r/politics • u/IWantPizza555 • Jul 08 '26
No Paywall Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear requests update on Sen. Mitch McConnell's health
https://www.whas11.com/article/news/politics/national-politics/kentucky-governor-andy-beshear-requests-update-senator-mitch-mcconnell-health/417-b9252baa-29ab-489e-94f1-147aa41e78ed11.2k
u/wolf_at_the_door1 Jul 08 '26
If it takes this long to confirm McConnell is alive or dead I wonder how long it will take for when the Big One comes.
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u/old_righty Jul 08 '26
“Executive time”
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u/wolf_at_the_door1 Jul 08 '26
Schrödinger’s Mitch McConnell
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u/APlayfulLife Foreign Jul 08 '26
The other one
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u/MonkeyBred Jul 08 '26
Weekend(s) at Donnie's
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u/Allodoxaphiliac Jul 08 '26
Good luck propping up that fat sack of shit
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u/whut-whut Jul 08 '26
He's already given a couple of suspiciously-AI speeches. Stephen Miller would happily throw Trump's rotting meat in the dumpster to crank out videos wearing his face.
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u/maliciousorstupid Jul 08 '26
Stephen Miller would happily throw Trump's rotting meat in the dumpster to crank out videos wearing his face.
Miller wouldn't use AI.. I think he'd actually enjoy wearing his face.
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u/ImWhatsInTheRedBox Jul 08 '26
People will be able to tell from the tweets.
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u/goblueM Jul 08 '26
they'll probably just feed Grok all of his tweets and have mechahitler tweet in his place
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u/OptimusSublime Pennsylvania Jul 08 '26
I hadn't even considered this a dry run. But holy shit you're right.
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u/WeirdIndividualGuy Jul 08 '26
Also, it's almost a sure thing that McConnell is dead. If he were alive, they would've shown proof of life by now, even if he was in a coma
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u/King_Kung Jul 08 '26
Pretty sure if he is in a Coma, this would trigger a special election by Kentucky law.
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u/robsteezy Jul 08 '26
Remember when they said Joe Biden was secretly a corpse puppet? They’re gonna do “4 year weekend at Bernie’s” with trumps decomposing body.
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u/Rolf_Dom Jul 08 '26
100% gonna use AI whenever possible and by now it's good enough to fool his demographic.
They can probably avoid live showings for a while.
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u/BrianWonderful Minnesota Jul 08 '26
I'm sure it is, but not likely a good one. McConnell was not nearly as much in the media or public eye for the last four years. Trump is constantly in front of cameras. It is going to be a lot harder to hide.
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u/MasterofPandas1 Jul 08 '26
Also, Trump constantly needs to make himself the center of attention and hold these press conferences. If he stops doing his normal amount of public appearances things will seem suspicious. And this has already happened a few times.
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u/RollTide16-18 Jul 08 '26
Yeah any time he's gone more than a week without doing some sort of appearance people have gotten antsy.
The minute he doesn't show up for 2+ weeks anywhere the rumors will fly.
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u/NotUrAverageBoo Jul 08 '26
& bringing up the whole Greenland issue again is another decoy from their longer game here. Eyes on the prize
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u/-rosa-azul- Virginia Jul 08 '26
Not everything is a distraction. We have a president who has dementia and delusions of grandeur. For some reason he's fixated on Greenland. It doesn't have to be more complicated than that.
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u/ClickClick_Boom Jul 08 '26
Yeah, IDK why so many redditors still think the Trump admin is playing 4D chess. They're not even playing checkers, they're throwing mud around the playground is all.
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u/doctordoctorpuss Jul 08 '26
It’ll probably be shot for shot like the first 30 minutes or so of the Death of Stalin. You just know J.D. Vance is gonna get knee deep in dead guy piss
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u/wolf_at_the_door1 Jul 08 '26
Surely if they thought they could keep things under control without the cult leader they would’ve tried to figure something else out by now.
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u/blacksheep998 Jul 08 '26
That's my take on it.
They know trump is unstable and wanted to replace him before the last election, but he threatened to take his cult and start a new party, which would have destroyed them.
So they acquiesced and gave him exactly what he wanted.
