Son of a Mitch -- McConnell to Mom: You're Fired!

Waiting outside her workplace at Maiden Alley Cinema with her 12-year-old daughter, Paducah, KY residentHeather Ryan wanted to ask Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) about the Iraq war. Sen. McConnell was at the theatre last week filming a campaign commercial. Thinking wisely she also brought her videocamer to tape his answer.

Not surprisingly Mitch gave her the cold shoulder. When American politicians ascend in rank their power shields them from a dosage of citizenry. What put this story on blogs across the country, from KY homegrown blog, DitchMitchKY to the nationally known DailyKos was that only a few days later Ryan was fired as director of the Maiden Alley Cinema.

Hat tip to DitchMitchKY for not just blogging from afar but for going down to Paducah and talking with Ms. Ryan personally (watch it here).

And watch the local coverage below.



I'm honestly surprised. My days as a McConnell Scholar at U of L taught me that at the very least Mitch was a decent human being. Even when he attacked 12-year-old Graeme Frost during the State Children’s Health Insurance Program debate last fall, I thought, hey that's a casualty of political warfare, another unfornate victim of the Godfather of KY's ruthless right-wing Machiavellianism.

But the pettiness of this...breathtaking.