How Do You Soften the Image of a Stone-cold Liar Like Senator McConnell?

Alan Rappeport published an article titled McConnell Softens Image in the Homestretch.

My question, after thirty years of living with him as my senator, was: how do you soften a stone-cold, heartless, liar who should have been a one-term senator? Of course, I was curious enough to read the article. 

Usually, I consider it my civic duty to dissect Senator McConnell’s words for his supporters since they willingly relinquished critical thinking skills years ago. This time, I am gong to dissect Alan Rappeport’s words about Senator McConnell. 

The rhetorical gunfight in Kentucky’s Senate race seems to have been holstered, for the moment.

Nice. Sadly, Alison Grimes set herself up to be the butt of this joke with her ridiculous ad in which she uses a gun to shoot the enthusiasm out of this supporter. It’s very hard to keep the momentum going when I have to apologize for my candidate’s position, or for what I consider a dangerous decision. I hate guns, the NRA, and most people who support them. However, even though this would have been a game changer for me in the primary, she is still the much better choice. So much so that I don’t even have to consider this voting for the lesser of two evils. 

With midterm elections a little more than a month away, Senator Mitch McConnell is going positive.

Not quite true, Mr. Rappeport. Senator McConnell is putting out ads that might appear positive to you. The truth is, they are packed with lies. You would know this if you had checked his record. And there is nothing positive about lies. 

A new one-minute ad features how a grandfatherly Mr. McConnell, the Republican facing the Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes, helped to retrieve a young girl who had been abducted by her father and taken to Mali.

Picking nits here but this is one kinda-sorta-positive ad. That doesn't qualify going positive in my book. 

Grandfatherly is a strange way to see him. Have you ever tried to Google information about his actual grandchildren? If so, you probably ended up on my blog, and left disappointed. Grounds for Divorce   and On Behalf of My Grandchildren,Senator McConnell, I Share My Pain With You are two of the most popular entries on my McConnell blog and, sadly for those Googling to find out about his family, neither has anything to do with his divorce or grandchildren. If there is anything out there about his daughters or their children, I haven’t seen it. If they have ever stood on the stage to support him, I missed it. If they acknowledge him, it will be a surprise to me. 

There’s a young man in my community who says he was once an officer in a local young Republican group. He was excited to see Senator McConnell on an airplane and approached to introduce himself as an officer of the group. Senator McConnell didn’t bother to look up from his newspaper. So, anyone who has done their homework knows there is nothing warm and fuzzy or grandfatherly about Senator McConnell. He doesn’t even appear sincere in the photo-ops that are supposed to make him seem like a nice guy.

 

The girl’s mother, Noelle Hunter, said that Mr. McConnell worked with the State Department and the government of Mali to secure her daughter’s safety.

It was his job to do that. Any examples where he helped people when it wasn’t his job? 

“He cared about me and my children when other people didn’t,” Ms. Hunter said, recalling that Mr. McConnell even met them at the airport upon her daughter’s return. “Mitch never stopped fighting for us.”

I’m very happy for Ms. Hunter and her family. This is a wonderful story. But, I don’t believe, and I doubt anyone else believes, that other people didn’t care. The difference might be that Senator McConnell was in a position to pick up a phone and direct others to get this done. I would have done the same in that position as I’m sure most people reading this would have. Alison Grimes will do the same. The fact that a senator did this is not unusual. What matters here is that Senator McConnell has proven, repeatedly, that he cares very little about his constituents, about veterans nationwide, about unemployed and underemployed nationwide, about the middle class nationwide, about poverty nationwide, about education nationwide . . .   

The upbeat ad, which makes no mention of Ms. Grimes, follows a summer of sparring between the candidates on everything from President Obama’s health law to how to hold a gun.

Senator McConnell has made no mention of Secretary Grimes ever. He habitually lets his POTUS envy show by only talking about President Obama, as though he is running against him. He is an embarrassment when he says that Secretary Grimes will be a rubber stamp for President Obama, since President Obama will only be in office two of the six years of her first term, and especially since he was a rubber stamp for George Bush. 

