Trump's bitch. Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

As the wheels rapidly tumble off the clown car and the shadowy specter of accountability hovers on the horizon, let us not forget the toxic kingmaker who got us here - soulless, slimy, colluding, obstructing lowlife Mitch 'Douchebag McTurtle' McConnell, variously dubbed "the second worst human being on the planet" and "the man who broke America." By now hated even in his own state, McConnell's shameless, hollow abasement in the name of getting and keeping power has allowed the malignancy of Trump's reign to go on this long; notes Ezra Klein, "If Trump often acts like he is above the law, it is only because McConnell lets him." This week, having derided as "laughable" the notion that Trump's offenses were impeachable, he had the chutzpah to sniff that Democrats just weren't interested in "making life better for the American people" - never mind the 230 bills they've passed - gun control, health care, election security - now sitting on the legislative graveyard that passes for his desk. Many called bullshit: "

Even better, others refreshed our memories with McConnell's noble, righteous words, a few years back, on the subject of presidents who abuse their power, and what should become of them. He raged about a leader who at a crucial point "could do the right thing (or) cling to his

Presidency," regardless of the costs and consequences, and who unconscionably made his "cold, calculated choice."

"Time after time, the President came to a fork in the road. Time after time, he had the opportunity to choose the noble and honorable path. Time after time, he chose the path of lies and lawlessness - for the simple reason that he did not want to endanger his hold on public office...The name of the game was winning. Winning at any cost," he intoned in 1999, going on to enumerate the many oaths of office that had been violated. "I think that the United States Senate has a clear choice," McConnell said. "Do we want to retain President Clinton in office, or do we want to retain our honor, our principle, and our moral authority? For me, and for many members in my impeachment-fatigued party, I choose honor." This, we might add, for a guy who messed around with the wrong woman, not a guy who sought to dismantle American democracy as we know it. Vile hypocrisy, thy name is McConnell. May they all go down together.