We witnessed the epitome of uber-experienced Washington, last week, when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R‑Ky.) froze mid-sentence during a press briefing, unable to utter a sound or make any movement for a seemingly interminable 19 seconds.
The Republican leader, 81 years of age, the last 38 spent in the United States Senate, was eventually rescued by fellow Republican senators, led away from the microphones.
McConnell has plenty of company in Washington. There’s our doddering octogenarian president. And in Congress, incumbency leads to longevity, which leads to old age. The Senate, Newsmax notes, now “has the highest median age in U.S. history at 65.”
Americans were treated to another gerontocratic spectacle with 90-year-old Sen. Diane Feinstein (D‑Calif.), appearing confused at a committee hearing, and being told to vote “aye.”
And sheepishly complying.
I started to write, “If this is what experience leads
And grist for a million memes. “Family Torn Between Placing Grandpa In Hospice,” runs a Babylon Bee headline, “And Having Him Run For Senate.”
Funny, sure. But this problem isn’t. Getting old isn’t always pretty. And even career politicians such as McConnell and Feinstein deserve better.
So do ‘We, the People’!
Term limits would solve the problem and be better than age limits. Both are popular — 75 percent favor age limits, while over 80 percent want term limits. But with Congress having dodged the congressional term limits enacted in 24 states back in the 1990s, citizens in North Dakota, with help from U.S. Term Limits, have launched a ballot initiative for 2024 to place an age limit of 80 on their federal representatives.
Three decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court narrowly struck down state-imposed term limits, 5 – 4. Today, what will the High Court determine on age limits?
Inquiring minds want to know. And I really love the movement’s relentless agitation!
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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