THE CASE FOR MANDATORY RETIREMENT

 

Should there be mandatory retirement for elected government officials? I intend to offer you a few reasons why it may be necessary. Diane Feinstein, Mitch McConnell, and of course Joe Biden. How about Nancy Pelosi? She just announced she was running for reelection. After all she said, the people of San Francisco need her in the Congress looking out for them. She, by the way, is 83. Some might say if San Francisco elects her, she is their problem. It doesn't work that way. If they elect her they inflict her on the entire country. There are doubtless many more. Our Congress has been recently described as a nursing home with free medical insurance. How true, how true.

 

When I was younger I objected to the idea of mandatory retirement. Now that I am older, 82, I have come to more appreciate the value of that concept. I know that I have slowed down a great deal. I also know that I don't recover as quickly as I used to. My brain has a tendency to forget simple things. Like why I wind up in a particular room and what I am there for. My doctor says it is normal. Imagine if I were in charge of nuclear weapons or running the world's biggest economy. No, don't even imagine that. I'm just too old. 

 

And while I'm on the subject of mandatory stuff, how about a minimum IQ requirement for Congress and the White House. Haven't we had enough morons making rules for us? We have Congressmen who think islands float and Congresswomen who believe we have put men on Mars. 

 

I'm sure we all have seen the signs at county fairs which say that to get on this ride, you must be this tall. It's a safety measure. Should we not be as concerned about the safety of the country with the legislators we elect? Obviously I'm not talking about their height.  

 

Here's the problem with my proposal. In order for it to become law, the very people who would be most affected would be the ones who would have to enact the law. What do you suppose the chances of that happening?

 

The Congress enacted a little perk that virtually ensures they will never have to be responsible to voters. That little perk is seniority. This guarantees that sitting Members keep their jobs. It also renders newly elected Members impotent. They are relegated to nothing assignments without any power. They are probably told that they have just been elected into the biggest gravy train on earth and they are not going to be allowed to mess it up. So, just go along and get along and you too can ride the gravy train as long as you wish.

 

The result is old people hanging on to their jobs until they are well too old to handle them. I'm pretty sure that is not what the framers of our government intended. Remember all of this on election day.

 

To all you pro football fans, look at Aaron Rogers. He is too old to play pro football. Four plays into his first start as an old quarterback and he ruptured his achilles tendon and may be out for good. It's not nice to try and fool Mother Nature.

 

Ron Scarbro September 12, 2023