The monster in the shadows

| 12:01 pm EDT July 7, 2022
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In the movies, monsters are usually only in shadows. One usually sees the terrified soon-to-be victims running in terror, always desperate to escape but looking for hideaways in all the wrong places. And it seldom does work. Because in the film, the monster usually wins. The monster has its day. What of the monsters in real life? In politics?

We’re fortunate in that we know where our monsters are. And one of them — one of the biggest — is at this moment craftily hatching his monster’s plan. Mitch McConnell wants to take over the Senate. And let’s not underestimate Politics’ most bountiful monster. Mitch isn’t dumb. He’s lots of things — diabolical? Check. Cruel? Check. But not dumb.

But — having said that — even monsters aren’t immune from stupidity. And Monster Mitch just made a blunder. Mitch has said there is a labor shortage because the American people “are flush.” With money, I presume.

And Mitch said this in Paducah, Kentucky, at a political event: “What we’ve got to hope is once they run out of money, they’ll start concluding it’s better to work than not to work.”

Unforced error is what I’d call this. And a mighty huge unforced error at that. Think who you know, folks. Think of all your family members, friends, acquaintances, etc. How many of them are “flush?”

I don’t know about you, but few people I KNOW are untouched by Covid, and the winds of change Covid brought with it. Few people are sticking to corporate America. Most people I know are just trying to get by.

This reminds me of Mitt Romney’s Government handout comments. Mitch McConnell is smart, yes. But he’s also woefully out of touch with the average American, as his words just proved.

Monsters can be wily and diabolical and still be obtuse. We need to keep an eye on McConnell because there is no monster trick he won’t try. But perhaps he’s losing a bit of his political agility. This statement was more than an unforced error; it was a ridiculous mistake. Perhaps our Kentucky nemesis will continue to make them.