Dear Elite Political Media: Just stop it, will you?

Sincerely, America

So Mitch McConnell says that, sure, he'll confirm, if necessary, a judge for El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago in 2020, even though he cited 2016's being an election year as his transparently bullshit reason for stiffing Merrick Garland. What do you think about that?

Here's CNN.

"Reversal..."

Here's The New York Times.

"Called hypocrite..."

"Democrats accused..."

"Drawing claims..."

Here's the Washington Post.

"Some saw..."

Merrick Garland is surely under no illusions about who Mitch McConnell is. Alex Wong Getty Images

Look, folks. There's no "reversal" here. McConnell is a greasy old weasel with a wardheeler's predatory instinct for the main chance. He froze out Merrick Garland because the president was a Democrat—and a black guy—and he's going to slide through whatever larval Scalia this president* puts up in similar circumstances in 2020. That's not a "reversal." That's a carefully orchestrated strategy to get what you want—in this case, a conservative majority on the Supreme Court that will outlive McConnell, if not his villainy. He's long since given up any role in governing the entire country and he doesn't give a gnat's ass what anyone thinks of him because of it. He's underwater in his home state, for god's sake, and he doesn't give a gnat's ass about that, either.

The story is not that Chuck Schumer called McConnell a hypocrite. "Some" do not simply "see" him that way. The story is that McConnell is a hypocrite, a loud and proud one whose deeply ingrained instincts for the art and power of public hypocrisy he is more than happy to inflict on the rest of us, and perfectly willing to share openly with the rest of the world, about which he doesn't give a gnat's ass, either. He cares about himself and his donor class, and the rest of us can whistle fish. He's a smirking tinpot Nero, and we're the fiddle he's playing.

Respond to this post on the Esquire Politics Facebook page here.

Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io