McConnell Spoke, America Stopped Watching the Convention
Tonight, to a mixed chorus of boos and cheers, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. (F, 42%) addressed the Republican convention. There was a part of me that was hoping to hear something prophetic; an admission of fault or failure from the GOP; an admission that the Republican Party that McConnell promised to defend had lost its way.
Perhaps predictably, McConnell spoke about none of those things. In fact, the first thing he mentioned upon taking the stage was… his own election.
The rest of McConnell’s message was nothing more than a staff written speech full of the typical talking points. It was full of grandiose “achievements”, empty promises, and rhetoric that even McConnell may struggle to believe. Ironically, he described Hillary Clinton as someone who will “say anything, do anything, and be anything” to achieve her own ends. Look in the mirror much, Mitch?
Perhaps McConnell’s speech confirms why we have lost trust in the Republican Party. As we’ve watched this convention unfold, we have the opportunity to measure his speech, as offered from the cautions of a teleprompter, versus those of Senators who stand for the people; Senators like Mike Lee, with emotion and passion, stood on the convention floor bellowing to be heard by the conveniently deaf politburo of the Republican Party.
Yet, McConnell presents narrative that is simply unbelievable. He extolls his achievements as the Republican leader over a Republican Senate that has literally accomplished nothing. He claims that his Senate is more effective than that run by Reid – but even in that humble-brag, he cannot be taken seriously.
Say what you will about Harry Reid, but he was effective for President Obama. Reid handed Obama victory after victory. He broke the longstanding rules of the Senate to satisfy his progressives, and that crushed Republicans; he helped President Obama pass Obamacare; he reversed spending cuts and helped raise taxes on the rich.
Seriously, take a moment to ask yourself what McConnell has truly achieved for conservatives?
McConnell promised conservatives a repeal of Obamacare. Instead, he protected it.
McConnell promised conservatives he would reduce the size of government. Instead, he expanded it with a $305 billion new highway bill; then he eliminated $2 trillion in austerity measures originally implemented by conservatives in Congress.
McConnell promised conservatives that a new majority would never sign off on a Homeland Security funding bill without outlawing Obama’s executive amnesty program. Instead, he immediately surrendered to Obama’s demands.
McConnell used the Senate to pass $630 billion in tax breaks for his lobbyist buddies; he used the rules of the senate to sink conservative policy while helping liberals advance their own agenda through amendments to legislation.
McConnell doesn’t represent the Republican Party, and he certainly doesn’t share the anti-establishment characteristics of the presumptive nominees in Trump/Pence. Instead, McConnell is a political hack that has made a career out of politics and the cronyism it has afforded him.
In his own book, he boasts of becoming a career politician; enthused at the mere idea of a lifetime in the seats of power. He stands before conservatives professing to be one of us, yet repeatedly writes, in his own memoir, how much he despises the Tea Party or anti-establishment members for fighting for small government; and instead, whines that they should simply accept that “in the Senate, we don’t get everything we want.”
Before you tonight was not a Senator, nor a majority leader, but a mascot that represents a party that has lost our trust; a party that chose a candidate that, frankly, it nominated in spite of McConnell and the establishment he seeks to protect. McConnell doesn’t represent us – and he shouldn’t represent the Republican Party. (For more from the author of “McConnell Spoke, America Stopped Watching the Convention” please click HERE)
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