McConnell was discharged from a rehabilitation center earlier this month

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear sharply criticized Senator Mitch McConnell and the Senate at large over the Kentucky Republican’s prolonged absence from Congress due to health issues.

Beshear, a Democrat, said on Friday that he still had little information about the condition of McConnell, who was hospitalized in mid-June and released from a rehabilitation center earlier this month.

“I’ve received absolutely nothing, and that’s the same that the people of Kentucky have received,” Beshear told MS Now. “This is why the Senate feels broken. These guys don’t think that they have a boss when the people of Kentucky are their boss. They don’t feel like they are accountable whatsoever.”

Beshear called on McConnell to make a video or call into a news show to update the public about his health.

    • SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      1·
      20 hours ago

      Yeah but unfortunately, isn’t McConnell an elected official and doesn’t that grant immunity to a higher up basically firing somebody at will? Protection against tyranny/pro democracy protection or something

    • joe@lemmy.worldEnglish
      67·
      2 days ago

      Yes, but McConnell doesn’t have a job like yours. If I’m remembering correctly, he’s not even running again, so there really is very little consequence for him not doing his job.

      • 4am@lemmy.zip
        141·
        2 days ago

        So because he isn’t running again, he can do whatever he wants, like hide his incapacitating stroke until it’s too late for a special election and they appoint a senator of their choosing against the will of the people? That’s the system we have? Where they are like kings and we can’t do shit about it? Abolish the senate? The DSA was right after all? Socialism must win? Is that what you mean?

        • joe@lemmy.worldEnglish
          41·
          2 days ago

          I’m not sure about the last few sentences but generally, yes, this is how it works. The only real leverage against a representative is not getting reelected.

          I’m not happy about it.

          Side note that there is a difference between “Democratic Socialist” and “Socialist”. As far as I am aware, the DSA isn’t advocating to end capitalism and implement socialism. I’m not clear how you even got to that topic, as a socialist economy could still have the same issues with how the government works (or doesn’t).

          • curbstickle@anarchist.nexusEnglish
            2·
            2 days ago

            To your side note, the DSA does advocate for an end to capitalism.

            Capitalism is a system designed by the owning class to exploit the rest of us for their own profit. We must replace it with democratic socialism, a system where ordinary people have a real voice in our workplaces, neighborhoods, and society.

            https://www.dsausa.org/about-us/what-is-democratic-socialism/

            Edit: Just to mention, the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) is what formed the DSA, and the DSOC was a split from the Socialist Party of America (SPA) due to the the SPA being “obsessively anticommunist” (in quotes but the exact quote may be a little different, I’d have to look it up to check).

            • joe@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              2 days ago

              Huh. TIL. I stand corrected. Thanks for taking the time to set me straight.