What is Senator Mitch McConnell up to now? Where is he? Things are not going swimmingly for the GOP right now, but they are still treading water (pun intended); so he is in whack-a-mole mode: no one knows when or where he will pop up next. Although we have not seen or heard much from him lately, we know that he is leading the 13 guy Senators stealth team that is hard at work on the senate’s stealth healthcare bill. This bill is so secret that he won’t even tell his fellow Republicans about it, let alone senate Democrats or the American people (Democrats, Republicans or Independents).
It appears that the senate Republicans, especially Senator McConnell, must have taken some kind of hypocritical (again, pun intended) oath that they are determined to honor. For example, here is what Senator McConnell said according to an article in The Washington Post by E. J. Dionne Jr. dated June 14, 2017:
“Fast-tracking a major legislative overhaul such as health care reform or a new national energy tax without the benefit of a full and transparent debate does a disservice to the American people, ” McConnell said in 2009, referring to the two big issues of the moment. Democrats using such means, he added, “would make absolutely clear they intend to carry out their plans on a purely partisan basis.”
What in the world is Senator McConnell thinking? There is no doubt that it is far past time that congressional Democrats and Republicans and the American people (constituents/voters) get a drink with him and find out what the h**k – I might as well just say it, heck is going on. But, as I have said in previous articles posted to this site, the man is elusive and he is quick! When reporters spot him and think that they have him, he pops back down into his hole and pops up someplace else. And whenever he comes out far enough so that someone can block his hole and reporters are lucky enough to surround him so that someone can try to restrain him so that they can question him on key issues (like healthcare), just when they think that they have him and reach out to grab him; poof, he is gone! And by the time they spot him again, he is back in whack-a-mole mode. Click here to read the whack-a-mole article.
I’m not so sure that I would want to be the one to crawl inside of his head and find out what is going on in there. But I wish that someone could/would. Wait; I am sure that I would not want to be the one to crawl inside his head. But I still wish that someone would. Senator McConnell is likely a decent guy but he is scary. I mean, he is not the kind of scary that Mr. Trump is but he is scary. Maybe sneaky is a better word to use to describe him instead of scary. You know what I mean? You know like, have you ever had people that you are around that seem to have a sneaky-type walk and overall body movements and every time that you look at them they are looking at you with sneaky-looking, stealthy-like eyes? And the next thing that you know you turn around and they are in your personal space, right on top of you, and they are like; helloooo? You know, like in a scary movie. It’s that kind of scary. But that’s still pretty scary when you are talking about politics; and especially when you are talking about Senator McConnell!
The fact that all of these Republicans are marching in lockstep with Mr. Trump and Senator McConnell speaks volumes about their hypocritical ways. Their ‘hypocritical’ oath to Party belies what is supposed to be their true commitment to their principles and honor. Times like these are prime examples of times when politicians principles and honor should be the dominating force that drives their thinking and drives them forward. There are far too many Republicans with far too many good ideas to contribute that are worthy of reasonable discourse and debate for Republicans to allow them to be derailed by anyone – Democrat, Republican or Independent – who does not have America’s best interest at heart and who does not put America above Party.
Anyway, Senator McConnell is shepherding and fast-tracking a healthcare bill through the senate using his power as Senate Majority Leader to employ unprecedented control and stealth to push a bill through that is forged solely by him and 13 guy senators. He is doing this without input from Democrats and without revealing what is in the bill to the American people although it will effect 1/6 or more of the economy. He is doing this in an effort to make sure that the bill will receive enough votes to pass the senate before senators’ constituents can pressure them to vote against it. Senator McConnell is a savvy politician who has been in his job for a long time and he knows how thing work politically. The maneuver that he is trying to carry out now makes him a scary man despite your definition of scary. Whether you see him as ‘Mr. Trump scary’ or ‘scary movie’ type scary it is important that you be aware of what Senator McConnell and the Trump Administration are doing to push through a GOP healthcare bill that they hope to make a healthcare law even if the majority of Americans are against it.
While Mr. Trump is faced with many problems that may be slowly dragging his administration down, we would do well to remember that the operative word is “slowly.” In the meantime, Mr. Trump and the GOP are quietly pushing their agenda forward, below radar, in the field of healthcare, voter rights, immigration, environment and other areas involving the federal government. Whether you are among those who agree with Mr. Trump and the direction in which he and the GOP are moving the country or you are among those who disagree, our legislative process should be transparent and we should be kept informed and allowed to participate to the degree that we are entitled to participate. As constituents and voters, we should be allowed to know what is going on and have any appropriate input to bills and potential laws instead of just having them sprung on us by congress. So let’s be sure that we always remain vigilant and assure that this is the case.
Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line