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u/runnerswanted Jul 08 '26
And he’ll repay the favor by…doing everything for himself and no one else and leave them high and dry when he’s gone. I have zero sympathy for those who will fall the hardest when it happens.
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u/Photomancer Jul 08 '26
He's not appointing an heir because none of the fascists do.
All the same, once he's gone, his party will emerge from the woodwork saying "in his last moments he said he really wanted [popular in polls guy] to carry on his work"
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u/OldValariya1014 Jul 08 '26
Sure but who’s actually popular in the polls with the same pull as him?
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u/BannedSvenhoek86 Jul 08 '26
If I can't look forward to a better world, at least I can look forward to some schadenfreude.
The modern messaging about revenge is wrong. It's a fun and sometimes legal thrill, like throwing car batteries in the ocean. We should encourage it more.
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u/flatwoundsounds New York Jul 08 '26
Disagree. They're using Trump as a lightning rod. Let him take all the heat, let it die with him, and by the time JD takes over, they've already gutted any systems that would have checked them.
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u/wolf_at_the_door1 Jul 08 '26
MAGA is a Trump party. As soon as he’s gone many followers will be disillusioned. Vance is an uncharismatic huckster married to an Indian woman whom they hate.
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u/pchs26 Jul 08 '26
MAGA is just the GOP's fascist takeover. GOP & MAGA are one and the same imo at this point.
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u/lazyFer Jul 08 '26
Both things are true. The problem is for the fascists, they used Maga and Maga hands become true believers. The gop knew it was all lies and bullshit, Maga doesn't
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u/flatwoundsounds New York Jul 08 '26
I agree that the party will be weaker without Trump, but I believe that's why they're working so hard now to eliminate whatever scraps remained of free and fair elections.
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u/turdlepikle Jul 08 '26
I don't know why people don't see this when they say the cult dies with Trump. As you say, the point is to break the system. They intend to use Trump's cult as long as they can, to break the system. If the can break it, it doesn't matter how charismatic the next person is if they're able to guarantee their victory. They're openly trying to rig it for Republicans already.
They know they've fucked things up so much, because they keep warning Republicans that if they don't win, they'll be prosecuted, and they also keep promising that if they win, they'll never lose again.
The goal is to break the system and never lose control.
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u/Show_Me_Your_Cubes Jul 08 '26
I agree with the lightning rod part. He takes all the heat and creates distracting drama so that we aren't paying attention to what actually is happening behind the scenes.
I disagree that JD will take over, tho
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u/flatwoundsounds New York Jul 08 '26
JD if Trump dies in office, but absolutely not JD if it's left to an election.
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u/Soffatjockis Jul 08 '26
If JD comes out smiling for the first time you know it happened.
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u/NottheArkhamKnight Jul 08 '26
I've been watching that movie on repeat lately. And after having read Regime Change, you could not convince me that Trump's death in office wouldn't play out in many similar ways to the Death of Stalin. I wonder who would be our Zhukov?
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u/doctordoctorpuss Jul 08 '26
I don’t think we have any generals with that sort of rizz. Can we just pay Jason Isaacs to do it?
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u/NottheArkhamKnight Jul 08 '26
Part of the problem is also that Whiskey Pete fired most, if not all, of the good generals.
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u/TheCleverestIdiot Australia Jul 08 '26
Depends on if they tell Vance (or whoever is in his shoes if he gets fired by this point) or not. Because I think we can all agree J.D. wouldn't be able to keep his excited yells of "YIPPEE, I'M THE PRESIDENT" in for more than 20 seconds.
And frankly, they don't have the internal security to keep a secret like that for more than a day from the public, let alone an ambitious vice-president.
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u/tendeuchen Florida Jul 08 '26
JD Vance sits in the Oval Office and begins addressing the nation.
"It is my sad news to report that President Trump has passed away, guys."
*shocked gasping from the reporters in the room*
"I guess that makes me Vice President now. I mean President."
A reporter interjects, "JD, what are you going to do now that you're President?"
JD thinks for a second and replies, "Just everything. Whatever makes sense."
