Mitch can not return to senate

https://www.salon.com/2026/08/03/mitch-mcconnell-is-never-coming-back-to-the-senate/

>The likeliest reason for the Kentucky senator's ruse is also the most pathetic

>这位肯塔基州参议员耍花招最可能的原因，也是最可悲的

图片: https://i.4cdn.org/news/1785843958832828.jpg

They must have hoped the photos would dispel conspiracy theories that he’s dead, or at least incapacitated. But the two proof-of-life pictures taken of Sen. Mitch McConnell and his wife, former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, purportedly from his room at a rehabilitation center, have only generated more speculation about what has really happened to the 84-year-old Kentucky Republican, who hasn’t been seen or spoken in public since being hospitalized in mid-June. In both pictures, the typically sharp-minded senator is staring with a vacant smile at the camera, while the 73-year-old Chao has a firm grip on his arm that reads less as affection and more like direction.

他们肯定指望这些照片能平息他已经死了、或者至少身体垮了的阴谋论。但两张所谓麦康奈尔和妻子、前劳工部长赵小兰在康复中心房间里拍的“活着证明”照片，反而让外界对这位84岁的肯塔基共和党人到底出了什么事，猜得更凶了。他自六月中旬住院以来，就没在公开场合露过面、也没说过话。两张照片里，这位平时头脑敏锐的参议员都瞪着空洞的笑容盯着镜头，而73岁的赵小兰紧紧攥着他的胳膊，那动作看着不像是亲昵，倒更像是在操控。

In the first, taken July 12, McConnell holds the day’s newspaper, a tradition familiar more commonly seen in hostage photos. Even that pretext was dropped from the second picture, released July 27, which was accompanied by a note from the Senate attending physician insisting that McConnell is working “to rebuild strength and reduce the risk of future falls.” This followed the senator’s continued refusal to say much about what happened besides that he fell down and was “briefly unconscious.”

第一张照片拍摄于7月12日，麦康奈尔拿着当天的报纸——这个传统在绑架勒索照片里更常见。第二张照片于7月27日发布，连这点掩饰都懒得做了，只附了参议院主治医生的一张便条，坚称麦康奈尔正在“恢复体力、降低未来跌倒的风险”。此前这位参议员除了说自己摔了一跤、“短暂失去知觉”之外，一直对事情细节闭口不谈。

McConnell has a long history of dirty tricks — culminating in functionally stealing a Supreme Court nomination from then-President Barack Obama and holding it for Donald Trump — so it’s not surprising that many progressives suspect the former Senate Majority Leader has sinister motives in refusing to step down from his seat. There has also been boundless speculation that he’s using this to gain some illicit power for Republicans. The rumors have gotten so bad that Andy Beshear, Kentucky’s Democratic governor, publicly demanded that McConnell “directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign.”

麦康奈尔搞肮脏手段的历史可长了——最狠的一招是从时任总统奥巴马手里实质性地偷走一个最高法院大法官提名，留给特朗普来任命——所以不少进步派怀疑这位前参议院多数党领袖赖在位置上不下来是别有用心，也一点都不奇怪。外界还无休止地猜测，他这么做是在替共和党捞什么见不得光的权力。谣言闹得太凶，肯塔基州民主党州长安迪·贝希尔都公开放话，要求麦康奈尔“直接、亲口对肯塔基州人民讲话，拿出你能履职的证据，否则就辞职。”

Despite the chatter, it’s almost certain that McConnell isn’t doing this to benefit Republicans in the Senate. In commentary for MS NOW, independent journalist Lindsay Beyerstein pointed out the senator’s absence means “the GOP is down a vote in a closely divided Senate.” Trump’s struggle to get his attorney general nominee Todd Blanche across the finish line is a reminder of how every vote counts for the party.

尽管外界议论纷纷，但麦康奈尔这么做几乎可以肯定不是为了帮参议院里的共和党。独立记者林赛·拜尔斯坦在为MS NOW撰写的评论中指出，这位参议员的缺席意味着“共和党在一个势均力敌的参议院里少了关键一票”。特朗普为了让他的司法部长提名人托德·布兰奇顺利过关，折腾得够呛，这也提醒了大家，每一票对共和党来说都至关重要。

But it’s hard to fault conspiracy theorists when it really does seem that McConnell — or whoever is making decisions for him — is hiding something. Efforts to convince the public that he is communicative backfired when people noticed that the Republicans claiming to have spoken with him appeared to be working from the same script. As Beshear noted last week, even McConnell’s doctor noticeably avoided addressing whether the senator can “speak, reason, or carry out” his duties. Already set to retire at the end of the year, it’s becoming clear that McConnell is never coming back to the Senate chambers.

但要说阴谋论者多疑，也真难责怪他们，因为麦康奈尔——或者说替他做决定的人——确实像在藏着什么。他们试图让公众相信他还能交流，结果适得其反，因为人们发现那些声称跟他谈过话的共和党人，说辞像是照着同一份稿子念的。正如贝希尔上周指出的，就连麦康奈尔的医生也明显回避回答这位参议员能否“说话、思考或履行职责”。他本打算年底退休，现在看来，麦康奈尔怕是再也回不了参议院了。

Despite the conspiracy theories, the likeliest reason to conceal McConnell’s condition is more pathetic than calculating: It’s hard for these powerful old men and their families to let go of power.

