I'm reasonably sure people are not going to like me after I say this but I'll explode into a tumultuous mass of
orange goo if I don't. Senator Strom Thurmond needs to die.
A 96-year-old man has no business being in a senatorial seat or any political office for that matter.
Yeah, Yeah, I know but at the very least he needs to retire. How can you vote on the laws that govern this
republic of ours if you have to go to the bathroom every thirty-four seconds?
Medical reports about Mr. Thurmond's recent hospital visits (twice in three days) say that he has a chronically
enlarged prostate. Exactly how visual a report is this? It takes a lot of balls to report something like that. And for
that matter how big does a thing have to be to fall under the description, "chronic"? Shudder.
To be honest, Strom Thurmond is merely an example in a growing problem in the U.S. government and indeed the
citizens who vote them into power: Name recognition.
In this multi-mediated society we are more interested in the fame of a person rather than the efforts they make.
Consider the people in the presidential race the last couple of elections.
George Bush worked as Howdy Doody to Ronald Reagan's Buffalo Bob long enough to be ensconced in the
cortexes of a whole generation. It got him elected. But when he ran on his own merit Bill Clinton, the Ron Jeremy
of the political world, bumped him.
Clinton was (and I guess still is if you listen to the Gallup polls) a handsome front man that could turn a phrase.
That Kennedy like façade got him elected and re-elected against Bob Dole, a Washington staple.
As the quintessential philosopher Andre Agassi said, Image is everything.
Problem is the presidency, by and large is nothing more than the Lamb Chop of Washington. Every one watches
him perform while the Shirley Joneses of Congress do their work.
And senatorial name recognition is of the worst kind.
People are, by heart, lazy and will elect senators and representatives solely by name. Like our friend, Strom. And
then people will complain about them when nothing gets done.
This is a vicious cycle.
Folks, the reason nothing gets done in Congress is because these people keep getting elected into office.
Like the riddle of man told by the Oracle in Greek Mythology, there is a riddle of work that stretches into every
occupation.
In Congress the stages of a career are simple. The first term is spent learning the job. Second term is to get stuff
done. Third term is it. If you haven't gotten anything done by the end of a third term then you need to be put to
pasture.
Strom Thurmond has been in Congress since the Boston Tea Party.
Of course if he weren't elected over and over again I wouldn't have anything to complain about.
Well, maybe not. There's always Ted Kennedy.