Representative government

The spectacle that took place on the floor of the House of Representatives the other day is just a micro-analysis of what our government has become.

Nancy Pelosi and a tremendous host of others in the halls of Congress represent what our forefathers feared, an oligarchy unto themselves. Every bit of this “farce” called our representative government started back in 1960, when congressional retirements were secretly passed without the permission of the governed, and so the professional politician was born.

The average in the U.S. Senate is 68 years old, out of 100 members. The average age in the House of Representatives is 63 years old, out of 435 members. In order to be in the U.S. Senate, you must 30 years old and you must be 25 years old to be in the House of Representatives.

The idea that we can vote out of office people such as Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell or Dianne Feinstein is absolutely ridiculous. The combined time in Congress by these three individuals is over 85 years, and do you really think with that in this combined amount of years, alliances with powerful money people and business people weren’t formed? You scratch my back and I’ll scratch your back, and who cares what the American people think?

There are dozens of people in our elected government who have been in place for 20, 25, 30-plus years, and have enjoyed all the perks and privilege of “royal class” and have brought with them wives, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, cousins and nephews into the system. Reminiscent of the royal courts of 18th Century Europe and all the trappings that went with it.

The notion that term limits for members of Congress will solve the problem is a pipe-dream at best. For in order for anything like that to even reach our ballots, 38 states would have to agree. Then it would go to Congress to be voted on, to appear on the ballot, and do you honestly think that these people are going to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs? Some members have come to Congress with the expectations of “serving the American people” and have found out very quickly, the system doesn’t work that way. Lobbyist are there to insure that you make money in the way of campaign contributions and influence with others, providing you play ball with the system. Some have left after serving a very limited amount of time in Congress, for various moral and principled reasons, and they are as scarce as hen’s teeth.

Recent disclosures that have now reached the public in the way of hearings by committees and the Mueller Report, have exposed to the public some of the under lying corruptness in the halls of Congress.

But what is more disturbing is the fact that most of those in high places in and out of our government will not be touched. For to prosecute even one individual who held tremendous power for years would open the flood gates to political corruptness and possibly bring about revolution or anarchy.

So the political warriors who are now on a quest to “expose the deep state” will bring out the pop-guns and pee-shooters and make all sorts of noise, with very little to show for it. For they are part of the problem and they know it, or they would have left many years ago, like a few decent politicians have done.

Jim Garvey lives in Kalispell