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The Spectacle Blog
Much has been written about Edward M. Kennedy in the last 24 hours, most of it laudatory. Chappaquiddick is mentioned in passing by the MSM; the main focus, as it should be shortly after the death of any political public figure, is positive.
But more than remind me of Kennedy’s stance on government-controlled health-care or big government, his passing brought to mind how many career politicians inhabit Washington right now — and the big problems that it breeds.
Kennedy was sworn into the Senate in 1962. He served nine terms — nearly half a century — in that body. Robert Byrd has been in the Senate since 1959, making this year his half-century mark. The habit of pols getting and then keeping power until they expire is not peculiar to one party, either. Strom Thurmond, first elected to the Senate in 1954, was the only Senator to reach over 100 years old while still in office. That’s to say nothing of the House members who have served 50 years or more.
Regardless of their party affiliation, something is amiss when a lawmaker serves half a century in the same office. Such entrenched incumbency can’t help but breed corruption, in small ways if not in large. Ted Stevens is one example. The corrupt Republican served 40 years in the Senate before getting busted. We need fresh faces, often.
This standard applies to politicians who are more aligned with my own beliefs, too. Unfortunately, corruption is blind to party and ideological identity. It tends to follow concentrated power more than anything else. That’s not to say that all long-serving lawmakers are self-serving, but it increases the temptation, and with it the likelihood.
View all comments (20) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by David N. Bass
http://spectator.org/blog/2009/08/27/ted-kennedy-and-career-politic
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Tim| 8.27.09 @ 2:31PM
Strom Thurmond! I'd forgotten how much trouble whats-his-face landed in trying to say something nice about him before he died. Compare and contrast.
Alan Brooks| 8.27.09 @ 3:36PM
Thurmond? a decent fellow. neoConfederates who just want to be left alone are good people, better than most libertines.
but everyone draws lines; I draw the line at David Duke and Pat Buchanan.
Alan Brooks| 8.27.09 @ 3:42PM
and in case a dumb-lib is reading this, ''neoConfederates who just want to be left alone'' means they don't get along with blacks and Jews, or whomever, so they withdraw from their presence-- not lynch them or make them into lampshades.
"our business lies in escaping"-- Thomas More
(this quote is out of context, but it will do for a trifle)
Ran| 8.27.09 @ 4:37PM
Mr. Bass... The "corrupt" Ted Stevens. The same Senator Ted Stevens who was cleared of all charges against him? The case where charges were considered for prosecutorial misconduct? That Ted Stevens?
Ken (Old Texican)| 8.27.09 @ 7:08PM
Ted Kennedy got all his brains and honor at the sperm bank.
...A sorry excuse for a man, and a sorry excuse for any resident of Massachusetts' voting him in.
Massachusetts should hang their heads in shame.
BD57| 8.27.09 @ 7:59PM
Ran:
Corruption takes many forms.
The spoils system that passes for "constituent service" (earmarks, pork, etc.) and the log-rolling where Senators "help each other out" with our tax dollars are just a couple of examples.
Stephens' hypergolic defense of the "Bridge to Nowhere" ... there's corruption there, maybe not "criminal", but corrupt nevertheless.
Alan Brooks| 8.27.09 @ 8:53PM
it's not that most of us hated Ted-- it's just that we didn't LOVE him.
He simply did not set the best example for impressionable youths and gullible adults.
Alan Brooks| 8.27.09 @ 9:00PM
Ted wasn't a monster, he was just another run-of-the-mill moral dissonant. His brothers were a cut above, JFK was, to hazard a guess, preferable to Nixon in '60.
My dad interviewed JFK during the '60 election, then came home and told my mom at dinner that night: "a reporter told me Kennedy was in a hotel room with a woman."
I was too young to know what that meant. It could have been Olive Oyl or Betty Boop for all I knew.
Ran| 8.27.09 @ 9:11PM
BD57,
Hear ya loud and clear. I hear Bass, too, general point taken. I was merely pointing out how a reporter (cough) made a specific allegation of "busted" for corruption when the Senator in question had indeed been cleared... the situation bore a closer resemblance to Nifong's debacle. I can understand how a mere blogger (lacking layers of editorial management) would be inaccurate or sloppy, but, er, notice the robins heading South already!?
Rick V.| 8.27.09 @ 9:18PM
Any truth to the rumor that one of Teddy's nephews was humming "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" at the graveside? Gee, I'm glad it wasn't "Baby, You Can Drive My Car." That would have been tasteless.
Dean| 8.27.09 @ 10:47PM
Someone once quipped, "Politicians should serve two terms: one in elected office, the other in prison."
Joyce| 11.15.09 @ 10:02AM
I have been looking for the bumper sticker that has that very quote on it...any suggestions?
Pingback| 8.27.09 @ 11:02PM
IS THEIR EVER GOING TO BE A CASE FOR TERM LIMITS? Ted Kennedy and Career Politicians links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Deborah D | 8.28.09 @ 6:17AM
Dean -- love that quote (and oh so true!)
I'm in agreement about career politicians, Mr. Bass. I read an article at moneynews.com that was titled "Get rid of the politicians." It was a quote from Peter Schiff (who might run against Chris Dodd). “We need citizens, people who are in the private sector, to come to Washington, to really get a job done, and then to leave," he said.
Amen to that! You can find the article here: http://moneynews.com/streettal.....49285.html
Time for term limits. No one should be in Congress for 50 years. No wonder he wanted health care reform, Dems have wanted that since the 1930's, and Teddy kept the hope alive.
Bob Belvedere | 8.28.09 @ 7:48PM
We have no one to blame but ourselves.
Quoted from and linked to at:
http://www.thecampofthesaints......1493179037