Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to freeze for about 30 seconds on Wednesday while speaking with reporters after a speech in Covington, Kentucky.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to freeze for about 30 seconds on Wednesday while speaking with reporters after a speech in Covington, Kentucky.
The incident is similar to an episode McConnell experienced at the US Capitol late last month and is likely to raise additional questions about the fitness of the 81-year-old to lead the Senate Republican caucus.
Wednesday’s episode occurred when a reporter asked the Republican leader if he was planning to run for reelection in 2026. McConnell had to ask him to repeat the question several times, chuckled for a moment, and then paused.
Someone at his side then asked him, “Did you hear the question, senator, running for reelection in 2026?” McConnell did not respond.
I'm surprised Dianne Feinstein isn't running again. I thought she would have been stubborn enough to try to stay in office well into her 90s until she achieves lichdom just to troll us.
All these old fossils need to GTFO. Him, Feinstein, all of em.
But McConnell in particular has royally fucked this country. No member of Congress should have that much power. But he used it quite effectively for his own ends. So fuck him
Its either happening frequently and just happens to have been caught on camera twice, or it could instead be related to hearing well enough to understand.
My grandparents were like this. Even if they could hear you, a lot of times it seemed out of context to them because they missed some other important piece.
Yeah, that's not a hearing issue. I've seen people with hearing issues who zone out because they can't hear / follow the conversation. But, they're not at a podium at the time. When that happens they know they can just back out of the conversation and hang out until the conversation is over, or the meal is over, or whatever.
When you're at the podium you know you're the focus of attention and need to respond. You can't just stand there with a blank look. That looked more like a stroke or a seizure than a lack of hearing.
Oh it was rough towards the end with my grandfather. He was getting near deaf so it sounded like he was screaming at you all the time and you had to explain everything loudly and slowly, he couldn't take it easy either. Was still out there running his little carpenter business so he had to communicate with people. To make matters worse, in a way, his mind was fine so he knew that he used to be capable of stuff and could see it all in his head he just couldn't explain to someone calmly and in a normal voice that he wanted a hammer.
Of course the big big difference between him and the Turtle is my grandfather wasn't a bigoted pile of self-serving crap who was utterly useless.
Senators are among the most powerful politicians in the US, as well as on the planet, and they know it. They don’t stand there befuddled because they’re socially awkward. If they’re befuddled, it’s because they’re befuddled.
We are seeing the human version of the Mac’s spinning beach ball. I have a cat with the same problem. I would not nominate her for a seat in the Senate.
Mitch has had a series of bad falls over the past year, this isn't just poor hearing. Something else is going on and this is elderly abuse keeping him in office
My sister's absence seizures turned out to be stage four brain cancer. I know he's an arsehole, but doesn't he have anyone looking out for him? At all? He needs help.
Did you see the look on that lady's face? She wasn't even worried, she was annoyed. That's the world Republicans want to create for everyone. A Russia-like society where no one gives a fuck about anyone outside their immediate family, because it makes people much easier to control.
He should step down and fuck off into the sunset, warmly recalling with what little neurological function he may have how he fucked so many Americans. It’s probably best that I not write the rest of what I’m thinking about this piece of shit traitor.
I figure a nat 20 in this context would be a little more dramatic than simple sundowning... We could shoot for shitting himself on camera, moments of brutally honest verbal diarrhea, endless painful kidney stones...
Whatever the case, I wish McConnell all the health outcomes he so richly deserves.
That is hard to watch. I hate his guts and everything he's done and stood for in politics, but it's still rough to watch a man just fade away like that.
He needs to retire and stop clinging desperately to power. The stress of it alone is probably literally killing him.
Edit: Just so we're clear, here, I'm not offering him sympathy. I have none to give for a monster like Mitch McConnell. The man has done enormous damage to the country, and people like him are why I worry about the future for my kids (both LGBTQ+).
I was only trying to express that on a gut level, it's still unpleasant to see someone basically drain away like that.
He lost all potential sympathy from me when he denied Garland and rammed in Barett during an election year before RBG was fucking cold in the ground. That decision and denial of representation has made shockwaves of regression in terms of civil rights, voting rights, women's bodily autonomy and LGBTQ rights …and that’s what we have gone backward in…so far (birth control and gay marriage being illegal again is coming) and we will feel these effects for several decades way after he’s gone.
