(Caricature of Mitch McConnell is by DonkeyHotey.)Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote an op-ed for Fox News a couple of days ago. In it, he bragged about how bipartisan the Senate had been under his leadership, and called for House Democrats to be bipartisan when they take control in January. Here is just part of what he wrote:
The Senate has proven its ability to reach bipartisan solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing our nation. And looking ahead to the coming year, there will be no shortage of opportunities to continue this impressive record of cooperation across the aisle and across the Capitol. What we can make of those opportunities will depend on our Democratic colleagues. Will they choose to go it alone and simply make political points? Or will they choose to work together and actually make a difference? Last week, the American people made it abundantly clear that they prefer that Congress focus on making a difference. That message may have been lost on a few House Democrats, who have made clear their preference for investigations over policy results. After years of rhetoric, it’s hardly news that some are more interested in fanning the flames of division than reaching across the aisle. All the ridiculous op-ed shows is that McConnell is a master of the art of hypocrisy. He evidently thinks the American people will forget his actions of the last 10 years. No one in Congress has been more partisan than Mitch McConnell since 2008.
He made it his objective to oppose everything President Obama tried to do -- with no regard as to whether it might be good for the country or not. It was enough for him to oppose it just because it was proposed by a Democratic president. That never changed throughout the full eight years of the Obama administration.
And when a Supreme Court vacancy occurred, McConnell refused to act on Obama's appointment of Merrick Garland -- delaying any action on the nomination until a Republican took the White House.
Once Trump took office, McConnell continued his partisanship. Never once did he invite Democrats to participate in creating legislation, and he blocked any effort to compromise -- refusing to bring any Democratic -supported bill to the Senate floor. He also made sure the whitewash of Trump was successful in the Senate. Even after calling on Democrats to be bipartisan, he killed an effort to bring a bill to the floor that would protect the Mueller investigation.
There have been many majority leaders (of both parties), but there has never been one as blatantly partisan as Mitch McConnell. His claim of being bipartisan is absurd, and so is his call for Democrats to reach across the aisle -- something he never did!