Mr. McConnell’s poll numbers appear to have stabilized in recent weeks, and the Senate minority leader looks ready to show his softer side.

Sure. If you call circling the drain stable. He’s ready to show off, though. I’ll give Mr. Rappeport that much.

Let's Talk About Legacy, Senator McConnell

Dear Senator McConnell:

Legacy:  something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past legacy of the ancient philosophers>

Thirty years is a long enough pattern to become legacy. When looking at your thirty years in office and focusing, as most people will, on the years since 2007 when you became the Minority Leader in the Senate, your legacy should not make you (or your children and grandchildren who will have to live with it) proud. You will be remembered mostly for your vow to make President Obama a one-term President, with no concern for how badly your attempts to do that harmed the residents of Kentucky, the nation, and the world. You will also be remembered for your pork, which you bragged about for years until your party decided it was a terrible, horrible, must-be-stopped-and-criticized-forever activity. Your filibuster record, including the fact that you are the only Senator to filibuster his own bill, will most surely brighten up a few history classes.

Regardless of the something a voter considers important, you have left the majority of us with less than we had before – exactly like the parent who dies and leaves his children with more overdue bills than assets.

We have fewer jobs. People work harder for lower wages, and each dollar buys less than it did when you came into office. Many people lost their homes and their health care, and are unable to feed themselves and their families. When given an opportunity to vote for something that helps, you consistently refuse to help. Even if it were true that the majority were doing better (and that is not true), ignoring the people who are hurting the worst is inexcusable. Inhumane disregard for those in need will be your legacy. I will help keep that legacy alive for you as long as I can and then ask my grandchildren to continue for me.

Unfortunately for you, regardless of party affiliation/registration, most of us would say we have lost rights during your leadership. Your side screams about being persecuted Christians who are no longer able to pray in school and plaster the commandments they can’t remember on every public space so they’ll never forget to ignore them in public. They mourn the fact that their party has not delivered the theocracy they want, that big brother is watching over home-grown terrorist groups/militias, that they might possibly be close to losing the right to be armed and ready to kill in the grocery and daycare. They are fearful that they might be forced to work somewhere that won’t cause them to have black lung, and that a same-sex couple will get married and cause their spouses to abandon them. Both sides are angry about feeling spied on. Failure to protect our rights will be your legacy (Remember

The Protect America Act and Legislation Related to the Domestic Surveillance Program

which you introduced but tried to squirrel away from?).

You are in a no-win legacy position, Senator. Your destruction makes you a loser from my proud liberal perspective. The fact that you didn’t destroy this country quite enough makes you unpopular on your own side. If I were you, I’d wish I had been a one-term Senator.

You still have a month to change all of this. You could admit the truth, apologize, and resign. I would remember you quite differently and bet others would, too.

If not for yourself, you might want to consider your party. If, by chance, you care about anything other than yourself. In the thirty years that you have been in office, your party has been circling the bowl. Making that last-ditch-effort change might encourage others in your party to do the same before the final flush. (Food for thought doesn’t really work here, but you get the idea.)

This is what a winning legacy looks like: Ted Kennedy   

Sandy

Who Donated All That Money to the National Association of Realtors Congressional Fund?

I keep seeing the disgustingly dishonest Mitch McConnell campaign ad in which someone must think there are people ignorant enough to believe that Senator McConnell cares a single bit about the middle class. No one, not even the people who continue to support him, could possibly believe anything that ridiculous but the ad continues to run. Shameful.

Since my gut tied into knots the first time I saw the ad, and my gut has seldom been wrong in my sixty years of living with it, and Senator McConnell didn't appear at the end to say he approved these lies, I decided to look into the group that sponsored the ad: The National Association of Realtors Congressional Fund. Huh?