Yup. SCOTUS is eternally corrupted thanks almost exclusively to one man, and the sooner he's worm food the better. Hell, even the fucking worms will gag on his bones.
Umm what stress? No really I am asking. There is no realistic scenario where he will have to choose between medicine or food, face homelessness, have his career destroyed, or really any major setbacks. Also he is probably a psychopath so even if some relative of his gets killed it isn't going to impact him.
I am a regular middle class family man. It would take nearly nothing to destroy everything I have. One dark spot on an x-ray, one bad car accident, me and my wife both losing our jobs at once, a kitchen fire. The Turtle's wealth, pension, power, and lack of emotional attachments means he is shielded from everything. How can someone who can't lose anything be worried about anything?
The very worst thing that could happen to him is his party doesn't have as much power. Which isn't even really a thing on him, it is on the vile ideas that he has.
Um do you say the same thing about artists and celebrities who experience depression or commit suicide from the stress? I don't disagree with Moscow Mitch being a motherfucker or being undeserving of sympathy, but your comment is equally as brain dead. Constant moving around, traveling, talking to people who (rightfully) are trying to attack you, etc. produces stress on the body.
Don't worry, I will take enough joy for us both. There is no hell, he is going to the same dirt we all are. If I want to feel a bit glad that one less terrible human is around causing problems I won't feel bad about about feeling bad. Humanity as a whole will be better off the faster he dies. My feelings won't change when that event happens and express an honest evaluation of the situation.
Every single teenager girl in America trying to abort her incest fetus with a metal hanger is because of that fucker.
Don't worry I'll have your share, get fucked Mitch.
I know McConnell is just a lightning rod for hate for the GOP and as soon as he's gone some other amoral, sociopathic mercenary will take his place, but damn if he's not just the worst.
My initial response is to feel empathy and compassion when I see this, it's awful. Then I remind myself how many people have been hurt by him and how many people continue to be hurt by him and my compassion is tempered. I don't delight in his ailing, but I can't say I feel the same about this as I would if it were someone else.
The insane vitriol of some people on here, wishing death to this man, rejoicing in very obvious cognitive decline, it's harrowing.
The policy this man has supported and even pioneered is horrific, and frankly he should never have been allowed to push that shit nor would I ever support it, but you can bet your fucking ass I'm not going to be sat here laughing about an old man in clear mental distress or wishing death on him, because I'm not a piece of shit and I actually have some form of morality.
Don't worry, though, if the tables were turned Mitch himself would gladly cackle to himself knowing that some policy he enacted resulted in your suffering, so long as it earned him a buck in the process.
Fuck him. Right in the ear. With a pineapple. On a drill.
I want him to stop hurting people. If that means voluntary retirement that’s cool. If it means dropping dead or becoming too disabled to continue that’s still preferable to him continuing to hurt people. I wish him a long retirement, specifically I hope it’s the rest of his life long.
Utilitarian moral theory is an entire field of ethical philosophy, even if you don't agree with it. Someone who believes strongly in this could argue that we should have actually killed Mitch decades ago to prevent all of the pain, suffering, and death that he has wrought on this world.
I think what you meant to say is that you have some form of feeling morally superior.
For fucks sake, it's not some superior morals to allow a corrupt abuser to die or suffer for the agony they caused. It's a lie to keep a power systems masses docile and in check. It's even worse morals to know what this guy does and hope for the best for him instead of him dropping dead. Fuck that, and fuck all this shit that allows corruption to remain unfettered because oh we need to be kind to the fascist narcissistic egotists or what we have to deal with them like we always have. You should be aware of how they act and be ready to address that shit from day one when it's called out. We know we need chemo to kill a tumor why the fuck are we acting like we should be feeding it and nurturing these shit stains who are actively cannibalizing the human races ability to survive over greed. Cut the tumor out or fucking irradiate it to death. Any fucking fascist peice of shit should be getting the same treatment. You don't want to be mocked and laughed at as you die in old age? Well than start by giving a fuck about others first and maybe we will return the favor. I treat others based on how they treat others, fuck around like a shit stain get laughed at and paraded around like the shit stain you are.
That's the look you get on your face when you're standing at the podium and look out to see a skeleton wearing a robe and holding a scythe pointing at you from the back row.
