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Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
11. Yes, excellent! KISS and honest, though history will have plenty
Thu May 28, 2020, 09:27 AM
May 2020

to say about McConnell's dreadful damage to America -- even if KY's own history, as said, will be unable to list any meaningful benefits but many betrayals. McConnell was famous for decades among his colleagues of only wanting power, specifically 30 years of wanting the very powerful position he currently holds. His only real goal.

Fascinating read in Vox with Jane Mayer on McConnell:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is a nihilist. More than any other politician in recent memory, his life is a monument to self-dealing and partisan hackery. His devotion to winning at all costs, to ensuring there are no limits on private money in politics, to bending the rules and shunning public opinion, has done incalculable damage to constitutional norms in the US. As my colleague Andrew Prokop noted back in 2017, McConnell has almost singlehandedly broken the Senate — and with it, American politics.

New Yorker writer Jane Mayer is the latest to take a deep dive into the life and mind of McConnell. In a lengthy profile Mayer ... tries to explain what’s motivating them ... Her answer is familiar: power. It’s the only thing McConnell appears to want, and there’s no ideology behind it, no real worldview, no purpose. But Mayer manages to unearth some new revelations about McConnell’s corruption and some of the behind-the-scenes dealings. ...

Mayer: I guess I thought that he was an ideologue of a certain kind, and what I discovered is that he actually has almost no fixed ideology. It’s pretty hard to find any important issue that he hasn’t switched positions on at some point or another when it was convenient for him. Whether it’s abortion or campaign spending or many other issues, he just switches like a chameleon when he needs to, and I hadn’t really realized how many times he’s done this and how easily he did it.

Mayer: What’s interesting, and MacGillis writes about this in his book on McConnell, is that this very much reflects the trajectory of the Republican Party since maybe the Reagan years. I covered Reagan for the Wall Street Journal and there was at least some content to the ideology at that point, which was sort of a rebellion against liberalism in favor of small government. But all we have now, and McConnell really exemplifies this, is a cult of winning. ... Based on what people around him told me, I think he would have been just as happy, if not happier, if Trump had been defeated because then he, McConnell, would’ve been the most important Republican in the country and the most powerful.

Vox: You could say that McConnell is a reflection of his times, or you could say that he helped make the times what they are. I’d argue it’s the latter — what do you think?

Mayer: Oh, I totally agree that it’s the latter. He’s not just a passive bystander in this. McConnell is an active participant in this devolution; he has helped push the country in a certain direction. I interviewed a historian who I didn’t end up quoting in the end but who’s an expert in the rise of Hitler before World War II, and he was likening McConnell to Paul von Hindenburg, a German statesman who was part of the political establishment and thought he could control an autocrat and realized too late that he had unleashed something he couldn’t contain. ... McConnell is just chasing power wherever it takes him, and in doing that, he has actively shaped the world we’re in right now. ...

It’s all tactical, no strategy, no vision. I talked to John Yarmuth, a Democratic congressman from Louisville, who told me that McConnell’s very smart but he’s not intellectual. If you tried to have a conversation with him about some big issue that we’re facing as a society, like climate change or artificial intelligence, he wouldn’t be able to have that conversation and he wouldn’t be interested in it. He’s interested in winning and nothing else. ...

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/4/30/21234505/mitch-mcconnell-trump-republican-party-jane-mayer


The evil, smirking Moscow Mitch needs to be ditched. Hermit-The-Prog May 2020 #1
I'm afraid that is how we sound in Kentucky. I don't notice, till I hear my own voice. fwvinson May 2020 #14
Lived here all my life. That sounded more tv-western, to me. Hermit-The-Prog May 2020 #15
As a certified, Daviess County, Kentuckian........... jaxexpat May 2020 #16
Kentucky has many accents Hermit-The-Prog May 2020 #18
Excellent. sinkingfeeling May 2020 #2
Exposure empedocles May 2020 #3
Moscow Mitch has done more for Scarsdale May 2020 #4
Lincoln Project does some really good stuff. Old Terp May 2020 #5
Good, nail him! LW1977 May 2020 #6
Hope The Lincoln Project keeps going after MoscowMitch KS Toronado May 2020 #7
Well done chia May 2020 #8
LOVE this!!! calimary May 2020 #9
Let's play Whack-a-Mole, Mitch! czarjak May 2020 #10
Yes, excellent! KISS and honest, though history will have plenty Hortensis May 2020 #11
That's a great read. brer cat May 2020 #22
:) Thanks, Jane Mayer. She and others have Hortensis May 2020 #29
Nihilist is the perfect characterization for McConnell. grantcart May 2020 #23
Republicans are pretty could at simple messaging. Usually, it is BS aimed at Democrats, but OAITW r.2.0 May 2020 #28
Moscow's Mitch is ripe for a fall. marble falls May 2020 #12
Good job! nt Wounded Bear May 2020 #13
I am so glad there is a concerted effort to oust this evil bastard Scalded Nun May 2020 #17
No mention of his wife Elaine Chao FakeNoose May 2020 #19
Has Mitch been targeted by Republicans in the past? Raven123 May 2020 #20
Not a damn thing uponit7771 May 2020 #21
It's kinda nice 2Legit May 2020 #24
I love it! n/t tom_kelly May 2020 #25
Money well spent. roamer65 May 2020 #26
"Liking" and posting a reply are all very well and good Fritz Walter May 2020 #27
Great ad! BComplex May 2020 #30
They said they were going to Go After repub Senators Cha May 2020 #31
Retweeted! Cha May 2020 #32
Moscow Mitch McGunmassacre, the dim reaper. iscooterliberally May 2020 #33
Wow wryter2000 May 2020 #34
Masked Mitch DemoTex May 2020 #35
Oooh! Popcorn while I watch cp May 2020 #36
The video speaks the trurth. kyburbonkid May 2020 #37
Great ad! The Lincoln Project knows how to kick butt. Vinca May 2020 #38
K & R SunSeeker May 2020 #39
Great to see this. The ad is very savvy. Kentucky accent spot-on. (N/T) Old Crow May 2020 #40
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