Raging Stupidity: Social Media Edition

I normally don’t spend much time on Threads, but unfortunately over the past couple of days I’ve found myself wading through an endless morass of idiotic takes about the health and well being of Mitch McConnell. John Holder of Winthrop has an excellent antidote to this (screenshotting because we don’t seem to have Threads embed capacity:

It goes on like that for quite a while; check it out if you have a chance. Long story short, a) there is no process for removing an incapacitated Senator, b) the McConnell family is under no obligation to talk publicly about his condition, and c) under Kentucky law Governor Beshear has no meaningful tools with which he can force the situation.

The reasons that people are struggling with this are multifaceted. First, laws about succession are complex, vary enormously across states, and are subject to change (Kentucky law on this has changed twice in the past decade). Second, folks are absolutely insistent that Something Can Be Done Because Something Must Be Done, which leaves them angry and confused when nothing can actually be done. The “Fight Fight Fight” caucus is extremely loud on social media, but there are some fights which cannot be won and should not be fought. In this case, if Beshear were to renounce Kentucky law and simply nominate a Democrat, or if he were to call a special election without a declaration the McConnell is dead, he would likely be impeached by the Kentucky Assembly (simply majority, which they have) and convicted by the Kentucky Senate (two thirds majority, which they also have).

The upside here is simple and straightforward; if Mitch is incapacitated for the rest of his term then the GOP is down one vote in the Senate, which given the current composition of the chamber is a potentially consequential thing. By far the most likely outcome of Beshear calling a special election (if Mitch dies tomorrow) would be that Andy Barr becomes a US senator in advance of the November election, which is bad for literally everyone. Take the win, folks.