‘Moscow’ Mitch McConnell — A Hard Man To Like

By SAM URETSKY

It’s not quite clear which Mitch McConnell has less of, chin or sense of shame. The Constitution limits the president to making treaties and some appointments only with the “advice and consent of the Senate” but Sen. McConnell, having his own interpretation, has decided that the Senate will pass bills only with the advice and consent of the president. With Sen. McConnell (R-Ky.) as Senate Majority Leader, the greatest deliberative body in the world has been reduced to deciding whether to order the Senate Cheeseburger (double cheeseburger, American cheese, bacon, grilled onions, mushrooms, Jalapeno peppers, lettuce, tomato, pickles $6.50) at the Senate Dining Room or to spring for the Senate Burger Value Meal, which includes a 16-ounce soda for an extra $2.

On Aug. 3 the New York Times reported, “Seven months into a new era of divided government, the Republican-led Senate limped out of Washington this week after the fewest legislative debates of any in recent memory, without floor votes on issues that both parties view as urgent: the high cost of prescription drugs, a broken immigration system and crumbling infrastructure.” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader, said, “From health care to gun safety to climate change, Republicans just say no, despite the overwhelming consensus of the American people on these issues.” The Senate has approved a number of new federal judges, but that has been part of Sen. McConnell’s program of shifting the judicial branch to the right.

Sen. McConnell is not popular in his home state. According to The Hill “About 33% of registered Kentucky voters polled approve of the job McConnell is doing, while 56% disapprove and 11% are unsure. Additionally, 32% think McConnell “deserves to be reelected,” and 61% think it’s “time for someone new.”

In spite of this, Sen. McConnell still beats a generic Democrat in the polls, with 45% of the respondent favoring his reelection and 42% who would vote for somebody new. In spite of his low popularity, Kentucky is a largely rural state, with too little urban population to build a majority, and few suburbs in the sense of Orange County, Calif., or Nassau County, N.Y. Even so, an analysis by Forward Kentucky concluded that some regions (maybe, maybe) are poised to flip.

On Sept. 28, a group of coal miners who had been blocking a train loaded with coal, for which they had not been paid, stopped the blockade and will let the challenge go to bankruptcy court. Their complaint remains, but these are low-income people who have no choice but leave the blockade and look for work. The Mayor of Cumberland, Ky., was quoted as saying, “The system failed these men, there should be people held accountable for not assuring that laws in place were not followed.” Whether the miners, who voted 85% for Trump, will change their vote in the face of his failure to revive the coal industry is doubtful, and the press reports avoid discussion of politics.

But – while Sen. McConnell is often caricatured as a turtle, with hard shell and all, Joe Scarborough of MSNBC managed to get under McConnell’s hide with the nickname “Moscow Mitch.” Sen. McConnell earned the name for for blocking election security bills, and his has caught on. Scarborough asked, “How can Moscow Mitch so willingly turn a blind eye not only this year to what his Republican chairman of the (intelligence) committee is saying, to what Robert Mueller is saying, to what the FBI director is saying, to what the DNI (director of national intelligence) is saying, to what the CIA is saying, to what the United States military intel community is saying?”

There is a goodly selection of Moscow Mitch merchandise, t shirts ($25) and coffee mugs ($30) available, much of it with the slogan “Just Say NYET to Moscow Mitch.”

Sen McConnell responded to the nickname in an interview with Hugh Hewitt, a right wing columnist and commentator: “It’s modern-day McCarthyism,” he said. “Unbelievable for a Cold Warrior like me who spent a career standing up to the Russians to be given a moniker like that. It’s an effort to smear me.”

Even so, on Sept. 19, Sen. McConnell let the appropriations bill go to the Appropriations Committee for approval. He maintains his opposition to stronger steps such as requiring a backup paper ballot system.

Running for the nomination to oppose Sen. McConnell is Amy McGrath, “a retired US Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel raised in Kentucky, [who] is running for the US Senate to fix Washington and give Kentuckians back their voice.” So far the best nickname that has been used against her is “Wrongpath” McGrath, It still seems very unlikely that a Democrat can carry Kentucky, and others may seek the nomination as well, but so far the Democrats are ahead in the battle of nicknames. In Kentucky even that feels good.

Sam Uretsky is a writer and pharmacist living in Louisville, Ky. Email sdu01@outlook.com.

From The Progressive Populist, November 1, 2019

Populist.com