I was watching the Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, a few days ago and his brain went to the Land of Who The Heck Am I? It was like he was in a coma and kind of scary. Oh, it wasn't scary because I was concerned for him. It was because he's four years older than I so I thought, "That could be me" and I cringed.
Immediately after Mitch's brain freeze I decided to research the ages of the members of the most august political body, supposedly, in the world. In a modern day workforce if I were a hiring CEO I assuredly would employ the brightest and the best. I once read that the most productive years for humans is at the age of 36. I don't recall the source so you'll have to believe me.
In this vein I looked up the oldest members of the U.S. Senate. The senator who leads the parade is Dianne Feinstein at age 90. Two days ago on the Senate floor a roll call took place and when it was her turn to answer Yes or No she sat in her chair dumbfounded. Finally, an aide told her to answer in the affirmative.
Below is a current photo of Ms. Feinstein:
However, if for some bizarre reason Di Fi decided to run for office again her staff, more than likely, would offer this photo for her constituents.
Would you care to guess the age span of our ten oldest US Senators? Go ahead. You probably won't be surprised. Working your way down for Feistein's 90 years the tenth eldest bottoms out at age 76.
But wait, there is another in that body who needs serious help. His name is John Fetterman-Pennsylvania. He's had so many strokes he can't string a coherent sentence together. And consider for a moment that Joe Biden has had surgery for not one but two brain aneryisms.
So, why am I making this subject of age an issue? Well, I've recognized a couple instances in the past month when my 77 years have jumped up and slapped me in the face. Example: Across the street from us lives a man with a 16 year old daughter. We've known her for ten years. She's a lovely child and every year at Christmas and on her birthday we'll put a gift certificate or cash in an envelope and present it to her. Last week I had told Her Majesty I wondered if ??????? might walk our dog. The question marks are due to the fact that I had forgotten Maggie's name for a few brief moments--as in, an hour of forgetfulness.
Did you know that Senators and members of the House of Representatives make life changing decisions for us? Did you know if a president calls for a declaration of war it's up to the House to decide? In other words, some of these people don't know what year it is and they're making decisions that affect your family personally and the nation forever.
I was emailing a friend this morning about congressmen and why they stay around so long. It is, of course, about power and money. When one thinks about it it's quite sickening that these people hang around so long but in the final analysis it's we, the voters, who allow the grifters to continue screwing us.
Let me ask you a question and I want you to think about Feinstein or Fetterman or even Joe Biden. If you brought home a new car today, one that cost you $30,000, and Joe or Dianne or Fetterman asked to borrow it to drive to Walgreen's would you flip them the keys and let them drive off? I didn't think so.
The problem with having term limits is these relics of Methuselah would be the ones to vote themselves out of office.
Guess what? We're screwed!
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