In the annals of ignominious pusillanimity1, few events gleam with a more sickly hue than the recent spat between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump over who was “more” responsible for the “not repeal and not replace” ObamaCare debacle a few months back. It’s only “fitting”, I suppose, that Donnie was “right”: that is to say, “he started it!”
Yes, bizarrely enough, Mitch did start it, complaining absurdly that it was all Big Donnie’s fault that the Republican bill failed in the Senate: “Our new president, of course, has not been in this line of work before. I think he had excessive expectations about how quickly things happen in the democratic process.”
Well, that would be funny if it weren’t so disgusting, because, as I’ve moaned so frequently before the actions of the Republican leadership in both the House and the Senate with regard to health care have been an utter parody of the legislative process from the get-go. Blaming Donnie for not selling the boiling pot of shit that Mitch and House Speaker Paul Ryan concocted in an ecstasy of “can you top this?” irresponsibility–well, maybe ole’ Mitch ain’t so crafty after all. Maybe he’s just plain stupid. Mitch is lucky Trump couldn’t sell it, because if he had they’d both be stewing in that pot of shit right now.
Now the Republicans have a second pot on the burner, even more noxious than the first. It’s likely that John McCain will get the credit for saving the republic a second time, claiming again (and claiming correctly again) that the regular legislative process had been turned on its head for this one. Which is true, but one wonders why, a week ago, Johnnie was proclaiming that “If it’s not through regular order, then it’s a mistake. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t vote for it.” So now why is he saying he won’t vote for it? I suspect that Jimmy Kimmel, not John McCain, is the true hero here.
As for Mitch and Donnie, another punch-out between the two, well, I would love to see it. But too much good fortune makes me nervous. We have miles to go before we sleep.
