Mitch McConnell just rolled back into the Senate after three months away. The Kentucky Republican is 84. He fell at his Washington home in June, was treated for pneumonia, spent two months between the hospital and rehab, then recovered at home with almost no public appearances. While Kentucky still counted him as its senator, he missed 60 recorded votes — judicial confirmations, housing and Medicare rules, immigration procedures, and votes tied to the war in Iran. On Monday, he arrived in a wheelchair, joked about dodging reporters for two decades, and said it was time to get back to work and finish the job of this Congress. He says he’s not quite at 100% and that childhood polio made the recovery harder. This is not a sentimental homecoming. It’s what a razor-thin Senate looks like when an 84-year-old former leader can disappear for 90 days and still be the vote the conference needs. If showing up is optional for the people writing the laws, don’t be shocked when the country starts treating the job the same way.Pat also covered: A Lindsay Clancy juror drops a detail that leaves Gayle King speechless. Temperature check: How does the audience still feel about the Lindsay Clancy case? Pat doesn’t want stolen goods — including pirated music. Stop it. Should the federal government regulate AI? JD Vance says that sudden push looks suspicious. More Lindsay Clancy jurors are talking — and Ron DeSantis offers “asylum” to the black holdout juror.Should a senator who missed 60 votes still hold a full term’s authority? If your boss vanished for three months, would you still call that serving?If you want unfiltered truth and commonsense analysis that cuts through the noise, hit subscribe and turn on notifications.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices