Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Matt Stone says Mitch is dead.

Greetings from the void, friends and death watchers. Most of what’s in the news today involves the back and forth about Beshear’s decision not to call a special election by yesterday’s deadline and the odds on whether or not Mitch will be officially dead-ed today, the day after that deadline. But let’s start with Matt Sone’s piece for Vanguard, in which he takes down the entire system for treating Mitch McConnell as a prop and nothing more. I highly recommend reading the whole article, which is a scathing critique not so much of McConnell but of the system that has made “a man’s life. A man’s death. A man’s body. Reduced to a political calculation.” Stone’s piece isn’t about whether or not McConnell is a good person (he’s not) or whether he’s made vile and devastating political decision (he has), but rather it is about the fact that after 41 years in the senate, during which time he did more to bolster the interests of the current party in power than any other politician of his generation, his legacy doesn’t matter to anyone playing the game. He’s as disposable as the next turtle. Stone notes,

This is what the system does. It consumes people and spits them out. It uses them up and then strings up the hollow shells like they’re still breathing. It drains them of everything human and props up the empty skin because the skin still casts a vote. McConnell spent 41 years in the Senate. He shaped the judiciary for a generation. He wielded power with ruthless precision. And now, at the end, possibly at the very end, his own office won’t confirm whether he’s alive. They’ll issue statements. They’ll stonewall questions. But they won’t tell the truth. Because the truth might cost them power.

Stone also gives Lindsey Graham credit for just up and dying, so there’s that. Hang in there, folks.