Per Center for Responsive Politics, this is a super PAC that contributes to both the Democratic and Republican Parties (or Democrat Party if you ask a Republican and Republic Party if you ask me, because I'm just that silly), usually favoring Democrats. So, why, in 2014, are they spending a small fortune on Mitch McConnell? This makes no sense to me. 

The association spent more than $22 million on lobbying last year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP). Guess that's a project for later, or for someone else (hint hint)
 
They don't disclose their donors because they don't have to.  This is all I was able to find on the Center for Responsive (why not responsible?) Politics site.

Turns out they also spent a great deal ($709,000) on a primary race in California , to defend an incumbent Republican (Miller), who decided to run in a different district with less competition, and who sat on the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees real estate and insurance. (Thanks, Citizens United, for making it impossible for regular people like me to have a voice in this housing mess.)

--Gut doing somersaults so I kept looking-- 

*Just heard the dishonest ad for the third time while putting this together. Somersaults and cramps getting worse.

Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group had this to add:

Interesting side note and snark - This organization has a Code of Ethics, which I find totally meaningless.


I end up with more questions and no answers. Where are they going to spend the $6million they have on hand? And, does this mean they want to make sure nothing changes in housing? I sure want to see changes. Big changes.


Me 

I'm Senator McConnell and I approve this lie

Dear Senator McConnell aka OfKoch:

All of your ads disgust me but the new one I saw today made my blood boil a little more than usual. You are bragging about holding this country hostage? And criticizing Democrats for negotiating with  you, the hostage holder, because that was the only way to save what little is left of this country after your party destroyed it? Are you serious?!

As if that wasn't bad enough, someone--obviously not in his right mind--suggested that you were the only adult in the room? Oh. your. god. Unbelievable. Unless, maybe Team Mitch thinks adult diapers qualify you. President Obama was the adult in the room when he took office and has remained so. I hope you will take some much needed time (you have plenty, since you work so few hours and spend so much time in the air, flying to fund raisers) to think seriously about how pathetic you look when you allow your POTUS envy to show so often. Also, you might want to think about how you bring President Obama with you everywhere you go and you don't look good in comparison. 

Once again, you and your supporters are embarrassments to Kentucky. No wonder we have a reputation of being a bunch of backwoods yahoos who couldn't pass second grade. Shame on you for preying on their ignorance instead of trying to help them. Shame.

Sandy


p.s. If Rod Kuegal is truly a Democrat, he's proof that there is at least one Democrat who is as stupid as a Republican

Another vote for Barack Obama? Sounds Good to Me!

Dear Senator McConnell:

I want to thank you for the ads reminding me that a vote for Alison Grimes is a vote for Barack Obama. I was discouraged when she ran the stupid gun ad, proclaiming that she is not Barack Obama. You've restored my faith in her.

You see, I voted for President Obama twice, and have watched you obstruct everything he wanted to do - the very things that we elected him to do. You seem to not believe in our system; to think that your desire to destroy this country is more important than the votes of THE American people. I would love to see President Obama get a third term to make up for your lies and obstruction. Since that can't happen, I will vote for everyone who is willing to work with him.

It's so seldom I get to thank you for anything. This feels great.

Sincerely,

Sandy

Golden McConnell Oldies: Collection of times Senataor McConnell embarrassed his constituents

Here's what happens when Senator McConnell doesn't read bills (as he has admitted, publicly, many times) and what happens when his brain dead supporters don't either, and just accept his rhetoric/lies  






McConnell's voting record and position on issues

McConnell’s revisionist history

01/31/12 08:41 AM—Updated 08/07/13 08:15 AM

"Republicans have created a 60 vote Senate in which virtually every item is filibustered. That was never the case before January 2009; it’s been the case ever since."  from: Ten Miles Square

Blog, November 01, 2013 4:57 AM Of Course Mitch McConnell Has “Blocked” the Senate 400 Times

Life With Mitch McConnell Update, 9/15/14

Mitch McConnell desperately defends citizens united in unhinged op-ed 

McConnell says minimum wage hike is a job killer but once the economy rebounds it might make sense (nothing like trying to play both sides, Loser McConnell)





  Disagree with two things Senator Reid said: Mitch McConnell is not his or our friend, and he shouldn't call on Senator McConnell to walk back the ugly things he does. That's just silly.

