US politicians and reporters may be covering up how sick Senator Mitch McConnell really is, which is bad news for anyone who wants honest representation in Congress.

• McConnell has been in the hospital for almost a month, and no one has seen or heard from him.
• Several Republican senators and a CNN commentator all claimed near-identical 20-minute phone calls with him, which sounds scripted and fake.
• Right-wing figures like Glenn Beck and Benny Johnson are openly calling it a lie and asking why he can't just phone into a TV show if he's fine.
• One theory: they're hiding his condition to stop Thomas Massie from running for his Kentucky seat.
• It echoes the earlier hiding of Joe Biden's and Dianne Feinstein's decline, feeding the view that both parties protect the powerful over voters.

Outlook: Pressure for real proof of McConnell's condition will grow, and questions about who actually holds his Senate seat won't go away soon.