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.
