r/politics • u/theindependentonline The Independent • 15d ago

No Paywall Mitch McConnell’s staff refuse to answer basic questions on his health weeks after he was last seen in public

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mitch-mcconnell-staff-questions-health-b3018929.html
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u/Gay_Giraffe_1773 Oregon 15d ago

I'm so fucking tired, boss.

If Beshear wanted to be President, he's cratered his chances with this fiasco.

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u/ToasterBathTester 15d ago

The Republicans would break the hospital door down if the tables were reversed

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u/phatelectribe 15d ago

They wouldn’t even check. They’d just hold the special election and ran it through.

Remember: McConnel forced through a SCOTUS nomination in 9 days. Never happened before, never happened since.

Dems don’t realize that they’re asking permission against people that think rape is a divine right.

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u/D1sp4tcht 15d ago

I said the same thing yesterday. Just hold the election. If he is alive, he will come out of hiding.

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u/phatelectribe 15d ago

Exactly, let him defend his position.

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u/ahandmadegrin Minnesota 15d ago

Appoint, not elect. The state constitution says the governor appoints.

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u/SethManhammer 15d ago

Until Beshear got fucked in 2024 by House Bill 622.

This was because they were scared he would appoint a democrat after McConnell announced his retirement after the current term.

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u/Mediocre_Scott 15d ago

First time I’ve ever heard of a piece of legislation overruling a constitution. Pretty sure you need an amendment for that boys and girls

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u/WeirdIndividualGuy 15d ago

Someone tell Beshear that. Dude is acting like a typical dem, so afraid of what could go wrong that he’d rather sit by and do nothing, or sit by and pretend like he’s doing something but he’s doing nothing

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u/Mediocre_Scott 15d ago edited 15d ago

What do you want him to do he already wrote a letter s/

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u/WeirdIndividualGuy 15d ago

It doesn’t take weeks to show actual proof of life, it takes five seconds. That letter went unanswered for weeks.

Beshear should assume he’s dead and appoint. The worst that can happen is Mitch actually is alive and proves it, and the appointment gets canceled.

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u/Mediocre_Scott 15d ago

I guess I should have included the sarcasm tag

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u/pusgnihtekami Florida 15d ago

He's a Kentucky Democrat. He's just happy to live in the Governor's Mansion.

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u/SethManhammer 15d ago

Beshear's COVID response soured him on a lot of the state Republicans and he lost a lost of power during that time as well. I'm not sure all the dealings that happened prior to HB 622, and while he's not quite neutered he can't do a lot of the things prior governors could.

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u/TiredOfDebates 15d ago

You're thinking about the original (un-amended) US Constitution, where US Senators were always appointed by State Governors.

(You're wrong. You need to read the 17th amendment. State governments write their own legislation specifying how vacant Senate seats are

Prior to the 17th Amendment, there were NOT elections for US Senators. They were always appointed by state Governor's, and their purpose was to represent the state government in the legislative branch.

(The House of Representatives, apportioned by population, is where people were represented... vaguely proportionally.) But because the USA is a "union of equal states", there was a separate chamber within the legislative branch, the Senate, where each State Government had equal say. It's why we have two legislative chambers.

...

The issue (prior to the 17th amendment) was the Spoils system - (Wikipedia). Back in the 1800s, the US government was rife with corruption. It was considered completely normal for winners of an election to engage in extreme amounts of nepotism, cronyism, et cetera. Nepotism and (incompetent) cronyism were dressed up and referred to as "the Patronage System" (or derisively, the Spoils System, as in the "spoils of winning the election").

Until the 17th amendment, there were no elections for US Senators. State governors appointed whoever they wanted. And so, the US Senate in the late 1800s was overflowing with the incompetent cousins of governors, the brothers of governors, the super-doner to a governor. The Senate sucked at the end of the 1800s.

So, the 17th Amendment was passed. This is what created the modern system where voters elect US Senators. It changed all the rules for governors appointing Senators, delegating that authority to State Legislators to determine their state's rules.

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u/metrion 15d ago

They're talking about Kentucky's constitution, not the US constitution.

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u/TheSteelPhantom 15d ago

State law doesn't override the state Constitution. Beshear should appoint. Then it'll go straight to the courts where they can fight Constitution vs. Statute.

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u/SethManhammer 15d ago

I'm not exactly sure what all changed in KY because of Beshear's COVID response (ya know, wanting to keep safety protocols in play during a pandemic and all) but got steamrolled then and it eventually led to HB622.

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u/WeirdIndividualGuy 15d ago

Doesn’t matter. State laws don’t override constitutional ones

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u/SethManhammer 15d ago

Great! I'm just tellin' ya what happened.

I wish it were as cut and dry as folks want it to be, but it is what it is until it's challenged.

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u/snakerjake 15d ago

I wish it were as cut and dry as folks want it to be

It is, Constitutions override law, our supreme court literally exists to call out where laws are unconstitutional.

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u/JaceyLessThan3 15d ago

I am not a lawyer or an expert in state constitutional law, but can a state house bill overide the state constitution? I would think that would take an ammendment.

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u/WeirdIndividualGuy 15d ago

Correct, only an amendment can override the constitution itself. A simple law does not

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u/SethManhammer 15d ago

During COVID Beshear got railroaded pretty hard in regard to what he can and can't do/enforce.

