mitch mcconnell can go to hell
four decades of cowardice, corruption, and calculated destruction. He sold the country to billionaires, enabled trump and the far right, and now he’s walking away like none of it was his fault.
A little under two months ago, on his 83rd birthday, Mitch McConnell announced he won’t seek re-election in 2026, bringing an end to his four-decade career in the Senate. He’s still finishing his term. But let's be real, he’s already done the damage or in his context, accomplished all of his goals and then some maybe.
McConnell didn’t just own the libs. This guy really fucked the whole country up.
McConnell spent decades turning the Senate into a graveyard for progress. The guy didn’t legislate, he obstructed. That was his brand. He made the filibuster a permanent weapon, blocked hundreds of bills, and shut down debate unless it served his agenda. He didn’t want government to work per say, he wanted it to work… but only for him.
He was obsessed with power, influence and money, not policy. Every move he made was about locking in control and lining his pockets. Whether it was blocking Supreme Court nominees, stacking the federal judiciary with right-wing loyalists, or killing campaign finance laws so billionaires could buy elections without breaking a sweat.
Let’s go back. Before he became the Senate’s most ruthless operator, Mitch McConnell actually started off as a moderate Republican.
In the 1960s and '70s, he supported civil rights legislation, sought union endorsements, and even called money in politics a “cancer.” His views weren’t far off from the Rockefeller Republicans of the time (basically the centrist democrats of today. socially moderate, pro-business, and big on institutions).
He and his wife even named their cat Rocky, after Nelson Rockefeller, the liberal Republican governor of New York (cringe). And that wife? Sherrill Redmon, a feminist. Which, considering what McConnell turned into, is kind of wild in hindsight.
Before heading to Washington, he served as the county judge/executive of Jefferson County, Kentucky, basically the equivalent of a mayor (at the time, he was the top elected official in the louisville metro area, before the city and county governments merged in 2003).
That’s where he got his first real taste of power and started learning how to navigate politics. Then came the Reagan wave, and in 1984, McConnell rode it into the U.S. Senate by narrowly defeating a Democratic incumbent. For a while, he kept a low profile, building his influence behind the scenes. By the mid-1990s, he was fully aligned with the Gingrich-era Republican playbook, less compromise, more hardball. He rose through the ranks during the Bush years, gaining a reputation as a ruthless strategist, and became Senate GOP leader in 2007. From there, it was game on.
During Obama’s presidency, McConnell used the filibuster like a battering ram, blocking nearly everything Democrats tried to pass, from healthcare to climate bills to judicial nominations. His stated goal, he literally said this in 2010, was to make Obama a one-term president. That’s how he used his position. Not to govern, but to block and obstruct. He wasn’t trying to find middle ground. He was trying to make governing impossible unless it was on Republican terms.
Let’s talk about judges. McConnell held open dozens of judicial vacancies during Obama’s last two years, including a Supreme Court seat. When Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016, McConnell refused to even hold hearings for Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland. Said it was “too close to an election.” But then when Ruth Bader Ginsburg died just weeks before the 2020 election, McConnell rushed Amy Coney Barrett through in record time. Total hypocrisy.
McConnell also stacked the courts, he confirmed more then 200 federal judges during Trump’s presidency, including 3 Supreme Court justices, and dozens of young, deeply conservative lower court judges. Many were affiliated with the Federalist Society, and some had barely any trial experience.
It was deliberate. McConnell knew that even if Republicans lost elections, they could still control policy through the courts. Civil rights, environmental regulations, labor law, reproductive freedom, they’re all under attack now because of the judges he put there.
Now money. McConnell was the guy behind the push for unlimited money in politics. He filed multiple lawsuits against campaign finance laws and was a cheerleader for Citizens United, the 2010 Supreme Court case that allowed corporations and outside groups to spend unlimited money in elections. He used to say money in politics was corrupt. Once it became an advantage for him? Suddenly it was free speech.
So yeah, it tracks that McConnell’s own net worth ballooned over the years. By 2018, he was worth over $34 million, most of it thanks to investments, inherited wealth from his wife’s billionaire family, and some well-timed real estate buys. He’s got a D.C. house worth nearly $2 million and another place in Louisville valued around $670K. For a guy who spent his entire adult life in public service, he somehow came out looking a lot more like a hedge fund manager than a civil servant. Hard to believe it’s just a coincidence that the guy who helped rig the system for the rich ended up rich himself.
That’s the thing about McConnell, he doesn’t actually believe in anything except power and money. You can’t find a core belief that he wouldn’t abandon the moment it became inconvenient. And that includes protecting democracy.
After January 6, he said Trump was “morally responsible” for the attack on the Capitol. But when it actually mattered, he voted to acquit. Classic McConnell, all tough talk until there's a real decision to make.
He had a real chance to end Trump’s political career and protect the country. But of course, he didn’t take it. He chose to protect his grip on Republican leadership instead of doing the right thing and the funny this is, he ended up losing it anyway, because apparently he still wasn’t loyal enough to Trump.
That’s why McConnell’s legacy is tied to Trump, whether he likes it or not. He enabled him. Defended him. Protected him. And the fact that he “doesn’t like Trump” behind closed doors doesn’t matter. What matters is what he did when it counted. And what he did was nothing.
He’ll be remembered not as a genius or a patriot or some master strategist. He’ll be remembered, rightly, as a corrupt turtle who sold out the country for power and money. One of the worst senators in modern history. A liar. A coward. A man who made America worse in almost every measurable way.
Mitch McConnell was effective. Probably one of the most skilled political operators of the modern era. But he used that skill to shit on this country. To destroy norms, lock in minority rule, flood the courts with right-wing ideologues, and pave the way for Trumpism to take over.
He wasn’t loud or unhinged like Trump. He wasn’t some QAnon weirdo like MTG. He was worse. He was quiet, calculated, and he understood exactly how the system was broken and instead of fixing it, he exploited it at every turn.
And now he’s going to peacefully retire. Rich and old. He probably wont face any real consequences for this actions.
Either way, fuck off Mitch.
I’ll do what I can to make sure his legacy reflects what he really was. But honestly, I probably won’t have to. The wreckage he left behind speaks for itself. And when history catches up, Mitch McConnell won’t be remembered with honor, he’ll be remembered as a morally bankrupt asshole, an incredibly partisan operator, and one of the worst senators in modern American history. Someone who truly, deeply fucked this country up.