Old men filibustering themselves seems a sad and sorry sign they have lost their power as old men. An old man is supposed to be the upstanding wisdom of his family, his tribe, his constituency. People in his community are supposed to look up to him, respect him, take his word as the end all of wisdom.
An old man in the Legislature of an entire country losing the flexibility to understand the changes going on in new decades of history in the making, as well as the late decades of his life, is in severe danger of making a fool of himself before whole populations of people that extend far away from his immediate constituency.
An old man’s previously supporting “party” has been wrested from him and changed into a grotesque body of ignorance and blindness, bearing the only resemblance to the familiar as the name only. The body of belief, meaning, and practices has changed.
Even the filibuster itself, a practice we envision as a man on the Senate floor orating to an empty and silent room as members of the Senate leave with instructions to their staff to advise them of the end of the filibuster so they may return….(to sanity?) is no longer a reality. We now have the “silent filibuster”…. A questionable practice leaving Senators wondering when and if there is any filibuster existing against any particular bill, and if the bill requires a cloture to render the bill ready to be voted upon or otherwise dealt with. (See note below from Wikipedia)
Thus we find ourselves reading a headline: “Democrats Watch in Awe as McConnell Filibusters Himself.” Sad times indeed for McConnell, but in reality, it is sad times for a lot of old men who cannot keep up with their understanding of the real issues, and hide that fact by clinging to “Budget Matters.” A ploy to hide their shameful inadequacies and failures to understand the issues of two global crises. The fact that jobs need to be brought home and global warming that we need to address as best we can.
It reveals the fact that men and women are not necessarily in the 130-150 point IQ range when they are elected to the Senate. Being in office does not make a person intelligent or smart in enough areas to understand the issues. They may be smart about money making. But embarrass themselves when speaking about running a business.
It is only natural for an old man to want to protect a political position he has had for decades. But while certain of the public may take for granted the guy deserves to stay because he has done well in the past, it is not right nor fair to those who are in the global crises to have to depend upon someone who needs to step down and retire.
The “party” is no longer a Republican party in any other than by name.
That party is no more. Democrats are more Republican than the Republicans are.
Recognition of reality desperately needs to be made. If there are men and women ready to understand and take on today’s problems, this century’s problems, in a humane and realistic way, it would be so refreshing to see them step forward and run to fill the seats now occupied by those who used to serve us well, but need to bid farewell and leave with honor, before they make utter fools of themselves before a global audience.
NOTE: From April to June 2010, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration held a series of monthly public hearings entitled "Examining the Filibuster" to examine the history and use of the filibuster in the Senate.[33] The Committee held the first such hearing, entitled "History of the Filibuster 1789–2008" on April 22.[34] It held the second hearing, entitled "The Filibuster Today and Its Consequences", on May 19.[35] On June 23, the Committee held the third hearing, entitled "Silent Filibusters, Holds and the Senate Confirmation Process"
