If you ever feel the need for a break from your usual routine you can always dive into the swamps of National Public Radio. The folks who hang out there will typically deliver some of the most liberal conversations you’d ever care to hear on any subject under the sun. Climate change has been in the news in a big way over the past week, so of course, that was a hot topic.

Joshua Johnson, the host of the 1A show, was recently talking to Justin Worland, a reporter for Time about this subject. There’s really nothing unusual going on here in terms of typical climate alarmism, but the host appeared to have some sort of fixation with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Specifically, he was focused on when Cocaine Mitch might kick the bucket because that’s the only way they think sweeping climate change legislation will be passed. (Free Beacon)

An NPR show discussed whether or not Democratic voters believe they have to wait until Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) dies to persuade Republican voters to take action on climate change. 1A host Joshua Johnson speculated that Democratic voters think they are “just going to have to wait for the Mitch McConnells of the Republican Party to die” before persuading GOP voters on climate change. “I know this is kind of a nihilistic question, but I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard a Democratic voter say, ‘We’re just going to have to wait for the older ones to die off,'” Johnson said. “We know that this current generation is much more pragmatic, much more solutions-oriented. The old folks aren’t going to change, they’re the ones in power.”

If this all sounds a bit too bizarre to be believed, listen to it for yourself.

Now, to be clear, nobody on the panel was threatening to kill McConnell or even suggesting others do so. (At least not overtly.) And if that phrase had only come up once it wouldn’t be worth mentioning. But Johnson just kept going back to the well. After the first suggestion that they would have to wait for the Majority Leader to die, he invoked the phrase “die off” before anyone else could get a word in.

The Time reporter initially seemed to avoid saying it (possibly in a moment of common sense), but then caved. He spoke of it not being “a question of dying out,” going on to repeat that people shouldn’t have to wait for McConnell “and his fellow older Republicans to die off.”

Another panelist chimed in, saying, “I mean, come on. You’re going to wait for Mitch McConnell to die?”

There were at least eight references to McConnell and/or other “older” Republicans dying in a very short period of time. Were we in more of a pouncing mode, I suppose we could suggest that this was some sort of veiled threat here that needs to be looked into.

The broader message they were pushing, death obsession aside, is the belief that there’s a whole generation of younger Republicans out there who are ready and waiting to climb onboard the Green New Deal train, but the tide is being held back by McConnell’s refusal to schedule a vote on Democratic agenda items. Frankly, that doesn’t sound terribly realistic. The majority of conservatives I know aren’t opposed to policies that are beneficial to the planet.

But when it comes to climate change they largely fall into two groups, including the younger ones. Some are unconvinced that the case has been adequately made that human activity is the main driver of any changes in the climate being observed, with some feeling that the data is being overblown. Others may be convinced that significant climate change is taking place, but are not willing to fund trillion-dollar programs to “do something about it” when the major polluters and carbon emitters around the globe won’t do their part as well.

Either way, the idea that the GOP is going to radically reform on this issue if Mitch McConnell were suddenly and conveniently out of the way seems a bit far fetched. But at least for now, I suppose the NPR crowd will have to keep waiting to find out. Cocaine Mitch doesn’t appear to be getting ready to give them their wish any time soon.