'The dinosaur establishment' as exemplified by Democrat "leaders" Steny Hoyer, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Hakim Jeffries, working hard to defeat El-Sayed's Senate bid? They cannot allow progressives to pass legislation that benefits the people, only legislation that benefits their benefactors.
Years ago I had a friend from Spain who, rather than saying "wow" to something astonishing would say "Oh gee!" and I thought of that when I read Old Guard Extinction Event - OGEE
Ken, another spot-on piece. Permit me a few comments:
1) Just love the similes and metaphors, “circling the drain” and “wheeled down the Senate chamber like Hannibal Lecter” and such.
2) Thanks for the political background on him. Given all that, I still can’t understand why the voters in Kentucky kept reelecting him, though that instead could explain my naiveté about politics, I mean same could be said about Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins, and God knows how many other exemplars of all that is good, holy, and virtuous in American politicians.
3) “McConnell, in what are very likely his final days, has been in excruciating pain.” Gee, a rare occasion where what I’ve hoped for has come true, but not just for my sake, for the nation’s, even the world’s, for justice’s.
4) Ah, the Code of Civility, particularly as covered by the mainstream (downstream? down the toilet?) media most recently with Dick Cheney. At best only elliptical hints that this guy should have been strung up like Mussolini long ago rather than be given a sendoff at Washington National Cathedral with so many “luminaries” in attendance, such as Dumbya. By all rights a war criminal? Heaven forbid, can’t allow such talk!
5) Which brings us to Dumbya when he gets called to visit his favorite philosopher, Jesus Christ. Assuming that’s with whom he’ll finagle that audience – though no pulling strings as with the Texas Air National Guard this time around – what has the NYT already prepared for his obituary? How many paragraphs? sentences? phrases? just a few words? given to the millions of deaths and ruined lives he’s responsible for? The trillions of dollars thrown to the wind by him? The trillions of dollars this country is further in debt because of him? The trillions in lost opportunity costs accrued by his tax cuts for the already have mores? The violations of the Constitution he took an oath to uphold (yeah, as if that meant anything to him)? And so on, and so on, and so on, not only about him, but the whole fornicating lot of them? Yeah, including Genocide Joe.
Why not run honest obituaries about these bastards, charlatans, poseurs, thieves, cheats, con (wo)men, murderers, ending with something like, “Shakespeare had it right when he had Mark Antony say in “Julius Caesar,” “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones." [Fill in the blank’s] record of good is short and performative, the one of evil is long and sordid, let [him, her] be forever remembered for it, and may it serve as a warning to all others to come.”
Let’s not forget that this line from Mark Anthony was used to set up one of the best, and most powerfully successful, attempts at gaslighting of all time.
Your final sentences make me "almost" feel sorry for McConnell. We will all get old and sick and die one day. I am 71 now. I am old, but reasonably not sick yet. But who knows about tomorrow. Do not forget that it was McConnell who brought us the current SCOTUS, and all that it has done. I wish no hatred against anyone, but I am having a VERY HARD TIME with this guy.
We reap what we sow. He turned his back on what he really thought to participate in the power plays. I feel sorry for him. It hurts to lose your intrinsic direction.
What you mention happens so routinely in politics and in life in general when the prize is wealth and power. What it does to the person inside is not seen by the public but such betrayal has a price. That the drive for power is all consuming is evident in the way people will openly contradict themselves or lie when it is expedient. I saw this when AOC stood before the Dem Convention and declared that Harris was working tirelessly for a ceasefire in Gaza.
I like her too for the fact that she is better than the DP hack she replaced but she waits to feel the water temperature before going in unlike Mamdani who is the real thing. The "tirelessly working for a ceasefire" lie is in this video clip: https://tinyurl.com/3wpjvkwr
I like AOC too, and Mamdani. But they both must be pragmatists which is the nature of politics. You have to pull for the team sometimes, even when you may really not like what you are doing. AOC was in power in 2024 when Kamala Harris ran. Mamdani was not, to his advantage. If Mamdani were mayor in 2024, I am sure he would have pulled for Kamala Harris as AOC did.
"Pulling" for someone does not mean lying to the public in order to deceive them about the person you are lying about. What never seems to disturb political liars is the fact that eventually, often not long after the lie is told, the truth will come out. Trump never hesitates to lie though it can be proven a lie when he says it if not on the very next day. As disturbing as this is, even more disturbing is that he has followers that are undeterred by it.