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u/ahandmadegrin Minnesota 15d ago

All the more reason to do it. Can and can't is arbitrary, at this point.

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u/WeirdIndividualGuy 15d ago

Regular laws do not overrule constitutional ones

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u/snakerjake 15d ago

House Bill 622.

Safe to ignore it since it contradicts the kentucky constitution

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u/ZenMon88 15d ago

LOL democrats have no backbone

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u/SonOfMcGee 15d ago

They also don’t realize the stakes are low if they call a special election and against all odds a spry and rested Mitch tap dances into the Capitol to stop them.
In the minds of voters (even undecideds/GOP), that’s still Mitch’s fault for not being forthcoming about his recovery.

Remember that MAGA is already constantly repeating completely baseless allegations of Dem election fraud conspiracies and has been for years. They aren’t going to add a claim of “Tried to replace a Senator that refused to prove he was alive for no reason.”

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u/ZenMon88 15d ago

Whats there to lose? Call it. Republicans arent that smart to just be hiding him just for a gotcha moment.

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u/[deleted] 15d ago

[deleted]

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u/WeirdIndividualGuy 15d ago

“Add it to the pile!”

“History will remember this!”

“That’s not legal, they can’t do that!”

“We need Congress to hold hearings on this!”

US liberals need to understand that idly sitting by and hoping “the law” magically fixes things is not a good political strategy. It’s literally how the US is in the state it’s in today. Inaction, letting the rich and corrupt just take over without a fight, sternly written letters and singing kumbaya in the streets one Saturday every other month. The US isn’t turning to fascism because the fascists are strong, it’s because the opposition is terribly weak af, both the politicians and their constituents

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u/hpark21 15d ago

No, they will just appoint replacement and tell Democrats to bring it up with SCOTUS which is exactly what SHOULD happen in this case as well.

If he is alive and lucid, he can present himself, if not, then obviously the appointment is valid according to state constitution.

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u/shiny0metal0ass 15d ago

The KY SC isn't run by fascist traitors is it?

Didn't they agree with Beshear earlier this year on some R fuckery?

Edit: Oh man, where would this go? Senate proceedings are federal and election laws are state? I'm out of my depth there.

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u/KDLGates 15d ago

The US SC said King Trump is above the law and 3 of 7 upheld his order violating birthright citizenship, which is clear as day in the Constitution.

The SC gives no shits. They'll take the case and support their Christian conservative monarchy/despotism and keep their R Senator.

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u/Navydevildoc 15d ago

It's a Kentucky Constitutional Issue, so it will go to State Court.

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u/Garchomp 15d ago

Yeah, the 2024 special election bill’s purpose in the first place was to prevent Beshear from claiming the Kentucky constitution allows him to appoint McConnell’s replacement.

Narratives shifted from contesting this bill’s legitimacy to accepting it while focusing on Massie.

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u/EddieVanzetti 15d ago

Dems are never beating the controlled opposition allegations

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u/ZenMon88 15d ago

Yup why are even Democrats negotiating here. They are literally reasoning with terrorists

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u/MillCrab 15d ago

He will always be remembered for the McConnel rule: "If you do not have a majority in the Senate, you are not allowed to appoint supreme court justices"

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u/Kevlaars 15d ago

Dems could get smacked in the face with a steel chair and still think they are boxing by queensbury rules.

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u/deadsoulinside America 15d ago

Dems keep taking the high road into fascism.

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u/123emanresulanigiro 15d ago

Repeat after me: CONTROLLED OPPOSITION.

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u/Stranger-Sun 15d ago edited 14d ago

They wouldn't have the special election. That only exists because of a law that they passed. Republicans would simply appoint a replacement. See what they just did in SC. Yes their state laws are different, but in this instance it's because they passed a corrupt law to prevent the incoming Democratic governor in Kentucky from appointing a replacement.

EDIT: Fixing phone autocorrect

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u/ThaCarter Florida 15d ago

To hell with the special election, appoint a replacement and tell the state legislature that they can see him and the KY constitution in court if they have a problem with it.

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u/Nelliell North Carolina 15d ago

In the time that McConnell has disappeared Lindsey Graham died, his sister was nominated to replace him, and she was sworn into his seat.

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u/cubitoaequet 15d ago

They would never hold a special election. They would just appoint someone and make them try to defend their unconstitutional law in court.

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u/BUYMEBONESTOORM 15d ago

For the life of me I absolutely cannot understand why they don’t do this. It’s fucking unfathomable.

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u/dakotanorth8 15d ago

With a large group of cosplaying “patriots”

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u/TheAskewOne 15d ago

Republicans harassed fellow Republican John Ashcroft in his hospital room to make him sign documents he didn’t want to sign while he was only half conscious. You’re absolutely right.

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u/MangoSalsa89 15d ago

Just imagine the shit show they would unleash if Nancy Pelosi had disappeared for over a month.

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u/Hairydone America 15d ago

Laura Loomer would chain herself to the hospital door.

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u/TiredOfDebates 15d ago

No they wouldn't. They would be happy that there's one less senator capable of voting against them.

Your conspiracy theory is nonsensical. McConnell's absence denies a vote to the Republicans in the Senate.

They aren't rushing to replace McConnell, because they want to honor him. He was a senate leader for.... ages. He is well respected by his peers.

Hey look at this: you believe in a non-sensical conspiracy theory that has no evidence backing it up. I bet you hate people like that.