Please remember, words like Senator, Senate, Senior, Senile, etc. derive from the Ancient Greek word for WISDOM...
10
She not only smacks down the Trump, but HE LOVES EVERY MINUTE OF IT!! You can see it written all over his face. This guy loves a woman who can clean his clock with a smile; he has no use for a woman who rides in on an apologetic wave . . .
9
I wanted fresh blood for the next speaker. Until I saw Pelosi handle Trump in the public budget meeting, in a very classy way. She'll give the reigns, but for now, go Nancy.
13
Good job, Bruni. Expect a lot of push-back, though — especially from younger women, for some reason. Hmmmm. Social scientists should have a field-day with that.
6
Hear hear. Great to read this. Some of the younger ones have no humility whatsoever. Shame on them.
6
People age, physically, chronologically and psychologically, at different rates. I'm a few years younger than Ms. Pelosi, but I have a fraction of her stamina. On the other hand, my life has never been better.
Instead of comparing the ages of candidates and incumbents alike. we need to compare what they have achieved and their determination and ability to affect future achievements, such as slowing climate change, addressing poverty, moving toward a fairer and saner healthcare system, bringing energy production into the 21st century with renewables and much more.
9
@Barbara
Ms. Pelosi has definitely ''achieved'' some excellent properties surrounded by the best walls or fences.
All I want to ask is how much of that $200 million or so was earned by investing in stocks or property based on insider information she got as an importantelected official.
You had to cheer for Dianne Feinstein defending herself against trained children clamoring for radical political ideas promoted by their adults at school.
I was living in San Francisco at the time of the city hall murders and I can say first hand how Diane Feinstein admirably pulled the city together under horrific circumstances.
Having been a close observer of her political career for many years, there is much to admire about her and yes, she knows much more than the adults who brought kids to meet her at her local office. Although they may have left her office deflated they hopefully learned a very valuable life lesson - know who you are talking to and having your facts down cold.
14
And I was working downtown at the time Moscone was murdered. I ran into her in an elevator and she had a group of security guards with her, looking grim. I thought she might have handled the children better yet I fully appreciate we have a senator who knows how to negotiate carefully, knowing when to give and when to take. Doesn’t happen over night. Negotiations can be a delicate matter.
9
When I was younger and full of both idealism AND impatience to accomplish all of those ideals, I didn’t understand why the older generation couldn’t get with it and implement the needed changes RIGHT NOW!
I’m older now and in many ways even more idealistic, but with age and experience comes understanding and pragmatism. I now realize that these goals are not achievable overnight.
There is a tremendous amount of “institutional knowledge” that is irretrievably lost when all older, more experienced workers are cast aside in a sweeping youth revolution, knowledge that knows how to get things done.
I strongly support most of the Green New Deal proposasals, but I also realize that the tax increases needed to fund them and the programs to absorb the newly displaced employees of the companies put out of business by the changes simply cannot and will not be accomplished overnight.
If your goal is to go upstairs, you have to climb intermediate steps to get there. When attempting a massive societal change, it can be more like trying to walk up the down escalator - you’ll probably get up there eventually, but it’s going to be slower and take a lot more steps to get up there than you ever anticipated.
12
You asked to be shown one decent parent or grandparent who doesn't vote with his or her kids in mind. All you need to do is check the Congressional Record and you will find this list is provided for you. Look at any vote on any bill that authorizes wars that aren't paid for or tax cuts that aren't paid for or that don't address the future of Social Security and Medicare. It is so easy, anyone who voted for short term gain and to leave the problems for the future voted against the interests of their kids or grandkids.
15
You’re feeling old, aren’t you?
1
Yes to gerontocracy from wisdom, no to gerontocracy from "seniority", as practiced in Congress.
6
This is a straw-man argument. While some may object to politicians like Feinstein and Pelosi on the basis of their age, for many others the problem is a matter of substantive policy. In pushing for “pay-go” and laughing off the Green New Deal, Pelosi is blocking urgently needed progressive reforms in areas such as health care, infrastructure, and the environment, and she is demonstrating that she values special interests above the well-being of ordinary citizens. In Feinstein’s encounter with the children, I did not see wisdom and seasoned judgment, but rather condescension and petulance. True leaders understand, as did FDR and his fellow New Dealers, that we need ideas and solutions that are commensurate with the magnitude of the problems; it is sad and potentially tragic that so many of our politicians today don’t share that understanding.
96
@Ann, well said!
2
@Ann Did you watch the full video or just the Sunrise edited version? Here’s the full video, with commentary by Dr. Gu. He also had the same view as you until he looked deeper. https://youtu.be/DTP9dw7HVZw
7
@Ann The wise old ladies know that if you want to go up to a new place, or back down to revisit an old place, you must first get on the elevator. If that elevator is frozen in place between two floors, nobody's going nowhere. They wish to have their place on the elevator, and from there, they can explain, and inch, their way to something that serves the majority, all the while explaining why and how it will be done. That's using the noggin for more than a stand for your Easter hat.
5
Older is not necessarily better. Our current president is no spring chicken. It depends entirely on the candidate.
9
Well, I surely cannot complain about someone in the public sphere reminding us that "age and experience are _also_ valuable assets". We, as a nation, seem to have become fixated on "youth" with everything; "startups", education opportunities, employment ... Is "move fast, break things" the only wisdom of the ages?
Indeed, we need people from all walks of life and when we reflexively exclude any particular class or type of people completely from participating in a piece of the action, we ultimately ruin our own selves.
4
The problem isn't age, it's that a lot of older democratic politicians like Feinstein are extremely condescending and dismissive of millennials and millennial issues.
Not just climate change, but college debt, housing affordability, the minimum wage, you name it. If it's an issue that effects people who aren't yet retired, there's a long line of 70 and 80 something democratic politicians lining up to sneer at any serious plan to address these issues.
What if these politicians talked to senior citizens this way? What if they mocked social security and medicare the way they mock medicare for all and the green new deal?
The reason Bernie was popular with millenials isn't because he's our age, but because he took our issues seriously, and offered to fight on our behalf on issues, like college debt, which are important to my generation.
Today millennials are the largest voting block. They are also the backbone of the US workforce, and pay for the social security benefits and medicare benefits of baby boomer retirees. It's time for politicians of any age who can't be bothered to understand the problems our generation faces to retire.
14
l believe Governor Lamb once said it was the obligation of the old to get out if the way if the young. I think he said die. But he was right we need young people to take the lead. However, experience does count. The impatience of youth while admirable needs to be tempered with time in grade. Otherwise we wind up with petulance.