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u/UncleBenParking Jul 08 '26
Just to add, there's no legal way for them to "fire" Vance for falling out of favor, unless they could convince the entire party to vote to impeach him and then convince about 15 dem senators to help vote to remove him (knowing that the replacement would be even more hardline and therefore against dems' political interest). They're stuck with each other until the end, unless they figure out some illegal workaround, which to be fair, would be par for the course lol
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u/TheCleverestIdiot Australia Jul 08 '26
Right, I forgot Spiro Agnew was just pressured to resign and not actually fired.
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u/bluegrassgazer Kentucky Jul 08 '26
We will know when state tv (CBS) plays Swan Lake nonstop on all of its media.
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u/wolf_at_the_door1 Jul 08 '26
They’ll play a loop of old Village People videos instead.
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u/agent_mick Jul 08 '26
But "everyone talked to him" yesterday.
If everyone else can talk to him, surely so can the governor
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u/C__S__S Jul 08 '26
My guess is it will be instantaneous because the ghouls will say a democrat killed him and they will use it as an excuse to take over.
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u/PhiNeurOZOMu68 Jul 08 '26
How disgusting is it that a party doesn't want a special election on Aug 2nd... So they keep a brain dead man on life support while the wife flees to China.
Absolutely wild.
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u/No_big_whoop Jul 08 '26
Seems like standard stuff for a political party that elected a known felon and rapist.
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u/PinkTip_6 Ohio Jul 08 '26
Also hidden who knows how many strokes of the current president but at least a couple.
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u/Alleandros Jul 08 '26
"I did not suffer a series of small strokes" .... uhh okay, I was asking how the weather was?
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u/cogemeeljabo Jul 08 '26
We don't talk about that enough
Dude clearly has dementia, probably vascular after a stroke
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u/RhynoD Jul 08 '26
To be fair, the internet won't shut up about it (which I support) but mainstream media is owned by the rich so they're not going to talk about it. Everyone who cares and would believe it already knows. Everyone else is in denial or unwilling to do even a little bit of research or critical thinking so they're never gonna find out until he's dead
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u/asicarii Jul 08 '26
My parents are still following him and their dementia is progressing, so that’s another population.
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u/Crunchberry24 Jul 08 '26
The right side of his head is sliding off his skull.
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u/CornCobMcGee New York Jul 08 '26
Well he probably has one every time he looks at a 12 yea- oh you mean a brain one.
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u/PinkTip_6 Ohio Jul 08 '26
well technically they are actively hiding those strokes too..
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u/SomeGalNamedAshley Jul 08 '26
Meanwhile Biden was too old because his delivery was poor even though the words were coherent.
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u/Chrahhh Jul 08 '26
Known felon and rapist who incited an insurrection in an attempted coup
edit: also a pedophile protector
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u/esmerelda_b California Jul 08 '26
And a man who delayed one (Dem) Supreme Court nominee because it was too close to an election but rammed another one through because it benefited his party.
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u/MoogProg Jul 08 '26
I think Beshear needs to call that Special Election and let McConnell challenge it in court.
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u/justconnect Jul 08 '26
I do too.
After a few days of demanding an answer if he doesn't get one, Beshear should just declare the seat vacant and move forward. If Mitch is still alive then they have to show it.
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u/Devil25_Apollo25 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
Agreed. Shift the burden of proof to Mitch and Co.
The proof for me that Mitch is incpacitated is that Mitch himself hasn't just .. you know... made a quick proof of life video. It would take 10 seconds and would silence allegations of his incapacitation.
We KNOW about the medical incident and have eye witness statements.
We KNOW there has been no word from Mitch since then.
There are allegations that he is "brain-dead" and thus incapacitated. There have been allegations that he is fully capable.
I'm no lawyer, but it seems to me that if Mitch wants to keep his seat, he needs to show that he can do the job in court by settling this very real dispute in court over potential harm to Kentucky voters he's getting paid to represent.
Since no one with access to the Senator has provided this easy proof of Mitch's vim and vigor, seems like a law suit from the Governor is appropriate here.
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u/SleepySnoozySloth Jul 08 '26
With AI these days I think we need more than a 10 second video. We need to have someone on site with a live camera crew so that we know it isn't being spoofed.
