Even a stopped clock …. The Mickster was right! (Sun to set in the east this evening.)

of course, he’s still set on destroying our liberties, but his power is a little bit more limited than it might have been

In response to my trashing of McConnell for caving into the Democrats’ demand for an extension of the debt limit, our resident vaxxer pointed out that the old man had also prevented a number of very bad judges from sitting on federal benches.

He’s right, and I’d forgotten one of his most significant accomplishments in the judicial field: Thank God (and Mitch McConnell) that Merrick Garland isn’t on the Supreme Court

Bonus Material: Over at Red State, “Bonchie”, an analyst I respect, argues persuasively that those who, like myself, blame McConnell for yielding on a principled position, are missing his strategy, and the coup he’s achieved by backing Schumer et al into a corner. I’m 85% more hopeful than I was yesterday.

Excerpt:

“McConnell is not bailing out Joe Biden. Quite the opposite, in fact, and it doesn’t really take much effort to see what’s going on here. If anything, McConnell is backing Schumer into a corner. Stick with me here.

Sometimes, the best thing you can do when you don’t otherwise have much leverage (because you are in the minority) is to give your opponents options they do not want. Democrats want you to believe that the only way to raise the debt ceiling without Republicans playing along is to blow up the filibuster. That’s why they and their media allies keep spinning that narrative. That’s never been true, though, and the point of McConnell’s maneuver is to force Schumer to admit that.

In reality, Democrats can raise the debt limit via reconciliation without a single Republican vote, but they don’t want to go that route because they would be using the last bullet in the chamber on that after Biden’s “build back better” boondoggle. By offering Schumer a short-term extension, McConnell is forcing the Democrats to make a choice, and none of those choices includes blowing up the filibuster. The move also relieves pressure on Joe Manchin, who will be under immense assault if a shutdown happens, while at the same time highlighting that the Democrats could fix this themselves in short order if they wanted.”