After reading all the comments about wanting his life to be over and the counters about feeling bad for him etc. I think ive come to a conclusion on how to ethically handle him.
I'm going to laugh. I'm going to laugh at how foolish he looks having a stroke on stage. How despite all of the terrible things he has done to this country on a socio-economic level trying to line his pockets and stay in power, he is standing up there, feeble and barely coherent, looking like he simultaneously shat himself and forgot his name, I'm going to laugh.
Because if he wants any semblance of dignity, any ounce of respect, he needs to admit that he is done and bow out.
"But he is still human, have some empathy" No, why should I? This man has engineered tearing the country apart so he can put his grubby hands all over it and smear it in his own grease. And he is still trying to keep doing it!
What I see up there is an old man trying to walk across the freeway, with a dozen people telling him not to. And he is not only ignoring them but lifting his nose high and walking out into the road anyway. So when I see that mack truck hit him like it did on that stage, I laugh.
Kentucky is going to Kentucky. Hold my beer while I burn the state to the ground. I lived there and it was disheartening how many people vote against their self interest.
Because to most people in Kentucky keeping America safe from Hillary Clinton is more important than healthcare, abortion access, or school funding. Those voters have shown us their priorities, time and time again, and they truly care more about culture war nonsense than anything else.
Last comment was deleted, so I guess I'll repost it with edits.
Couldn't happen to a nicer piece of shit.
Lot of folks trying to take the high road here out of compassion.
This guy single-handedly fucked democracy sideways for at least a generation. The reverberations of his Supreme Court shenanigans are going to be responsible for the deaths of thousands.
I hope he spends the rest of his days confused and shitting himself.
Oh both can be true, but acting like only one is, well that's peak hypocrisy.
Also, yes both parties are corrupt, I'd agree with that, they're out there enjoying the lobbying on both sides. But the corruption on one side is on VERY different levels.
Tough noogies. If Satan doesn't like the gig then he knows what he's got to do about that touchy asshole boss of his. Tell him to take the necrotizing turkey neck or else.
Put these fucking geriatrics out to pasture already. That includes Feinstein as well. Shameful that this dude is being paraded around in front of media when he's barely coherent. It's shit like this that makes it very evident how long the Silent Generation and the Baby Boomers have clung desperately onto power long past the age that they should have handed over the reins to the people who will actually have to live with the consequences of their decisions.
Where are all the Republicans deriding "Sleepy" Joe Biden? What are your thoughts on Mitch McConnell the stroke victim? Would you vote him back into office again if he or whoever was puppeteering his desiccated corpse decided to run again?
It's honestly not much different than what he does at his job already, especially when he was majority leader. It's all about standing there and doing nothing, then occasionally saying how the democrats can't do shit while in office.
It says something that he's still the minority leader. Feinstein has similar issues and is still around, but she's just a random senator. This is the Republican senate leader.
I imagine many knives are being sharpened behind the scenes. I wonder if he's actively keeping himself in power, or if other people with power are "managing" (puppeting) him until they can grab power for themselves.
In Feinsteins case, she's on the narrowly held judiciary committee. If she were to retire (and she should for her own sake, though she may not be capable of deciding at this point), no more judges get confirmed till after the next election (to my understanding).
If she resigned the California governor would appoint somebody to fill her spot, still giving democrats control of the senate they would be able to appoint somebody else to that committee, or am I way off base?
Isn't there also some drama about how the governor and the democratic establishment want different people in her seat? The establishment wants to wait for the election to get the more moderate Schiff, who's a safer bet against lesser known progressives. But if the governor can appoint his progressive pick, as an incumbent they'll have a better shot at sticking.
But, odds are they won't be as effective at it. As awful as he has been, he's also been very effective. It's rare for a senate leader from either party to obstruct things as well as he's obstructed them, or to shovel through things as effectively as he has.
His voice has lost any strength and authority it had, he sounds like my strong, loud grandpa after he got bad dementia, he sounded weak and scared. I think he's beyond controlling anything, he's being used now. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
whatever is happening to him, I hope it's causing him extreme discomfort. it's the very least he deserves after all the shitty, life ruining ideas and policies he's endorsed
Factory reset restores them to infant mode, so in several months he will be delighted to discover that he has hands, even if he can’t really control them yet.