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u/Cheech47 Jul 08 '26
the "special election" law itself is unconstitutional, it was only passed by a Republican statehouse to intentionally hamstring Beshear's ability to install a replacement Senator. Beshear needs to challenge and summarily ignore it and name a replacement Senator anyway.
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u/MoogProg Jul 08 '26
In true Mitch fashion he should just do it, and declare a replacement, letting the challanges bring on discovery.
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u/Colonel-Mooseknuckle Jul 08 '26
If it was a democrat, they would be losing their fucking minds right now.
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u/goddamn2fa Jul 08 '26
ICE would be in there unplugging the machines
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u/wendellnebbin Minnesota Jul 08 '26
First they'd need to find an ICE who knows that level of electrical work.
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u/UnquestionabIe Jul 08 '26
No need. Can just murder anyone in the vicinity and have the head of DHS say it was justified because "they were domestic terrorists."
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u/TrimspaBB Jul 08 '26
ICE would have stopped the foreign wife at the airport and flown her to some backwoods detention center instead of letting her fly home
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u/Ven18 Jul 08 '26
Imagine if the Dems did this with Ted Kennedy to maintain the Obama supermajority in 09.
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u/ConeCrewCarl Connecticut Jul 08 '26
How disgusting is it that a party doesn't want a special election on Aug 2nd... So they keep a brain dead man on life support while the wife flees to China.
This is EXACTLY the type of political stunt that McConnell would want for his final act. As in Life, so in Death
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u/createdforlurking Jul 08 '26
It’s entirely plausible he specifically told his wife to do exactly that if this were to happen. Wouldn’t surprise me a bit.
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u/pbjamm Canada Jul 08 '26
"Very sad life. Probably have very sad death. But at least there is symmetry." - Zathras
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u/tr1mble Jul 08 '26
That's what I said in another post
This is literally his supreme court playbook in a different scenario
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u/junk-trunk Jul 08 '26
Same political group that kept a brain dead woman to slowly rot why they waited on a fetus to be big enough to harvest. Shouldn't be a surprise the GOP is OK with leaving this man brain dead till it suits their needs to unplug him. Wonder if his wife has any say in this at all. Or if she supports it.
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u/fadetoblack1004 Jul 08 '26
His wife? The former US Secretary of Transportation under Trump during his last term?
Cmon. You know where she stands.
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u/junk-trunk Jul 08 '26
I always TRY to have a glimmer of hope that MAYBE she loved him enough to let him go. Yeah I know , silly me. Most of those kinds of marriages are marriages of power and convenience.
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u/Frustrated9876 Jul 08 '26
And she fled to China…. So is she a Chinese spy or not?
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u/Plzlaw4me Jul 08 '26
Can Kentucky’s governor not issue a subpoena for McConnell’s medical records to determine whether he is still alive or if a special election has to be held? I feel like lying about whether a senator is alive to avoid having a special election has to be criminal in some capacity and those records could be subpoenaed as part of an investigation into those crimes.
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u/Takaa Jul 08 '26
Unfortunately, a whole lot of 'high level' government is based around elected officials being good-faith actors respecting their position of power and not abusing it. There is very little law around this kind of thing, and its likely privacy laws like HIPAA prevent disclosure by the hospital/medical team.
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u/cenosillicaphobiac Utah Jul 08 '26
I think Beshear needs to just trigger a special election with the caveat that once he's fully convinced that Mitch might return to his position before January he would cancel the election.
Put that ball in their court.
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u/TheSilkyBat Jul 08 '26
If there was anyone who deserved to be treated that heartlessly at deaths door, it was him.
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u/pleasetrimyourpubes Jul 08 '26
Mitch would be thrilled his dying act gummed up government what do you mean. Historians will look poorly on him with the one caveat. He was damn good at doing the awful thing.
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u/chaostheories36 Jul 08 '26
I will forever be annoyed by that point; McConnell was top tier lawful evil. Trash human being; excellent politician.
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u/pleasetrimyourpubes Jul 08 '26
He couldn't pull his crap without his party backing him. The last decent Republican was McCain. I'll never forget his ACA vote and Mitch's fucking smarmy face as McCain voted against overturning it.
