I’ve only read the tweet, so I know as much about the argument as you do. But the fact is, absent legislative action, McConnell can do all of those things. Whether he should, is a separate question.New in PN: Retire in peace
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 17, 2026
"McConnell would never be allowed to drive a car, babysit young children, or file his own taxes. Why, then, should a cognitively incapacitated 82-year-old retain one of the most important positions of power within the national government?"…
Baby sitting is not regulated in any state, as far as I know. There are, generally, laws on child endangerment that broadly would apply, but local news frequently carries stories of people who left their children with other people that, in retrospect, weren’t fit to care for a Pet Rock. (My brother had one. Kind of wish I had it now, as a memento. Strange the things memory clings to.) You can punish it after the fact, but not really before. More’s the pity.
There are regulations in some states regarding capacity to operate a motor vehicle. I don’t think, based on reports, McConnell could operate a car if you put him in the driver’s seat. I mean by that, that he’d just sit there. But regulating operating a motor vehicle requires legislation and enforcement. Could he legally operate a vehicle in D.C., or Kentucky? Depends on the state of the law.
As for filling out his tax returns, so far as I know, the law only holds him responsible for filing a return. Who fills it out and files it in his name, absent some fraud against him, is McConnell’s lookout. Absent a court appointed guardian, that is; which would require a finding of need.
McConnell is in a wheelchair and apparently, at least, unable to speak. That does not make him a vegetable; or clearly indicate he is incapable of any adult functioning. Honestly, this argument sounds like Trump going on about “Sleepy Joe Biden.”
You gotta watch that.
McConnell can only be forcibly removed from the Senate, by the Senate. And that’s not gonna happen, not between now and January 1st. Complain all you want (Trump does), but dese are de conditions dat prevail.
I wonder what Chuck Grassley thought when he saw McConnell and whether he really wants that to be how *his* career ends. And then I realize after a political career that's old enough to be on Social Security itself, Chuck probably has no idea how to live without the Senate and figures he may as well die with his boots on so to speak.
ReplyDelete"die behind the wheel" occurred to me too late to use
ReplyDeleteI've become an enthusiastic supporter of age limits for the presidency, the Supreme Court and the Senate, possibly the house though since there are so many in the house it's not as much of a problem when they rot in place. Though the House has many an addled wackadoodle who shouldn't be there, that doesn't tend so much to be age related.
ReplyDeleteI read that a doctor said them making him go to work could kill him. I'm curiously unconcerned about that in this case.
I also read he cast a vote the way he wasn't supposed to while he was there. Maybe this will be the best part of a long and corrupt career.
Age limits makes more and more sense to me. FDR introduced Social Security and “retirement age” to get old people out of the way for younger people, in the Depression. Now “Dr. Oz” says we need to work longer so we’ll stay off SS, and maybe die earlier by working too long.
ReplyDeleteOld politicians need to get out of the way, too. McConnell and Grassley have never shown any grace in their careers. That their careers end gracelessly only seems fitting.