Why Is Mitch McConnell Still In Charge?

BY: OREN CASS
MAY 22, 2024

Having no apparent priorities or vision, McConnell has failed to unite his caucus behind any coherent message.

The role of the Senate minority leader requires a master tactician when the chamber is in session and a charismatic strategist when an election is on the line. Mitch McConnell is only one of these things and not the one his party desperately needs over the next six months. He has already announced his intention to step down from leadership but not until after November’s vote, leaving Republicans undermanned in the campaign underway. Whatever their sense of loyalty, their chances will be better if they replace him now.

The problem is one of both style and substance. The 81-year-old’s health problems and lapses during public appearances would make him an ineffective spokesman in any cycle, let alone one where Republicans seek to make President Joe Biden’s similar issues a major liability. But even were he at the peak of his powers, McConnell’s core beliefs would still preclude him from effectively supporting his side.

On policy, he is badly misaligned with the GOP and its standard bearer. His attempt to foist a badly negotiated non-solution to the border crisis on his caucus was a disaster and just one example of how his enthusiasm for the uniparty’s open-ended funding of Ukraine outpaced his interest in his own party’s priorities. He simply does not agree with Donald Trump on the issues likely to animate the campaign. He is a free trader who cannot make the case for tariffs. He is weak on immigration, allied with big business, and expansive in his vision for the nation’s foreign policy commitments.

While disagreement with a presidential nominee always poses a challenge, here the problem is more serious. Trump can be a formidable, perhaps once-in-a-generation campaigner but also his own worst enemy. Elites may not control many votes, but they often determine how a campaign’s message is received, funded, and implemented. The GOP, in disarray in so many ways, lacks prominent and disciplined messengers. A credible Senate leader would be a major asset. McConnell is missing in action and a liability if and when he speaks.

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https://thefederalist.com/2024/05/22/why-is-mitch-mcconnell-still-in-charge/

Graceland auction halted after Elvis Presley granddaughter's push for injunction
A company claims that Lisa Marie Presley took out a $3.8 million loan but never paid it back having put the Graceland estate up as collateral
By Michael Dorgan Fox News
Published May 22, 2024 10:30am EDT | Updated May 22, 2024 11:21am EDT

A Tennessee court has halted the Thursday sale of Elvis Presley's historic Graceland mansion.

Chancellor JoeDae L. Jenkins said at an injunction hearing at Shelby County Tennessee Chancery Court on Wednesday morning that the proposed auctioning of the property on Thursday will not go ahead after the Rock ‘n’ Roll legend's granddaughter claimed documents pertaining to the case were fraudulent.

The judge said he considered the real estate unique to the state and that there must be time for adequate discovery, and for the defense to address claims made about the potential sale.

The judge noted that this matter is of public interest, and that Graceland is part of the community and is well-loved.

A company claims that Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’s only child, took out a $3.8 million loan but never paid it back having put the estate up as collateral via a signed Deed of Trust in 2018.

The company, called Naussany Investments and Private Lending, claims Lisa Marie never paid back that money before she died last year and the firm initiated plans for Elvis' former home in Memphis, as well as its surrounding acreage on Elvis Presley Boulevard, to be sold to the highest bidder at a foreclosure sale.

Elvis’ granddaughter, Riley Keough, is the sole heir to the property and has asked a court for an injunction preventing the sale, which was initially scheduled to go ahead Thursday.

Keough says that the lawsuit is all a scam, with forged documents and a fake shell company making the claim.

more
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/judge-halts-graceland-foreclosure-auction-legal-battle-heats-up

All the Aid From Biden’s Gaza Pier was Seized by Hamas
That was $300 million in taxpayer money well spent.
May 22, 2024 by Daniel Greenfield 13 Comments

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If you’re keeping track, Biden announced that America was going to spend two months building a floating pier to deliver aid to Gaza at a cost of $300 million that would be operated by the U.S. military.

Then the pier came under attack by terrorists, was withdrawn to the Israeli port of Ashdod for repairs while the Biden administration conducted backchannel talks with Hamas urging it not to attack the pier, then redeployed for aid deliveries and it’s been a smashing success.

For Hamas.

The good news was that the Pentagon press secretary announced that 569 metric tons of humanitarian assistance has been delivered across the temporary pier in Gaza.

The bad news was that according to the same press secretary, none of the aid has gotten through to any recognized aid distribution points.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/all-the-aid-from-bidens-gaza-pier-was-seized-by-hamas/

All in defiance of SCOTUS...