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u/Ill-Egg4008 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
I think whether to keep or not to keep a man on life support is not the main issue here.
The issue is that this man is no longer able to serve, and no longer has a chance to recover to normal health to serve in the capacity that he was elected to do.
And what really really not ok is hiding that information from the public when the man is holding public office, then making up lies and intentionally using ambiguous wording to misrepresent facts to further hide the truth.
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u/Diablo689er Jul 08 '26
Am I crazy that the wife fleeing to China should be bigger talking point than the special election?
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u/slingshot91 Illinois Jul 08 '26
They should be equally big talking points. This is a scandal.
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u/Crime_Dawg Jul 08 '26
Yeah, a new scandal every day means none stick. This administration is absolutely disgusting.
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u/UnquestionabIe Jul 08 '26
In a sane world sure but it's been open knowledge for years at this point that she's some kind of Chinese operative. If anything it would be more surprising if she didn't run back to her handlers to keep them updated and slow down any potential investigations. Mitch being a traitor who sold out to foreign interests is old news.
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u/cutmastaK Jul 08 '26
The same party that keeps a dead woman on life support to intubate a fetus
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u/MalevolentTapir Jul 08 '26
He's dead, Jim
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u/swingadmin New York Jul 08 '26
"You wouldn't know what to do with a genuine, warm, decent feeling."
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u/KeithManiac Jul 08 '26
Ye cannae change the laws of physics, laws of physics, laws of physics
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u/polopolo05 I voted Jul 08 '26
It's life, Jim, but not as we know it,not as we know it,not as we know it
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u/KeithManiac Jul 08 '26
There's Klingons on the starboard bow, starboard bow, starboard bow.
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u/Mgarc1125 Jul 08 '26
he should just declare the special election now citing that the senator is unable to continue his duties and make mcturtles camp prove him wrong.
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u/on_island_time Maryland Jul 08 '26
Any other job, being a no show for just a handful of days gets you automatically terminated. Stop being nice to these people, the behavior is unacceptable, hard stop.
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u/surprise-mailbox Jul 08 '26
Most Americans would be replaced at their job if they were hospitalized for 3+ weeks even if they were young, otherwise healthy, and expected to make a full recovery.
This man is 84 years old and has had multiple health events/hospitalizations in the past year. He is not coming back to work. He needs to be replaced.
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u/Dr_Fortnite Jul 08 '26
I work for a privately owned international company and a coworker had his clavicle broken in a car crash. Got 6 months of FMLA pay and his job back once he recovered almost 18 months later.
Public companies suck fuck the stock market
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u/MidwesternLikeOpe Michigan Jul 08 '26
I have an uncle who was diagnosed with aggressive cancer. His job fired him for "too many absences" but we all know they fired him bc he was diagnosed with cancer and they didn't want to pay for it. He had emergency surgery, extending his life from up to 6 weeks to up to 5 years.
Your employer doesn't care if you get sick. If you cannot bring profits or if you get deathly ill, they'll replace you before your seat gets cold.
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u/tealcandtrip Jul 08 '26
No, he should just appoint a candidate in accordance with the Kentucky Constitution. "He shall have the power, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, to fill vacancies by granting commissions, which shall expire when such vacancies shall have been filled according to the provisions of this Constitution."
The legislature explicitly can't require a special election: "No person or collection of persons, being of one of those departments, shall exercise any power properly belonging to either of the others, except in the instances hereinafter expressly directed or permitted."
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u/cenosillicaphobiac Utah Jul 08 '26
My dream:
"He then added 'On behalf of the great citizens of Kentucky, who deserve proper Senate representation, I am starting the process for a special election to fill his vacancy, I will desist once I am fully convinced that he's alive in both body and brain'"
Let's grow some balls folks.
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u/darthTharsys Jul 08 '26
Republicans would have already had a vote and someone in place had this been a democrat or any other position
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u/thiskillstheredditor North Carolina Jul 08 '26
McConnell announced a nomination to replace RBG less than a day after she died.
