31 August—Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, at a press conference in his home state of Kentucky yesterday, appears to have suffered another TIA—transient ischemic attack, or partial stroke. It couldn’t have been a surprise. His staff shouldn’t have scheduled the press conference and certainly shouldn’t have allowed their boss to appear in person at it. Even if he had insisted.

His incoherence and probable mini-stroke aside—or perhaps because of other, unreported, TIAs he’s suffered since his well-publicized concussion in March—poor Mitch looked absolutely awful from the very start of the event. His ultra-casual, rather disheveled dress didn’t help matters: open-collar down-home semi-sport shirt, no tie. I’d never seen him tieless before.

Nor had I ever seen him looking at all older—let alone a lot older—than Joe Biden, who’s less than a year younger. Crafty, Machiavellian Mitch McConnell has never been among my favorite people, to be sure, but in the circumstance I feel sorry for the old codger. (Yes, it can happen to me, too.)

Mitch’s TIA occurred while he was trying to answer a question about whether he’d run yet again—for an eighth six-year Senate term—in 2026. The stroke should have answered that question. But for his own health, as well as for the good of the country and his party, Mitch McConnell should retire while he’s still able to make the decision himself . . .