politics
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December 27, 2024
The corridors of power are increasingly resembling nursing homes, if not hospices.
This year, two veteran members of Congress, Republican Representative Kay Granger of Texas and Democratic Representative Annie M. Kuster of New Hampshire, announced their retirement from public service, but their final days unfolded very differently. , tells the story of the danger. A political system that enables both longevity politics and elder abuse.
Mr. Granger, 81, announced in March that he would step down from his powerful post as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and would not seek reelection at the end of his term. She cast her last vote on July 24 and has appeared in Washington only once since then. By all accounts, Granger had disappeared from public view.
December 20th, dallas expressa conservative online publication; revealed Granger was said to have been living in an independent living facility. Until this discovery, Mr. Granger’s office had not returned phone calls. express Or someone else. Reporter Karl Turcios, who visited her office, said: “The door is locked, the front glass window is covered, there is no one inside, and there is no sign that the office remains occupied.” ”I noticed that.
In response to these reports, the congressman’s son Brandon Granger said his mother suffered from “dementia” and claimed she was diagnosed in September. Granger’s office issued a statement. reportedly “Since early September, my health issues have progressed and made frequent travel to Washington difficult and unpredictable. During this time, my staff has remained steadfast and as excellent as they have been for the past 27 years. We continue to provide services to residents.”
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This version of Granger’s story, in which dementia begins in September, makes little sense. Because, as Ken Klippenstein reports in his Substack, as early as March She was difficult to read even from effortlessly prepared statements. Additionally, she sold her home in early July, indicating that she was already planning on moving to an independent living facility at that time.
Granger eventually resigned his seat, but it was too late. If she had left public service years ago, she would have been remembered as a trailblazer as the first Republican woman to lead the House Appropriations Committee. Now, since then, her legacy has dimmed. new york times reportshe said, “drawing renewed attention to how the Capitol is sustained by a group of people in their 70s and 80s, including some who refuse to relinquish power long past their prime.” Ta”.
Mr. Granger’s colleague in Congress, Annie M. Kuster, 68, offers a striking contrast. In an interview with boston globeKuster It became clear She said she is leaving Washington not only for personal reasons, but also to demonstrate that lawmakers are indeed capable of rejecting elder statesmanship. Kuster said: I’m sure some of my colleagues are still very successful and productive, but some will stay forever. ”
The Granger affair, along with new reports revealing Joe Biden’s diminished presidency, has pushed elder politics onto the agenda in Washington. Besides Biden and Granger, now More expressions of concern On the aging and health care struggles of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and outgoing Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, both of whom remain kingmakers in Washington even though they have officially given up their powerful posts. ). question has also been raised As for Democratic Representative David Scott of Georgia, even his fellow Democrats have expressed skepticism about his ability to serve. The decision was made to have junior congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez absent from the House Oversight Committee in place of Gerry Connolly, who is 74 years old and suffering from cancer. Criticized by centrist Democrats Like Jen Psaki, as evidence of an entrenched longevity society.
This is a significant change from recent years, when a bipartisan code of silence shielded elected officials and judges from criticism despite ample evidence that they were too old to hold office. It is.
Kentucky Republican Congressman Thomas Massey responded to Granger’s story: Tweet“I’m more worried about the congressman who continues to vote despite suffering from dementia.”
California Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna tweeted:
Kay Granger’s long absence has highlighted the problem of a Congress that values seniority and relationships over merit and ideas. We have a sclerotic Presbyterianism. We need term limits. We need to get more money out of politics so a new generation of Americans can run and serve.
Mr Khanna’s statement has the advantage of moving the debate beyond simply the individual choices of MPs to the broader institutions that have made elder politics possible. Republican firebrand Kelly Lake also offered systematic analysis, although she rarely agreed with Khanna on anything and rarely advocated reason. Tweet“Washington, DC should not be a nursing home, but the entrenched forces there are so desperate to maintain power that they will pull stunts like this and reject new voices.”
Khanna and Lake accurately see the problem as a deep-seated system. Congressional rules give great power to seniority, and it is logical that voters continue to vote for long-serving members even after they become incapacitated. These legislators have staff to ensure that the perks of power continue to be shared with voters.
These employees themselves are an important force in realizing an aging society. After all, faltering political leaders essentially function as fronts or puppets for staffers who can exercise real power behind the scenes. Joe Biden’s presidency may have been a tragedy for the Democratic Party, for America, and for the world, but the ) was an opportunity to pursue their own policies. A vision of a world free of the obstacles one would expect from a fully alert and aware president.
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I used to worry that the United States would become an aging society. However, it is now clear that longevity is only half the problem. Elder politics itself creates the conditions for a horrific form of elder abuse, where elderly and declining leaders are used as puppets by unelected officials.
Democrats have unsuccessfully tried to make Donald Trump’s threat to democracy a key campaign issue in the presidential election. One reason this strategy failed was that Democrats’ depiction of the threat was too narrow and unconvincing. It is true that Trump, an authoritarian demagogue, is a threat to democracy. But his rise is symptomatic of a larger systemic breakdown, including the longevity of our society and the dangers of elder abuse. Indeed, Trump, who entered office as the oldest elected president and is a weathervane easily changed by his advisers, is an example of this problem as well.
Unfortunately, Democrats lack the credibility to advocate for this as a solution to this critical problem, as they themselves are guilty of longevity and elder abuse. Once again, Trump was able to win thanks to the recklessness of the Democratic establishment.
A hostile incoming administration, a massive infrastructure of courts and judges waiting to turn “free speech” into a nostalgic memory, and an old-fashioned press rapidly abdicating its responsibility to provide accurate, fact-based reporting. Independent media is required by institutions to do the job. itself.
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