The Gerontocracy of The U.S.A.

The Gerontocracy of The U.S.A.

Can We Please Enforce Some Age Limits?

If your grandpa starts putting the remote in the fridge or calling you by the dog’s name, you don’t hand him the nuclear codes, you take away his car keys. But in America, we hand him a Senate seat for life. We let him write laws that determine whether you get healthcare, food stamps, or are sent to war. If he croaks on the Senate floor? Just prop him up…

We have elected officials who die in office in their 90s. Dianne Feinstein spent her final months signing off on votes she didn’t even remember casting. Her staff were basically weekend nurses with security clearance. She died at 90 while still technically working, if you can call someone “working” when they can’t remember where they are half the time. But she wasn’t some outlier. Strom Thurmond didn’t leave the Senate until he was 100.

Yes, 100.