Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell's retirement as GOP leader and decision not to run again when his term ends brings down the curtain on one of the more consequential Senate leaders in our history.
McConnell's greatest legacy will be reshaping the federal judiciary – including the Supreme Court – making it more conservative in outlook, temperament and political inclinations than is has been in nearly a century.
Those changes will endure long after McConnell has left the scene, which is a big reason why the left is happy to see him go.
But the right is also happy to see McConnell leave – for reasons that show how morally decrepit and intellectually bankrupt portions of the right have become.
Consider this posting from the House Freedom Caucus account commenting on McConnell's impending departure:
Our thoughts are with our Democrat colleagues in the Senate on the retirement of their Co-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (D-Ukraine).
No need to wait till November… Senate Republicans should IMMEDIATELY elect a *Republican* Minority Leader.
There's a lot to unpack in this brief missive. Among the items is an acknowledgement that yes, Sen. McConnell is a major supporter of providing further aid to Ukraine as it fights for its life against Vladimir Putin's war machine.
Republican populists think this war isn't their concern – Putin never did anything to them (and he believes so many of the things we do!), and we have other items to address at home including immigration…um…assorted impeachments…cracking down on the Biden crime family……and stuff (like maybe getting a new speaker, because the new guy just doesn't cosplay nearly enough).
Once upon a time, American conservatives used to believe in standing beside those who fought for freedom – and against the “evil empire' that Putin is intent on rebuilding.
Heck, conservatives used to believe in NATO, too. In a 1982 speech, President Ronald Reagan said tyrannies like the Soviet Union were bound to fail. He was right. But it took a willingness and determination to stand with those who wanted to be free:
It is time that we committed ourselves as a nation — in both the public and private sectors — to assisting democratic development….
What I am describing now is a plan and a hope for the long term — the march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people. And that's why we must continue our efforts to strengthen NATO even as we move forward with our zero-option initiative in the negotiations on intermediate-range forces and our proposal for a one-third reduction in strategic ballistic missile warheads.
Our military strength is a prerequisite to peace, but let it be clear we maintain this strength in the hope it will never be used, for the ultimate determinant in the struggle that's now going on in the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas, a trial of spiritual resolve, the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish, the ideals to which we are dedicated.
Mitch McConnell came to the Senate in 1984, when Reagan was in the White House and it was “morning again in America.”
McConnell still believes in those ideas. The Republicans he will leave behind? Too busy hustling for “likes” to care.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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