抛开阴谋论不谈，隐瞒麦康奈尔病情的最可能原因，与其说是算计，不如说是悲哀：这些权高位重的老人和家人，就是舍不得放手权力。

In their controversial book “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” Jake Tapper and Alex Johnson examined the role that ego and status play in keeping politicians in office long after they’re capable of doing the job. The writers uncovered evidence that Biden’s delusions were bolstered by both his family and his top staff, who seemed loathe to give up the elevated status and power that comes from being close to the president. This impression has only deepened in recent weeks, as Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, has been on a bizarre media tour for no other apparent purpose than squeezing his famous last name for one more bout of attention.

在争议著作《原罪：拜登总统的衰退、掩盖及其灾难性的再次参选决定》中，杰克·塔珀和亚历克斯·约翰逊探讨了自尊和地位如何让政客在早已无法胜任工作后仍恋栈不去。两位作者找到了证据，显示拜登的自我错觉是被家人和核心幕僚撑起来的，这帮人似乎不愿放弃亲近总统带来的地位和权势。最近几周这种印象只增不减——拜登的儿子亨特·拜登展开了一场诡异的媒体巡演，看不出别的目的，就为蹭他那知名姓氏再博一把关注。

This why there’s been such a focus on Chao’s role in her husband’s health drama, starting with the clothes she’s wearing in the proof-of-life photos which are being examined and analyzed for clues.

所以大家才如此关注赵小兰在她丈夫健康风波中的角色，从“存活证明”照片里的穿着开始，逐帧分析寻找蛛丝马迹。

“I can’t imagine Elaine, one of the most put-together people in existence, releasing a pic wearing a thin shirt over a visible black bra, UNTUCKED,” writer Jeff Yang, who claims to know the Chao family, argued on Bluesky about the second photo taken from McConnell’s hospital room. Others argued that the shirt is too cheap-looking to be something Chao, who is every inch the wealthy socialite, would wear.

“我无法想象伊莱恩——世上最体面的人之一——会发一张穿着薄衬衫、透出黑色胸罩、还故意不塞进裤子的照片，”自称认识赵家的作家杰夫·杨在Bluesky上评论麦康奈尔病房里拍的第二张照片。也有人争辩说那件衬衫看起来很廉价，不像是赵小兰这种彻头彻尾的富豪名媛会穿的衣服。

To be fair to Chao, she is a private person; most of our perception of her fashion comes from glimpses of her at public events. In the real world, people don’t typically dress to visit a medical facility the same way they do for work. Nonetheless, internet sleuths sussed out that the shirt Chao is wearing on the July 26 photo appears to be the same one she was seen wearing on July 15. But whatever her level of responsibility, it’s not surprising that McConnell’s wife is the center of many conspiracy theories. It wasn’t that long ago that then-First Lady Jill Biden was engaged in ham-fisted efforts to deny and downplay her husband’s inability to do his job.

公平地说，赵小兰是个注重隐私的人；我们对她穿搭的印象，多半来自她在公开场合的惊鸿一瞥。现实中，人们去医院探望时通常不会穿得像上班那样正式。不过，网络侦探还是发现，赵小兰在7月26日照片中穿的衬衫，似乎跟7月15日被拍到的是同一件。但不管她责任几何，麦康奈尔的妻子成为众多阴谋论的焦点并不让人意外。毕竟不久之前，时任第一夫人吉尔·拜登还在笨拙地否认和淡化丈夫无法履职的事实。

Like the aging politicians themselves, family members often benefit from the status and power they get through their famous relatives. Chao is no different. Not only did she serve in the Cabinets of Trump, George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush, Chao was also appointed to government positions by Ronald Reagan, and she continues to engage in power-brokering around the world. When McConnell was rushed to the hospital in June, she was in China having meetings with high-ranking officials, including the country’s vice president Han Zheng. The trip was so important that she didn’t cut it short to return to her husband’s side. Whatever dealings she has with foreign leaders, she surely gains leverage from her connection to such a powerful man.

就像那些日渐衰老的政客本人一样，他们的家人也常常从显赫亲戚所换来的地位和权力中获益。赵小兰也不例外。她不仅在特朗普、小布什和老布什的内阁中任职，还被里根任命过政府职位，至今仍在全球范围内参与权力斡旋。今年6月麦康奈尔被紧急送医时，她正在中国与包括国家副主席韩正在内的高层官员会面。那次行程重要到她没有缩短行程赶回丈夫身边。无论她与外国领导人有什么往来，她无疑都从与这样一位权倾朝野之人的关系中获得影响力。

We don’t have any specifics on what McConnell and Chao are hiding or why, but after the Biden debacle, it’s silly to pretend such these cover-ups are implausible. If anything, they’re starting to feel like the norm. The late Dianne Feinstein, who served as senator from California for 31 years, faced intense scrutiny and accusations about her obviously failing health before her death in September 2023. The following year, it was revealed that GOP Texas Rep. Kay Granger had been absent from Congress and living in a dementia ward for months. Earlier this year, Rep. Tom Kean Jr, R-N.J., disappeared for months with no explanation, and when he returned, he only shared vague details about a mental health episode after the growing outrage became impossible to ignore. In the past year, six members of Congress have died in office, and while a couple were surprises, most of them had health issues they minimized or ignored until it was too late.

