“I would have been hailed with approval if I had died at 50,” W.E.B. Du Bois reflected upon his 90th birthday. “At 75 my death was practically requested.” Mitch McConnell, who rather redundantly announced on Thursday that he would not seek reelection to the U.S. Senate, probably feels something like that right now. He entered the U.S. Senate 40 years ago. Time has clearly passed him by. In his defense, how many senators first elected during Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency played instrumental roles in the Reagan Revolution that McConnell served? This ultimate insider found himself on the outs with conservatives even prior to the start of the second Trump administration. Though McConnell acted as a rubber stamp to all but five of Joe Biden’s cabinet nominees, he voted with Democrats in recent weeks against Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense, Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of health and human services. It wasn’t always this way. Up until the beginning of last month — and this may seem impossible to believe but politics now moves faster than the speed of light — McConnell led Republicans in the U.S. Senate. And he held that role longer than anyone else in history. Although he leaves with a whimper, Cocaine Mitch, despite his funeral-director demeanor, occasionally ruled with a bang. Do you recall when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid invoked the “nuclear option” in 2013? McConnell certainly did. He extended the precedent, which Reid set to avoid filibusters for lower court judges, to nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court. Democrats cried foul, but McConnell merely highlighted how they had befouled themselves. McConnell took righteous stands against the mania for campaign finance reform that limited political expression, a constitutional position later vindicated by the U.S. Supreme Court. He enforced strict party discipline over Republicans in the U.S. Senate during the Obama presidency. And the tail end of Obama’s presidency witnessed the greatest gambit pulled off by a U.S. senator in history. McConnell called blocking Merrick Garland’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court “the most consequential decision I’ve made in my entire public career.” Considering that Hillary Clinton led in the polls, and a more moderate reputation than deserved followed Garland then, the possible outcomes looked almost entirely bad. But Donald Trump won the presidency, and because of Mitch McConnell — face it, Howard Baker or Everett Dirksen would not have dared such a gamble — the U.S. Supreme Court features Neil Gorsuch and not Merrick Garland. One can add to this, McConnell’s strength in keeping the coalition behind Brett Kavanaugh despite the slanderous accusations practically recycled from the Clarence Thomas hearings and in forcing through Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination during the last months of Donald Trump’s first term. “Seven times, my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate,” McConnell explained on Thursday, his 83rd birthday. “Every day in between, I’ve been humbled by the trust they placed in me to do their business right here. Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime. I will not seek this honor an eighth time. My current term in the Senate will be my last.” Undoubtedly, many MAGA enthusiasts celebrate that last line. But Donald Trump, those MAGA enthusiasts should reflect, enjoyed his biggest first-term success because of Mitch McConnell and now operates with a freer hand during his second term because of Mitch McConnell. The man, who witnessed conservatives snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on the courts for decades, understood the great importance of the judicial branch. Newcomers to conservatism who did not endure David Souter, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, and the rest, may not fully appreciate this. READ MORE from Daniel J. Flynn: Mater Si, Magistra No Redux Buffy Sainte-Marie, Imposter Indian, Stripped of Order of Canada Honor How Party Animals Became Party Cannibals The post Cocaine Mitch, We Definitely Knew Ye appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.