Did you see the movie, "Lincoln"? Honest Abe was not about to lie to the public about negotiations going on with the South in Washington. He carefully crafted what he said to the public to avoid a lie while not declaring where the negotiations were to take place.
There is an art to politics/diplomacy and that was a perfect example of it. I think Mamdani follows Lincoln's example. His addresses to the public are remarkable, moving and honest indicating that his is not thinking of himself but of his audience. Lincoln was self-effacing to the point of making himself an object of humor. Lincoln and Mamdani are alike in considering themselves above all to be public servants a species one could be forgiven for thinking extinct.
I agree completely. I watched and downloaded Mamdani's pro-immigration speech in New York City Hall. Mamdani, surrounded by newly naturalized Americans, was inspiring. Trump, out at Mount Rushmore, was the opposite. If the four presidents on Mount Rushmore could speak, they would applaud Mamdani, and boo Trump. As for AOC, she campaigned with and for Mamdani, and spoke in the train station with Bernie Sanders when he was sworn in as mayor of NYC. As for that video you posted, I think we have more important things to worry about now than one slip-up.
As much as I hate McConnell, his wife leaving his side made me sad. Maybe he is dead, or maybe she is that awful, or she hated his guts. Rot in hell Mitch!
I am a senior (75) and know that while I remain mentally sharp I do not have the same spark plug that quickly fired all cylinders. I retired at 74 because I needed the income having been thrown to the curb during the 2008 recession. I had a job well below my real and metaphorical pay grade but stuck with it until I need a knee replacement. I know how that for many, like me, the body is not up to the rigors of past abilities. If McDonnell is alive and in pain I am sorry this is his exit route. Karma sometimes is spot on though.
I’m 83+ and mentally alert, but instead of taking up space in Congress, I play on an elite Wordscapes team, act as my Goldendoodle Barney’s scribe with the #dogsoftwitter and read voraciously (and incessantly comment on Substacks!). I’m physically hobbled because I destroyed my back while *working* 12 hours a day for decades, something that probably never happens to a member of Congress.
Whether or not the geriatric crowd in Congress are compos mentis is immaterial to me because Congress shouldn’t be an occupation. This was never the intention of the Founders. McConnell and his ilk should have been gone long ago, but why should they leave when fools keep electing them? I feel a little spark of hope, but the cynic in me says to look at what’s happened to AOC.
What baffles me is that people keep voting for incumbents instead of getting rid of them. We get what we deserve. We have let ourselves become so complacent, so stupefied, and so tribal, we are reaping the evil results of our idiocy.
McConnell probably should not have run for reelection in 2020. He should have resigned when he stepped down as Majority Leader in 2024 or when he had the freezing episodes in 2023.
I work in the ICU and see out cardiac arrests from the field come in on a ventilator all the time. I'm almost 100% certain that he's braindead and on maximal life support just so they can say he's alive
Also... sadly, McConnell is probably not in pain. He has the best healthcare in the world, and they are probably drugging him up with the strongest stuff. He will pass to the other side in a blissful cloud of happiness. Sadly, I don't believe in hell. Wish I did.
Anyone following the Platner shitshow developments today that we all knew were coming? Thanks again, Bern…
For context, I have vehemently opposed the Schumer-chosen alternatives, but there were alternatives available early in the primary process with backgrounds in “normal” public policy specialties such as Education and Public Health that just didn’t have the testosterone and gunpowder vibe of Graham the Opportunistic Bullshitter.
Yes, I’m former Active Duty and DOD Contractor, for context. Platner’s Dumb Guy Energy only covers for so many inconsistencies in his story line.
And nobody, nobody, gets a Totenkopf without knowing its history. Pirate Skull my ass.
'The dinosaur establishment' as exemplified by Democrat "leaders" Steny Hoyer, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Hakim Jeffries, working hard to defeat El-Sayed's Senate bid? They cannot allow progressives to pass legislation that benefits the people, only legislation that benefits their benefactors.
Perfect Ken. And truthy.