Last comment was deleted so it bears repeating: Taking the "high road" gets no one anywhere. And I for one am happy he is publicly losing his dignity, when he has gleefully played a major role in robbing others of theirs.
I want to take a camera and microphone to a voting booth building and ask people "hey did you vote for a man over 70 years old today"
Just because it's like encountering a bad show on live TV and skipping over it or a commercial and saying "damn that's dumb who is buying this?!" And never finding out. The best eye opener is meeting people who you didn't think actually existed.
I'm convinced Glitch McConnel is to GOP what Tito was to Yugoslavia. After he's gone, what he once held together will tear itself apart from the inside.
That's an interesting hypothesis, and I'm inclined to agree. Senator Turtle maybe be evil, but he's not a moron. He knows how to throw his weight around to get what he wants, and he knows when to shut up.
The latest batch of Republicans are evil and catastrophically stupid. I don't think they'll be able to hold it together.
Don't compare this guy to glitches. Glitches have the potential to be beautiful anomalies, and bring the possibility for creativity, personality, and humour in life to otherwise rigid and unyielding systems.
This guy is the rigid and unyielding system. And though I'm not American, it seems his works are anything but beautiful.
This is why we shouldn't have old people rule a country, not only do they make decisions that only benefit them in the short term they're also incapable of just talking in public
Everyone in elected office over the age of 65 should be forced to retire. At best, they've done their duty and deserve to rest and enjoy the fruits of their labor. At worst, they're nonfunctional skeletons that don't even have skin in the game when it comes to government.
The most impactful reason for there being an upper limit on age for representatives is that they literally don’t have a personal stake in the future. Even if they have kids or whatever other platitudes they may try to push, obviously there are people making decisions now that are going to have mortal fallout for the next generation that they don’t give a shit about if they’re making money.
There's a lot of perfectly competent over-65s.
There shouldn't be forced retirement, but forced screenings and physicals to ensure that serving politicians are still mentally fit to serve.
That is true, but then my second reason comes into play. Even if they are perfectly functional, they are at retirement age. Their stake in what government policies are formed goes down immensely. They have like 10-15 years left on average. Leave it to the people whose policies will actually affect them.
How is it democratic that you have to be 35 and a natural born citizen to be elected president? It may take a Constitutional amendment just like that, but I think it is a good idea regardless.
All elections are local here. President/VP is the only office that the entire country votes on, and even that is really a weighted combination of the results of 50 different State elections (and DC). So the first part is that Mitch only has to answer to voters in his home state of Kentucky.
But then Mitch's leadership position isn't even due to that, but due to how long he has been there and how many favors he has done for Republicans there. He was elected as the Senate Republican leader strictly by Senate Republicans. But that position puts him in a much better position to shape legislation the way he wants to, and every politician wants to direct Federal money back home.
So there is added incentive for Kentucky to keep sending him well past his "Best Before" date, because they lose all that influence if they send someone else instead.
And Senate elections are also for six year terms. A lot can happen to an elderly person in six years. He didn't show these symptoms when he won his last election.
yes. incumbents have a lot of staying power in elections just because they are the incumbent. there's also a giant coordinated rightwing media propaganda machine that has been driving hatred into the hearts of vulnerable Americans for the past 60 years telling them to vote R no matter what. even if it hurts them.
Also specifically for Kentucky, Kentucky outside of Louisville and Lexington has had little to no growth and instead has been in decline*. Republicans and centrist Democrats(in the case of who ran against McConnell, Amy McGrath) are the only ones who claim to bring jobs back. A lot of rural Kentuckians felt especially alienated by what many saw as a condescending response from who they saw as the Democratic establishment telling them to "Learn to Code". A lot of Kentucky voting is really about jobs rather than ideological issues, you saw the same with the election of Governor Andy Beshear(a Democrat) where he promised to fund the teacher pension where his incumbent opponent Matt Bevin didn't really promise much in terms of economic opportunity. Back to McConnell, McGrath could've had a chance against him but I think also people saw the notoriety and power McConnell has in the party as him being uniquely positioned to negotiate more for the benefit of Kentucky.