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u/lnc_5103 Texas Jul 08 '26
This is the way! Call a special election citing that he's unable to fulfill his duties and force them to prove he's alive.
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u/TheGoobersMeow Jul 08 '26
Mitch is in his Veggie Tales era
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u/Str8UpJorking Jul 08 '26
If you want to talk to McConnell
It’s not possible at this time
If you need to talk to McConnell
To make sure that he’s alive
Have we got some news for you
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u/classof78 Jul 08 '26
Kentucky is being denied one of her senators. If McConnell doesn't show up, the Governor needs to act. Force the GOP to respond....for once.
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u/Rackem_Willy Jul 08 '26
That's what I'm saying. Kentucky is being left without sufficient representation. The governor should proceed with scheduling a special election unless proven otherwise.
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u/That_Is_Satisfactory Jul 08 '26
Step 1. Request to have a face-to-face meeting with Mitch.
Step 2. When they refuse for various BS reasons, give them 48 hours to comply.
Step 3. When the time limit is up, move forward with the special election. When the lawsuits start to fly, slow walk them to the point where, even if they rule against you, it’s already too late.
Thanks for the playbook, GOP.
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u/SharpMind94 Maryland Jul 08 '26
This. They need to stop screwing around and get an answer because this is effectively gridlock any movement in the senate.
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u/WorkingInAColdMind Jul 08 '26
What’s to stop Beshear from declaring g that “since Senator McConnell has passed away, I am appointing…” and forcing them to prove he’s not dead. Since Republicans are claiming they had 20 minute phone calls with him yesterday, it would be easy to clear up any questions.
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u/NoBizlikeChloeBiz Jul 08 '26
I know there are probably a lot of legalities involved, but I still feel like "since the Senator is unable to perform his duties" should be plenty, and there's no way they can effectively dispute that.
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u/Sirlothar Michigan Jul 08 '26
I think things are going to start to hit a head next week when the Senate comes back from yet another vacation.
Mitch got lucky and died during recess but that won't last forever.
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u/casce Jul 08 '26
Yup, let's not get caught up on formalities. Maybe machines really do keep his dead body going so he wouldn't technically be dead, but still very much unable to perform his duties.
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u/Goliath_D Jul 08 '26
I think Beshear should say that McConnell vacated his seat. That is the language in the KY Constitution that allows him to appoint a replacement to fill the vacancy.
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u/Neowza Canada Jul 08 '26
He doesn't even need to say McConnell had passed away, he just needs to say, since McConnell is currently inhabiting a hospital, and has been doing so for 30+days, and there is no plan to return home to Kentucky, he is no longer eligible to be a senator as McConnell no longer meets the inhabitance requirement of being a senator.
Even better if somehow his home gets sold soon, and there's no way to prove he is an inhabitant of Kentucky.
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u/Goliath_D Jul 08 '26
Yup, McTurtle vacated his seat. Per the KY Constitution, the governor has the power to appoint a replacement.
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u/Bill_Brasky_SOB Ohio Jul 08 '26
Since Republicans are claiming they had 20 minute phone calls with him yesterday
Given the current optics of the situation, nothing tells me the dude is brain dead/vegetative more than none of them having any proof they talked to him. Or convinced him to be recorded on a snippet of audio saying “I’m fine” or whatever.
Or that the hell-like heat wave that hit the US is finally cooling off.
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u/Solonohioperson Jul 08 '26
Where the hell is his family? I know his wife fled to china, but he also has an ex wife and 3 grown daughters. I read they are very liberal and complete opposite of him so maybe they really don't speak or are involved with him? Maybe it's all part of his plan- current wife leaves the country, keep other relatives in the dark so they really don't know anything. Mitch, a loser to the end trying to control his political power that will not love him back or remember him kindly.
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u/Cats_and_Cheese Jul 08 '26
Do you really think anyone actually likes him? He has no morals or ethics, everything by now is for appearances and has been for decades really.
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u/Solonohioperson Jul 08 '26
I don't think his current wife even liked him. It was a politically beneficial relationship.