Received this unsolicited insult in my g-mail box from Diane Umbarger, volunteer@action.gop.com

I’ve been coming out to volunteer for the RNC every weekend for the past few months, and I wanted to give you a quick update from the field.

GOP.com

Sandy, We haven't met, but I’m an RNC volunteer from Mooresville, NC. I’ve been coming out to volunteer for the RNC every weekend for the past few months, and I wanted to give you a quick update from the field. You might think I'm crazy for giving up my free time to knock on doors and talk to voters, but I know it makes a difference. Let me prove it to you. . . One day, I was knocking on doors, talking to people about how much this election will change the course of our country. And at one house I met a student who had never voted before. The RNC had given me the intel that he wasn't registered, and I was able to quickly register him and give him the info he needed to get to the voting booth in November. Another time I was door knocking, I met an elderly couple that was frustrated about the direction of the country. They’d lost hope in their grandchildren’s future and didn’t see why their vote even mattered. I explained how important the Senate election is in North Carolina and put my RNC training to good use describing the gravity of the situation. Finally, they got it and agreed to turn out and vote in November! This is exciting stuff! Real people are turning out to vote Republican because of conversations with volunteers like me. I'm obviously passionate about winning back the Senate. So I wanted to email you and encourage you to sign up to volunteer as well. As a volunteer, you get to speak directly with voters every day where they live. And you get to see the difference you’re making directly to the elections. In local neighborhoods, the RNC really is the front line for Republican victories. They give me and all the other volunteers the resources, training and data we need to turn out Republican voters. Join me in helping Republicans win. See you in the field! Diane Umbarger RNC Volunteer    Is it legal to combine campaigning and voter registration? ***** Future of this blog: When Alison Grimes replaces Mitch McConnell as my Senator in November, this will become the Life With Alison Grimes blog, where I will hold her feet to the fire the same as I have his. I started that today by posting this on her Facebook page entry about her new ad in which she shoots a gun.  I hate feeling used and that is exactly how I feel after seeing this ad. I hate it. Hate, hate, hate it. I have do all I can to help Alison Grimes defeat Mitch McConnell because my state, country, and world can't take another day of that dishonest, destructive obstructionist. So, I will support her campaign and vote for her. And in November, I will change my blog from Life With Mitch McConnell to Life With Alison Grimes and hold her feet to the fire the same as I have his if she continues this ridiculous disregard for Democrats, sensible people who do not want guns in our lives, people who want something better than coal, and the millions of us who support President Obama and dislike the people who keep throwing him under the bus. Very disappointed.

Ouch! Fossil McConnell Tries to Steal President Obama's Campaign Slogan

Dear Senator McConnell:

Enough! Seriously, the embarrassment I feel for you (and my State by extension) is painful.

You, the fossil of change? The irony. The only things that appear to change in your world are your ally, Rand Paul's stances, and that is also pain inducing.

Once again, I remind you that Team Mitch does not seem to be on your side. Your party is still asking stupid questions (so often that they have become cliche) like, "How's that hope and change working for you," making it perfectly obvious they are hopeless regressives. So, your team decides to annoy them by pretending you might sorta wanna be the feeble, 72-year-old agent of change? If it weren't so pathetic, it would be laughable. If Kentucky is stupid enough to elect you again, my guess is the only thing you could possibly change during your next term would be Depends.

This makes your POTUS envy even more obvious, and sad.
 

