Think Progress

McConnell shuts down the Senate.

By Amanda Terkel on Jun 4th, 2008 at 4:30 pm

McConnell shuts down the Senate.

This afternoon, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) essentially shut down the Senate floor “by forcing the Senate clerk to read aloud the entire 500 page global warming bill.” McConnell alleged that the Democratic leadership “refused to honor its commitments” and push through a significant number of judicial nominees.

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Jim Manley, spokesman to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NY) has responded to McConnell:

Senator Reid pledged a good-faith effort to have the Senate consider three court of appeals nominees before the Memorial Day recess, with the explicit caveat that achieving that goal depended on Republican cooperation. The Senate did, in fact, confirm Virginia Supreme Court Judge Steven Agee to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in May, and Chairman Leahy expedited Judiciary Committee consideration of two nominees to Michigan seats on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. These nominations were the result of many years of negotiation between the White House and the Michigan Senators.

Unfortunately, Republicans on the Judiciary Committee objected to expedited consideration of the Michigan nominees. As a result, it was impossible to have the Senate consider these two additional nominees before the recess, despite Senator Reid’s best efforts.



59 Responses to “McConnell shuts down the Senate.”

  1. raynman says:

    Personally, I think they wanted it read out to them in full because most of the Republicans can’t read…just like their leader.


  2. katy says:

    “by forcing the Senate clerk to read aloud the entire 500 page global warming bill.”

    not that it will hurt any of them to hear it, but why is he
    punishing that clerk?


  3. sunshineempire says:

    Two weeks from now McConnell will claim this is the “do-nothing” Congress, with a straight face.


  4. katy says:

    but, how the hell does the MINORITY leader get to do this???


  5. Mugsy says:

    And you won’t hear a word of it on the news.


  6. CitiDC says:

    Didn’t I read that McConnell is probably going to lose his seat?


  7. Leftside Annie says:

    Heh. Pissy little barstid, ain’t he?


  8. texaslady says:

    My party right or wrong to hell with the country. Republican platform.


  9. wijg says:

    Can you teach old dogs new tricks? Apparently not. Mitch McConnell (L(Loser)-KY) and the rest of the Ditto Head Club obviously forgot what gave them their “L” status. Keep it up Mitch, you’re doing a heck of a job.


  10. RUCerious says:

    Kentucky is famous for it’s whisky and bourbon. Explains a lot about Mitchy.


  11. celtic cynic says:

    Mitch the Witch strikes again.


  12. MCMetal says:

    RUCerious Says:
    ——————————————————————————–

    Kentucky is famous for it’s whisky and bourbon. Explains a lot about Mitchy.

    June 4th, 2008 at 4:44 pm

    No it doesn’t

    Their booze is fantastic ; McChinless sucks elephants balls


  13. IgnoranceIsNotBliss says:

    Man, these repugs sure do gey pissy when they don’t get thier way don’t they?

    Talk about acting like a bunch of pissed off 5th graders.


  14. McWars says:

    Mitch McConnell is dooming this planet. We must remove him from power. We need to bury the Republicans in November and establish a Permanent Progressive majority.

    Repeat offender here, folks. Flag promptly.


  15. Chocolate Jesus says:

    wow..will someone please explain that negotating with this current breed of republicans is about as wise as negotiating with a rabid dog?

    they are going down in november, they need to be fought tooth and nail until then, any sensible democrat should know that there is massive political capital to be gained by showing these guys no quarter.

    good, shut down the senate and house for all i care, nothing good can come of it while butcher bush is still in office..


  16. IgnoranceIsNotBliss says:

    gey=get. (Been a long day)


  17. misshusseinmolly says:

    I believe that if Mitch wants the entire 500-page bill read, he should be required to sit there and listen to it. With rapt attention. No books, no papers to work on, no Playstation Portable, no nothing.


  18. paleolib says:

    This November we will learn the answer to the question “is there intelligent life in Kentucky?” If Mitch McConnell is still around to pull this kind of stunt in January, the answer is “no”.


  19. tarazan says:

    Ditch Mitch, yes Mitch is on the list of senators seeking re-election coming November.

    DitchMitchKy.com


  20. sectionop92 says:

    Ah! I see McConnell’s “rhetoric” was “objectionable” to the clerk. So this is Mitch’s way of being an a-hole d0uchebag who can’t get a date that costs $700 to laugh at his “polling place”.


  21. ninique says:

    McMetal, how’d you know that was the #1 loser that showed up?


  22. ninique says:

    I got it… I was a little slow there for a minute


  23. Anonymouse says:

    Err… Senator Reid is from Nevada, not New York.


  24. lm945 says:

    McConnell: “Give me everything I want, or I’ll hold my breath until my head explodes.”

    Can we sell tickets?


  25. MCMetal says:

    Anonymouse Says:
    ——————————————————————————–

    Err… Senator Reid is from Nevada, not New York.

    June 4th, 2008 at 4:59 pm

    And McChinless is from another planet ; it’s called a “typo”.


