The Most Dangerous Politician

The current struggle in Congress over the debt limit should tell us all we need to know about Mitch McConnell and the GOP lemmings taking our Democracy apart brick by brick. McConnell has led the Senate Republican caucus since 2015 and has been the Senate Minority Leader since 2007. McConnell is perhaps best known for his 2008 commitment to "make Obama a one-term president." Since that pivotal declaration, McConnell has controlled the GOP in both houses of Congress. Regardless of the supposed separation between the Senate and House, McConnell's proclamations are followed in the House with suspicious consistency. Often referred to as a master politician, I think of McConnell as a master manipulator instead. 

Mitch knows the makeup of his base. He uses scary buzz words that engage the fear and anger these voters feel. Words such as; Socialism, Radical, Immigrant, Spending, Taxes, Leftists, China, and more. Unlike many of the ranting class, McConnell frames his statements in simple but elegant prose. Mitch has a sense of rhythm and a calm but forceful manner that plays well with his supporters. While virtually everything he says is calculated to rile up the irrational fears of his literal and figurative hillbilly base, he sounds like nothing so much as a Kentucky Gentleman. I imagine this is how plantation owners spoke to their stock? 

I am leading this diatribe up to a singular point. McConnell is the most dangerous politician in American Government. While we obsess about Trump, the damage he caused, and the horrifying possibility that he could run for President again, we are casting dangers such as McConnell a sideways glance. 

From my perspective, watching our Federal Government for a decade, we have been focused on the Executive while not always paying enough attention to the Senate. The initiatives Trump tried but failed to get done died in the Senate or the Supreme Court. The failed repeal of the ACA. The meltdown of his attempt at a Muslim Ban on immigration. Failures with DACA, the Wall, and maintaining control of the Senate are prominent as well. The 2017 Tax Act stands out as a singular initiative passed during Trump's tenure. He had little input into that plan. Consider who did? 

Trump did a lot of damage to our country internally and with our allies. Most of what he screwed up was entirely within the scope of the Executive Branch's power. An example is his overnight withdrawal of our support for the Kurds in Syria, resulting in needless bloodshed and suffering. We don't focus on that disgrace. The media and much of the nation have moved on to Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan. 

Through the turmoil of the last four-plus years, one political fact has remained a constant. Mitch McConnell bows to no leader, not even a President. McConnell dodged Trump and the more ultra-right-wing in Congress while wielding power over the advice, consent, oversight, and legislative controls that serve as checks and balances in our representative republic. 

Today, we have a slim margin in the House and a split Senate. His setback to Minority Leader in no way marginalizes McConnell. He recognizes the GOP has the filibuster to stand in the way of Democrat legislation. Now he is bluffing his way to an outcome on the debt ceiling increase that could cripple our economy if not resolved. The Senate Minority Leader knows full well that increasing the debt limit is; a formality that has never been appropriately codified, an absolute necessity, and an issue few Americans understand. Thus, we arrive at McConnell's statement today. At a critical moment in these negotiations, just as if it were planned. That statement blames the impasse on Biden's agenda and the "radical left" Democrats in the House. Using terms already mentioned, McConnell speaks to his angry, disaffected, white male base to poison the atmosphere around this needed legislative act. 

Claiming the Democrats are taxing and spending their way to relevance, helping China by enacting Socialist programs, the Radical leftists are taking control of our country, McConnell is attempting to justify his obstruction of the majority's agenda. Sound familiar? He blames the recent spurt of inflation on Biden's policies. He questions how long this spiral may last. Positing that the Democratic agenda could ruin our economy and cost jobs, he stokes the fears of the middle and lower-middle-class base he always attempts to reach. 

I am unsure how far he will take this gambit, but his trickery is already rattling the markets in equities and bonds. McConnell seemingly doesn't care how close to the edge the US gets. He cares only for his twisted, ultra-conservative views and his position in power. It doesn't hurt that he has amassed a small fortune in the past decade as a Senator, earning just south of $200,000 a year. How that happened is fodder for another post. What McConnell is playing with right now is intended to cast blame and doubt on the Democrat's ability to govern responsibly. If a crisis erupts because of his tactics, he will find a way to assign blame to his political opponents. In Mitch's worldview, projection, hypocrisy, and spin are tools rather than character flaws. 

The future of this great American experiment is at risk. That is not hyperbole. The GOP, writ large, recognizes they are a shrinking political party faced with potential extinction. The actions of Senate Minority Leader McConnell are intended entirely for self-preservation and nothing more.  

McConnell was reelected in 2020. He will be in the Senate until at least 2026.