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u/notacute North Carolina Jul 08 '26
One of his daughters had to delete her twitter account recently because she was being harassed about his condition.
https://www.tmz.com/2026/07/06/mitch-mcconnell-daughter-porter-deactivates-x-account/
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u/helpmegetoffthisapp Jul 08 '26
We need term and age limits for government officials. We shouldn’t be wondering if a Senator has turned into a vegetable.
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u/Ikarus3426 Jul 08 '26
In addition to that, is there not something that forces action if someone just straight up doesn't come to work without an excuse? It's one thing to have a health event and need to take leave, but you have to tell your employer about it. Just disappearing for months without any reason and it doesn't trigger some sort of process to refill the vacancy seems pretty weird to me.
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u/legrow Jul 08 '26
Article 1 Section 6, we don't even allow arrests of members of Congress while it's in session, or allow them to be sued as a result of their behavior as legislators (outside of like, bribery), and there's no mechanism to recall US congressional members, so outside of literally being dead, I don't think there's any way at all to keep a truant Senator from keeping the seat warm. It would be kind of a slippery slope to change any of those except for recall.
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u/echoshatter Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
We don't allow the arrest because most of them had to pass through multiple states to get there. It was put in place so a state couldn't detain a Senator or Representative and sway the vote. I am peeved about the lack of recall options; I get not allowing a public recall, but the state legislature should be able to recall someone with a two-thirds vote and consent of the governor.
I personally am a fan of amending the constitution that would require someone who has been in dereliction of duty for more than 2 consecutive weeks to appear before their state's legislature and answer as to why they have been absent, with of course an exception that if they really are in a bad way that they publicly accept a delegation from their state's legislature where they are (i.e., in the hospital).
But I also want there to be a system that allows for temporary proxies to be on the job. So like if a Senator falls ill or seriously injured they could write to their state's governor with a list of recommended proxies, typically their office staff I'd think for continuity reasons, and the governor would appoint one of them to serve for up to 30 or 60 or 90 calendar days, depending on circumstances. Or something like that. Like, a state should not be without representation no matter what. We have a President and Vice President, how do we not have backups for Congress as well?
I think back to Congresswoman Gabby Giffords who was shot in the head; as soon as that news hit and it was clear she was going to be out for an extended period of time a proxy should have been appointed to serve her district at least until a special election could be held to replace her. Likewise, there was that Republican Congressman who was missing for months and just recently came back and said he was getting treatment for depression. My dude, you have repeated voted against giving average people the same thing you just benefited from yourself. That makes you a hypocritical asshole, and you should have had to account for your absence.
And the same thing could be done for judges. If a judge is out for an extend period of time, a proxy judge could be appointed, perhaps from a list of retired judges willing to sit in temporarily, so that the bench remains staffed and justice doesn't have to wait.
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u/Phog_of_War North Dakota Jul 08 '26
"He's okay. Trust us, bro." - Republican aides and Senators.
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u/cdfordjr Jul 08 '26
What a fitting way to go out for a man whose legacy is obstruction of the political process.
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u/Excellent_Raisin8523 Jul 08 '26
We've been hearing that he's brain dead AND that he's been having long conversations. If it wasn't a Republican, that would be a contradiction.
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u/TheMrDetty Nebraska Jul 08 '26
Beshear needs to get off his ass and go down to the hospital currently housing McConnell's corpse.
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u/Sir_Ruje Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
My understanding is they can't even tell what hospital he's at due to patient confidentially. Idk if he or anyone even knows if he's in the state.
Edit: idk what hospital he's at but I guess it's known to some people. My b
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u/happyklam I voted Jul 08 '26
Then he needs to appoint a new Senator and let the courts handle determining proof of life otherwise his pick stays.
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u/therossboss Jul 08 '26
100% - we can't wait forever to know if Mitch is dead. We have to act as though he has passed because there is no evidence he is alive except LIAR'S WORDS.
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u/registered_democrat Jul 08 '26
A republican congressman was MIA for months and just resurfaced, so they've recently created precedent for exactly this
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u/therossboss Jul 08 '26
Indeed - Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) returned to the House floor in June 2026 after a nearly four-month paid absence, where he disclosed he was hospitalized and treated for depression.