  26. Wilco says:

    Useless bit of knowledge:
    McConnell’s office is just across the border from Cincinnati, and sits on the site of a Confederate fort.


  27. flavorino says:

    CitiDC Says:

    Didn’t I read that McConnell is probably going to lose his seat?

    His little hissy-fit today should be included in any tv ads.

    After he loses in November, he will finally have the time to fulfill his dream of renting a motorhome with Larry Craig and touring the rest stops of the nation.


  28. MCMetal says:

    Wilco Says:
    ——————————————————————————–

    Useless bit of knowledge:
    McConnell’s office is just across the border from Cincinnati, and sits on the site of a Confederate fort.

    June 4th, 2008 at 5:02 pm

    Which is poetic justice , seeing as how McChinless is an old Confederate fart………


  29. MCMetal says:

    SGT Stephen R. Sherman Says:
    ——————————————————————————–

    Mitch McConnell is dooming this planet. We must remove him from power. We need to bury the Republicans in November and establish a Permanent Progressive majority.

    June 4th, 2008 at 4:37 pm

    No , “we” don’t ; the horseshit GOP is doing just fine on their own of making themselves irrelevant ……….Strating with Chimpy and Co


  30. ninique says:

    and how about Condi at the AIPAC! she seems to be doing just grrrrreat!


  31. RUCerious says:

    McMetal, no intention to diss the booze, just figured Mitchy has had a tad too much imbibed, he’s having delusions of grandeur. And he’s a toad.
    Perhaps, when he was a child, each Christmas his parents would load up his stocking with the state mineral.


  32. RUCerious says:

    Hey! We’ve got our very own ‘Phony Soldier’! Quick phone O’Reilly and tell him to come and get him!


  33. RUCerious says:

    Hey! We’ve got our very own ‘Phony Soldier’! Quick phone O’Reilly and tell him to come and get him!


  34. RUCerious says:

    Fastest double click in the West!


  35. MCMetal says:

    RUCerious Says:
    ——————————————————————————–

    McMetal, no intention to diss the booze, just figured Mitchy has had a tad too much imbibed, he’s having delusions of grandeur. And he’s a toad.
    Perhaps, when he was a child, each Christmas his parents would load up his stocking with the state mineral.

    June 4th, 2008 at 5:11 pm

    Yeah , I and everyone here know what you meant ; it’s just that booze isn’t debilitating to everyone.

    Just check out Teddy Kennedy (get well soon , BTW , Teddy)


  36. MCMetal says:

    SGT Stephen R. Sherman Says:
    ——————————————————————————–

    MCMetal,
    Tell Tired of Fighting that get back in touch with me, Bill. Or I will expose his secret here on Think Progress. Tell him Harry isn’t happy either.

    June 4th, 2008 at 5:11 pm

    No thanks

    I would rather go tell you to take a flying fu(k on the moon.

    Go take a flying fu(k on the moon.


  37. Jess Wonderin says:

    Please God – shut down McConnell . . . .


  38. McWars says:

    MCMetal,
    Tell Tired of Fighting that get back in touch with me, Bill. Or I will expose his secret here on Think Progress. Tell him Harry isn’t happy either.

    June 4th, 2008 at 5:11 pm

    Hopefully TP gets in touch with you through the FBI.


  39. MCMetal says:

    SGT Stephen R. Sherman Says:
    ——————————————————————————–

    June 4th, 2008 at 5:26 pm

    How old are you , 10 ?


  40. MCMetal says:

    mediamonkey Says:
    ——————————————————————————–

    Smart move Mr. Mitch McConnell.

    June 4th, 2008 at 5:31 pm

    Perhaps to those with IQ’s hovering around room temperature like you , skid mark………


  41. Shayne says:

    SGT Stephen R. Sherman Says:

    MCMetal,
    Tell Tired of Fighting that get back in touch with me, Bill. Or I will expose his secret here on Think Progress. Tell him Harry isn’t happy either.

    THIS PIECE OF CRAP TROLL SURE SOUNDS LIKE P. FLAG HIM NOW.


  42. Bob says:

    They’re afraid they won’t get their activist judges on the bench before they loose the unitary executive. They are appeasing the religious radicals’ Constitutional terrorism.


  43. Bilbo Hussein Baggins says:

    katy Says:
    but, how the hell does the MINORITY leader get to do this???

    That would be my question too. If that was possible, then why didn’t the Democrats do that when they were in the minority?


  44. RUCerious says:

    McMetal, perhaps the booze can have a strong influence on the weak-minded


  45. Bob says:

    why didn’t the Democrats do that when they were in the minority?

    The (R)s late-night roll-calls, closure votes, as well as deals made agreeing not to filibuster, right? Oh, and there was that threat of the ‘nuclear option’. Simply put, the republicans play like spoiled brats.


  46. Ms_Joanne says:

    McConnell is done…thank goodness!

