McConnell trying to distract voters

How about our illustrious Sen. Mitch McConnell throwing a hissy fit over Democratic obstructionism relating to funds to fight the Zika virus?

McConnell is finding that his own medicine doesn’t taste too good. His use of legislative nuclear options — to thwart President Barack Obama, “make him a one-term president”; Obamacare, “we’re going to rip it out root and branch”; and climate change, “I’m not a scientist” — are the stuff of obstructionist legend.

There’s a large irony in McConnell’s Zika virus action: Climate change is likely to increase mosquito-borne tropical diseases of all kinds. Think yellow fever, dengue fever, chikungunya and now Zika. Want healthy people and a healthy planet? Do something, anything, about climate change.

But McConnell’s staged outrage has an equally important role: to distract voters from his refusal to repudiate the most loathsome, ignorant candidate for president since George Wallace in the 1970s.

McConnell’s title should be changed to Senate majordomo.

This story was originally published September 7, 2016 at 6:16 PM with the headline "McConnell trying to distract voters."