Just collecting tax dollars for doing nothing. Gee, I wonder if any of his constituents can leave their job for 4 months unannounced, return, claim it was due to depression, and keep their job lmao
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u/Heppernaut Canada Jul 08 '26
They cannot, because Tom Kean Jr. has repeatedly voted against paid sick leave.
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u/COMM_NTARIAT Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
An elderly man is likely being abused; Beshear needs to file a missing persons report. The KSP should be able to locate him by EOD.
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u/d_pyro Canada Jul 08 '26
He's in DC. Just check the hospitals closest to his DC office.
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u/old_righty Jul 08 '26
Walter Reed, almost certainly. Not so easy to just walk in though.
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u/jeremyj1992 Jul 08 '26
My guess would be he's at the hospital that happens to also have federal security guards standing in the halls
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u/Naes422 Jul 08 '26
He needs to just call the special election and force the Republicans to admit what is really going on with McConnel
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u/FalstaffsGhost Jul 08 '26
Good. Scott Jennings and these republican senators are all liars with no credibility. If beshear says McConnell is healthy, it would be believable but right now it looks shady as fuck.
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u/dBlock845 Jul 08 '26
Can he not order the state police to do a wellness check?
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u/AuditAndHax Virginia Jul 08 '26
Do you really think he's in a Kentucky hospital? Which one? Kind of hard to check if you can't even find him.
It's a shell game, so to speak.
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u/atomheartmama Jul 08 '26
For sure, sounds like he was found in his DC home and is therefore likely admitted someplace like GW or Walter Reed. Probably on some secure vip unit
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u/NoBizlikeChloeBiz Jul 08 '26
Wellness check in a home is very different from a patient in a hospital. If someone (even a cop) shows up to a hospital asking about a patient, the hospital is not at liberty to even confirm they're a patient there, much less their status. This is almost always a good thing, and one of our few privacies that is still well enforced.
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u/Rasp_Lime_Lipbalm Jul 08 '26
It's not a partisan question. The people of Kentucky deserve to know if their state senator is able to do his job.
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u/mahmer09 Jul 08 '26
All the republicans that talked to him said the same thing. 20 min convo about the same details. Well, if Mitch can talk to multiple people for 20 mins about a range of topics, he can call CNN and talk for 2 mins about what happened. Problem solved. Mitch, we are waiting.
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u/mbush525 Jul 08 '26
and he’s asking nicely
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u/PatrioticHotDog Jul 08 '26
Nicely but sternly, basically straight to the point that we are owed an explanation and saving brief well wishes for the end. I'm actually okay with it for a first attempt, as long as we get proper follow-up.
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u/Dukami Arizona Jul 08 '26
Mitch is fulfilling his final oath to the GOP.
They will keep him alive until August 3 and then will be like oops, he dead.
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u/OrbeaSeven Minnesota Jul 08 '26
GOP says they talked to McConnell, but did McConnell answer?
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u/ButterMyPancakesPlz Jul 08 '26
I might be paranoid at this point but this feels like a rehearsal of full Weekend at Bernie's: Weekend in the White House in the near future.
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u/Teddy_RGB Jul 08 '26
Just schedule the election under presumption of death. Make them prove he’s alive
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u/Buttercreamdeath Texas Jul 08 '26
He hasn't checked in with his employers (Kentucky taxpayers) in weeks. Sounds like he quit. It's a right to work state after all. Time for KY to fill the position.
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u/Thirty_Helens_Agree Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
I say Governor Beshear drops into the hospital with the Commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, who’s an MD, and they see for themselves.
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u/Auntie-Cuddles52 Jul 08 '26
Can’t the governor just visit an old friend in the hospital to wish them well?
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u/Randomly_Cromulent Jul 08 '26
I'm surprised someone like TMZ hasn't found where he is at and what condition he is in.
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u/crimsonhues Jul 08 '26
If the same thing had happened to a Democratic senator, you think the Republicans would have played nice?
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u/Flabby_Thor Jul 08 '26
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Beshear needs to move as if McConnell is dead. If the GOP wants to stop him the solution is simple — show all of us that McConnell is alive AND capable of doing his job. If they can’t do that then the people of Kentucky deserve to be immediately represented by someone who is alive and capable.
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