Recently, the local newspaper printed two, what I consider, outstanding articles on their Editorial Page. One is by Kathleen Parker (“It’s time for the old guard to step aside”) and the other by Ruth Marcus (“The Supreme Court just made corruption a little easier”). Both writers are with the Washington Post.
Since I believe both of these articles are extremely powerful, I wanted to share them with my blog visitors; however, as many of you have discovered, the Washington Post has a paywall. 😠 Fortunately, I was able to get around this by downloading the page from the online version of the newspaper.
You will notice the download includes a couple of letters submitted to the newspaper’s “Public Forum.” One of them is related to a local issue, but the other one is more politically-oriented — and may actually be of interest.
In any event, here is the link. I’ll be anxiously awaiting your reactions/opinions on either or both write-ups.
Nan's Notebook 
Both articles are great reads and worthy of deep contemplation. I thought challenging our government’s leadership because it is comprised of a bunch of old fart careerists was taboo for Democrats. I am happy to be wrong about that. On the Republican side, the long knives are out for Mitch “The Turtle” McConnell.
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Yes, I agree with both.
I have been saying, for several years, that it is past time for some of the older politicians to retire. The next generation deserves having a time at running things.
Nancy Pelosi has done a pretty good job as speaker, but she needs to retire. Biden needs to retire. Trump needs a long vacation at Club Fed.
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Not sure if i agree with everything from both articles…. But yes, I think in both politics and in the workplace, people should retire and let the next generation helm the ship. In general, it works better.
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Nan, you are circumventing their paywall, which is a bit of theft. Now, I have engaged in more than a bit of computer piracy (Arrgh!) but at some point I think we have to honor the desires of the content creators in this regard.
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Since the local newspaper is available only by subscription (or single pay), it would seem the “piracy” rules would not apply.
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I have observed this thing in political parties, regardless of party, a tendency for self-preservation, at the expense of constituent service and progressing toward ‘a more perfect union.’
I am in agreement with both ladies, and ladies in journalism is another subject we need to come back to, in due time.
We have not yet really proven to be a democracy. But it is a progression of ideas and policymaking that will get us there.
When you turn your TV on to watch the news tonight, assuming you’re not tuned to Fox or OAN, observe the diversity and the talent of the reporters and commentators. By all means, recognize their sex, their skin color, and their ethnicity.
What you see is what scares the $#!+ out of white conservative males. The realization that intelligence, patriotism, bravery, and dogged determination are not a white domain. The struggle of all women, any person of color other than white, and any religion besides Christianity, has honed them to their game weight. If we fail to find our legislators in these ranks we fail our own agenda.
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it is tempting to claim that elderly politicians are the problem, and let’s face it, many of them are a problem, but they are not the root cause of the problem. Yes, a lot of them are old fossils that should be sitting on their front porches yelling obscenities at passers by and I could see Mitch turning into some town’s “official greeter”, sitting on his front lawn with no shirt on and waving at people who drive past. (Admit it, your town had one of those too.)
But are the younger ones any better, or are they, in fact, often a lot worse? Look at Greene, Cawthorn, Boebert, etc. Extremism, stupidity, irrationality, corruption, etc. are not the exclusive domain of the elderly.
The fact is that the problem is all of us, the voters. We’re the ones who keep electing these people, we’re the ones who whine and complain about “the swamp” and corruption in politics, and then keep re-electing exactly the same persons who made things as bad as they are now.
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Age is part of the problem, but too many elected and appointed politicians are rich (which is the expected outcome of Citizens United), male and Christian.
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And, IMO, it all adds up to very biased decision-making.
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When you vote for people who are not worthy if your vote, this is what you get. If you want “better” politicians, run yourself.
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I disagree that this is a solution for many people. Being a politician requires certain skills that most of us don’t have. An honest, unbiased person who is ineffective is not very useful.
Plus, if you are a threat…a real threat…to entrenched power…they will easily crush you. Who among us is pure enough to withstand such scrutiny? Especially as only lefty voters seem to really care about moral failings. Heck, a conservative “Christian” politician forced his mistresses to have two abortions. The Jesus besotted voters of Tennessee thought that was perfectly fine.
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Look around. Republicans are running, and electing, all kinds of gun-toting idiots with no political backgrounds. Experience is no longer a requirement of public life. If you care about your country, and you want to save it from disaster, DON’T WAIT FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO SAVE IT FOR YOU! DO IT YOURSELF! At least you aren’t an idiot!
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Retirement community? I remember when Roseburg was a logging town, logging and lumber, and had some of the best schools in the state. Back then, so did Bend. Hell, all the schools were good.
I think the two local columns complement each other, but that may be a reflection of my eight generations with the great-grand-kid Oregon bias. I’ve hooked logs that went to Roseburg. A lot of them. It’s pretty clear: the schools are failing because the Republicans refuse to support them. Broader brush the entire infrastructure is failing because the Republicans refuse to support them. I think they complement each other quite nicely. Look it up
Parker’s column resonates because a few years ago when I was sixty-three I made known I was starting to have a hard time justifying voting for anyone older than me. Otherwise, meh.
The two local columns are what count …
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Boy howdy … does this statement ring true: the entire infrastructure is failing because the Republicans refuse to support them
And guess what? The county populace just put back into office three supervisors (a so-called “non-partisan position”) who are as Republican as they can get! Not only that, the position is supposed to be a two-year fling, but two of these guys keep getting themselves back on the ballot — and have been in the position since we moved here in 2017!
And then there’s that measure to make this county part of Idaho — one of the most Republican states in the union! So far, it’s losing … but not by much and the final count isn’t in. 😣
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Want to get the stale old guard out of politics? I would suggest terms limits as a good answer for that problem. Not that I expect politicians to ever be in favor of shortening their potential careers. Incumbents have a significant political advantage over those who try to unseat them. Reasonable term limits would eventually end that advantage.
On the FEC v Cruz, that decision was little more than the judicial activism, on the flimsiest of rational, that conservatives love to rail against so often.Unsurprisingly I hear little but crickets from them this time.
This current SCOTUS has shown us that they’ll do whatever they want, and legislate from the bench, on any matter they want. They don’t care, they’ve already got their cushy job for life. Perhaps its time for term limits on SCOTUS too.
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Perhaps its time for term limits on SCOTUS too. DEFINITELY!!!
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