The turtle peeks out from its shell: McConnell releases a message
Sen. Mitch McConnell on Sunday broke his silence on his hospital stay with a statement issued by his office claiming he fell but didn’t suffer a stroke or heart attack — and it included a photo of the politician smiling for extra measure. …
The Kentucky pol suffered “minor injuries” in his fall but then contracted pneumonia, which complicated his health situation, the statement said.
“My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion. I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages,” McConnell said in the statement.
“But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital. While receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, I’ve also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia.”
McConnell’s doctors attributed his fall to his post-polio condition. At the age of 2, he contracted polio, and since then, his upper left leg has suffered from paralysis.
The Office of the Attending Physician for the senator added, “Early in his hospitalization, he developed pneumonia, which responded rapidly to antibiotic treatment.
“The remainder of his hospital stay focused on physical therapy and strategies to reduce his risk of future falls. He has been medically cleared to continue fully participating in his intensive physical therapy program.”
This all makes a certain amount of sense except for a couple of things. The first is that, if he never had a concussion, why was he “briefly unconscious”? That hasn’t been explained at all. Second, his physical condition is probably worse than the statement indicates if he’s still in inpatient rehab and deemed unable to go to the Senate even to vote.
Peeks out of his shell?
More likely, flailing away helplessly as he rocks belly up on it.
Hope he’ll be able to flip over, though…
Meanwhile, Turley dissects why it’s virtually impossible to defame Hunter Biden and why the recent judgment in Golden Boy’s favor is so absolutely bizarre:
“The Absurdity Of The Hunter Biden Defamation Case”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/absurdity-hunter-biden-defamation-case
a statement issued by his office
McConnell’s staff released the message. Your guess is as good as mine how much McConnell himself contributed to it.
@Barry Meislin:why it’s virtually impossible to defame Hunter Biden
In old times, a person could not win a defamation suit unless they actually had a good reputation to lose.
…deemed unable to go to the Senate even to vote.
Uhg. I see Lindsey’s sister Darline Graham Nordone has been appointed to complete Lindsey’s term.
This was covered in later comments previously. I agree with Niketas that it smacks of dynastic procession. OTOH, it might prevent some internecine squabbling over who gets the governor’s nod. However, it would definitely be bad, IMO, if she turns the senate into her lifetime job, like so many do.
TJ, I doubt Graham’s sister is meant to be the permanent replacement for him in the Senate. She’ll be a safe, pro Trump vote in the interim until a real replacement is elected. That’s likely to be the current Governor, another Trump supporter.
Re the Turtle, Glenn Childers in his C&C column yesterday posited that the GOP just has to keep him alive until August 3rd, at which point its too late for a special election. If he resigns or dies after that date, Ted Cruz would take his place as chair of the Senate Rules committee and loosen the obstructing rules Turtle has in place to block the Save America Act in his hatred of Trump.
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/mystery-turtle-sunday-july-12-2026
Nik, indeed, that’s the gist of it…
(But there’s more to this tangled tale. Much more… Jonathan Turley is a gift.)
…Speaking of gifts, Lee Smith has a bit of “fun” (if not exactly glee) at the expense of Egypt’s soccer coach…and what passes for the national ethos (though with some notable exceptions…).
“The Culture of Loserdom;
“How the Egyptians and their fans—including NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani—turned their World Cup collapse into a master class in third-world resentment”—
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/sports/articles/culture-loserdom-egypt-world-cup
H/T Powerline blog.
He’s not in presentable condition or they’d march in a few reporters for him to greet them. I doubt he had anything to do with that statement.
Sam Nunn offered this account of how, as a thirty-three year old state legislator, he managed to win a primary over an incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator in 1972. “Any time you have an appointed Senator, you have four or five factions who didn’t get the job”. Putting Mrs. Nordine in the position for a four month stint might prove a satisfactory way for the Governor &c. to remain neutral in the snap Republican primary to be held next month.
Neo- a “brief” loss of conciousness can have many causes, cardiac arrhytmias among them. That happened to me; I fell because I briefly lost consciousness, was in ICU for a few days. Only with a Holter monitor were my intermittent slow heartbeats detected and demonstrated. It takes only 15-20 seconds to lower cardiac output —> a faint. Pacemaker fixed it.
CICERO:
Glad you’re doing okay.
But my point is that, if it was just a fall from his post-polio syndrome weakenss – which is what they seem to be indicating – he wouldn’t have lost consciousness unless he also got a concussion. And they’re saying he didn’t have a concussion. So the fall wouldn’t have just been from post-polio, if he lost consciousness – however briefly. It would have almost certainly been something else going on as well.
@bill fello:TJ, I doubt Graham’s sister is meant to be the permanent replacement for him in the Senate. She’ll be a safe, pro Trump vote in the interim until a real replacement is elected.
1) South Carolina has 5 million people and I bet they could find at least 2 million people who would be that and NOT be Graham’s sister.
2) This is how we got Lisa Murkowski. Her father appointed her to serve out the rest of his Senate term in 2002 and she’s been there ever since.
Niketas:
And any of those 2 million might be even MORE likely to stick around and want to keep the job.
But more importantly, your analogy to Murkowski is quite flawed for one simple reason: Murkowski had been in politics BEFORE her father appointed her to fill his seat. Not only did she have proven political ambitions, she had a proven political track record as a twice-elected representative and was due to get a leadership position as Majority Leader in the Alaska House.
Here’s the record I’m talking about:
Plus, she got to hold her appointed seat for 2 years before running again in November of 2004.
Of course, it’s possible that Graham’s sister will want to run in November. But she gives no indication of it, and she wouldn’t have much time left to prepare, either. She has never shown any political ambitions for herself, as far as I know. And she’s in her 60s. Murkowski was 45 when she was appointed and had obvious and proven political ambitions and had already embarked on that road prior to the appointment.
26 % of SC voters are black, and 90 % voted for Biden. There you have it. Drones.
@neo:And any of those 2 million might be even MORE likely to stick around and want to keep the job.
Any governor worthy of the name ought to have a short list of vetted, suitable people should the need arise, there’s really no need for nepotism for filling Senate positions, or any need on our part to make excuses for nepotism.
Niketas:
Of course there’s no NEED for nepotism. Nor did I say there was a need for it.
But your argument against this particular appointment, and your analogy to Murkowski, doesn’t hold water, IMO, and I explained why.
@neo:your argument
No argument, just hyperbole. In reality there are probably only 2000 or 200 or maybe 20 better options, not 2 million.
and your analogy to Murkowski
No analogy, an example. You think she’s not a good example. Jean Carnahan is perhaps a better one.
there’s no NEED for nepotism.
Glad we agree. There’s also no need for excuses for nepotism, in my opinion.
…why was he “briefly unconscious”?
Maybe he fainted before, during, or after his fall?
I recall that GWB fainted at least once during his presidency, and the cause was not a major health issue.
No analogy, an example
==
Spin spin spin
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Any governor worthy of the name
==
No, he shouldn’t. These appointments are infrequent one-offs. The governor should be concerned with who might be a good candidate for consequential policy-making positions in state government.
“No argument”
Yes you are so unfair neo! When has nik ever been known to argue?
Can’t really say in public what I think of a man with 3 double letters in his last name; however, the man did get THREE Supreme Court nominees through the Senate during Donald Trump’s presidency—which certainly wasn’t an easy task.
Rumor has it that Mitch is actually in ‘HIDING with BIGFOOT and ELVIS…‘
Michael Ramirez: CARTOON: Where’s Mitch?
https://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/michael-ramirez/cartoon-wheres-mitch-3849690/?