Kentucky voters have historically LOVED him. Until recently that state has voted consistently for Republicans for a while, and McConnell is the most powerful Republican in the US. He is vastly responsible for the horrible shape our government is in right now.
It is not true to say the state has voted consistently Republican, it has leaned Republican in the past 20 years but there have been a few Democratic congressmen(and some areas like Louisville are essentially always blue) and the governor is more often than not a Democrat.
I want them to rush his dying body to a Vet hospital and it takes three hours to admit him due to paperwork. I also want the EMTs to be paid minimum wage so they are all 16 year olds with no training.
2 is probably on the lower end. McConnell and Feinstein are relatively high profile. I'm sure there are congressmen shitting their depends on the reg that we just happen to pay less attention to
Error 404: Coherent Thought Not Found.Buffer Overflow in Verbal Output Stream. Senator.exe has encountered an unexpected filibuster in cognitive process.
Initiating System Reboot...Please Stand By.
Estimated time to resume 'functionality':30 seconds.
Ohhhhh how I do enjoy seeing this!!! It does bring a smile to my face :) This horrifying creature doesn't deserve any semblance of caring or empathy because it's very simple: he's not a human being. He's some kind of monstrosity birthed from some demon world and accidentally wound up here on earth.
Age limits, absolutely. I have very mixed feelings on term limits.
I live in Michigan, which has term limits in place for state government. The original limits were kind of silly. We recently approved a reform that changed the term limits for state legislators from three 2-year terms (6 years) in the state House and two 4-year terms (8 years) in the state Senate to 12 combined years in the Legislature, and requires a lot more disclosures.
The original limits resulted in many freshmen each election cycle. This seemed to open the door even wider to have special interests legislate by proxy since a lot of newcomers didn't always come in with very well formed agendas or know how to get anything done.
That aside, it seems like term limits make it harder for Jane/Joe Public to assume public office. It's true that being a politician isn't a certain career path, but what motive would I have to run if it meant quitting my current job knowing I would have to find a new job in 12 years assuming I managed to constantly win relection? Yeah, sessions only happen three days a week / ~115 days a year for our state Senate but it's not like I could easily work another job. Salarys are $72k a year, which will be attractive to some but will put off a lot lot of folks the private sector. The salary won't put off those who already have a high net worth though. Looking at the federal level the salary does go up to $174k, but the cap on the time you're allowed to serve would likely result in a lot of self-selection.
I see your point, but I'd make the opposite argument. Serving in Congress or a state legislature should never be confused with a career. Keeping salaries low, makes it easier to move on. Still enough to live while you serve.
Also, I personally couldn't even imagine being in the same job for 12 years. Having to find a new job in 12 years or less is something most people have to do and do willingly and even joyfully.
valid points raised, but I have to say if someone manages to stay elected for 12 years you would think they are somewhat competant and able to find a job post-politics without too much trouble
I mean as a career goes, that's about right for a lifetime career though. The problem is that he got into that position when he was almost 50. Additionally, if you take in his whole political career he is WAY over the limit. The age is the biggest problem here though, the man was born when Hitler was still a threat. He came into office before the Berlin wall fell. He's well past his expiration date as far as that goes.
I know people are quick to jump on this as a sign of cognitive impairment, but could this be a form of aphasia resulting from his fall a few months ago?
I just ask because it's possible it's a motor issue (knows what he wants to say but can't physically say it) rather than a cognitive issue (can't think of something to say).
As much as I'd love for McConnell to GTFO, and certainly support age/term limits in Congress, if it is a motor issue it'd be similar to what Fetterman has dealt with since his stroke (auditory issue vs. cognitive issue).
Not weighing in on opinions about the fella as I’m British and ‘not my politician’ but, just showed this to my wife who is a specialist in geriatrics for the NHS and she said she’d refer him for a scan querying either a vascular event or vascular dementia.
You need to parboil turtle meat before it freezes. Especially if you want to get rid of the rank bitterness.
Also, to purge the filth out of its flesh properly, you really should put the turtle in a tub or plastic trash barrel (while still alive) for about a week, with some fresh water to swim in.
Well, he can't talk or think and he has tons of power! This is excellent and surely not a symptom of a fundamentally broken system that will doom us all!
