I am so done with this whole Mitch McConnell thing.We’re now past six weeks of this ridiculous crap, and the silence surrounding the Kentucky senator’s condition long ago eclipsed the point of disturbing to become completely absurd and intolerable. But that just seems to be the Republican way. All we get are vague justifications and likely manipulated “proof of life” photos rather than actual explanations.Has McConnell been struck mute? Is he in a fugue state? Is he deceased? If the answers to all three are “No,” then there is zero reason why he shouldn’t be able to appear in a video to explain what the hell is actually going on with him.Yet not even the disempowered Democratic Kentucky governor, Andy Beshear, has been able to communicate with or receive a genuine update on McConnell’s condition.This thing all began on June 14, when paramedics reportedly responded to a brief loss of consciousness from a fall at McConnell’s home. His office issued a fuzzy statement that day about a subsequent hospitalization, without explaining more.And there hasn’t been a whole lot that’s made sense since. A couple of people independently reported phantom 20-minute conversations with the senator during which he was supposedly sentient and alert, but evidently not so much that he could actually communicate with the outside world.Then on July 12 came The Photo That Launched a Million Memes. The one with a smiling McConnell sitting up in a hospital bed dressed in a red-checkered shirt, a copy of that morning’s Washington Post in his lap, his sometimes-devoted wife Elaine Chao by his side. The photo’s authenticity was purportedly confirmed, but who among us really believes that?Somehow, a clarifying statement from McConnell’s office on Monday, designed to update us on the senator’s condition, managed to clarify nothing at all. It noted that he wouldn’t be returning to work this week, while quoting him as saying, “I’m still working hard to get back to my full schedule of work in the Senate and in Kentucky, keeping up with my intense physical therapy per my doctors’ orders. Unfortunately, that means I won’t be able to make it to Fancy Farm, Kentucky this Saturday.”An accompanying statement noted that McConnell was “not yet medically cleared” to leave the mysterious rehab facility where he was being treated. It also featured the obligatory smiling photo of him being comforted by his wife. If we don’t trust the legitimacy of anything going on here, of course, it’s their own damn fault. The Republicans have shown themselves to be lying sacks of garbage, and this McConnell mystery fiasco pours more fuel atop that.We’ve since heard that McConnell is now mostly afflicted only with a mild case of pneumonia. But if that’s all it is, I’ve never heard of a case of pneumonia that prevents you from going on camera.You know who would never allow this insanity to move forward were the situation reversed and it was a Democrat pulling this disappearing act? Mitch McConnell, that’s who. Say what you will about the man being (having been?) a duplicitous, cheating scoundrel who plays (played?) by no one’s rules but his own; he doesn’t (didn’t?) take any of this kind of crap from anyone.Meanwhile, Governor Beshear has been neutered by his Republican-controlled state legislature into oblivion. We’ve all heard about how the party is stalling any announcement or info about McConnell until August 3, the date after which an immediate special election can’t be called to fill the seat. But who knows what the real motive here is?Some people obviously know what’s going on, and they aren’t saying a word. It’s just unbelievable. How can this be legal? It’s obviously not moral or ethical – further evidence that this rogue cult does whatever it wants and always seems to get away with it.Like so much that’s happened during the Trump years, this is completely unacceptable. And yet the Democrats, even as they scream and shout to try to change up the narrative, accept it.We’re all being institutionally gaslit with outrageous political theater. Every carefully worded statement about the health of a man who has vanished from view seems engineered to answer every question except the one everyone is asking. It’s as if the Republicans have invented a new medical specialty: strategic ambiguity.Imagine applying a similar standard of non-information in other areas of lifeYour airline pilot pauses on the runway for 15 minutes without saying a word. A flight attendant gets on the PA and calmly says, “Our pilot has consulted with experts and remains fully committed to today’s flight.”The surgeon who is about to perform your colonoscopy freezes during pre-op for half an hour before you’re put under anesthesia. No one bothers to tell you what’s going on.“Everything OK?” you finally ask.A hospital publicist enters the room to assure you, “The doctor appreciates your concern and looks forward to continuing a distinguished career.”Your Uber driver steers your car into a lake.