2
Wisdom is intelligence and experience combined with love, or so say many sages. Those poor children and adults who see the Green New Deal as anything other than a ponzi scheme have nothing of those three qualities.
1
One of the oppressors' favorite tactics is Divide and Conquer. We need people of all ages working together for more than our varied skills, experiences and abilities. We need to face the Ageism that is virulent in America. It marginalizes those of us who are old - and dismisses the young. And, Ageism allows us to ignore socio-economic differences and inequalities. http://www.newclearvision.com/2011/12/16/old-who-me/
6
Bruni, don't give your generation credit for your parents' successes (civil rights, etc).
And while Baby Boomers may have gotten us out of the fighting communism business, you ended up putting us in the business fighting wars for unbridled American consumerism.
Unchecked college costs, unprotected health care, undeterred racism, unregulated environmental disasters, shoddy suburban developments, opioid epidemics--these are the legacy of the Boomer generation.
Thanks for nothing, Aunt MeMe and Uncle GimmeGimme.
10
Well said, Frank. We lionize youth at the expense of ignoring older adults’ vast practical wisdom. And few politicians today have as much knowledge and practical wisdom as Feinstein and Pelosi.
That’s why I’m so puzzled, no, so frustrated, with both of them, regarding their dismissive attitudes toward the Green New Deal. It’s one thing to constructively criticize the GND and then offer ways to improve upon it. But it’s quite another to dismiss it outright—as both Pelosi and Feinstein have.
Some have criticized them by pointing to their respective ages, basically implying that they really aren’t invested in this fight. This of course seems too harsh; they’re obviously much smarter and more sympathetic than that. However, when the GND has generated so much enthusiasm in the Democratic party, at the very least it seems incumbent on them to explain, sooner rather than later, why they aren’t even inclined to suggest improvements to the GND. It sure would appear to be the practically wise thing to do.
2
Frank, sometimes with age never comes wisdom. I think examples of that abound in our current politics and recent political appointments.
Let's focus on leaders being highly competent, well-versed in substance, able to grasp nuance, even-tempered, and for goodness sake that they have a sense of humor about themselves and life in general! With experience comes wisdom, but there are a lot of really highly qualified professionals in their 40s and early 50s. Let's not discount them or their contributions.
On the flip side, let's not confuse age with wisdom. You cannot teach judgment, Frank. I've been a lawyer and a diplomat and it is the one thing that I have noted in both careers - good judgment is something you are born with, and not amount of age or experience can make up for a lack of it.
2
Thank you to Frank Bruni for giving me faith in myself again! My 4 very bright adult children (31 - 40) have essentially been saying that my generation has nothing left to offer. I confess to having succumbed to that view recently. It is refreshing to be reminded that we baby boomers have a legacy to be proud of and the collective memory to help the next generation carry on that legacy. Sure they can and should go make their own history, but they can still benefit from our experience!
3
Here's a time-worn suggestion: It would be nice if younger generations listened to their elders, misguided though those elders have sometimes been, though their mistakes (as all the mistakes found in the human historical record) now weigh on all concerned. And it would be marvelous if the elders listened to one another on occasion. But I do respect those who came before me. There was huge age difference between generations in my family - I grew up around people in their golden years - they were fascinating, affectionate, caring and I always listened to and respected what they had to say. I learned much. Are there among the elderly who have just never learned much or gained real wisdom? You don't have far to look. Just as there are young people already growing, formulating, and accumulating experience. But sometimes new ideas are just old ideas with new energy behind them.
5
"I can’t see how anyone would invest so much time, money and heart in a child’s tomorrow only to ignore that future in the political realm."... all you have to do is glance at government spending to know this is false
2
I'm afraid that many lawmakers remain in office because they crave the power and influence and not because they really believe they are still making a difference. NC congressman Walter Jones, while much beloved by many, clearly knew his health wasn't optimal when he insisted on running for his twelfth term in office. He died before he could even get up to Washington! It would have been much better for his constituents it he'd retired and let someone else run for his seat last year.
2
Age is neutral, wisdom occurs at each waking moment, but learning is key. The aging Democrats cited and in control have demonstrated little new learning for decades and lean heavily on regressive ideas hatched generations ago with analytics verifying their inefficacy.
Instead, their rallying cry is to generate fear and division, not new ideas. As a result the frauds line up to take their self-prompted bows from the intellectually impaired Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to the charlatan Bernie Sanders, slithering into the Democrat Party as an ardent Marxist unable to alter a word or thought not implanted over 50 years ago.
3
Highly. highly, highly recommending a read of the book This Chair Rocks, author Ashton Applewhite.
1
Sure, at 71, my well-educated (perhaps hyper-educated) intellect has been well-tempered by experience. But as I look around me at the survivors in my Boomer generation, I see far too much Narcissism from folks who 1960's social consciousness seems to have significantly evaporated. The causes are undoubtedly myriad, some of them incisively elaborated by the late John Ralston Saul in "Voltaire's Bastards." If the human experiment is to persist, I'm sincerely hoping that the succeeding generations can do better. Perhaps the existential threat of climate change (as correctly identified by one of the children who confronted Feinstein) may prolong that social consciousness; perhaps not. I wish them the best.
3
My son is 33, my daughter 26. They know everything and listen to nothing. Confuse emotion with knowledge. Penn and Georgetown. They can’t run the world yet. If you’ve fought a war, paid a mortgage, buried a loved one, sold a little of yourself out to feed the kids.....fine. Otherwise shut up and listen just for 30 seconds. I’ll take Pelosi and Feinstein.
95
This article brings to mind the poet Khalil Gibson's wonderful metaphor of the Arrow and the Bow. The Bow ( the Elder) empowers and shoots out the Arrow (the Young ) way out into the unknown Future , into a place where it cannot follow.
2
Yes the aging group of democratic leaders is concerning as they will not be around when the millennials face the dire consequences of climate change and bloated deficit hurts our economy. Some democrats seem adverse to leaving the political scene as they age out when in other professions they would be forced out. Seniority in politics enhances ability to stay in power hence we have 90 yr old senators oblivious to the current world and technology they regulate.
4
Not everyone gets wiser with age, but it's important to recognize the people who do, and reward them with the appropriate responsibility. The current president is destroying our government and our international relations; it will take a sage person to put this all back together. I'd hate to think we're ruling anyone out, young or old. It will take our very best to get us back on track.
4
As ever, a well written column by Mr. Bruni. However, I'm not convinced. I watched the full tape of the encounter between Feinstein and the kids. She was condescending and arrogant.
