McConnell’s thirst for power turns impeachment trial into farce
Some day, when the history books are written, Mitch McConnell will be held accountable.
That’s when he will be fully understood as the architect of much of democracy’s degradation, from a political system that works only for the highest bidders to the ridiculous spectacle of the United States Senate as the president’s lap dog.
Until that time, McConnell will continue to clutch power in his greedy hands, flout convention and continue his utterly shameless protection of impeached President Donald Trump. He winks and grins at the oath of impartiality he’s already sworn to break, smirks as he tries to compress the trial into an impossible timeline, chuckles as he consults with Trump’s lawyers.
Sure, he had to concede a tiny bit, agreeing to spread the trial out over three days instead of two all day marathons. But he’s managed to put off a vote on more witnesses until it won’t matter any more. And it doesn’t. Even though 70 percent of Americans think more witnesses should be called, McConnell has made it very clear that the conclusion is foregone.
The Founding Fathers knew it would take people of good will and conscience in Congress to serve as the check on the executive branch. They knew it might not survive someone, a petulant and vindictive kleptocrat like Trump, who was determined to ignore its rules. What they didn’t know is that one person would abet such wrongdoing in a lifelong pursuit of political and personal power. Who, after all, could predict someone as venal as Mitch McConnell?
The flaws of our democratic system are all too clear now, from an electoral college that awarded the presidency to someone who lost the popular vote, to a majority rule in the Senate that represents far fewer people. So even though 51 percent of the American people now say Trump should be removed from office, their views won’t be represented in the Senate vote.
As Philip Bump noted in the Washington Post, “in the most extreme scenario, that he could be impeached but not removed from office if senators from the 17 least-populous states — representing about 7 percent of the population — decided to stand by him.”
Mitch has had a busy week, what with last-minute rewriting of Senate rules and figuring out how to keep the media out of the trial as much as possible. But it’s worth noting he (or his campaign staff) had time to respond to a guest column in the Herald-Leader written by a retired Lexington resident, a Republican who is embarrassed that McConnell represents her party.
She accused him of conflicts of interest, bringing up the Politico stories about how the Transportation Cabinet led by McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, directed projects to Kentucky. In his piece, McConnell argued that his immense power to direct federal grants to Kentucky was exactly why he was so valuable to the state.
It would be one thing to ignore the travesties of McConnell’s federal decisions in favor of all the pork he brings to Kentucky. But this state still ranks in the bottom nationally for nearly every benchmark, including health, education and child welfare. So after Mitch has been in office all these years, what do we in Kentucky have to show for it?
Just the fact that our senior Senator is so powerful that he can stage and direct a farce without even bothering to hide it.
And so for all its flaws, our democracy leaves us one choice: To give Mitch the retirement he so richly deserves. His successor won’t be as powerful at directing federal money here and there, but our nation and even our state will be the better for it.
This story was originally published January 22, 2020 at 1:28 PM.