MF having tias right the fuck up on the stage, lol. They've probably got him on anticoagulants since the first one but it probably doesn't take a big clot to fit through his arteries at this point. I can't imagine the amount of sclerosing and HTN is present in an excessively rich and exceedingly old white man. Wonder how much syphillis he's caught from 14 year olds.
In all seriousness, the loudest concert I went to was seeing the Local Natives at Coachella. Everything was fine, but they kept asking the sound technician to turn their instruments up. It was deafening. Wear earplugs when going to concerts, especially if you're close to the front.
This is what I don't get about USA. So called freedom country granting lifelong held positions to people. Supreme court, senate whatever it's there that are giving people lifelong until their deaths positions and talk about free elections and stuff.
I might be wrong so please correct me but why do you have so many people like him holding their places until they die or retir because of old age? How is it a democracy when there is a monarchy in place by election?
He isn't in a lifelong position. The only position one holds for life is the supreme court. He's a senator, they have their position for 6 years. It just so happens that his state always re-elects him (for some stupid fucking reason, not like he's ever actually helped the people from his state.)
There should be a limit like the presidential election. 2 terms and you're out. So called re-election is what gives these living mummies the infinite political powers.
This does not sound good. I wonder who the cons will end up replacing him with? He is not and was never great; but given their trend, they are bound to find someone even worse.
He was great at obstructing democrats, on everything but especially their supreme court nominees, and expediting the confirmation of their own, resulting in a partisan, conservative-aligned supreme court that does whatever they tell them, laws and constitution be damned.
In this, he was extremely successful and that's why his people keep voting for him.
That being said, yes, McConnell is one of the key architects of how dysfunctional our system of government has become. From using the filibuster more times during the Obama administration than all prior administrations COMBINED, to blocking a legitimately named Supreme Court Justice, not by allowing him a fair vote, but by denying him a hearing AT ALL.
BUT...
Now hear me out... BUT...
He does have three daughters, Porter, is actually an activist:
You can make fun of the guy, you can hate the guy, but before you wish death on the guy, take just a moment to consider his family and how they must feel watching him break down like this live on camera, not once, but twice.
Just because I have no wish to murder you before the eyes of your daughter does not mean parading her around in front of me is going to inspire sympathy. You and I have unfinished business. And not a goddamn fucking thing you've done in the subsequent four years, including getting knocked up, is going to change that.
Well that is a fucking ice cold take and a half. Takes a lot to willfully look at the record of Mitch McConnell, who has had a significant part in setting socioeconomic progress in this country back 50 years, and say that his decline and public embarrassment is somehow something I should at all feel sad about.
I'm not asking you to feel sad, I'm asking you to recognize that as awful he is, he's still a human being and has other human beings who, in theory, care about him.
As a human being, I feel great empathy for the man and his family. I wish him nothing but the best in health and family life and am saddened to see his decline. But was someone 100% opposed to his politics I will fight endlessly to destroy both his works and his legacy even as he has worked to destroy democracy as we've come to know it.
well, people have suffered due to lack of access to medical care and died of poverty under his rule, so he probably has more cruelty than them since you know,he caused those problems, wheras people are just laughing at him getting his just desserts from fate or god.
As was mentioned somewhere in the comments, he may not be fully lucid and he would never see any of this. So making these jokes just highlights the cruelty and amoral attitude of people just to search for a laugh.
People just tend to get a sadistic, vengeful sense of humor in politics. Nothing you can do about it aside from just trying to ignore it.
I see a similar thing with how people describe Zuckerberg, who to me at least, displays signs that have a striking similarity to ASD. Having a nephew just starting grade school and brother who both lie within the spectrum makes seeing all of those heavy-handed insults feel like they may as well be directed at them.
He's surrounded by people that, not for a single second, care about him or his health and will happily Weekend at Bernies him (assuming they aren't already).
On a human level, it's awful. And then I remember all the suffering he had personally caused and all my sympathy shifts to everyone he's harmed in his long, horrible life.
So it is wrong to dehumanize a person that has dehumanized millions of Americans for the most part of his career? Some kind of backwards logic if you ask me.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to freeze for about 30 seconds on Wednesday while speaking with reporters after a speech in Covington, Kentucky.
The incident is similar to an episode McConnell experienced at the US Capitol late last month and is likely to raise additional questions about the fitness of the 81-year-old to lead the Senate Republican caucus.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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