The kids have it right - we have to turn around the environmental trajectory we're on and if not they will live with the devastating consequences.
Feinstein is living in the past and that's not a function of her age, it's her mindset. We are in an environmental crisis and the time for incremental improvements has past. Nothing short of a big, beautiful Green New Deal will save us.
2
Thankfully Speaker Pelosi realizes that her time is almost up. That no one, including her are necessary for the future.
It is time for people who will experience more of the future to have more say in what that future is.
It is great to have elder states people. But it is beyond time to start passing the torch.
4
Age has the tendency to instill patience.
Wisdom comes from thought and experience.
5
To sum up: you don’t have to be old to be wise and you don’t have to be young to be innovative.
6
I'm a baby boomer, and I agree that we need fresh ideas and a variety of perspectives. However, that can come from any age. My bigger concern is how long some of these people have been serving. I spent two terms on my city council almost 25 years ago, and while people go into office with a few big things they want to focus on and a lot of enthusiasm, those things get accomplished and it's easy to become complacent and much more concerned about winning the next election.
2
Pelosi is not quite the devotee of the good fight that you portray. For example, so far as peace in Palestine goes, she's one of those from mid-century who has forgotten nothing and learned nothing.
Check out the following from a year ago:
"In March 2018, Pelosi said that 'There is no greater political accomplishment in the 20th Century than the establishment of the State of Israel.'" Wikipedia
Thus, Israel's founding is more important than:
Stonewall and the LGBT uprising
The end of the Vietnam War
The Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts
The Women's movement
The breaking up of the British and French empires.
The overthrow of Nazi Germany
The end of the Cold War (by negotiation, not US victory, BTW)
The fall of the Soviet Union.
*******
PS. Watch it, Kid. We War Babies and Depression Babies showed you how to be heroes for the good causes.
3
@alyosha ehh- no. The Cold war win was an Allied Victor. The Euro countries played a key role, especially the countries that allowed Mid range ballistic missiles to be emplaced, against serious left wing opposition. Credit to the German Army too, which announced that a "...a Tianemen Square solution will not be acceptable..." the morning that the wall fell. In other words. if the Stasi started shooting, teh Bundeswehr was marching- EAST.
Gorby did not give anything away. He just recognized reality.
Anyway, I think that Pelosi is giving "...political..." a different meaning than you imply.
1
@alyosha
ROFL. "The breaking up of the British and French empires." Um, that began in the 1800s, as did the women's movement. FYI: the Soviet Union collapsed under its own weight of bankruptcy and militarism, as well as its people finally realizing the west had grocery shelves stocked with toilet paper and steak, while they had rationed beets.
The Silent Generation, a/k/a, the Lucky Few did none of the above. They are lockstep conservative, religious mini-mes to the so-called Greatest Generation, which was responsible for most of the world's ills then and now, including creation of the stupid revenge-economic climate in Germany that gave rise to Hitler - as well as to Stalin and the Cold War.
@Lefthalfbach
You should read "Super-power Illusions" by Jack F. Matlock. Matlock was Reagan's and then Bush Sr.'s Ambassador to Moscow, and negotiated the end of the Cold War.
His book is subtitled: "How Myths and False Ideologies Led America Astray---and how to Return to Reality".
Gorbachev's USSR could have continued to stagnate economically, indefinitely, while pointing its armaments at us.
Just like now, Russia had enough nukes to destroy the US, if not the world. Ditto for what the US had, just like now. Nobody was marching east. Nobody sane will march east now either.
The USSR didn't have to end the Cold War. Since Reagan was willing to negotiate a disengagement, the Soviets were happy to work out a mutually satisfactory dissolving of the lethal deadlock.
The West didn't bring down the Soviet Union either. That was accomplished by the greatest non-violent Revolution in history, as the main US Cold War architect, George F. Kennan, said.
@Sandeep
Learn some social and economic history. It's just divisive and dishonest to keep bashing boomers. We were old enough to mobilize the country to end the Vietnam war; insist on civil rights (the fight for which certainly did not begin or end in 1964); vote against Nixon; initiate and push forward the second wave of feminism, focusing on reproductive rights, sex role oppression, and equal legal rights for women; initiate consciousness about environmental destruction, LGBT rights, the "military industrial complex," and corporate welfare; develop computers and the internet; create iconic popular music the world has yet to equal; and insist on free speech and prioritize education.
And when we came into political leadership under Bill Clinton, for all his faults, the country enjoyed unmatched prosperity. And it was the Bushes who invaded Iraq in 1990 and again in 2003. Not all Boomers are the same. We have some bad apples just alike all generations.
10
@Norburt True enough but I would dispute your contention about "iconic popular music the world has yet to equal". Hate to say but in 60 years Beyonce and Justin Bieber are going to be as relevant as Bing Crosby and Helen Forrest are today - wonderful as they are, the former are hardly in any contingent of music yet to be equaled.
Nancy Pelosi has done a lot for the Democratic party and no one is disputing that. But as you said, she's 78. Her second and third in command are 79 and 78 respectively and no matter how young at heart they are, even they must bow to the passage of time. They won't be in office forever and when they pass on, their mantle needs to be left to a younger generation that has the passion, will and political ardor to move their idealistic dreams along (after all, there was once a time when the current wise men of the Senate were rabble-rousers fighting against the establishment. Vietnam was protested by the young). Pelosi and the other senior Democrats need to put their younger peers into good positions, mentor them, help them understand how the system works and how it can be changed (because it does need change). It would have been great if, instead of dismissing the Green New Deal, Pelosi admitted that not all of its promises could come true and that it was an ambitious, pie-in-the-sky plan but it was also necessary and she would work with AOC to implement X, Y and Z. Also for your assumption that people will sacrifice for the next generation? That doesn't work as well for collective issues as it does personal ones. Parents will work overtime for their children's after-school tutors because that directly benefits their kid; asking them to recycle to save the planet from climate change, which is real but appears distant and a problem outside of their realm of control, doesn't work.
2
Sorry, but this article gives the boomers way too much credit. As with any generation, it comprises many fine people, but as a group, the boomer generation is the greatest disaster to hit the US in modern times.
Yes, the boomers ran up the deficit, strangled the environment and failed to reform entitlements. But they helped stop Vietnam? Please. They went straight from draft dodging in the 70s to Greed is Good in the 80s. These terrific pacifists then sent their own kids to war Iraq and Afghanistan, lost both conflicts and wasted thousands of lives and trillions of dollars in the process.
