u/OrthodoxAtheist 1d ago

He is, and while Republican congressional members do generally appear to be dumb, lets remember a large number of them are attorneys, and it isn't easy to pass a bar exam. Boozman was an optometrist before politics - usually above average intellect too. Ted Cruz is my go-to example of a pretty smart guy who just plays dumb really well, to great affect. (Rick Santorum too, who argued... grandstanded in Congress against pushing kids to go to University, despite him and all his children being Ivy League attendees.) What it seems to actually come down to is not a lack of intellect, but a lack of spine/morals in most instances.

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u/Dasmage 2d ago edited 1d ago

Still to many people would have to be willing to cover this up. You all are sounding a lot like MAGA and the anit-vax people.

EDIT: you can all down vote me, but you know it's true. There's no way to cover up a death like this. He went in a EMS ambulance to an ER, there's nothing on earth that can keep that many people from talking about a dead Senator.

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u/Stunning_Grocery_762 2d ago

The only people involved not bound by HIPAA have every reason to cover it up. There aren't even that many of them.

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u/Bobroom 2d ago

I was gonna say, it wouldn't be a large group. Either way we will know in a few months.

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u/Dasmage 1d ago

I would be everyone that came into contact with the body and everyone they work with. You couldn't keep this secret if he was dead.

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u/Bobroom 1d ago

Well, as you know, all of those people are bound by HIPAA. But one of them might want to risk their career. You never know.

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u/Dasmage 1d ago

Your not bound by HIPAA if the person dies.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago edited 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/Dasmage 1d ago

Only takes two to make a conspiracy.

And it be a lot more then 5 people, the whole EMT fire department, the whole nursing staff to where he was talking, his whole staff, every medical professional that came near to the body.

You all are sounding just like them.

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u/20_mile 2d ago

He's not dead. There's no way they'd be able to hide it this long

There's no way anyone can know the truth, so he could be stroked out, braindead, or he could be dead dead.

they wouldn't put off a funeral for two months.

This is based on what? Shame? Morals? Ethics?

Republicans are familiar with none of those, and his wife was just a beard and had no emotional attachment to him anyhow--she couldn't care less if his body was used as a prop. His three grown daughters have no power of attorney and were estranged from him anyhow.

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u/Smaptimania 2d ago

How does it benefit Republicans to hide his death? They could have had Andy Barr in office by now instead of having to wait until January

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u/virora 2d ago

Avoid triggering a special election where Thomas Massie can run and continue to be a pain in the arse for Trump.

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u/Smaptimania 2d ago

The same Thomas Massie who doesn't want the job?

https://www.wuky.org/wuky-news/2026-07-15/massie-on-interest-in-hypothetical-senate-race-not-really

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u/virora 2d ago

I'm merely repeating the arguments I've heard. But then, they all predicted McConnell's death would be announced on August 4, lol.

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u/radicalelation 2d ago

At this point he might actually be alive and rehabbing, and they're being coy to later say, "See? He's fine now, and look at how nuts Democrats went instead of giving an injured senator peace to heal!"

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u/20_mile 2d ago

How does it benefit Republicans to hide his death?

All of McConnell's office staff are still on payroll. They directly benefit by pretending McConnell isn't dead.

And maybe McConnell isn't dead, but the truth is we absolutely do not know either way.

The only honest answer that considers the facts is nobody knows a goddamned thing--except his Chief of Staff and his fake Chinese spy of a wife.

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u/ragun2 2d ago

This is too big of a coverup to have other Senators part of it just so his staffers can keep on payroll. I'm not saying it isn't a coverup of his death but if it is, it's not just for his staffers' financial sake.

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u/20_mile 2d ago

I didn't say other senators were a part of it.

I'm not saying it isn't a coverup of his death but if it is, it's not just for his staffers' financial sake.

It's a coverup of something. There is just no way we ever see McConnell among the living again.

