For the Second Time, McConnell Appears to Freeze and Lose Ability to Speak
McConnell did this last month at a press conference.
Last month, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, 81, froze and couldn’t speak at a press conference.
It looks like it happened again:
MCCONNELL: “What are my thoughts about what?”
REPORTER: “Running for reelection in 2026?”
MCCONNELL: “Oh, that’s –”
UNKNOWN FEMALE: “Did you hear the question, senator? Running for reelection in 2026.”
MCCONNELL: “Yes.”
From colleague Kelly Phares. After freezing up at the podium in northern KY, McConnell did not step away or go outside. A reporter then asks another question about local politics. And McConnell responds about the KY gubernatorial race. He also fields a question about Trump
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) August 30, 2023
NOW – U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell appears to freeze again.pic.twitter.com/1542hl1dLk
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) August 30, 2023
No, we do not believe this excuse. He said the exact same thing last month!
McConnell is 81. If you’re always feeling light headed at any age, but especially at 81, it is not a good sign.
Sheesh.
NEW: McConnell spox says the GOP leader “felt momentarily lightheaded and paused during his press conference today.”
Aide adds: “While he feels fine, as a prudential measure, the Leader will be consulting a physician prior to his next event.” https://t.co/fbnnH6MsNi— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) August 30, 2023
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Comments
We are a nation of puppets
And most of them are Pinocchio’s.
The saying: ‘tll Hell freezes over’ has a new replacment noun: McConnell.
Can’t wait till this rat is out of GOPe office.
He will just be replaced by the next puppet. The establishment detests anyone who thinks for themselves and acts in the best interests of their constituents.
The second time that it’s happened in front of cameras. I’m sure this is more like the 100th time this has happened. McConnell is a broken machine. Clearly.
On the bright side, his obviously broken brain makes it a bit harder for him to be stabbing us in the back. So there’s that …
True of POTUS also.
Well I guess that he answered the question about running in the 2026 election. OTOH there is Fetterman.
Yep. Worse yet, absent some yet unknown but compelling 3rd-party ticket, if Biden is actually on the ballot next fall, he’s still going to win no less than 50% of the popular vote. Considering how well Democrats did in the battleground states during last year’s midterms (See: Fetterman, the brain-damaged winner), whomever the GOP nominee is, they’re going to need a Herculean effort just to make it close.
Term limits are desperately needed. Sick and tired of congresscritters who only quit by going out feet first.
We already have term limits. It’s called “voting them out.”
Hardened term limits gets them out of DC or any legislature and back to the people making a return trip more successful to the same body.
That decision is still up to the voters in his district.
If they want to term-limit him, they can.
That’s not term-limits. Not even in the same galaxy of ideas.
I assume you know that.
Right. Term limits is when you can force elected officials that you don’t like in other states from office — not your own.
Term limits is also when you tell the people of your own state that they can’t have the person they want to represent them. Because you know better than they do.
Voting-them-out term limits also has the advantage that it’s the only kind of term limits (for federal office) that doesn’t need a constitutional amendment.
Reply to milhouse (no reply button):
That phrase is nonsensical and silly. There is nothing “term limit”y about not electing someone in one election. The idea is comical, even.
Term limits are put in because rational people recognize some of the serious defects of democratic processes – which is why the Founders only subjected one half of one third of the positions it defined to be democratically run – hence the name “House of Representatives”.
Familial political dynasties are about as bad as things get and we can see in this country how they become an inherent part of any positions open to democratic processes. Now, I would love to Constitutionally bar close family members from taking related governmental positions (no family should have government as its family business), but that would be tough to write up and tougher to get passed.
As to the idea that term limits are infringing on people’s rights … BS. Seniority in many government positions is directly related to power. One little district that elects the same house member in for 75 years is not just doing this for themselves, that house member ends up with much more power than anyone else, merely by fact of his seniority and the district that enhances its own power by continuing to elect him. Nothing wrong with forcing turnover in government positions, just as we should demand turnover in laws with forced sunset provisions for all laws of a certain class.
Another reply to Milhouse:
LOL.
There are lots of restrictions on who is eligible for particular offices. I guess that really chafes you. The age thing must drive you crazy. Those terrible Founders and their arbitrary decisions to disallow 20 year olds from representing people … Awful! The horror!!
No, there are not lots of restrictions. There are actually very few restrictions: age, citizenship, and residence; and no new restriction can be added without amending the constitution (as happened with the term limit on the presidency).