They are the only generation to have given themselves a tax cut while the nation was at war. They've given themselves a new drug benefit and bequeathed us DHS, the biggest, most corrupt and bloated of all the federal departments. Then they gave themselves a couple more tax cuts. Were they really thinking of their grandkids when they did that? Now, as a parting gift, they hand us DJT to destroy what's left of our national character, institutions and democracy. Right, Frank, we really should be grateful.
3
@GMITCH
Most boomers paid into that system their entire lives, beginning as kids with a job at age 8 or 12.
Whereas, millennials - well, half of all births in America today are paid for by Medicaid = taxpayers, boomers who won't retire till they drop in their tracks. Perhaps they wouldn't be quite so tiresomely self-absorbed if able bodied millennials could figure out condoms and grasp that the their two contributions to U.S. society are, so far (1) porkpie hats with skinny jeans; (2) Kardashians.
2
@GMITCH These are REALLY broad generalizations! Do you honestly believe that everyone within the Boomer age cohort is in agreement on everything? (It sounds like you do.) That wasn't true back when some of us were protesting the Vietnam War while others were defending it, and it's not true today. Specific people did the things you disapprove of, not Boomers as a group.
rather self serving. so far our gerontocracy has divested from everything whose payback is anywhere near the end of their lifespan...
roads, bridges, basic education.
while crushing the next generations ability to recover from the me generation.
1
As one for the bon mot, my father used to say, "Well, just wait ... you'll see." "What do you mean, dad, I'll see? I 've seen the Vietnam War, I have two kids ..." I took some time ... and I saw.
By any definition, Dianne Feinstein is not a baby boomer. Check your facts before writing your columns. I'm 72. I am a baby boomer. I am a Vietnam combat veteran and have stuck my hand inside the body cavity of a fellow infantryman in an attempt to find the torn artery, and can match DF in my willingness to put everything on the line for the wonderful legislation she seems to have supported. The only difference between the two of us is her net worth is over >100 million dollars<, making her the second wealthiest serving senator. My net worth is about 8 thousand dollars. So what? I've seen the whole video of her interaction with the kids. She spoke to them as a cold, pompous, know-it-all who has the personality of dry ice. It's not her age that's the problem, it's her holier than thou persona. Finally, how successful has she been on ending gun violence and where did she get that $100,000,000 from, anyway? Maybe you should look into that as some telling journalism.
5
Gerontocracy? Rule by the aged? As Bruni describes, that's not exactly what we have in America! We have a lot of un-aged people of all ages, some disgustingly conservative, some scarily enthusiastic for immediate change--gratification now! Of course the Inhoffes, snow-ball men, should be ushered off stage right. But so should the more sprightly Steve King. And what about that loping lout, Jordan, who can't remember where he left his coat? Let's not confuse calendar age with feels-like age--take a leaf from the weather reporters.
Without Nancy Pelosi, we'd have no Obamacare.
3
“Senescence is virtue.”
Frank,
"Show me even one decent parent who doesn’t vote with his or her kids in mind. Show me one decent grandparent. I can’t see how anyone would invest so much time, money and heart in a child’s tomorrow only to ignore that future in the political realm." I would counter that virtually all who voted for Trump and many voting for Hillary don't make it over that bar. Their policies are truly regressive. Diane Feinstein's high handed response to the children shows how tone deaf she is to the urgency of the moment. The Green New Deal is too expensive, Diane? Thanks for all the wisdom your age has bestowed on you. I do not demean that age has its upside in terms of experience. After all I'm 71, but there is no automatic pass go card for wisdom, courage, or vision, based on age. Look at our moron president and the many politicians who have been around forever and not made a difference. We need more courage and boldness like AOC and the younger generation. They will inherit what we leave behind, and we should be allies to their struggles, not impediments.
1
For every Nancy Pelosi there are Chuck Grassley, Mitch McConnell and Diane Feinstein....all three strong arguments for term limits....
2
@Peter...
All of them should be grooming the next leaders of their parties...
That they are not may well present a serious problem for the United States in the near future.
...And speaking of being cavalier with facts: Harvey Milk was not shot in the neck; one of the many wounds he sustained was through his wrists, and this was where now-Senator Feinstein was checking for a pulse. Just sayin'.
1
@Malcolm
Milk was shot 5 times, twice in the head area. It would make more sense for her check for what would be the stronger pulse at the major artery neck than searching on the weak spot of the wrist.
After witnessing the results of decades of leadership by elderly pols, I find it amazing that we take seriously a word that falls from their mouths, along with the saliva.
1
This is ridiculous. Sure, age and generation are talking points. To me though, the important elements of a politician's experience aren't how wise it has made them. Their experience is a record of their judgement and opinions and actions. This adds context to what they say today. So when Feinstein says to the children that she knows the right things to do, we can look at her record and say, "does she?" Experience cuts both ways. Sometimes it denotes expertise and wisdom, sometimes culpability.
2
An unexpected piece in a paper that has grown increasingly ageist - in a country that is probably the most ageist on the planet - over the last year or so.
Tomorrow, the paper gets back to side-swiping Bernie because he's too...too...too...Yes, those other things, too.
1
Ben Franklin helped to craft the Declaration of Independence and signed it at the age of 70. Roget published the first edition of Roget's Thesaurus at the age of 73 and he oversaw updates up until his death at 90. Michelangelo created architectural plans for a church at the age of 88, and Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa when he was 76. It is indisputable that older people can make tremendous contributions in leadership positions, but scholarly studies have proven that voters prefer leaders in their 40s and 50s, preferably males in their 50s.
A study at Duke University found that voters prefer candidates with lower voices and regarding female candidates, there is a proven bias in favor of younger and attractive candidates. The study concluded that even though older candidates may be considered more wise, they are also perceived as less attractive, less powerful and less healthy.
I tend to form impressions early. After reading the article in this paper about the beastly way Klobuchar treats her staff, there is nothing I can learn about her that will change my negative opinion of her, no matter her age.
I am hoping one of the candidates will spark enthusiasm and will restore my faith in the system. I want to be gobsmacked and giddy when I pull the lever, hoping for a return to rationality, truth, integrity and moral leadership. Please.
My worst nightmare is that the Democrats do not put up a viable, electable candidate
2
Seniors did not recycle as much as we should have, and yes, we drove big cars. We were also told smoking was not harmful. Every generation swallows a new lie. Millennials believe all of the
cell towers that power their precious phones and computers are not harmful. Let's agree on one thing though: older folks understand the value of diplomacy over war. Except for the Toddler-in-Chief.
2
There is nothing wrong with the Democratic party trying to find the right balance between the bold and loud audacious goals of its younger members and the more tempered and thoughtful voices of its more seasoned veterans. The two actually augment each other. It is the ying-yang of what will most certainly be a very interesting 2020 election cycle.
