Perhaps sensing that the 2020 election may not go well for Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has penned an op-ed in the New York Times in which he all but begs Democrats not to change Senate rules if they do indeed take control of the upper chamber.
In the article, McConnell notes:
“The legislative filibuster is directly downstream from our founding tradition. If that tradition frustrates the whims of those on the far left, it is their half-baked proposals and not the centuries-old wisdom that need retooling.”
Coming from a man who refused to even hold confirmation hearings on Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, that’s especially rich. McConnell never seems to care about founding traditions when he blocks legislation from coming to a vote on the Senate floor.
Later in the op-ed, McConnell resorts to calling Democrats socialists:
“No Republican has any trouble imagining the laundry list of socialist policies that 51 Senate Democrats would happily inflict on Middle America in a filibuster-free Senate. In this country, radical changes face a high bar by design. It is telling that today’s left-wing activists would rather lower that bar than produce ideas that can meet it.”
McConnell’s whining was met with mocking and reminders of his own less underhanded actions on social media:
GOP internal polls must be showing that the Senate likely also to be lost in 2020 https://t.co/J0Sw7gwed7
— David Frum (@davidfrum) August 22, 2019
McConnell has no principles. He does not care about norms or institutions. He only cares about political power. If he is against getting rid of the filibuster, it means he views keeping it as good for Republicans and bad for Democrats. Plain and simplehttps://t.co/OdHtNypYPP
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) August 22, 2019
Mitch obviously wants the best for democrats. I mean think about how honorably he behaved with Merrick Fucking Garland. https://t.co/a1Ub19xUdI
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) August 22, 2019
Turtle, your days are numbered! You will be voted out soon!
— Sharon McLean (@SharonMcLean14) August 22, 2019
Senator McConnell needs to worry about his own reelection prospects, which are far from certain. Senate Democrats don’t want to hear his hypocritical thoughts on the Constitution.
Featured Image Via Gage Skidmore for Flickr