Years ago I had a friend from Spain who, rather than saying "wow" to something astonishing would say "Oh gee!" and I thought of that when I read Old Guard Extinction Event - OGEE
🤣
Ken, another spot-on piece. Permit me a few comments:
1) Just love the similes and metaphors, “circling the drain” and “wheeled down the Senate chamber like Hannibal Lecter” and such.
2) Thanks for the political background on him. Given all that, I still can’t understand why the voters in Kentucky kept reelecting him, though that instead could explain my naiveté about politics, I mean same could be said about Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins, and God knows how many other exemplars of all that is good, holy, and virtuous in American politicians.
3) “McConnell, in what are very likely his final days, has been in excruciating pain.” Gee, a rare occasion where what I’ve hoped for has come true, but not just for my sake, for the nation’s, even the world’s, for justice’s.
4) Ah, the Code of Civility, particularly as covered by the mainstream (downstream? down the toilet?) media most recently with Dick Cheney. At best only elliptical hints that this guy should have been strung up like Mussolini long ago rather than be given a sendoff at Washington National Cathedral with so many “luminaries” in attendance, such as Dumbya. By all rights a war criminal? Heaven forbid, can’t allow such talk!
5) Which brings us to Dumbya when he gets called to visit his favorite philosopher, Jesus Christ. Assuming that’s with whom he’ll finagle that audience – though no pulling strings as with the Texas Air National Guard this time around – what has the NYT already prepared for his obituary? How many paragraphs? sentences? phrases? just a few words? given to the millions of deaths and ruined lives he’s responsible for? The trillions of dollars thrown to the wind by him? The trillions of dollars this country is further in debt because of him? The trillions in lost opportunity costs accrued by his tax cuts for the already have mores? The violations of the Constitution he took an oath to uphold (yeah, as if that meant anything to him)? And so on, and so on, and so on, not only about him, but the whole fornicating lot of them? Yeah, including Genocide Joe.
Why not run honest obituaries about these bastards, charlatans, poseurs, thieves, cheats, con (wo)men, murderers, ending with something like, “Shakespeare had it right when he had Mark Antony say in “Julius Caesar,” “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones." [Fill in the blank’s] record of good is short and performative, the one of evil is long and sordid, let [him, her] be forever remembered for it, and may it serve as a warning to all others to come.”
so glad you notice the words! i spend a lot of time on those details
"The devil - and Ken? - is in the details"? ;-)
Let’s not forget that this line from Mark Anthony was used to set up one of the best, and most powerfully successful, attempts at gaslighting of all time.
You know your Bard quite well...
Your final sentences make me "almost" feel sorry for McConnell. We will all get old and sick and die one day. I am 71 now. I am old, but reasonably not sick yet. But who knows about tomorrow. Do not forget that it was McConnell who brought us the current SCOTUS, and all that it has done. I wish no hatred against anyone, but I am having a VERY HARD TIME with this guy.
We reap what we sow. He turned his back on what he really thought to participate in the power plays. I feel sorry for him. It hurts to lose your intrinsic direction.
What you mention happens so routinely in politics and in life in general when the prize is wealth and power. What it does to the person inside is not seen by the public but such betrayal has a price. That the drive for power is all consuming is evident in the way people will openly contradict themselves or lie when it is expedient. I saw this when AOC stood before the Dem Convention and declared that Harris was working tirelessly for a ceasefire in Gaza.
I like AOC. can you give or refer me to more detail?
I like her too for the fact that she is better than the DP hack she replaced but she waits to feel the water temperature before going in unlike Mamdani who is the real thing. The "tirelessly working for a ceasefire" lie is in this video clip: https://tinyurl.com/3wpjvkwr
I like AOC too, and Mamdani. But they both must be pragmatists which is the nature of politics. You have to pull for the team sometimes, even when you may really not like what you are doing. AOC was in power in 2024 when Kamala Harris ran. Mamdani was not, to his advantage. If Mamdani were mayor in 2024, I am sure he would have pulled for Kamala Harris as AOC did.
"Pulling" for someone does not mean lying to the public in order to deceive them about the person you are lying about. What never seems to disturb political liars is the fact that eventually, often not long after the lie is told, the truth will come out. Trump never hesitates to lie though it can be proven a lie when he says it if not on the very next day. As disturbing as this is, even more disturbing is that he has followers that are undeterred by it.