Naturally the Democratic Party at large will have to contend with these forces as it looks to replace Trump and restore America on a path that isn't bent on dividing us.
For me, the greatest concern is that the Party find a way in which it can recapture the White House. I have most certainly felt this way before, after both Bush administrations (and yes Regan too).
And Frank is correct in pointing out that age is not the greatest threat to this goal. I for one believe it is in fact a plus. Regardless of how the primaries unfold, it is my belief that the voters that might help elect a Democrat in the next Presidential election, are more likely to vote for an elder statesperson than a younger person. Perhaps I am wrong in this assumption. Only time will tell.
1
Why is it that the MSM is obsessed with the age of Democratic leadership and candidates and never fail to mention it in most reporting on these people, yet we never hear about the age of Republican leaders and candidates?
Trump will be 74 when he runs for re-election. McConnell, Grassley, Cornyn, Hatch (ret), McCain (d.) are all as old as any of the Democrats whose age is a constant source of interest by the media.
I am finding a disturbing trend 20+ months out from election day where the MSM is engaging in propaganda (control of the message) similar to 2016 where they are falling back into previous scripts and tropes about Democrats:
-confused
-can't be trusted
-at civil war
-don't have a message
-don't know what they stand for
-are old
Donald Trump will be re-elected and it will be the mainstream media that carries him over the line.
1
Experience matters, but to have its maximum positive impact an experienced person needs to be adaptable. Some old dogs can certainly learn new tricks but many cannot it seems.
Mr.Bruni, you've written a fine piece here. I'm 83 and far from over-the-hill. My friends of this age are in good mental shape, too. I have time to read, do a bit of research, and write. It's good to be involved in what's going on, decisions we need to consider, and so many, many things. I do not ignore what younger people have to say, but generally speaking, they cannot backup their opinions. Keep up your thoughtful columns and don't forget my favorite old lady, RBG.
2
I am a proud Baby Boomer and I relate to the benefits of the experience that comes with age. I am better at interacting with people and driving for consensus than in my more reactive younger days. I consider my options and I am confident in the decisions I make. That said, I love naps, I lose things and for the life of me I cannot remember the name of the Steven Spielberg movie with all the pop culture references.
I wouldn't sacrifice the insights I have earned but I also recognize that I don't have the energy I once had. I don't think we can make blanket assessments because every individual is different, but there comes a time for everyone when a politician must make the transition from active candidate to elder statesman. I'm talking to you Bernie!
Couple of thoughts
1) Watching the Feinstein video and reading the full context shows that Feinstein isn't wrong per se, a Green New Deal is not worth the paper it's written on if doesn't pass. Feinstein showed she's a creature of the Senate, i.e. she doesn't know how to talk to people outside of her world. She could have told to the young people how she supported climate change legislation and environmental protection in her time in the Senate. Or explain the challenges of passing legislation in Congress, I mean these kids probably took US Government within the past year, so they'll understand.
2) The social progress of the 1960's was not because of the Me Generation. Most Boomers were not old enough to vote for the legislatures who passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It wasn't until the 1980 election did the Boomers formed the majority of voters, and that's when they elected Reagan. A president who not only killed the middle class, but dismantled every social program that helped Boomers have a better life than their parents. Boomers are also the ones who started the illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq, a war that costs Americans over $6 trillion, money which nobody questioned where that money was coming from.
3
@Sandeep
Learn some social and economic history. It's just divisive and dishonest to keep bashing boomers. We were old enough to mobilize the country to end the Vietnam war; insist on civil rights (the fight for which certainly did not begin or end in 1964); vote against Nixon; initiate and push forward the second wave of feminism, focusing on reproductive rights, sex role oppression, and equal legal rights for women; initiate consciousness about environmental destruction, LGBT rights, the "military industrial complex," and corporate welfare; develop computers and the internet; create iconic popular music the world has yet to equal; and insist on free speech and prioritize education.
And when we came into political leadership under Bill Clinton, for all his faults, the country enjoyed unmatched prosperity. And it was the Bushes who invaded Iraq in 1990 and again in 2003. Not all Boomers are the same. We have some bad apples just alike all generations.
2
Thank you very much for this acknowledgement that age has some compensations and older people are a valuable resource we would be foolish to squander.
I do think Weinstein, never really a progressive, was tone deaf and condescending in her interaction with children earnestly and admirably concerned about a critical issue.
But Pelosi is a national treasure and perhaps the most underappreciated politician of our era. Amazing that a few people are just now awakening to her skills and accomplishments.
I, like some other readers posting here, am interested in electing a new president with experience and judgement, but it is also vital that we engage and inspire young people and generally unmotivated voters. Maybe a Biden/Beto ticket, since I do not believe this country will elect a woman or a person of color in this cycle. (It that weren't the case, I would say Warren/Booker.)
1
"We’re rightly charged with befouling the environment, running up the debt and letting the American dream slip away from the middle class.
But you know what else baby boomers did? Helped bring an end to the Vietnam War. Advanced the causes of equality for women, for black people and for L.G.B.T. Americans. Engineered the digital revolution."
I grow weary of generation generalizations. In any group of people, there are a spectrum of beliefs and ideologies. I think it is fair to say, that to a large extent, the endeavors mentioned above do not emanate from individuals in the same portions of the spectrum. You have in essence carved out conservative and liberal accomplishments, Republican and Democrat, as it were. Granted, there is overlap, the gulf is not dichotomous, but the distinction I make is more right than wrong. The conservative faction to a great extent owns any dark aura you might assign to "boomers". This pro-environment, peace activist didn't know a soul who voted for Reagan, who took down those nasty Jimmy Carter solar panels from the White House roof. Nor do I know anyone who voted for The Mad King.
1
Wow - brave article. A combination of youth and experience is great for either party - eloquently stated and covers both sides.
1
As a baby boomer/gerontologist myself, it's painful to watch we "tribal elders," many of whom are still sound of mind and body and at the peak of their powers and accomplishments, get passed over, overlooked, or condescended to by or in favor of what's known in my particular business (the theatre) as the bright, shiny, new thing -- which is, when you think about it, the American way. (Anybody considered that dying is an entirely anti-American concept?) I wish Speaker Pelosi and Senator Feinstein had been more gracious and thoughtful in their responses to the Green New Deal and the concerns of the young people who visited the Senator's office; reports have not been terribly flattering. But I am glad they are still both in Congress. I'm also glad that people like Representative Ocasio-Cortez are there to prod and nudge with fresh energy, principles, and ideas. Makes for a bigger tent; a better balance. I am also glad that Pete Buttigieg is exploring a possible run for the Democratic nomination. It's not just that he's young and fresh, it's that he has little if any DC-related baggage but plenty of executive experience. After all, if elected, he would be leading the executive branch of the government, and that's where a President's experience, energy, passions, ideas, integrity and ability to lead count the most -- regardless of her or his age. He's also smart enough to know that a good idea is a good idea, from wherever it may emanate -- boomer or millennial.
