No, Bunning's latest really just reminds me of a few rather important things that, were the media even to consider them, would immediately dismiss them as peripheral, though they are highly central to the system's dysfunctions:
- Bunning is retiring at the end of the year, but has this episode alerted Democrats as to the urgency of making sure the homestretch of his term is as miserable as possible? Does anything motivate them to punch back, I mean like ever? Prove me wrong, ladies, prove me wrong and sideline this dickhead for the duration.
- The median age in the Senate is 63 years now, with 26 senators in their seventies or older. Are the interests of an increasingly impoverished nation being well-served by an insular group of wealthy old farts -- such as, say, Jim Bunning? Term/age limits would have unintended consequences, but so does wheeling Strom Thurmond into chamber long after his brain had turned to oatmeal.
- Parliamentary procedures need to be changed, pure and simple. It has somehow become a token assumption that a supermajority is the only true majority, and now Bunning is able to cock-block a $10 billion apportionment by himself. What the fuck is that, besides the cheap trick of a group of people who each think they could and should be in charge?
Like many of the institutions that determine the course of our lives, these people frequently seem more concerned with the pomp and ceremony of their station than with actual performance. It shows in the results.
Not to be an ageist, heaven forfend, but you have a good point about the superannuation of the Senate, especially the ones that have been living on the government dole for numerous terms now. Not that there aren't a lot of younger members of both houses who aren't low down pricks.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing that perplexes is what Bunning hopes to gain. It's not like he's doing the bidding of the health insurance or financial industries in a bid for future work after he leaves the Senate; he just really seemed to get off on increasing the quota of misery heaped on the working classes. And of course gets some zealous support from moronic teabaggers, a group of people who can never seem to imagine the possibility that they might end up in dire straits themselves someday, because they are so exceptional. I guess.
I think part of it has to do with the pomp and ceremony of the place; senators never miss an opportunity to remind themselves and each other of their profound historical standing. So the longer they're there, the more they each believe themselves to be the reincarnation of Suetonius or some such.
ReplyDeleteBetween that and the money required just to run, we end up with what we have. I don't want to be ageist either, but 40 years is plenty in any line of work. Some of these people need to learn how to say "when".
As for Bunning, even Ted Williams, no slouch in that department himself, thought Bunning was an asshole. He's just living up (down) to the name. Republicans at least are unencumbered of the usual efforts to pretend they give a shit. Democrats still do the dance. Same shit, different shovel.