Bluegrass Warrior

Senator Mitch McConnell is a favorite target for many on the left. I myself have excoriated him on numerous occasions and agree with few of his stances. But I think in many ways he is the most deft and able politician of his generation. He knows that politics is a bloodsport and seems to relish it, this gladiator proven finally victorious in so many seemingly lost battles. Mitch loves nothing better than a good fight and can wait as patiently as a turtle to make his move.

I hate to say it but I admire him, I really do. He knows how to play the game. He is shrewd and his political calculus is near infallible. He does a very job representing his base and his state. He can engage in the most blatant hypocrisy and never break a smile at the irony of his perfidy.

This article yesterday at Roll Call caused me to raise an eyebrow and stifle a chuckle.

“The courts — of all the things that we should be able to accomplish with this president and this Senate — the courts have the longest reach into the future,” McConnell said. “We have a significant number of vacancies coming into this administration. The president knows this is a way to have an impact on our country far beyond his tenure in office.”
McConnell recognized the nomination process would be a “tough battle” amid what he called “blind obstruction” by the minority party. 
“The left is on war-footing for just about everything these days and that includes the lower courts,” he said. “They are doing everything they can to tie the Senate in knots. They are forcing procedural hurdles on just about everything.”

This isn't the first time that the man most responsible for killing bi-partisanship and obstructing governance in the last twenty years has castigated his opponents for copying his behavior. How he can manage to keep a straight face is beyond me. When dems obstruct, they are blind, when he did it, it was over sacred matters of policy.

The Senate Republicans are now huddled with Mitch trying to craft an Obamacare repeal and replace that will satisfy the disparate wings of their party. I wouldn't put it past Mitch to succeed, he is that good. Hurt us too many times, wouldn't bet against him. Of course, the whole thing is being kept under wraps and the political repercussions, if passed, will be extraordinary when people figure out just exactly what they have done. But don't think they won't do it.

They say that after the nuclear winter two life forms are sure to survive, cockroaches and coyotes. I think that we can also safely add the Senate Majority leader to this list.