1
Mr. Bruni:
What you fail to grasp is that Pelosi's very strength -- he ability to play inside-baseball in the down and dirty politics of Washington -- is her weakness and the Democratic Party's too. Age is not the issue, status quo neoliberal party apparatchiks are.
The source of Trump's victory was an overwhelming and virulently angry rejection of the hypocrisy of Democrats running as defenders of the people, and governing as corporate hacks. In fact, Democrats have been losing ground ever since they adopted the "third way" DLC corporate shuffle. By now, you'd think it would be called the third rail.
Ms. Pelosi is masterful at the Washington games, but what's going to win the 2020 elections are people like Sanders and AOC. As for Ms Feinstein, it's 30 years of her brand of "realism" that has made a sweeping GND necessary.
Climate breakdown is all about physics -- that's realism. Politics is just an excuse to continue to sleepwalk into an economic and ecological meltdown.
2
You have to know the rules to play the game. You can’t get legislation through unless you can pull all the levers of power.
As we oldsters say--a political strategy the generation behind us should embrace during these dark times: Don't mourn, organize! Look up, look up! from your screens and use the tools of social media and political persuasion based on mutual respect and civility to mobilize a generation in restoring the vibrant democracy mine has imperiled.
Leaders--especially powerful, successful leaders of large organizations--need to spend some of their time and energy developing successors. One designated heir is not enough; nations need a team of torch bearers to carry messages into the centuries to come.
Speaker Pelosi unquestionably has unique talents, extraordinary skills and a strong vision for the US which expresses well the Democratic agenda. And one of the reasons she was able to become powerful was that she has been consistently underestimated by her opponents.
President Obama, on the other hand, raised such fear in his opponents that they became determined to oppose him and prevent any success he might achieve. Pres. Obama has not only his own talents, but in the beginning of his terms so many people thought he would be the Second Coming of Dr. King, Gandhi and Pres. Kennedy that the Republican party (which has never understood the "adoration" of these men) did all they could to smear him, to diminish him by the racist "birtherism" lies of Right wing radio and Fox, and to demonize the Democratic party (Not the Democrat party!!!). The cost to the USA of Republican obstruction has been considerable in real deaths due to lack of access to health care.
The author should have included all of the aged Republicans still holding onto power with votes or money: Iowa's racist King, Utah's Romney, McConnell, the Koch's, Adelson, all lining up behind Trump. Old is old when it comes to ideas and energy.
Dear Frank, I do not recall our generation stopping the Vietnam War, by deferring politely to our elders. I cut the kids a bunch of slack given our generation is still in charge. I cut us less slack for all of the “experienced realism” of the treading of water that is pushing us past tipping points with little slowing down. I am glad Pelosi is there as Speaker, but “all of you get off my lawn, except you, you get a internship” responses only delays the necessary commitment to making actual change happen. We have used up the safety cushion for action during Senator Feinstein’s thirty years of experience (without attributing bad motivation to her). The parties have only themselves to blame for failing to truly raise the next generation of leaders (and get out of the way to be mentors). The next generation has given us plenty of time to prove ourselves, but the people clearly must lead now. I am a big fan of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders who speak truly to the urgency as well as the structural changes we need with the true inconvenient facts. But the ever increasing income gap and the climate chaos means resetting the aspirational bar is necessary. Bring the kids on, listen to them, disagree with them if you want too, but they have the definite right to shout a bunch, and no longer sit quietly in the back seat. Only the laws of nature are immutable, and 30-40 years of experience can’t get us past that!
1
"So much loving"? A little reference to quality might be wise here.
Well, if nothing else, Trump has empowered heptagenarians... he's loathed like a 52 year old.
I am in my early 60s and work with many young people in their early twenties. We all have something to contribute, and we help each other out. This includes activities with our Union. I love their new ideas and help with technology. Sometimes they ask me questions that with my experience I may be able to answer. Hopefully the new crop in Congress will work well with some of the older people and give them a push where needed. On the other side younger, newer members may need guidance when enthusiasm gets the better of common sense. Not that enthusiasm may not be better than common sense in many cases. It is all about balance. Some boomers have spent decades trying to build a better world, I think we were just outnumbered. We must stand with the young activists and support the Green New Deal, better gun laws and an end to inequality. We shouldn't be dismissed just because we are older, but we must own the world that we have helped create, both good and bad.
"Show me even one decent parent who doesn’t vote with his or her kids in mind."
If that was the case no parent would ever vote Republican. They vote to preserve the past.
1
@James
+ not everyone who votes is a breeder.
I'm 65 and I like the idea of 'new blood' but when young people regurgitate the same old failed ideas of the last century I have to wonder who they're learning from? Socialism? Really?
We are reaping the fruit from decades of lunacy in our school system. And the sad truth is that it will only grow more bitter.
3
Frank, older is just older.
Wisdom does not always accompany age. Just look at the current resident of the White House. He is as he always has been -- only with more power.
53
@Pdianek
And younger is not just younger but impetuous and unwise and far too often arrogant. A-n-d the obvious, doesn't even begin to pay their own way until older.
The chances someone over 50, let alone 60, is a "here, hold my beer" jackass = 0.
4
@Pdianek
Trump is the exception only because his father and his wealth bequeathed upon his rich, spoiled brat's mentality that you are a "Trump" and as such you are entitled to go through life never once being held accountable for any harmful or destructive action you take or speak about others. The "others" are sub-human. YOU are the Ubermensch and answer to no one--not even the law for anything you say or do. Donald Trump's brats, judging how they, too, act, were raised the same way.
The rest of us the Underlings, the Untermensch, the "Deplorables", if you will, can't go through life this way except for those people who attend Trump's rallies and are fooled by him into thinking he's one of them.
5
It has nothing to do with age. We are governed by an autocracy of the fossil fuel industry, technology monopolies like Amazon, Google, and Facebook, and a greedy military/industrial complex whose worst nightmare would be a peacful world.
