There’s the ongoing problem of government leaders dying from old age while still in office, which is just ludicrous to me. Ginsberg not retiring during eight years of Obama, rolling the dice on which party would be in office when she died, gave Trump such a golden opportunity to create a SCOTUS that will last into the second half of the 21st century. And while Feinstein’s death at 90 years of age doesn’t affect the country in any significant way, that she clung to office for months while deteriorating physically and mentally in full public view was a travesty of embarrassment.
So now Biden has made clear he’s running for a second term, but I don’t believe anyone takes him seriously. Most Americans wouldn’t bet on him making it to the top of the stairs, much less all the way to November 2024. And Pelosi has also announced her reelection bid. Ousted from any real authority in the House that she has little chance of regaining, she proclaimed she’s running once again because “she feels she owes it to California.” Really? My view is she’s taking advantage of Californians for the sake of her ego and hubris.
Many headlines today celebrate that Feinstein is the “longest serving woman senator” as if that’s an admirable and worthy accomplishment. There is no honor is waiting out the clock as a senator, second only to dishonorably waiting out the clock in the NFL. It’s a disservice to Americans clutching to office as competency fades. Have the decency to retire.
There is a minimum age for congressmen, senators, and POTUS. 25, 30, and 35 respectively. A maximum age is a reasonable expectation as well. But it takes an act of Congress to impose a maximum age (as well as related term limits). Who in Congress is going to impose a maximum age disqualifying themselves from holding office until death? It’s self-defeating if the motivation is power and not service. Remember, this is the same body in charge of voting for raises for themselves … and they vote for a raise everytime.
Something is way awry when government leaders refuse to step down and let younger ideas lead our country. And something is way awry when voters keep sending the Cryptkeeper’s grandmother to D.C. If voters value sentimental tradition over basic competency, it’s time to place a constitutional limit to dispell the voters’ myopia. And because so many of our government leaders are too power-drunk to hold themselves accountable to Americans, an upper-end age limit makes perfect sense to enforce this accountability.
Age limits, term limits, or whatever limits to keep government leaders from dying in office is strongly overdue. If alive today, I believe Thomas Paine would agree. He might even publish a sequel just to get the ball rolling.
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