“It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.”
― Ronald Reagan
The Oldest Profession Just Slipped To Second Place. In the 60s, when I was in college in Texas, there were two real life Texas legends, visitors abounding. One is the Alamo in San Antonio. The other was the Chicken Ranch, which you may remember as The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. One is on the Texas List of Historic Places. The other one should have been.
And as in Texas, Washington DC also has historic places. One is the crowning seat of our government. Others I’m sure reflect the Chicken Ranch. But unfortunately, sometimes both the former and the latter are often one and the same. Perhaps that’s why Statistica and Ballotpedia polls show that the Congressional approval rating is 22-30%.
If the people don’t have any more respect for the Congress than that, and a quarter of us believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, why do we continue to elect the same Senators and Representatives? My guess is it happened when politics became a profession. And now the folks installed within have become the new purveyors of the world’s oldest profession.
So even though the Founders never envisioned permanently ensconced legislators that’s what we’ve got. They framed the Constitution to compose a government of citizen legislators, not lifelong politicians who don’t have to live under the laws they passed. I’m sure the Founders did not mean simply taking someone off the street, but rather electing someone legislatively conversant or educated through local, State, and/or perhaps federal experience. A rotating framework to move the country forward.
But as we’ve seen, once power is attained it will not be willingly given back. You’ll do and say anything to keep your position and you’ll never vote to limit it. And the best parts? You don’t have to make country over Party decisions, you get to play poker with other people’s chips, and the people of the country have to pay your freight no matter how stupid your ideas are. Because, as has been proven, once your name is in front of people for so long, it’s almost a given you’ll get their vote.
The system too often means that you don’t have to work well with others. That you don’t have to plan, to sacrifice, to actually think about the needs of the whole. And you can’t summarily dismiss those of failing intellect. Staying around is what counts. Ask McConnell, Leahy, Grassley, Hoyer, Schumer, among others. Just don’t ask them their age.
A politician walks into a bar, the Priest and Rabbi duck. It was an ethical dilemma. Next up, Politicians and ethics.
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Both do resemble Sodom and Gomorrah.