Wednesday, December 25, 2024
PMT: The Gerontocracy
Kay Granger, who lives is Texas, is struggling with a lot of the things that people her age (81) often face: She has been showing signs of dementia, according to her son, and recently moved into an assisted living facility. The problem is that she is an elected member of Congress who has just stopped showing up for work, as reported by the New York Times.
Granger, of course, is about the same age as President Joe Biden, who has faced a wealth of issues related to age. Charles Grassley is over 90 and remains a member of the Senate. Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell suffered serious falls recently, as people their age do.
Why are we having such a hard time turning power over to younger people? I suspect the answer has a lot to do with the institution of Congress, which over-values incumbency and longevity. We voters, of course, are part of the problem too-- these oldsters didn't elect themselves to office, after all.
Is this a problem we need to deal with?
