By Hal Brown (My blog has other stories that piqued my interest today)
Revised to be more realistic about McGrath’s chances in this election.
Watch the video posted by Kelsie Taggart, Director of Media Monitoring for American Bridge PAC first:
HuffPost has some of the choice Twitter comments about Mitch McConnell’s laughing during the debate with Amy McGrath.
Update: There’s also a good selection of tweets on Alernet.
Rachel Maddow tweeted this:
Joy Reid tweeted: “Wow ... how do Kentuckians keep re-electing someone who drips with so much contempt for them, for their lives and health, and for the elections process? I truly don't get it, Kentucky. Is this your king??”
Robert Lang (say what you will about the photo he has on his Twitter page below) responded to Joy Reid’s tweet with:
“Why should we vote Amy? Her only qualification is that she was in the Marine Corps, as she points out every 5 seconds. Has she ever even run for student council in HS?”
Perhaps Mr. Lang and his ilk should familiarize themselves with McGrath’s accomplishments:
During this tour, she completed two combat deployments, and flew 89 combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, targeting al-Qaida and the Taliban. In 2002, as a weapons systems officer, Amy became the first woman in the Marine Corps to fly a combat mission in an F/A-18. In 2004, she transitioned to become an F/A-18 pilot and completed a second operational tour deploying to Japan and flying all around the Pacific. She completed her third combat deployment in Helmand Province Afghanistan in 2010.
As for her supposedly not running for student council in high school:
After her operational flying tours, Amy served as a Congressional Fellow advising a senior member of the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee on defense and foreign policy. Subsequently, she served in the Pentagon as Marine Corps’ liaison to the State Department and other federal agencies.
She earned a masters degree in global security from Johns Hopkins University and she is a graduate of the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction’s Program for Emerging Leaders at the National Defense University. Her final assignment was as a senior instructor in the Political Science Department at the US Naval Academy before retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and moving back home to Kentucky to raise her family.
Here’s a message for Mr. Lang and other macho-in-their-own mind Kentucky men and for Senator McConnell. The very reason the 2022 senator from Kentucky (when Rand Paul’s term expires) may be Amy McGrath is because of McConnell’s dismissive attitude towards a mom and a Marine Corps combat pilot who also rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel.
About what may be Mitch’s last laugh
I wonder whether somewhere in the recesses of McConnell’s mind he realizes there will be consequences for his Trump sycophancy and the attention his debate with McGrath is receiving, and this is why he really laughed. It was clearly meant to be mockery but perhaps there was more to it than that.
There are obviously various reasons why people laugh. The healthiest kind is laughing when something is funny. What Amy McGrath was saying wasn’t at all amusing.
Let’s do a bit of armchair psychology and speculate what McConnell’s laugh may really have signified.
Sometimes we laugh because we feel joy when superior to someone else. Some humor is mean and derisive, laughter at a person or group's expense. … Sometimes we laugh at another person’s misfortune: schadenfreude. Psychology Today
People laugh when they need to project dignity and control during times of stress and anxiety. In these situations we usualy laugh in a subconscious attempt to reduce stress and calm down. However, it often works otherwise. Nervous laughter is often considered fake laughter and even heightens the awkwardness of the situation. Reference
I wonder if he laughed because of one or both of these reasons.
This is how The Lexington Herald-Leader describes the debate and the race:
McGrath: ‘We’ve been sucker punched.’ McConnell: I help KY ‘punch above its weight.’
Graham’s argument is pretty much the same as Mr. Lang’s:
“I think her entire campaign is: she’s a marine, she’s a mom and I’ve been there too long,” McConnell said. “What we need to see are specifically what she has in mind to fix the issues that need fixing.”
This is exactly why the result may surprise the pundits and Amy McGrath may end up coming closer to winning than anyone expected.
Watch some of her ads:
I just donated to her campaign. You can too.
Yahoo News: McConnell laughs in debate when challenger Amy McGrath slams his COVID stimulus 'dereliction
TPM: McConnell Laughs When Called Out For Going On Break Instead Of Working On COVID Relief
The (UK) Independent: Mitch McConnell blasted for laughing over failure to pass Covid relief bill
Alternet: McConnell blasted for ‘laughing like Confederate Voldemort’ about coronavirus during Kentucky debate (My vote for best title)
Lots more articles here.
Of course with Trump up more than 20 points over Biden, and Kentucky a deep red state, Amy McGrath would have to pull a rabbit, maybe an entire rabbit warren, out of a hat to win. However, she grabbed national and international headlines with her long-shot candidacy, and now thanks to McConnell’s Confederate Voldermort laugh. At least she distracted McConnell and I assume she forced him to spend more money than he generally would. See: Mitch McConnell has more cash than Amy McGrath after pricey US Senate primary.
Depending on the political climate Rand Paul, Kentucky’s other senator, may be vulnerable. His term ends in 2022. I wouldn’t be surprised if she runs for Senate again against him. She also could opt to run against Republican Andy Barr who is from the congressional district where she lives.