我们不清楚麦康奈尔和赵小兰到底在隐瞒什么、为何隐瞒，但经历了拜登那场闹剧之后，再假装这类遮掩不太可能就太天真了。事实上，这种事越来越像是常态。已故的黛安·范斯坦在加州担任参议员31年，在2023年9月去世前，她明显恶化的健康状况就受到过严厉审视和质疑。次年，有消息披露共和党德州众议员凯·格兰杰已经数月未出席国会会议，且一直住在失智症病房里。今年早些时候，新泽西州共和党众议员小汤姆·基恩消失数月没有任何解释，回来后也只是在公愤大到无法忽视时，才含糊地透露了关于精神健康问题的一些模糊细节。过去一年里，六名国会议员在任上去世，虽然其中一两位令人意外，但大多数人都有他们一直淡化或忽视的健康问题，直到为时已晚。

It's hard not to feel some sympathy for these politicians, and even for McConnell, who has long been especially private and, as reporter Andrew Egger noted on a recent Bulwark podcast, “had a very stage-managed political presence even when things were doing great.” Rare is the person who faces impending mortality with total grace and humility, and being in denial about it, at least some of the time, is a normal part of aging. But McConnell, like Biden and others before him, has a level of presumption that is not acceptable in what is supposed to be a democratic system. Politicians on both sides of the aisle get so accustomed to the power and privilege of their office that they seem to forget it doesn’t actually belong to them, but to the people they are elected to serve.

很难不对这些政客产生一些同情，甚至对麦康奈尔也是如此——他一直特别注重隐私，正如记者安德鲁·埃格在最近一期Bulwark播客中指出的，“即使一切顺利时，他在政治上的露面也是精心安排好的。”很少有人能以完全的优雅和谦逊面对将至的死亡，至少在有些时候否认这一点，是衰老过程中的正常现象。但麦康奈尔和之前的拜登等人一样，有一种在一个本该是民主制度的体系里不可接受的僭越心态。两党政客都太习惯于自己职位带来的权力和特权，以至于似乎忘记了这些并不真正属于他们，而是属于那些选他们来服务的人民。

This is especially troubling when we have an 80-year-old president who is clearly in decline but yearns to be regarded as a king or even a god, and apparently to serve an illegal third term in office. The Trump situation is not helped when so many other politicians, including the previous president, have acted entitled to hold office well beyond what’s reasonable. Dying in office should be a rare and surprise occurrence, not a norm that our authoritarian president can exploit.

当我们有一位明显在衰退却渴望被视为国王甚至神明的80岁总统，显然还想非法连任第三届时，这就尤其令人不安。特朗普的情况更是雪上加霜——那么多其他政客，包括前任总统，都表现得好像有权在超出合理范围的任期后继续掌权。死在任上应该是罕见且令人意外的现象，而不是我们这位独裁倾向的总统可以利用的常态。

Now the seat will be EMPTY instead of a fucking liggycrock taking it Fetterman is a hero The SAVE act and a third term is happening

现在那把椅子终于空出来了，而不是被某个该死的舔狗占着——费特曼是英雄。SAVE法案和第三个任期都在推进中。

>>1527554

This is what brainwashed cultists actually believe.

这就是被洗脑的邪教徒们真心相信的东西。

>>1527555

esl shill is circling the drain

那个英语都说不利索的水军已经快完蛋了。

nice diversion. Mitch gave up party leadership to Thune early last year. He's just a GOP vote. He will be replaced by a younger GOP vote.

好一个转移话题。米奇去年初就把党团领导权交给图恩了。他就是一票共和党票，迟早被更年轻的共和党票替掉。

>>1527559

Yeah until they say he's dead, no special election. Meaning down one republican vote.

对，除非官方宣布他死了，不然不会搞特别选举。也就是说共和党少一票。

>Butthurt piggies with liggeral conspiracy theories.

一群玻璃心的猪猡，拿着胡说八道阴谋论当宝。

Thanks anon. They reminded me how Mitch "stole" a supreme court seat fit for another stupid black woman.

谢了匿名哥。他们提醒了我米奇咋“偷”了一个本该给另一个蠢黑人女性的最高法院席位。

>>1527567

Shut the fuck up liggy piggy troon

闭嘴吧你个扯淡猪猡变装怪。

McConnell looks like a fucking ghoul. He's going to scare the shit out of the demons in hell just in time for Halloween.

麦康奈尔看着跟个鬼似的。万圣节前他这模样能把地狱里的恶魔都吓尿。

>>1527567

lol that was hilarious.

哈哈，太搞笑了。