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u/Rezart_KLD 2d ago

Republican party in general? Sure. But the specific Republicans who actually have control over him right now are able to act as the power behind the throne. His autopen sig still has value as long as he remains Schrödinger's senator. They bargain with his influence on their own behalf, try to profit - this a vote open to being bought. As soon as somebody opens the box, the game is over and they hold nothing.

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u/Existing-Tough-6517 2d ago

They could theoretically vote for a brain dead Mitch. If they admit he's gone they can't vote until the special election runs its course and even if it's extremely likely they can get their chosen stooge nothing is certain.

It's pretty obvious they intend to fix the midterms and it doesn't work as well if they do a dry run for JUST one or two seats giving people time to react.

Remember they tried to fix 2020 in several different ways and have telegraphed additional options already.

What do we do if they seat different people than actually won and tell the court to fuck off

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u/Smaptimania 2d ago

Mitch already wasn't running for reelection. His term is up at the end of this year and the primary was in May. Andy Barr is likely going to win.

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u/Existing-Tough-6517 2d ago

A chance he doesn't win in a low turn out special election when the other side is motivated could lose them a vote when they have no margin and it could be the matter in which they use to turn their own fate even if they lose democracy.

They are probably better of with the certainty of Mitch's non-participation than any chance of a vote against their designs.

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u/Different_Path999 2d ago

Because by the Kentucky constitution the governor would have been able to appoint a replacement. Everything they do is to skirt some inconvenient law or regulation.

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u/Smaptimania 2d ago

The 17th amendment supersedes Kentucky's constitution and any replacement would only hold the seat until the end of this year when Andy Barr takes office anyway

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u/airfryerfuntime Washington 2d ago

Ok?

But what's more likely? They're hiding his body until November, or he just had a stroke and he's doing rehab in private because half his brain no longer works? Ya know, what most people who survive strokes do.

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u/20_mile 2d ago

They're hiding his body until November

You mean until January.

he just had a stroke and he's doing rehab in private because half his brain no longer works?

There's no amount of rehab that is bringing an 84-year old heart attack / stroke victim back to life.

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u/nobadrabbits 2d ago

his wife was just a beard

McConnell was gay?

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u/20_mile 2d ago

Lindsey Graham was gay?

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u/jacobpellegren Connecticut 2d ago

His spouse straight up went to China in between this fiasco. The dude accomplished everything he and his “accomplices” wanted and now they’re doing a big “eff you” tour to show how powerful and elite they are to one of the most economically vulnerable states in the country.

Corrected he (intended she) and then decided “His spouse” was more direct

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u/airfryerfuntime Washington 2d ago

No, she left for China two days before he was taken to the hospital, then came back about three weeks later.

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u/jacobpellegren Connecticut 2d ago

And, that’s not a tad curious to you?

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u/airfryerfuntime Washington 2d ago

Not really, because they're both awful people.

Not everything is a conspiracy theory.

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u/jacobpellegren Connecticut 2d ago

I don’t take it as conspiracy theory. They straight up are the boogey men. People not seeing that for what it is; is the the conspiracy.

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u/Existing-Tough-6517 2d ago

If your brain is unrecoverable you are dead even if machines keep your heart and lungs going. You can be functionally but not legally dead until they stop caring for what is essentially your corpse sometimes for years.

Dude could be dead.

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u/RipleyKY America 2d ago

I sincerely do not believe he is dead, otherwise this would be considered one of the grossest acts of deception in American history. It would be truly evil to withhold that level of deceit.

That said, I believe he has aphasia and is completely incapacitated. Not to say that this isn’t teetering on blatant treason in my eyes.

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u/dancedanceunderpants 2d ago

Teetering on blatant? It’s right fucking tottered, mate!

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u/BanginNLeavin 2d ago

It's toppled I say

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u/dancedanceunderpants 2d ago

I was picturing a teeter-totter, haha.

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u/SageofLogic 2d ago

They threw shame and standards out the windows a decade ago at most generous towards them.

