July 26, 2023

During the opening statement to his press conference today, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze and had to be led away by Senator John Barrasso. He appeared during the Q&A and insisted he's fine, but he looked anything but fine during the incident in the video above.

I'm a stroke survivor and know the symptoms of one. He didn't have eye or mouth droop that I could see, and he stopped speaking altogether so I'm not sure if it was because he couldn't find the words. Some observers say he had an unsteady gait returning to the podium for the question and answer period. It could possibly be a TIA, or something else. Maybe he felt faint, or it was related to the concussion he suffered a few months ago or was a seizure of some sort.

John Barrasso, who is a doctor, should have called 911, not put him back in front of the cameras. Apparently Joni Ernst crossed herself because that's certainly something that helps when a colleague is clearly having some kind of crisis.

Whatever it is, there is plenty of speculation, starting with reporters during the Q&A.

This is also true:

Back to the speculation:

Lots of people are saying term limits are a good idea. They're really a terrible idea. What needs to happen is the naturally occurring term limits, where all the eligible voters come out and vote for their candidate instead of the puny turnouts we get from year to year.

It looks like Kentucky Republicans are prepared for the eventuality of his retirement, having overridden Governor Andy Beshear's veto of a bill that limits his power to appoint a replacement if McConnell steps down.

I don't like McConnell or his politics and I'll never forgive him for stealing a Supreme Court seat. But having suffered a stroke myself, if that's what is happening here or there's some other similar problem, I wish him a rapid recovery and return to good health.

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