One of my favorite moments of Mitch McConnell’s tenure as Senate Republican leader came after Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) unveiled the Green New Deal.

Recall that the initial plan peddled by Ocasio-Cortez was so astoundingly socialistic — bans on gas-powered cars, meat, air travel, and free housing and salaries for everyone, whether one chose to work or not — that she was compelled to pretend it wasn’t real. The official Green New Deal, co-sponsored by Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ), all Democratic Party presidential candidates at the time, was only marginally less insane. Lefty pundits and the media wrote laudatory pieces about the vision.