    Now can we get rid of that b!tch, Boner, too? I am so tired of WATB’s not running the government.


  47. StratRat says:

    Bilbo Hussein Baggins Says:

    katy Says:
    but, how the hell does the MINORITY leader get to do this???

    That would be my question too. If that was possible, then why didn’t the Democrats do that when they were in the minority?

    The Dems could not, and would not find a spine. They also are a bit more ‘civil’ that the right side. The right side has confidence and corruption issues, so it is in their blood to go for the throat. Dems are more ‘polite’, which has been a problem for them (remember the sternly worded letters?).

    The right side is a spoiled brat – as Bob says in #48. They will kill to get their way. Competiton is not something the right side does too well.


  48. paleolib says:

    Ms. Joanne Regrettably, the Boner is in a very safe seat. The best chance of getting rid of him is if the Rs dump him from leadership and he gets bored. Don’t bury McConnell yet by the way. He is one nasty campaigner and bluegrass voters are pretty dim.


  49. Ms_Joanne says:

    Paleolib…please don’t burst my bubble just yet.

    A girl can dream, no? :-)


  50. Klem Kiddilehopper says:

    Attention Senator Yellow-Spine (Made of Jello) Chickenhawk McConnell!!!!
    Your Selective Service Record has been FOIAed and received, the gig is up!
    What a big phony liar you are,bad eyes,polio give me a break! What was the number of the National Guard Unit you said you served in? You know the one that you said you where in the day after graduating from Law School, in May of ‘67?
    How were you a member of a National Guard Unit, sitting around the barracks, in your uniform waiting for your medical paperwork that had found you unfit to serve, “BUT” you didn’t even take a physical until Aug of ‘67? How did that work,Senator?
    How come New York University has no record of you, even applying to attend school that fall? You didn’t lie to your Senator to get him to write a letter to the CG of Fort Knox, asking the General to speed along your discharge did you Senator McConnell? You know, you told the Senator you had been accepted at NYU, but you had even never enrolled!
    It’s going to be fun Senator, watching your beady eyes roll, your eye-lshes blinking a thousand times a minute, your small,cheerio-like mouth,quivering and drooling as you try to defend yourself, as the truth about your selfish cowardness, is exposed for everyone in Kentucky and the country to see and hear!
    You’ll be in big group of Yellow-Jello Spined Chickenhawks though: Bush,Cheney,Rush,Boortz,Hannity,shucks most almost all of your Republican counterparts are in the same boat with you.
    Look forward to this fall Senator,your going to be butt- arsed naked for the whole country to see you as you really are!
    A big, phony, lying Chickenhawk!


  51. Blue387 says:

    The important question is:

    Was he wearing a flag pin?


  52. getplaning says:

    Too bad they didn’t make the clerk read the USAPATRIOT Act out loud, we might still have a republic.


  53. COProgressive says:

    “The strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail … and so far it’s working for us.” – Trent Lott Former GOP Senator, now big time lobbyist

    The Republicans, if they can’t control how our government works, will just shut it down.

    And the Republican Sheople all baaaa, “The Democrats control congress”.


  54. questioneverything says:

    Will the people of Kentucky wake up to what a shill they have in the Senate? Maybe, if they pay attention and have anything but Rushbo on their radios and the Repug machine in their newspapers.


  55. Ditch Mitch KY says:

    Calling Bruce Lunsford, Demo candidate for Senate in KY:

    Hey Bruce, where is your press statement about McConnell’s antics today and his unwillingness to work on the Climate Bill. Time to get up and running, Bruce.

    We want to get rid of McC, you want to be Senator. Let’s work together.


  56. marlow says:

    Hey, let’s shut down the Senate too! we could sit there and read a list of all the American troops killed in Iraq by our moron-in-chief. We could also hold a Bush-style search through the Capitol building for McConnell’s missing chin.


  57. Max-1 says:

    .

    And still the troops are engaged, by order of Hier Bush, in an illegal opperation.

    And still, Tellicoms go free.

    And still,

    .


  58. A Patriot Acting says:

    Why didn’t Harry Reid hand Mitch a copy of the global warming bill and a roll of toilet paper and tell Mitch to go take a potty break and read the freaking bill quietly to himself. Tell the obstructionist asshat not to come back until he’s finished and is ready to play nice with the adults. If he insists on a reading on the floor of the House, Reid should have told Mitch to get up off his ass and read it aloud to the whole class. If your going to obstruct the people’s business at least do your own dirty work. God I hope when the next Administration looks into all the broken laws and underhanded shenannigans that the Righties have pulled for the last eight years that Mitch and the Boehner are scrutinised closely for aiding and abetting high crimes and misdemaenors by Bushco.


  59. GeeDubs says:

    I’m sorry, but Harry Reid can also kiss my ass. This man is so concerned with ‘procedure,’ he won’t take opposition to a lot of what the Administration is still doing with their agenda. Not that I have any sympathy for that jerk McConnell, who I believe is the consigliere of the Senate.



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