Pelosi and Feinstein know this having been around for a long time, but they don't dare to say it because they are beholden to these oligarchs. Bernie Sanders is old too but he isn't beholden to the oligarchs. He calls them out for their contribution to global warming which we all know is poisoning our planet, and tax avoidance and the military/industrial complex taking our tax dollars leaving us with nothing.
We need nothing less than a revolution at the ballot box.
1
Having worked with older people for my entire 15 year career, I have become more and more cynical about 'wisdom'. It seems to be applied unevenly at best and more often used as an excuse to shut down any conversation that questions the authority of the elders.
1
For many of us, this has nothing to do with age, but rather entrenchment.
How can individuals who have spent the better part of decades in DC, enjoying good pay, guaranteed pensions and health care for life have any real understanding of the issues and concerns of their constituencies?
4
I'm 67 and I've got zero against my own generation - but for pete's sake - we need new leaders to be developed, not smothered -- and sadly, I've seen no signs that the current crop of my generation is doing a single thing or lifting even a tiny finger to help develop the leadership we're going to need going forward into a world that becomes increasingly treacherous to the lives of its billions of inhabitants - both human and animal! We need new leaders and we need them now - full of energy and new ideas, schooled in the latest in a way that people of my generation weren't and aren't. Being removed kicking and screaming is something I want to be limited to Donald J. Trump when he's yanked out of the White House - not of our Congressional and Senate leaders!
48
@Jan N
Frank mentioned the 37 year old Pete Buttigieg. I suggest that you listen to his worldview. He seems to be a thoughtful new voice and hope that he is able to be heard by your (and my ) generation. I would to vote for him.
3
@Jan N
We do need Energetic young people. But we also need Elders, in the positive sense of the word. Yes, as people age they lose energy. But that's not always a bad thing.
Because one learns to Prioritize and Delegate in order to Conserve Energy. And isn't that what we need, a very large scale plan to Conserve Energy ? I've been learning about Climate Change since the early 1990's,
having read Al Gore's book Earth in the Balance when it was first published. Do I have as much Energy as I did then ? No, but I have more knowledge and ability.
The Green New Deal suffers from an overabundance of misdirected energy. (Sort of like our society at large)
Enthusiasm is a good thing and not necessarily age-related (case in point being Bernie Sanders). Let's look
for Educated Enthusiasm and Directed Energy, from all stakeholders. I'm living on a frontline of climate change but cannot support the GND as presented.
5
@Jan N How about Joe Biden and Barack Obama partnership???
Thanks Frank for the more realistic outlook on the role(s) and important diversity(s) that should make up a healthy country.
Keeping the exuberance of youth, with that idealism and energy is a never ending source of power. How this strength is wielded, how it is focused within the relevant context(s) must be a coordinated effort with the more experienced, older members to actually be created and have any chance of success.
So the collaboration of the best of the best has and will remain the most efficient use of age and wisdom with youth and idealism.
1
"Show me even one decent parent who doesn’t vote with his or her kids in mind. Show me one decent grandparent."
Frank, I could show you five decent parents (*who are now grandparents as well) who, like millions of other decent parents, voted for the likes of Trump, McConnell, Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, e.g., Parents who consistently vote Republican and clearly against the well being of their children and grandchildren.
The five in question are my brothers who still live in the Ohio county they were born in (Butler). They vote their (retirement) pocketbooks. They sell their kids down the river. Year after year after year.
It is difficult sometimes to tell the difference between ignorance and stupidity. For these decent parents it my family, it is a distinction without a difference.
7
This is pure poetry. Thank you.
There are wise and foolish individuals at every age. The major difference I have seen between the young and the old (I’m 64) is fear. The young are fearless, they will live forever, and want change now. The old are beaten up by life and know these things are not true. But exceptional individuals of any age will fight the good fight irreguardless.
Flash back to Doonesbury for December 13, 1974. Mark and Michael are at a party quoting New Frontier slogans, “The energy we bring to our endeavors will light our country! The glow from that fire can truly light the world!” They both laugh uproariously, but then they stop and say, “God, what’s happened to us?”, “I dunno, Man, I dunno....”
The impetuousness of the young remind me to not let IT happen to us.
Since the 1960s, (I've been watching), the Republicans have
thwarted or watered down every piece of responsible gun control legislation which has been put forth in America.
"Satan" is that part of ourselves which walks away from God.
There is a Satanic streak in the Republican mind.
Older is better to a point. It is difficult to predict the genius of seniors like Pelosi, The Notorious RBG and Jimmy Carter. Many become stubborn and feeble long before their seventies. Just look at the clown in the Whitehouse.
1
@Me
To be fair, Trump hasn't changed with age - The Donald has always been that way: a total self-promoting goon.
It appears that a ticket with one geezer and one kid would be a good idea. Joe/Amy
@Emory
Amy Klobuchar is not a kid. She's 58 - older than Barack Obama.
She'd also make a heckuva good PRESIDENT. Neither she nor anyone ought be tethered to the endless Democrat consolation prize that is creepy Joe Biden.
There’s plenty to be said for age and wisdom, but without a solid moral and ethical center, longevity is simply a number. It’s doubtful,that a young Nancy Pelosi would have tweeted an intimidating threat against a witness as Rep. Gaetz (R) did today against Michael Cohen (a convicted felon, still...)
1
Of course, if one compares the demeanor of Nancy Pelosi with someone's like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez or Ilhon Omar, Pelosi beats them both by a long shot. But I disapprove Pelosi's short dresses with short sleeves. She would look more respectable in long gloves and hat or in an altogether different style of a well-tailored suit.
I was not a fan of Ronald Reagan. But even will the onset of dementia, he was far superior to the current occupant of the White House.
1
@Glen and he was a criminal too - Iran Contra.
1
@Glen Low bar.
1
I stopped mid column in the paper while Mr. Bruno questioning if any decent grandparent doesn't vote with grandchildren in mind. Fox News has built an advertising behemoth on just the opposite of that notion.
4
It could be that Democrats always looked for progress, looking forward, looking to the future that creates a certain incongruity regarding the current gerontocracy.
Let's judge everyone by results rather than by date of birth.
1
And don't forget the wisdom of R.B.G., who is a role model for us all.
3
It's sort of shocking, you know, that any of this even needs to be said, but then here we are and so thanks for saying it.
But what might a person expect, from a generation (or two) of people who have been taught that they are the unique magical centers of the universe, that all previous eras and times wish(ed) so badly that THEY could somehow be in 2019 and that NOW -- this moment, this wokest of microseconds -- is about all a person ever needs to know, this moment so incredibly lucky for just having YOU in it. History dead indeed.
