Last Weekend, my friend and colleague Matt Margolis wrote that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) needed to "retire yesterday," noting that he was expected back to the Senate this week, after a three-month absence. 

If you'll recall, he apparently fell at his home in Washington, D.C. on June 14, was briefly unconscious, and, as Matt pointed out, "His spokesperson David Popp confirmed at the time that McConnell had been hospitalized, but for weeks afterward, his office offered nothing else: no diagnosis, no prognosis, no timeline."

In mid-July, his office released a statement and a "proof of life" photo, but the whole thing was super sketchy. 

Well, McConnell rolled back to Capitol Hill in his wheelchair on Monday — well, someone rolled him back anyway — and it's... embarrassing. He looks thin, frail, and completely out of it. He speaks in a voice that is "faltered," according to Reuters. In other words, he's unfit to serve in the United States Senate. 

I get it. The GOP needs votes. This is a warm body in a wheelchair collecting a vote. But even that's not going exactly the way it should. 

Recommended
I’m So Glad This Nightmarish Legal Fight Is Playing Out During an Election Season Athena Thorne More Humiliating News for Kamala Harris Matt Margolis

On Wednesday, they rolled Mitch into the Senate Agriculture Committee, where they have been trying to move a farm bill since August, but it died due to the fact that there was an even number of Democrats and Republicans present on the committee and everything has to be decided down party lines it seems these days. 

Mitch's vote should have been what sent it down the pipeline to the full Senate. And now, it will be, but it didn't come easily.  

When the clerk conducted roll call, McConnell sat silently when his name was called. Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) leaned over and whispered "no" to him (Hoeven later claimed he misspoke and thought they were voting for something else) before one of McConnell's staffers told him to say "aye." Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), who chairs the committee, also leans over at one point and appears to tell McConnell to vote "aye." 

Some reports say that even the Democrats were prompting him to speak up. In the video, you can see he eventually raises half a finger and says "aye" softly. 

At some point, he also seems to freeze up — something we've seen the senator do before. No talking. Not falling asleep. Just... frozen in place. 

McConnell has been on this committee since 1985. He's been in the Senate for over four decades. If he needs to be told how to conduct a basic vote at this point, he needs to "retire yesterday," as Matt said. It's worse than Joe Biden. As Matt points out in his article, we demanded transparency from the Biden administration while it blatantly lied to us about his physical and mental health. Not doing the same to the leaders on our side only makes us look hypocritical and weakens us — something we can't afford a month and a half out from the midterm elections.   

Here are some more videos circulating of McConnell's big return to the Senate — most of them showing him refusing (unable?) to speak. He gives a thumbs up or a peace sign if anyone speaks to him, and he seems to have a permanent smile plastered on his face (I'll take some of what they're giving him). 

 Judge for yourself.