When a politician becomes a senator or member of the House of Representatives their main goal is to stay until they retire or die.
No one believes that malarkey about them wanting to serve the American people. Or the sacrifices they supposedly made for their country.
That's not what we see. We, the people, see lawmakers led around by their noses by special interest groups. There are three lobbyists for every member of Congress. The only thing they serve is their own interests.
The Republicans and the Democrats are both guilty of having members that probably should be in retirement homes instead of making laws that affect over 320,000 million lives.
Two examples:
Republicans have a situation with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell because he's having brain freezes.
Two have happened in front of news cameras this month as he was taking questions from reporters. They happened after he took a fall and got a concussion last month.
McConnell is 81 years old and hasn't been in the best of health in recent years. If he were a bus driver that demands real-time responses the company would insist he get a medical examination.
His handlers say he's fine. And maybe they'll have a doctor check up on him. After all, the Capitol Hill doctor said he was clear to work. Anyone who witnessed the two incidents knows that Mitch's once sharp mind is turning to mush.
Meanwhile the Republican party is paralyzed with indecision. What to do about their leader? So far, the consensus is that if they have to wheel him around in a moveable lectern (think Saturday Night Live's episode where Sarah Huckabee Sanders went after the pressroom reporters in a motorized lectern) they will do it.
The Democrats geriatric champion is 90-year-old Senator Dianne Feinstein who is tied with Sen. Chuck Grassley for the oldest member in Congress.
She fell in her home and went to the hospital for a short time during the first week of August.
Before that, she had trouble with shingles. She was hospitalized in San Francisco in March and treated for shingles. She's been basically communicating with her staff who are carrying her workload as much as possible.
There have been uncomfortable conversations among her peers about how her advanced age and cognitive abilities are hurting the party. Every time she has to take a medical absence Democrats get more nervous.
So, there you have it. Two examples of members in Congress who should have retired at least a decade ago.
What is the age demographic of Congress?
The median age of voting House lawmakers is 57.9 years down from 58.9 in the last Congress which can be seen as progress for younger members.
The new Senate's (the 118th) median age, on the other hand, is 65.3 years, up from 64.8 years. At the rate they're going the median age for senators will increase in the next Congress (119th). Nearly 25% of Congress is older than 70 right now.
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Related story: Congress is older than ever. It hasn't always been this way.
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It should be obvious that 70-year-olds and upward aren't going to be as sharp mentally as someone in their 50s or early 60s. Maybe there should be a mandatory cognitive test as a working requirement when members reach a certain age.
When politicians accuse people of ageism when it comes to being concerned about mental abilities, they're missing the point.
As it stands, growing old is natural. There's no shame in not being at the top of your game. That day will come for us all. And when it does, we should accept it.
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