2024 Election: Mitch McConnell's Disaster

Nonfeasance

The omission to perform a required duty or the failure to act when a duty to act existed.

Recently, Mitch McConnell was interviewed on 60 Minutes, the TV version of a News Magazine. When asked by Leslie Stahl how he could support a man for President that he described as "A despicable human" & "unfit for office," He replied: "I'm a Republican. I don't get to decide who gets to be President."

His statement is both factually and morally wrong.

Factually wrong in that he did get to decide if Trump could be President again, but in defiance of his obligation to the country he refused to do so.

Morally wrong because he swore an oath to defend the constitution which created a duty to act if he thought the President had violated his oath of office in the impeachment trial.

In case there is any doubt about whether or not Mitch McConnell knew whether or not Trump was guilty the following is a direct quote from his final statement at the impeachment trial:

There's no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. No question about it. The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their President and having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories, and reckless hyperbole, which the defeated President kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth. The issue is not only the President in temperate language on January 6th. It is not just his endorsement of remarks in which an associate urged quote "Trial by combat". It was also the entire manufactured atmosphere of looming catastrophe. The increasingly wild myths about a reverse landslide election that was somehow being stolen. Some secret coup by our now President. Now I defended the President's right to bring any complaints to our legal system. The legal system spoke, the electoral college spoke. As I stood up and said, clearly at that time, the election was settled. It was over, but that just really opened a new chapter of even wilder and more unfounded claims. The leader of the free world cannot spend weeks thundering that shadowy forces are stealing our country and then feign surprise when people believe him and do reckless things. I sadly many politicians sometimes make overheated comments or use metaphors. We saw that. That unhinged listeners might take literally, but that was different. That's different from what we saw. This was an intensifying crescendo of conspiracy theories orchestrated by an outgoing president who seemed determined to either overturn the voter's decision or else torch our institutions on the way out. The unconscionable behavior did not end when the violence actually began. Whatever our ex president claims he thought might happen a day, whatever right reaction he's says he meant to produce by that afternoon we know he was watching the same live television as the rest of us. A mob was assaulting the Capitol in his name, these criminals who are carrying his banners, hanging his flags and screaming their loyalty to him. It was obvious that only President Trump could end this. He was the only one who could. Former aides publicly begged him to do so. Loyal allies frantically called the administration. The President did not act swiftly. He did not do his job. He didn't take steps so federal law could be faithfully executed and order restored. No, instead, according to public reports, he watched television happily as the chaos unfolded. He kept pressing his scheme to overturn the election. Now, even after it was clear to any reasonable observer that Vice President Pence was in serious danger. Even as the mob carrying Trump banners was beating cops and breaching perimeters their President sent a further tweet, attacking his own vice president. Now predictably and foreseeably under the circumstances, members of the mob seemed to interpret this as a further inspiration to lawlessness and violence not surprisingly. Later, even when the President did halfheartedly began calling for peace he didn't call right away for the riot to end. He did not tell the mob to depart until even later. And even then with police officers bleeding and broken glass covering Capitol floors, he kept repeating election laws and praising the criminals. In recent weeks, our ex-president's associates have tried to use the 74 million Americans who voted to reelect him as a kind of human shield against criticism. Using the 74 million who voted for him as kind of a human seal shield against criticism. Anyone who decries his awful behavior is accused of insulting millions of voters. That's an absurd deflection. 74 million Americans did not invade the Capitol, hundreds of rioters did. 74 million Americans did not engineer the campaign of disinformation and rage that provoked it. One person did, just one.

His legal nonsense not to Impeach based on Trump already being out of office was not supported by history, text or the plain meaning of the Constitution, which he had sworn an oath to defend and protect.

No matter how this turns out, Mitch and his "let them eat cake" or "It's not my job" moment will not be looked upon fondly by history. He will be, justly, remembered as one of the villains of this story.