Did you see the movie, "Lincoln"? Honest Abe was not about to lie to the public about negotiations going on with the South in Washington. He carefully crafted what he said to the public to avoid a lie while not declaring where the negotiations were to take place.
There is an art to politics/diplomacy and that was a perfect example of it. I think Mamdani follows Lincoln's example. His addresses to the public are remarkable, moving and honest indicating that his is not thinking of himself but of his audience. Lincoln was self-effacing to the point of making himself an object of humor. Lincoln and Mamdani are alike in considering themselves above all to be public servants a species one could be forgiven for thinking extinct.
I agree completely. I watched and downloaded Mamdani's pro-immigration speech in New York City Hall. Mamdani, surrounded by newly naturalized Americans, was inspiring. Trump, out at Mount Rushmore, was the opposite. If the four presidents on Mount Rushmore could speak, they would applaud Mamdani, and boo Trump. As for AOC, she campaigned with and for Mamdani, and spoke in the train station with Bernie Sanders when he was sworn in as mayor of NYC. As for that video you posted, I think we have more important things to worry about now than one slip-up.
As much as I hate McConnell, his wife leaving his side made me sad. Maybe he is dead, or maybe she is that awful, or she hated his guts. Rot in hell Mitch!
I am a senior (75) and know that while I remain mentally sharp I do not have the same spark plug that quickly fired all cylinders. I retired at 74 because I needed the income having been thrown to the curb during the 2008 recession. I had a job well below my real and metaphorical pay grade but stuck with it until I need a knee replacement. I know how that for many, like me, the body is not up to the rigors of past abilities. If McDonnell is alive and in pain I am sorry this is his exit route. Karma sometimes is spot on though.
To hurl a civility offense at people who won’t normalize defending of the archenemy corpse… I don’t even know what to be a Democrat means anymore.
Great summary of Mitch and biting if bitter analysis.
I’m 83+ and mentally alert, but instead of taking up space in Congress, I play on an elite Wordscapes team, act as my Goldendoodle Barney’s scribe with the #dogsoftwitter and read voraciously (and incessantly comment on Substacks!). I’m physically hobbled because I destroyed my back while *working* 12 hours a day for decades, something that probably never happens to a member of Congress.
Whether or not the geriatric crowd in Congress are compos mentis is immaterial to me because Congress shouldn’t be an occupation. This was never the intention of the Founders. McConnell and his ilk should have been gone long ago, but why should they leave when fools keep electing them? I feel a little spark of hope, but the cynic in me says to look at what’s happened to AOC.
I like the apocryphal Mark Twain saying: “Politicians are like diapers and must be changed frequently for the same reason.”
Mark Twain was a genius! That’s one of my favorite quotes.
What baffles me is that people keep voting for incumbents instead of getting rid of them. We get what we deserve. We have let ourselves become so complacent, so stupefied, and so tribal, we are reaping the evil results of our idiocy.
McConnell probably should not have run for reelection in 2020. He should have resigned when he stepped down as Majority Leader in 2024 or when he had the freezing episodes in 2023.
I work in the ICU and see out cardiac arrests from the field come in on a ventilator all the time. I'm almost 100% certain that he's braindead and on maximal life support just so they can say he's alive
Also... sadly, McConnell is probably not in pain. He has the best healthcare in the world, and they are probably drugging him up with the strongest stuff. He will pass to the other side in a blissful cloud of happiness. Sadly, I don't believe in hell. Wish I did.
I have an 84yr old husband who I love BUT having a conversation with him is beyond my capabilities.
Anyone over the age of 55yrs should not be making decisions.
Speaking of “Weekend at Bernie’s”
Anyone following the Platner shitshow developments today that we all knew were coming? Thanks again, Bern…
For context, I have vehemently opposed the Schumer-chosen alternatives, but there were alternatives available early in the primary process with backgrounds in “normal” public policy specialties such as Education and Public Health that just didn’t have the testosterone and gunpowder vibe of Graham the Opportunistic Bullshitter.
Yes, I’m former Active Duty and DOD Contractor, for context. Platner’s Dumb Guy Energy only covers for so many inconsistencies in his story line.
And nobody, nobody, gets a Totenkopf without knowing its history. Pirate Skull my ass.
I will not mourn Mitch when he goes.