Article

2021-06-06 Home Front: Politix

[POWERLINEBLOG] The Washington Post reports that the current U.S. Senate is the oldest in American history. Dianne Feinstein

...Dem Senator-for-Life from Caliphornica. She has been a politician since about the time she was weaned. Feinstein was the author of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, and tried it a second time in 2012. Feinstein has chaired the Select Committee on Intelligence since 2009. At age 88, Feinstein is the oldest currently serving United States Senator....
turns 88 this month. Charles Grassley turns 88 in September.

Richard Shelby is 87. James Inhofe is 86. Patrick Leahy

Continued from Page 6

...Democrat Senator-for-Life from Vermont, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, source of more leaks than a plumber could keep up with...
is 81. Twenty-three senators are in their 70s. The average age of senators at the beginning of this year was 64.3 years.

It may be that being 88 now is like being, say, 78 a few decades ago. So despite being the oldest, this might not be the most age-impaired Senate in our history. Robert Caro’s book about the Lyndon Johnson-dominated Senate makes it clear that more than a few solons of the 1950s were rendered largely useless by age and/or drink.

Dianne Feinstein and some of the other Senators cited in the Post’s article insist they are still as sharp as a tack. But there must be a few who are losing it. A local pharmacist said in 2017 that he routinely sends Alzheimer’s medication to Capitol Hill.

In reality, it’s likely that most, if not all, of the Senators in their 80s and late 70s aren’t nearly as sharp as they used to be. To me, the interesting question is whether they realize this.

Most people I know in their 70s are constantly on the lookout for signs of mental impairment. I’m 72 and freak out if I can’t remember the fifth starter for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Senators seem to be different. Maybe it’s because they are surrounded by staffers whose livelihoods, and in some cases mini-empires, depend on the boss believing he’s still fully fit to serve as senator. That’s one theory, anyway.

It’s not optimal to have a Senate with age-impaired members. Such a Senate denies fully effective representation to certain states and may function less fluidly than a Senate with 100 competent members.

The main effect, though, may be to give more power to leadership. That was the case with Lyndon Johnson’s Senate, although Johnson (who was then in his 40s) would have dominated the Senate in any event.

Whether extra power in leadership is desirable depends on the identity of the leaders. Whether a fluidly functioning Senate is desirable depends on the leadership’s agenda.

What should be done about Senate senility? The obvious answer is a constitutional amendment imposing term limits. But term limits are anti-democratic. They deprive voters of the ability to elect Senators of their choice. And I’d hate to see Tom Cotton limited by law to two terms, or even three, if it came to that.

In the end, it’s up to the opponents of very old Senators to make the case that they are age-impaired, and up to voters to evaluate the evidence and decide whether such Senators should remain in office. If we end up with only 80 or so fit Senators, the Republic should still be okay.

Posted by Fred 2021-06-06 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11 views ] Top

#1 Ah Biden?

Posted by Woodrow 2021-06-06 01:07|| 2021-06-06 01:07|| Front Page Top

#2 Strom Thurmond and Robert "Exalted Cyclops" Byrd were 100, and that was years ago.

But that old bag "Senator" Feinstein...she and a host of others on both sides (and the occasional "I") just need to go.

Posted by Clem 2021-06-06 01:07|| 2021-06-06 01:07|| Front Page Top

#3 What it wrong with an age limit of 65?
That's when the society has said for a hundred years that you should retire from your primary job.
That's not saying you can't work one justs need to do something less physical and less mental and less dangerous.

I wouldn't want to write OS software drivers at 80. Like get real!

Posted by 3dc 2021-06-06 01:17|| 2021-06-06 01:17|| Front Page Top

#4 Power has a tendency to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Posted by Procopius2k 2021-06-06 06:30|| 2021-06-06 06:30|| Front Page Top

#5 Struldbruggs.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2021-06-06 06:44|| 2021-06-06 06:44|| Front Page Top

#6 House senility too. Who tries to impeach a sitting president three times for zilch.

Posted by JohnQC 2021-06-06 09:34|| 2021-06-06 09:34|| Front Page Top

#7 /\ But she was only following the orders of her chauffeur handler.

Posted by Besoeker 2021-06-06 09:36|| 2021-06-06 09:36|| Front Page Top

#8 As de Gaulle said, "The graveyards are full of indispensable men."

If all this accumulated wisdom is such a big deal, why does government specialize in f*cking things up?

Posted by M. Murcek 2021-06-06 09:52|| 2021-06-06 09:52|| Front Page Top

#9 Section 1: How Generations Have Changed

Posted by Skidmark 2021-06-06 11:17|| 2021-06-06 11:17|| Front Page Top

#10 it's not like these retards are actually doing anything other than warming a seat, preening for the cameras and pulling a lever from time to time. in a way that they are told.

their staffers that act behind the scenes are the ones pulling the strings. and their strings are being pulled by other deep state bureaucrats

Posted by Retard Strength 2021-06-06 15:50|| 2021-06-06 15:50|| Front Page Top

#11 more evidence of Decay in the US of A
Decadence, Decline, Fall

Posted by Claimble Elmomoque8902 2021-06-06 16:36|| 2021-06-06 16:36|| Front Page Top

#12 I think part of the problem is that those long-term residents of the cesspool actually believe they are there to rule as opposed to serve. Most probably actually started out serving and representing their districts but as time went on they because rulers.

Posted by CrazyFool 2021-06-06 17:14|| 2021-06-06 17:14|| Front Page Top

15:31 European Conservative
15:30 Grom the Reflective
14:45 NoMoreBS
14:39 NoMoreBS
14:39 Frank G
14:35 NoMoreBS
14:31 NoMoreBS
14:30 Penguin_of_the_Desert
14:17 NoMoreBS
14:04 swksvolFF
13:48 NoMoreBS
13:40 Frank G
13:40
13:32 swksvolFF
13:27 EMS Artifact
13:25 Secret Master
13:08 swksvolFF
13:05 mossomo
13:01 mossomo
12:55 swksvolFF
12:52 swksvolFF
12:50 jpal
12:37 JohnQC
12:07 Beldar+Uneter3543