After 30 years in Senate, McConnell tries to run as 'candidate of change'

 Sandy

How Senator Mitch McConnell Can Redeem Himself

Dear Senator McConnell:

When I saw your campaign ad that tries to attach a negative connotation on President Obama saying, "We don't have a strategy yet," I was confused. First, you are not running against President Obama. Oh, yeah, guess we can chalk that up to your obsessive POTUS envy, and accept it as admission that you know you can't beat Alison Grimes so you are trying, once again, to beat President Obama. (I remind you that you did not make President Obama a one-term President, and despite your obstructionism he has done quite well, so this doesn't look like a winning strategy for you.) 

Even if you were running against President Obama, it would seem rather pathetic of you to find fault with that statement. I suppose it's difficult for you to understand a man with character; someone who can, will, and does tell the truth. 

This made me think about the sad position you are in - nearing retirement with legacy that will disappoint your offspring and remember you as a dishonest, disgraceful obstructionist. Possibly, a traitor. I'm writing to offer my advice on how you might turn that lemon into lemonade. Possibly be remembered as a true patriot after all.

The American people (I honestly believe I am in a better, more informed position to speak for us than you are) love rebirth stories, especially the ones complete with admissions and apologies. When an addict finally comes clean with the world, they are elevated to super hero status, given book deals, and paraded out on talk shows.

The same could be true for you. All you need to do is admit that you are powerless over your addiction to GOP greed and dishonesty, and that you have given up your hypocrisy and asked a true higher power to save you from that sick addiction. Apologize to Kentucky, America, and the world for all the damage you have done and vow to never, ever, go anywhere near politics again.

I would respect you and bet others would, too.

Sandy

p.s. Are you sure Team Mitch is on your side? Sure doesn't look that way to me.

Finally, one thing that Mitch McConnell and I can agree on

Dear Senator McConnell:


I'm sure you know how difficult it is for me to admit that you are right about something. Fortunately, I'm strong so I'm toughing this out like a champ.

I just saw your ad that starts out talking about how Washington is broken. That's so true. We have you there, obstructing progress. It's a huge mess.

The ad goes on to say that President Obama (only they don't use the P word, considering your terribly obvious POTUS envy) needs Alison Grimes and Kentucky needs Mitch McConnell. I couldn't agree more. And I am doing everything I can to send Alison to Washington and keep you here in Kentucky.

In a state near shock,

Sandy

McConnell Updates 9/2/14

10 reasons Why Dems Will Hold Senate 

     Personally, I'd say Mitch McConnell should be the number one reason. That should scare all voters.

Finally, MSM is unable to ignore this story  

THE WALK - VoteVets Ad in Kentucky 

     Story behind the ad: Veterans Group spends $300K to attack Sen. McConnell 

     "Of course a liberal Obama advocacy group that specializes in misleading ads has descended into Kentucky on behalf of Alison Lundergan Grimes," McConnell spokeswoman Alison Moore said in a statement." Any time someone tells the truth about Senator McConnell, he and his allies/cronies/brain dead supporters call it an attack.

McConnell vows to block minimum wage hike

 

Ky. hears contrasting messages in Senate race

      "The senator was intent on bringing up what he considers a questionable deal involving how much the Grimes campaign is paying for its bus. The secretary was equally eager to tell the Farm Bureau that McConnell was rarely in attendance at meetings and hearings of the Senate Agriculture Committee." People with any sense will note that he has to say "questionable" and "potential" because there is no story here - unlike recently recorded statements in which he makes promises to the Kochs, and the unquestionable, very real scandal with his campaign manager. 

 In case you missed it: Mitch McConnell's campaign manager quits in the wake of Iowa Ron Paul scandal

Follow the Money, Follow Your Nose: Mitch McConnell, the Ghost of Jesse Benton & Karl Rove’s Banker (Long Read) - See more at: http://www.barefootandprogressive.com/2014/09/follow-the-money-follow-your-nose-mitch-mcconnell-the-ghost-of-jesse-benton-karl-roves-banker-long-read.html#sthash.DGT34dcb.dpuf