Opinion
By Sigrid Weidenweber, 9-6-23
It is well known that men and women who clawed, bought and traded their way into power positions in politics or business, are loath to give up their seat of control when age requires them to retire. No, they hang onto their highly beneficial power spots with every means at their disposal. This tendency of politicians to remain at the top, has been observed forever. However, never has been American government so saturated with senescent entities, as in our time.
From Dianne Feinstein, age 90, who held her seat since 1992, after already being the Mayor of San Francisco for 10 years, to Nancy Pelosi, 83 years old, twice speaker of the house for a combined 8 years, and still is a representative in the house, to a President 81 years old, 36 years in the Senate, 8 years Vice- President and two years President, one can go on and on in the perusal of octogenarians.
Not every octogenarian is mentally impaired, however, the changes of energy and mental decline are obviously a problem. Just watch the recent videos of Mitch McConnell, 81 years old, and in his 7th term as U.S. Senator and second term Minority leader, as he freezes repeatedly, unable to answer questions.
One of the oldest members of the Senate was 100 years old. One of the oldest members presently serving, is Richard Shelby, Alabama, 89 years old. There is Chuck Grassley, who is still serving after 39 years in the Senate. Daniel Inouye died in office after being in power for 49 years. Carl Hayden, 41 years in office, 91 years old, not to forget Robert Byrd, Democrat, 92 years old, who died in office after being there for 41 years. There is Theodor F. Green, who died in office while serving at 93 years old, and who can forget Strom Thurmond, who died at age 100 in the Senate. Then we have Patrick Leahy, James M Inhofe, Richard Shelby all in the Senate with a combine 106 years of power. And, of course, there is Bernie Sanders, 82, a Senator since 2007. I could go on and on finding all of them, however, dear readers, you can find them yourself if you search.
As is clearly visible by the examples given, none of these ancient powerholders are willing to retreat from their offices, unlike other people whose lives are filled with more rewarding human endeavors than politics, who retire into lives of human connectedness and new directions. No, these old politicians, of whom most never held a position in civilian life and had never other interests unconnected to the power circle in Washington or, had ever dirtied their hands with so much as a rose garden, nay, they would never give up their power and control. And herein lies the problem. In order to retain power and maintain their cushy seats and their Washington social circle, they must constantly play the game developed by the party served, for it is from the party that the money flows and the perks are apportioned—especially in the Democrat party.
So, when populism arose in a world that was essentially tightly controlled by Liberal/Marxist elites, a new game plan had to be instituted to keep the power in the hands of the old politicians, who had, incrementally, but surely, converted to a totalitarian mentality. The blossoming populist movement needed to be suppressed or extinguished with force. In Italy Mateo Salvini and Five Star, brought changes, especially against illegal immigration. The same cause elected Victor Orban and his Fidesz party again and again since 2010. He, like President Trump, the populist, sounded the rallying call “Hungary for Hungarians!” and he build a solid wall against the onslaught from Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, India, and Morocco. Even Germany had a small populist awakening. Well, all that revolting against the Elites needed to be stopped. To do so, the old Marxist canards were engaged, but refined. For, in America, class envy did not play well because here, everyone had a chance to do well and even get rich. So, new divisions had to be found.
For that to occur, the old incumbent ancient Democrat power brokers had to shed their last principles, laws, and vestiges of culture to retain their power. When they could not get supporting numbers of voters to sustain their seats, they abandoned culture and social mores to gather groups from the outer edge of the social spectrum to fill their ranks. Marxist/Communists, the gay movement, criminals, the Latino Socialists, the Muslim community, Antifa (their Storm Troopers) and using a new race theory, the Black Lives Matter movement, all forms of power-seeking outliers were hailed as new causes for the Democrat party. They, together with massive inflows of illegal new voters should insure the Democrats power forever. The Democrats do not pretend this movement to be a populist movement. Their championed movements are not intended to improve the lives of the ordinary voting populace, no, their goal is to bring down the Republic and join up with the socialist/communist entities of the world.
Most of the relics in the House and the Senate benefitted greatly from staying in power forever. Corrupted, they gained monetary benefits from insider information, combined with the rules and laws they put in place. However, this corruption in itself could not have brought the Republic down, but the above-mentioned groups, each with their own divisive agenda, the homeless problem, the open border, the corrupt DOJ, the infiltrated FBI and the corrupt system of justice, all have contributed to weaken the Republican Giant that is ready to fall.
Welcome to Communism 101!
Born in Germany in 1941, Sigrid Weidenweber remembers the horrific aftermath of Fascism. At the end of the war, she found herself living under Communism. Both of these totalitarian regimes left indelible marks on her psyche. She developed a healthy distrust of governments usurping too many powers in order to control people supposedly for their own good. MORE
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The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal Florida.
