Death of a Legacy: Politicians Love Outliving Relevance and Efficacy
I remember growing up in the Sierra Foothills in California with my (for the time) very progressive parents. Dianne Feinstein was a household name in my family. Even though I didn't understand the significance of her name, I had an innate knowledge of her wisdom and power. At 18, a fledgling feminist, is when I learned who she was: a woman of firsts, a woman with an incredible legacy. First Female Mayor of San Francisco wasn't even Diane Feinstein's first First, nor her last. Because next she was the First Female Senator of California.
Though these achievements came long before my time, they still impacted me profoundly. Living only two hours from S.F., she was basically a hometown hero. At the beginning of my fascination with politics, she was at the top of my list of favorite politicians – preceded only by Bernie Sanders.
The catastrophic decline of Dianne Feinstein – to me – is the greatest failure of legacy I have ever witnessed. From all of her Firsts, to living her final years being 'Weekend at Bernie's'd by questionable assistants. The first time I noticed her decline was her dismissal of a group of climate activists. Then it was the confirmation hearing for Amy Coney-Barrett, who led to the destruction of Roe v Wade. Health problems and work absences followed, allowing her responsibilities to falter and be passed off. Her final act as a politician was to die in office at the spry young age of 90. Just under an entire century, of which America has been a country for only 2.5 of those.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was another household name amongst the members of my family. A staunch advocate for human rights and a long-time member of the most powerful legal body in the entire country. A powerhouse, an idol, a bastion of hope. As the years passed, she, too, began to weaken and the future of her legacy began to dim. Though my love for her endures to this day, I remember hearing and agreeing with the argument that RBG should consider stepping down sooner rather than later. The Obama administration was her best chance at securing a proper successor (though based on Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland after Scalia's death and Garland's pathetic term as Attorney General, it may have still been slightly disappointing). I can understand her desire to stay in her position to a point, and there's no part of me that believes she didn't deserve to hold the position of as many years as she did. But her stubborn refusal to resign left Americans vulnerable to the horror we're seeing today.
I don't believe in heaven but if there is one and RBG is there, I know she is looking down here with regret. Her legacy now shows her as one of many politicians who embody that quote from Harvey Dent: You either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain. Dianne, Ruth, and many others could have died as heroes, but here I am reminiscing about the letters I sent to Dianne Feinstein's San Francisco office begging her to step down and let someone else step in.
The thing I simply do not understand is why they don't want to retire. It's not like they don't have pensions, million-dollar homes, obscene wealth and assets from years of insider trading (@ Nancy Pelosi directly). Don't you have kids? Grandkids? What have you been working towards all these years if not to be able to retire? Say you made a difference, because you did. It seems like the ideal outcome to me. Even the Glitching Reptilian himself, Mitch McConnell – the face of the Evil Republican Agenda from 2008-2016. This is how you want to go out? The biggest thorn in Obama's side, basically rendered his 8 years useless because of McConnell's expert manipulation as the Senate Majority leader. You really want your final years in office to be your literal physical and mental decline broadcast and analyzed across the world? Sounds sucky to me.
Obviously, we need term limits and age caps on lawmakers – including the SCOTUS. Beyond that, all I can do is make a plea:
Bernie, please retire. Jane needs you. I need you to not go insane. By all means council and advise new progressive lawmakers, but please just go home. I love you and I want you to retire.
To anyone over the age of 65, ask yourself why you're there. What are you accomplishing? What work do you have left to do? Can it be passed off to your successor? Why doesn't the standard retirement age apply to you? What makes you so special?
Ironically, I need you to grow the fuck up. Maturity is being able to acknowledge your own weakness and finding solutions and workarounds for it. Your weakness is that you're old as fuck. Your brain and body are deteriorating whether you feel it or not. What is going to be your solution to that issue? Weirdo billionaires haven't figured out the secret to eternal youth yet so that's out the window. Your only available courses of action include becoming terminally ill or dying in office a la Gerry Conolly who managed to do both (overachiever amirite); or retiring and pursuing your hobbies, spending time with loved ones, travelling and having new experiences, sharing your story and knowledge with the younger generations, and so many new things you can do with your endless amounts of free time and obscene wealth.
Maybe I'm just not as savvy as the likes of Bitch – I mean Mitch – McConnell but I know which of those two options I would take.
Eternally screaming into the void,
A.C.