And yes, those three restrictions are where the framers felt comfortable telling the residents of a state or district that they can’t have the representative they want. My point is not that this can’t be done, because obviously it can, but that that is in fact what is being done. Every time you make a restriction on who can be elected, you are telling the voters that you know better than them. And that is a very serious statement to make. It’s anti-democratic, and it’s not something you do casually.
In a perfect world, people would have enough sense to do exactly that. The reality is we have too many droolers who vote for the same guy just because. And of course the politician is all too happy to keep on riding the gravy train.
My working premise is that the entire system, while decent in theory, is corrupt in practice because it attracts the pathologically corrupt, the venal souls who crave nothing more than money and power. They are precisely the people who should never be in a position of power, not even dog catcher – yet the halls of Congress are filled with these avaricious cretins.
We have term limits at the state level in California. It made an already dysfunctional government completely insane. On election, the first priority is to start working on the next gig.
The correct solution is to vote them out. Nice to say, but the power of incumbency is immense. Turnover in the US due to being voted out is similar to turnover in the old USSR Politburo.
Of course, in CA Charles Manson (D, Dead) wins by ten points.
Term limits isn’t just for protecting us from these octogenarians.. It will prevent Congress critters from making their position a career. It was not intended to be a career. I don’t think so.
The voice of the turtle is not heard in our land.
As Americans slowly begin to see the fnords, Turtle slowly begins to detect his post.
Weekend at Mitch’s, anyone?
What an embarrassment.
And I’m referring to the lack of care on the part of those who voted for him.
I left his race blank on my ballot last time. If his worthless ass manages to run in 2026, he’ll get 70%+ in the primary due to GOP voters not voting in primaries. Until that changes in KY, TX, SC, SD, and other red states, we’ll be stuck with the likes of McConnell and Co.
At least KY has Rand Paul.
And TX has Cruz.
Only members of the party should be voting for that party’s candidates in party elections (primaries).
Right. KY is a closed primary, so it operates as you suggest. However, turn out is usually low.
Not to mention the people who allegedly love him and are supposed to care about his health and well-being.
It is well past time for Cocaine Mitch to retire.
Might this have anything to do with having lost his acuity meds at the White House?
Maybe they were pilfered.
No. He has to stay in the senate until the election. Otherwise he’ll be replaced by a Democrat.
It’s still well past his time to retire. Even though doing it right now would be disadvantageous.
No. https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2023/07/28/heres-how-kentuckys-law-works-for-filling-u-s-senate-vacancies/70484359007/
Yeah, but as the article points out, that law is probably unconstitutional, and Beshear would probably challenge it.
One has to expect these little glitches when one lives in a corrupt gerontocracy. But I repeat myself.
I am 79. Ran three miles last night. Still design electronics, which I have done for a living since I was 21.
There is NO WAY I would take a job like McConnell’s. Those jobs are 24/7 and the stakes are immense
We’ve seen no evidence that those people work an 8 hour day, much less 24/7.
Paraphrasing Barbie, “ the Georgetown cocktail party circuit is hard!”
Dude- WTF is up with the JCPD handling of the roofie rapist?
Have I totally misjudged the whole law and order thing here?
STOP using the word “appears”! We are not stupid. He froze. He is too old like Biden, Fetterman, Schumer, Feinstein, Pelosi, etc. ALL of them need to retire.
Fetterman’s issue is not age. His issue is caused by something that often happens due to age.
hating Trump has taken it’s toll on Glitch the turtle
never a post around when ya need one
considering how much weight he appears to be losing losing I don’t think he’ll be here for the next election whatever.
It’s past time to begin more closely examining candidates who are already or will become in their term eligible for full Social Security retirement. Doesn’t need to be complex just a simple series of physical fitness tests like the old Army APFT/w alternate events and for cognitive function use the TBI screening tests related to short term memory. Both to be videotaped and relaxed for the public to see and decide for themselves. Heck lets add it for candidates of all ages. This collection of the frail, elderly or infirm in positions of power needs to end.
How would you write that into the Constitution?
Very straightforwardly.
The major political parties could come together and agree on doing so themselves without the need for a Constitutional amendment. They are private organizations and can impose whatever criteria they wish in selecting candidates to represent the party on the party ballot line as the Party nominee for an office.
That sounds good, until the first time one party or the other decides that it’s in its advantage to break the agreement.
… which would be about 15 minutes after they made the agreement.
The gentlemen’s agreement would work to impose basic physical/cognitive testing without need for a Constitutional amendment. It could also be used for term limits. As you point out a gentlemen’s agreement only works between gentleman though a contract between the parties with penalty clauses might work.
