Rosie the Riveter
The Wilted Lettuce of a Democratic Victory
Yes, I’ll vote for Joe and Kamala because I’m not even close to ready to see my country degenerate into a fascist state and that’s where it’s heading. Be patient, I’m saving Rosie for the end.
My complaint is neither right or left wing
Congress is a creaking, crotchety, stumbling bunch of elected officials currently way past their sell-by dates. Obviously they’re addicted to petty grievances and simply need to be thrown the hell out and replaced by a generation or two of younger minds.
Election to the Senate or House is an obligation to the represented. Now I’m sure these good folk had the best of intentions somewhere back there in the darkest confines of their original victories, but damned if some of them aren’t twice the average age of their constituents.
The titles, perks, begging for money and posturing have become a business, no longer serving the public
Democratic leaders in the House are two decades older than Republican leaders. The average age of the Democratic House leadership is 72 years old, whereas the average age of Republican House leadership is 48 years old. This carries over into House Committee leadership, with Republican chairmen averaging 59 years old and ranking Democrats averaging 68 years old.
And these are averages, which means half are older yet. Did you know that? I didn’t. Representative Conyers, Democrat of Michigan, is 87 and his constituency averages 35 years-old. Rep. Young, Republican from Arkansas, is 83 and his constituents 33. In next month’s election, 21 of the 33 Senators running for reelection will be 67 or older and these are six-year terms. Senators Feinstein, Hatch, Nelson, and Sanders are already well into their 80s.
The young lead with ideas and the old keep them from becoming policy
Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, the 30 year-old Representative of New York’s 14th District, is perhaps the best example of the young newcomers in the House. Her legislative mind is sharp, yet her largest critics are Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (80 years-old) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (81). Each of them are old enough to be AOC’s grandparents, so it’s understandable (if not enlightening) that they are luke-warm on her Green New Deal.
These two octogenarians prefer throwing money at big business and the airlines, rather than building an environmentally strong nation. Maybe it’s because they won’t be here for the end-game.
But the old can also keep policy from becoming law
Well, now we’re back to Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader. And Mitch is no worse than whoever serves their party in the ongoing tug-of-war that transpires in the Senate. But he has very sharp teeth behind that receding chin.
Understand that the ‘do nothing Democrats’ of Trump’s ire have passed nearly 400 bills, not including resolutions. But some 80 percent of those bills linger in the Senate, where McConnell prioritizes confirming judges over passing bills. Add to that his attempt to ram through a Supreme Court nominee within three weeks of a presidential election.
Ah Mitch, let me count the ways you fuck over your historic United States Senate.
So, back to the wilted lettuce
We will have an election on November 3rd. Someone will be elected President of the United States. We will survive whoever that winner is because we are a strong country and those who predict an apocalypse are not as old as I and lack my steady resolve in the strength of America.
But we face enormous problems on too many fronts to satisfy everyone—and perhaps anyone. The disenchanted will not stand for wilted lettuce, having choked down 40 years of it and found it not to their taste. Who could blame them?
But most of the old miscreants in the Congress were there for nearly that entire time—and yet we send them back—paying little attention to Einstein’s adage that “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Let’s get ourselves a Congress full of the young and excited
There are some wonderfully talented people out there that haven’t the money or the clout to get themselves elected.
We tried money and clout. It didn’t work out all that well. Remember Rosie the Riveter, whose strong arm and determination got us through World War Two?
Let’s send her to Congress.
Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay