This is how the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper. - TS Eliot

With a pathetic and weak resignation letter, Mitch McConnell's campaign manager, Jesse Benton whimpered his way out of McConnell's 2014 campaign and not a moment too soon.

Benton has a long, storied history of lies, half-truths, thuggery, and misbehavior. He was the guy who swept the conduct of one of Rand Paul's thugs supporters under the rug after said supporter stomped on the head of a MoveOn activist at a campaign event. In one of his more laughable moments (video above), Benton told Tea Party pals he was "holding his nose" to work on McConnell's campaign because it would help Rand Paul in 2016.

Just in case there is a fleeting thought that Benton might be wrongly accused of bribing people for their endorsements, you should also pay attention to what he says on this video:

That's Jesse Benton being questioned about his role in bribing Kent Sorenson to pull his endorsement from Michele Bachmann to Ron Paul.

Benton isn't just some dude who does political consulting. He's married to Ron Paul's granddaughter, was the spokesman for Rand Paul's 2010 Senate campaign, and was National Director of Ron Paul 2012. He should be regarded as the cultural ambassador of the Paul family.

Mitch McConnell knew these bribery allegations were out there a year ago. He chose to overlook them, and now he must be held to account for choosing to allow a man who is directly linked to felony conduct to manage his campaign for re-election. It is time for an audit of McConnell's campaign finances and conduct.

Or as Alison Lundergan Grimes says, "What did Mitch know and when did he know it?"