Punchbowl News reports that the former Senate majority leader, who is retiring after his current term ends in January, lost consciousness at his Washington, D.C., home at 8:36 a.m. on June 14, before a dispatcher sent over an Advanced Life Support ambulance. Journalist Desiree Townsend posted a recording of the call from the emergency dispatcher Tuesday afternoon to X.

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[–] 130 points 4 months ago (5 children)

Don’t party, he’s still alive, and an absolute disgrace to turtles.

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  • [–] 69 points 4 months ago

    He is one of the most responsible people for where American politics are today.
    Absolutely no conscience and no morals, he is as close to pure evil a politician can get. He was among the main people that created the circumstances that allowed Trump to become president of USA.

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  • [–] 65 points 4 months ago

    He died as he lived. Holding up Senate business for his own personal bullshit reasons.

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  • [–] 54 points 4 months ago (4 children)

    At what point is it elder abuse to let him keep trying to work as a senator?

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  • [–] 48 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    Ask Dianne Feinstein. Staffers were dragging her hand to the vote-clicker by the end, because she could barely move herself.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago

    Politicians should not be working right up to the moment of death.

    Clearly the work isn't too difficult if these people are choosing not to retire. Clearly the pay and benefits (and under-the-table backroom dealing) is too sweet to pass up for a happy retirement.

    I guess when you get so many days of paid vacation, healthcare, and access to billionaires bribing you with luxury vacations, who needs to retire? It's not like they're out there going door to door serving their constituents...

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  • [–] 39 points 4 months ago
    [–] 34 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    Set the dancing crabs on high alert.

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  • [–] 33 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    He's a horrible person who deserves no peace and no dignity.

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  • [+] 31 points 4 months ago (2 children)
  • [+] 26 points 4 months ago (2 children)
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    [–] 27 points 4 months ago (7 children)

    If I found him I'd have left him

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  • [–] 8 points 4 months ago (6 children)
  • [–] 0 points 4 months ago (5 children)

    Some, very few, have @lemmy.ml

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  • [+] -7 points 4 months ago (4 children)

    And .world has none, only those who get in the way of real progressive politics. Hehe

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    Boo, that's not even a joke, just particularly lame divisiveness.

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  • [–] -4 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    You can dish it out but you can’t take it. I made the same joke you did, but I’m divisive? Because I’m anti imperialist? I don’t get it. Thanks for making this not fun

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  • [–] 25 points 4 months ago

    Thoughts and prayers

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  • [–] 25 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    At his funeral, throw a fire extinguisher in his grave. Where he is going, he will need it.

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  • [–] 25 points 4 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 25 points 4 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 22 points 4 months ago

    Why couldn't this have happened like, 20 years ago

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  • [–] 20 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    June 14th? And we only hear of this 2 weeks later?!?

    What about the Kennedy Center?

    What about those Trump-Epstein Files?

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  • [–] 20 points 4 months ago

    Don't forget what a piece of shit this guy has been his whole adult life.

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  • [–] 19 points 4 months ago*

    You know, dying in office used to be notable and fairly uncommon. Mostly assassinations, plane accidents, etc.

    But now our government is more of a hospice than anything else.

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  • [–] 38 points 4 months ago (24 children)

    We need term limits for Congress.

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  • [–] 17 points 4 months ago (10 children)

    You're lucky it's limited to alive people only. I wouldn't be surprised if Supreme Court got rid this limit as well.

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  • [–] 15 points 4 months ago (9 children)

    You mean like corporations are people and they can run for congress also? New nightmare unlocked.

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  • [–] 6 points 4 months ago (3 children)
  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    Yeah, how hard would it be for any competent lawyer or accountant to spin up a few thousand privately and closely held C Corporations per day. How much is a vote worth? According to the trial court judge (there's room for at least two appeals to get to the Delaware Supreme Court thank Voticulus, god of elections and tiny candles), $150 plus postage.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Bah, why even go to that much trouble when they can just ask AI what the results of an election would be?

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (2 children)

    No, they will decide to give AI personhood. Thereby allowing an AI to run for office, and causing all sorts of other problems that will start with "We can't turn it off, that's murder".

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  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    “We can’t turn it off, that’s murder”.

