How Mitch McConnell Helped My Spelling

Kit O’Connor, Frankfort, KY

It doesn’t matter how well educated you are or how many books you’ve read. There are always words that you’ll have trouble spelling. For me, these are the words lavender (is it -er? -ar?) and hypocrisy. Does it end with -cracy like democracy or -crisy like Chrissy Teigen with no h and one s?

Good news and bad news, friends. I have used the word hypocrisy so many times in reference to Kentucky’s senior senator, Mitch McConnell, that I now longer hesitate to spell it. Thanks to his shenanigans, I have blurted, sung, spoken, and shouted the word. I’ll be frank. I am tired of the word, but even more tired of his hypocrisy itself.

It should concern us all, regardless of party, when a political leader proves himself to be a full fledged hypocrite. Right and wrong should never be partisan. It is incumbent on both parties to do the right thing by its constituents and our country. Which is what makes Mitch McConnell’s penchant for hypocrisy totally unacceptable.

After Justice Antonin Scalia’s death in February, 2016, President Obama nominated Merrick Garland to replace him. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, amidst cries from all corners to “do your job!” held firm and blocked Mr. Garland from even getting a hearing and letting the Senate decide the course of his nomination. He held the Supreme Court seat open until a president from his party, Donald Trump, entered office. His reasoning at the time? It didn’t make sense to seat a justice in an election year.

Fast forward to 2019. When asked if he would try to confirm a justice were a justice to leave an open seat in the months upcoming before the 2020 election, Mitch McConnell, smiling proudly, said “Oh, we’d fill it.” This hypocrisy is overwhelming, and there’s much more.

I think we can agree that, like him or not, President Obama has been relatively quiet since leaving office. However, recently, in a call with alumni of his administration, a call that was pretty certain to be leaked to the public, he “described the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic as an “absolute chaotic disaster.” and raised alarm that the Justice Department’s attempt to dismiss charges against Michael Flynn put the rule of law at risk.

Mitch McConnell responded by saying that “I think President Obama should have kept his mouth shut,” and accused him of being classless. (Washington Post)

As Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post said, ”A sense of shame is not in the McConnell playbook.” While he’s more than willing to criticize Mr. Obama, he refuses to call the truly classless behavior and language of Mr. Trump. Whether it’s Trump’s provocative tweet about the death of Joe Scarborough’s aide from years ago, rude and demeaning language to reporters, or Trump’s telling “four nonwhite Democratic congresswomen that they should “go back” to “the crime infested places from which they came,” Mr. McConnell could not care less about class. (Washington Post)

Moreover, when asked about the Trump administration’s violent response to American citizens protesting police brutality or his aggressive rhetoric to our country’s governors, Mitch simply said “I’m not going to critique other people’s performances,”

Wait. What? But you’ll critique President Obama for speaking the truth in a private meeting? Mr. McConnell, your hypocrisy is overwhelming.

How could my senior senator remain silent when my fellow Americans, protesting peacefully, were forcefully removed using pepper spray, smoke canisters and rubber bullets AND ahead of a curfew in Lafayette Square in Washington DC in order for what? For our president to stage a photo op? https://www.npr.org/2020/06/01/867532070/trumps-unannounced-church-visit-angers-church-officials

And how does he think he has any credibility in condemning China’s actions on the anniversary of Tiananmen Square when he blocked a resolution from Minority Leader Schumer condemning the Trump Administration’s use of force on peaceful demonstrators?

I’m sure I’ve been a hypocrite here and there, I’m human. But once is a mistake, multiple times is a pattern, and the senior senator from Kentucky is exhibiting a damning pattern, one that’s unbecoming a senate majority leader.

You know, I was a spelling champion in elementary school but spelling the word hypocrisy has pestered me for years. Not anymore. It’s not how I wish I had learned this lesson. Kentucky, I don’t care how you spell, but I do care how you vote. We can and must do better in November.

Kit O’Connor is a founding member of the MMRC. They live in Frankfort, KY with their spouse, Nate Orshan. Kit is a lifelong activist, advocate and educator with a focus on human rights, particularly refugee and migrant rights and LGBTQ+ rights. Besides teaching high school, they enjoy public speaking and providing workshops about a range of issues from citizen lobbying to human rights messaging. You can Follow Kit on Twitter @ KitUnbridled