Not a doctor, don’t play one on TV, but this looks like another TIA to me.
It looks like a TIA to me also, and although I am an infectious diseases doc and not a neurologist, it’s textbook TIA. But that’s for McConnell and his personal physician to work out.
It looks like a TIA to me also, and although I am an infectious diseases doc and not a neurologist, it’s textbook TIA. But that’s for McConnell and his personal physician to work out.
-DrMiranda
Beyond EMT training, I’m not schooled in this either. I’m dealing with similar with my mom (mid 80s). Never had full on stroke, But it’s appearing as mini strokes.
High blood pressure will take its toll on the brain. At that age it will do crazy things in terms of spikes- even if ok some of the time. So the speech center is probably starting to go. I’d wager he’s also having trouble with some words behind the scenes and they are hiding it.
From what I can tell- a year in, my mom still has most of her mental capacities, but the speech center damage is progressing. You can’t really tell when it’s going beyond speech and into memory. I’ve started to notice that too- they will usually try to hide it until its so obvious that it becomes a safety issue.
Time is no one’s friend..
He’s elected by the people in his state who vote. Guess which age groups are most likely to vote? You want younger representation, get younger people off their dead butts and to the primaries.
People vote for incumbents because they acquire power to bring home goodies. This incentive is impossible to ignore.
Can’t we just adjust the ballots for that like the Democrats do?
Looks like aphasia. I had a relative-in-law that experienced it beginning a couple of years before he passed. It was very frustrating. You’d ask him a question and he’d just stare at you. Ask again and no response. Just a blank look. We had no idea what was going on. We figured dementia. He would/could not respond.
Bruce Willis is going through it now.
At first glance, I suspected Mitch sustained a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or mini stroke.
He probably should evaluated with complete neurological and cardiovascular workups. He does not look healthy at all.
Aphasia is a fairly common symptom of chronic TIAs, from what I remember from my neurology rotations. He is blanking out and has a classic “resetting” period that seems to be lengthening. That’s the same thing we see in Joementia.
-DrMiranda
A vegetable as POTUS, another vegetable as Senate minority leader. What could possibly go wrong?
Most physicians will easily recognize this as an “absence” (pronounced in a French way!) seizure.
The VAX?!
COVID-19 Vaccine Associated Parkinson’s Disease, A Prion Disease Signal
in the UK Yellow Card Adverse Event Database
ISSN 2639-944X
COVID-19 RNA Based Vaccines and the Risk of Prion Disease
ISSN 2639-9458
Towards the emergence of a new form of the
neurodegenerative Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease:
Twenty six cases of CJD declared a few days
after a COVID-19 “vaccine” Jab
To summarize, of the 26 cases analyzed, the first symptoms of
CJD appeared on average 11.38 days after the injection of the COVID-19 “vaccine”. Of
these 26 cases, 20 had died at the time of writing this article while 6 were still alive. The 20
deaths occurred only 4.76 months after the injection. Among them, 8 of them lead to a
sudden death (2.5 months). All this confirms the radically different nature of this new form
of CJD, whereas the classic form requires several decades.
From an NIH report:
A 52yo male developed sudden-onset reading difficulty and aphasia 7d after the second dose of an mRNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.
Seems to have lost a lot of weight also. Very bad sign for someone of his age.
I can see not wanting to resign from the Senate, since the current Gov of his State is a Communist, but he should relinquish his role as minority leader.
A Constitutional Amendment limiting Senators to 2 terms, and Representatives in the House to 6 terms would get, easily, 95% support from voters. Probably more like 99%, but there’s usually 4% that misunderstand the question.
The only people opposed are those actually holding the seats.
One of the few issues with overwhelming support across Party lines.
Not true at all. Many people who are not officeholders would oppose such a proposal. It’d probably pass, but not by nearly as large a margin as you imagine.
Agreed. A majority would approve but no way it is by 90%+. Not even close to that level of support.
He seems normal to ………………………
Hey, that is my pronoun nor/mal
Or repeal the 17th amendment?
How is that relevant? Changing who elects senators doesn’t change anything else about them. The same factors that persuade the people at large elect 80-year-olds would work even more strongly on state legislators. As they did before the 17th was adopted.
Speaking of the subject of strokes—- best to Mandy. Hope she is doing well and gaining quality of life.
I often see her box on here and am reminded to never take a day for granted and to enjoy the struggle no matter what.
[ sorry just a test message – IGNORE ]