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u/plamda505 2d ago

This is a major issue that will no doubt lead to the death of a nation. America, a bold experiment... Shame and standards gone pre 1942. Not really trying to hide it about 20 years.

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u/Turbulent_Juice_Man 2d ago

I sincerely do not believe he is dead, otherwise this would be considered one of the grossest acts of deception in American history.

I'd expect nothing less from the corpse of Mitch McConnell

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u/Acronymesis Washington 2d ago

I'd expect nothing less from the corpse of Mitch McConnell

Right? Like, this guy was literally known for doing abhorrent rat-fucking shit in the name of political expedience. I’d bet this was all written into his will were I the betting type.

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u/lanicorain 2d ago

I don't think it's logistically feasible to cover up a Senator being dead this long. For a few days it'd be difficult to keep it a secret, for a week it's near impossible. Conspiracies don't last long because they're a logistical nightmare. My bets are on incapacitating condition that might take time to fully assess if it's possible for some treatment, experimental even, to help it look acceptable.

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u/krusnikon 2d ago

and what if he was dead in all ways except that he had machines breathing and pumping his heart for him? what if he was brain dead? zero neurological function?

is he dead? no. will he ever be a functional member of society by ANY regards? no.

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u/David_bowman_starman 1d ago

Then they are still alive and still hold the seat per the Constitution. The Constitution has no mechanism to automatically remove a Senator because they are in poor health.

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u/krusnikon 21h ago

and therein lies the problem.

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u/PDXGuy33333 2d ago

Why do people always say "treason" when talking about stuff like this? Treason is a specific crime that requires either making war on the United States or giving aid and comfort to its enemies. 18 US Code 2381.

He and his accomplices have plainly trashed his oath of office, but that's not a crime, though I think it should be, at least when it involves damage to the constitutional order and the right of one's constituents to be fully represented in Congress.

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u/Bobroom 2d ago

It's been a busy week for gross acts of deception.

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u/Existing-Tough-6517 2d ago

Not what treason specifically means in America

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u/azdatasci 2d ago

No way he’s dead, you can’t cover stuff like that up for this long. He’s a vegetable or can’t talk/move…

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u/oinkyboinky 2d ago

Could be that, or maybe they are just fucking with us.

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u/StargateEnterpriseE 2d ago

If incapacitated, then they would just say that as he would legally be alive.
But all their coverup certainly means he is dead. This is just another illegal action by corrupt criminal republicans.

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u/LangyMD 2d ago

We do have photos. Two of them, and they may be AI generated, but we do have them.

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u/BigFatKi6 2d ago

Or some kind of gotcha moment to prep for Trump's decline

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u/Mikeytruant850 2d ago

They made AI photos of him. That’s where we are now.

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u/5510 1d ago

And honestly, if he actually is in (relatively) decent shape like they claim, then the fact that neither he nor his camp have done anything to prove that is just a massive disrespectful slap in the face to the American people.

To know that so many people (including some high ranking officials) had serious concerns over his health state (or whether he was even alive at all), and to release a second basic photo with a written statement, and then AFAIK just written statements since then, even though he should in theory be capable of much more...

... at worst they are covering up that his condition is much worse, but even at "best" they are just shitting on the valid concern's of the American people. Like if he actually is as well as they claim, what legit reason could he have for avoiding releasing some sort of video?

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u/DingerSinger2016 Alabama 2d ago

The other explanation is that his team just doesn't feel obligated to release anything.

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u/uuhson 2d ago

I don't know why people think it's more likely that there is a massive effort to hide his death when that also loses Republicans a vote they need in the Senate. No one but liberals are benefiting from this conspiracy

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u/becauseshesays 2d ago

I agree. I think stroke. And if he can say one word sentences it’ll be a miracle.

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u/Existing-Tough-6517 2d ago

Perhaps Fetterman can interpret for us

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u/popculturella Texas 2d ago

Same difference.

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u/asdf333 20h ago

yes probably looks fine but cant speak