    And they'll treat it like abortion. "You can't turn it off, that's murder. And anyone who tries to turn it off will receive the death penalty"

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  • [–] 17 points 4 months ago (12 children)

    I think Congress needs age limits more than term limits.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago (9 children)

    Maybe something along the lines of, if you're eligible to collect social security, then you're too old to serve in government.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (8 children)

    Dont do that. That just incentivizes getting rid of social security so congress can keep their power till death

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (7 children)

    If it's coupled with term limits, mandatory voting, and making running in a primary like jury duty, it might work.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (6 children)

    Genuinely curious what you mean about making running in a primary like jury duty?

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (5 children)

    Similar to the concept of Athenian Democracy where all citizens were expected to report for a lottery and if their names were picked they had to serve.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (4 children)

    Worth noting Athenian citizens were only about 10% of the population.

    Of them, only maybe 1/6th could actually serve, as military or any other citizens too far away from the Ekklesia were excluded.

    Also worth noting the Ekklesia was limited in voting on items presented to them by the Boule, which was basically a smaller council made up entirely of rich folks

    Athenian democracy wasnt as democratic as advertised

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (3 children)

    Right, but with modern technology there wouldn't be a distance restriction nor am I suggesting we reduce the citizen class to ~10% of the population. The primary similarity would be that citizens would be summoned to serve.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (2 children)

    There'd still be a de facto distant restriction. As well as a job restriction

    You still gotta go to DC to be able to vote. Which also means you have to be able to afford a place to live in DC

    More importantly, how many people do you think are both willing and able to put their chosen career on hold for 2-6 years just because they get told they have to go do something else

    I suspect most people would refuse

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (1 child)

    There are more political offices than just at the national level. City, County, State, regional water and fire districts. Also, just because you've been chosen for jury duty doesn't mean you'll end up serving.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago

    Same issues still apply.

    Still got the same issue about people not wanting to give up their jobs.

    How many people live that close to their state capital?

    Some states you can easily be 6 to 12 hours away.

    Heck thats true at county too. Some countys are bigger than states.

    And even local government isnt a guarantee.

    My local government is the county government. We don't really have town mayors or councils or anything like that.

    And im not living out in some super rural area. I live in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the US...Just so happens outside the city limits of the major city by a few minutes .

    The Athenian system worked because it was essentially limited and only covered a compatibly small area.

    Its not really a usable model

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

    I disagree. Age limits would disallow competent people who happen to be old from serving (Bernie, for instance). Age does not correlate well to competency, but if you're young you might believe that. Competency itself can't be measured well enough by a test to be meaningful, so that is out.

    There already is an effective age limit in that people typically run for office the first time when they're relatively young, and a term limit would kick them out before they got old. Old people running for the first time would likely be seen as out of touch, unless they make compelling arguments (again, see Bernie), and so would not be elected.

    Having only an age limit would still allow people decades to entrench themselves and do great damage.

    In short, the problem isn't competency, it's corruption. If anything, they're too competent at being corrupt. It's the same reason we have a term limit for the President, without the limit, we'd have Putin.

    Finally, I think there's a chance term limits could pass, whereas an age limit wouldn't.

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  • [–] 17 points 4 months ago

    Which will die first: the Democracy he helped kill, or his own walking corpse?

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  • [–] 15 points 4 months ago (4 children)

    He dead and the governor of Kentucky, who appoints his replacement, is a Democrat.

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  • [–] 15 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Kentucky is no longer among the states that allow the governor to select a replacement US Senator for a vacant seat. McConnell himself got the KY state legislature to require a special election for his seat a couple years ago. Beshear will have no say in his replacement.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago

    I mean while it works to our disadvantage (probably} in this case, I do prefer when these offices are filled from elections and not appointments. Kentucky has a strange and unique identity and it's hard for outsiders to grasp since we don't know the history well.

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  • [–] 15 points 4 months ago
    [–] 14 points 4 months ago (5 children)

    Mitch, god is telling you to retire. Listen to her.

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  • [+] 4 points 4 months ago (4 children)
  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago

    Plenty of women gods who aren't all powerful and have to context with the general fuckery of their male counterparts. Or in the case of Aphrodite making problems for herself and her children, for further context read the lliad and the Aeneid.

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  • [–] 14 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    Please be dead please please please

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  • They are going to Bernie him until they can be sure they'd get another republican just as malicious as he was.

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  • [–] 13 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    I hope when he regains consciousness, it's in one of those Hellraiser scenarios where he's stuck in an eternal loop of... torment. I guess that seems like what just hell would be as well?

    Either way. As long as he suffers, forever, in the knowledge it's all his own fault because he's such a piece of shit.

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