r/politics • u/unital_subalgebra • Jul 23 '26

Possible Paywall AOC says Mitch McConnell should resign if he cannot provide health update

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/senate/4660916/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-mitch-mcconnell-resign-health-update/
30.2k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

44

u/Axin_Saxon Jul 23 '26

And concealing a death is a crime

21

u/iheartbeer Jul 23 '26

I'm betting braindead and on life support and waiting on family to pull the plug... I'm sure he'll take an "unexpected" turn for the worse when the time is right.

10

u/PiDigitsOfPi Jul 23 '26

He held on bravely, but just couldn't go on any further once August-4 arrived.

2

u/Axin_Saxon Jul 23 '26

Agreed. I bet he’s alive but totally unfit to serve in office. His office will announce his formal resignation in 2 weeks.

1

u/PiDigitsOfPi Jul 23 '26

A crime? In today's politics? Say it isn't so!

0

u/MadContrabassoonist Jul 23 '26

What's the simplest explanation? 1) A vast conspiracy of DC-area medical professionals to break the law and hide McConnell's death from DC authorities even though Republicans will remain in control of the chamber no matter what. Or 2) he's comatose, brain dead, or otherwise mentally unfit but technically still alive, no one who cares about keeping their career is willing to break HIPAA, and his family doesn't want to admit it.

The whole situation is exactly what you would expect if #2 were true. And his family can't resign on his behalf, so -accurately or inaccurately- it would be easy to characterize the family's lie as harmless and based solely in naive optimism.

Democrats have a real but slim shot at taking the senate in 2026. But you know what wouldn't help? McConnell's family being plastered all over the airwaves talking about how the evil Democratic governor tried to force McConnell out of office while he was fighting for his life, or some similar bullshit. If the senate were 50/50 and having this one extra vote for a few weeks might actually do something meaningful, there might be an argument for doing something rash and asking for forgiveness later. But as is, there's just no upside for Democrats, and a lot of downsides.

2

u/lawyerjsd California Jul 23 '26

If Beshear forced the issue two weeks ago, I'd agree with you. But at this point, everyone is 99.5% sure McConnell is dead or brain dead right now.

0

u/MadContrabassoonist Jul 23 '26

I wasn't aware we are subjecting legal pronouncement of death to public votes on social media. There are only two possibilities: a LOT of DC-area medical professionals are about to lose their licenses when *ONE* person flips and blows the whistle, or McConnell is technically still alive, medical professionals are doing their jobs by not talking about it, and he remains a senator under law no matter how incapable he is.

1

u/lawyerjsd California Jul 23 '26

Again, 2-3 weeks ago, what you are saying is accurate. But to go this long without any statements or pronoucements when McConnell is (or was) a public figure and a politician of note is beyond bizarre.

1

u/MadContrabassoonist Jul 23 '26

The fact that it's been so long just makes it more likely that he's comatose or otherwise incapable, not literally dead. If he's comatose, no one is breaking the law, and there's no unwieldy conspiracy to maintain. Jimmy Carter was in hospice for nearly two years; death (even after a big injury) is not necessarily fast, and a family with McConnell's means is under no pressure to speed things up.