A version of this essay first appeared in Crash Course, Salon’s free morning newsletter. Sign up for early access to articles like this, plus more of Salon’s bold journalism on how policies, movements and culture wars affect real people. Sen. Mitch McConnell is back — but is he really? After three months of total absence from the public eye, that’s the question many are asking about the Kentucky Republican. In June, McConnell suffered from a “bad fall” that left him hospitalized. For months, rumors circulated that he had actually died, was on life support or was otherwise incapacitated. McConnell, who became the longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history before relinquishing that role last year, is now 84. He’s had serious health issues in recent years, such as freezing up during a press conference in 2023, an incident also blamed on a fall. During McConnell’s prolonged absence, during which he still collected a paycheck, there was virtually no public info on his condition. A few images were released, but no video or audio that made clear he …