As to Senator Feinstein, with whom I seldom agree but have always found to be a class act, it was one of her finer moments. I do wish though she'd have finished but saying 'and you can forget any dessert now out you go and clean up that room.'
1
If you believe those who govern in a democracy actually do a better job if they know things, then, up to a certain age, experience can improve performance.
What Mr. Trump has sold his base is the idea you do not have to know anything much to do his job. Hitler, famously, said the same thing--he ridiculed the generals from the academy, where they learned to eat with silverware but he knew how to fight wars without any of that training.
Young physicians routinely go to older physicians with questions and for help. The older doctors may be less adept at newer techniques and the newest drugs, but disease, the problems faced, don't change that fast.
Of course, every once in a while a new disease, like AIDS appears, but for the most part, problems are not new and knowing what had work and what has not worked before is high value information.
The pilot, Sully Sullenberger, who set his plane down in the Hudson, was not young.
Dems do need new blood, but the elders can often see things the young cannot.
"Show me even one decent parent who doesn’t vote with his or her kids in mind. Show me one decent grandparent."
I think the salient point is that there are plenty of parents and grandparents out there who aren't "decent" in their voting habits. There are plenty of parents and grandparents out there who habitually vote for the Republican Party, future climate catastrophe certain to be suffered by their children and grandchildren be damned. There are plenty of older voters out there who habitually vote for the Republican Party and its tax cut fervor and fiscal profligacy without any regard to the enormous debt wracked up for their children and grandchildren.
Frank's argument would be so much more compelling if the baby boomers hadn't wrought so much damage with little regard to future generations.
4
@Mike
Such as?
If you mean Wall St. and Big Banking, that's the creation of the Greatest Generation - which was responsible for racking up the $trillions in debt from the 1950s till Boomer Bill Clinton applied the brakes and brought the debt down to ZERO. Who voted for Bush and who voted for Obama, both of whom then zoomed the debt back to $20 trillion.
If you mean going green, who do you think invented Earth Day and recycling as well as high efficiency, even low flow toilets...everything? The only way for Millennials to come out smelling like a rose is they stop breeding and whining, texting and taking selfies - while driving.
I am in their age cohort or nearly so and believe it is preposterous for people over age 70 to hold high elective or appointive office. Who has gotten us into all this trouble the last 10 years? People over age 70. Who got us out of a lot of it? A man who started his presidency at age 47.
No one over age 70 should be running for president. On Inauguration Day 2021, Biden, Bloomberg and Sanders will be 79 years old. They'd be 83 years at the end of the next presidential term. That's not just preposterous, it's stupid.
One can run the same age analysis for Warren and several others seeking the Democratic nomination with the hope of defeating the demented, ignorant and dangerous 73-year-old who now occupies the White House.
Let the people who will inherit the follies of the elder-most in public life at least choose between their parents generation and their own in electing and selecting the nation's leadership.
And it goes without saying that we need a mandatory federal judicial retirement age of 70 to avoid the kind of encrusted, ideologically entrenched, thoroughly detached Supreme Court that now presides as a third and most powerful house of the federal legislature.
To all the 70+ year olds in Congress, on the courts, aspiring to or in the White House, begone, begone, begone and given the next generations a chance to save themselves.
2
@Carl Zeitz - sure. Explain why, then, that the Tea Party hard right members of Congress - rebranded as "Freedom Caucus", are younger on average than the rest of Congress?
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/20/house-freedom-caucus-what-is-it-and-whos-in-it/
There are ignorant and dangerous people at every age. Put an old one in and at a minimum, you have to live with that fact for a shorter time.
There's one big hole in Frank Bruni's argument. He writes: "Show me even one decent parent who doesn’t vote with his or her kids in mind. Show me one decent grandparent. I can’t see how anyone would invest so much time, money and heart in a child’s tomorrow only to ignore that future in the political realm." I can show Frank many decent parents and grandparents who ignore their future in the political realm--the many Republican Senators and Representatives who have voted to kill the ACA, who votedagainst gun restrictions, who voted against funding for education, the VA, scientific research. I could go on and on!
3
I’m afraid you lose me here (and I’m 84). See Chris Martin’s response below for what I think. And no fair making up all the stuff you think Baby Boomers did.
I am relieved to read Bruni's defense of older people. The constant denigration of age has had me worried. I'm 80 and have struggled all my life against the denigration of my gender. I don't want a double battle in my last years. I am also proud, so so proud, of the young people who are learning about and engaging with the greater problems we face. I'm sorry Feinstein's courtesy wobbled in that exchange. And I know many people feel she's a has- or never-been. But she does know a few things about politics. And the truth is that scientific fact and compassion toward the planet are not active ingredients in this struggle. Maybe in a generation, we'll be a better people. But I think we need the Feinsteins in our Senate and the Pelosi's in the House right now because they know how to work the system as it stands. Mistakes? Of course. But overall these two women have had our back. You young people, I hope you change the system when you get the chance. Meanwhile, the oldsters will do much of the hard work and may keep us going till the youths can get the chance to do it better. I hope they will.
FINALLY an admission that dumping on a politician simply because that person is old is very wrong. Let's face it: there are a lot of old fools out there. There are also a lot of young fools out there. The problem with Donald Trump is not his age; it's the fact that he's a pathological liar, a conman, and a bigot. Most commentators on TV and in real newspapers know better than to assert that a given person has negative characteristics simply because that person isn't white, or a Christian, or heterosexual, and that's real progress. Why is it still OK to assume that a politician is senile, complacent, and out of touch simply because of age? Why not judge a Senator, Member of Congress, or candidate by his or her behavior and espoused positions, rather than by the number on a birth certificate? In other words, on the basis of evidence rather than on the basis of bigotry?
Thank you, Frank Bruni, for being honest enough to do just that. It definitely would be a good idea to have more young people in leadership positions. But it would be a terrible idea to eject anyone from such a position purely on the basis of bigoted assumptions.
If youre on the senate intelligence committee but don't understand cell phones can be used for video you should not be on the intelligence committee.
1
Imagine how different the world would be if Dianne Feinstein had been elected president in 2000. The trouble with most of the political larvae eating their way through the Democratic Party at present is they have not yet reached the pupation stage of life, when listening replaces shouting on the way to adulthood/wisdom.
@Howard Winet
She'd have been a good president, likely better than Gore and certainly better for the country than anything the GOP produced since 1979, if not 1967.
@Maggie
"1967" evokes the pain of losing Robert. He was not old by years but more mature than his brother John, so I could cheat a little and call him adult.
First, full disclosure. I am 79 years old. I have seen a few things over nearly eight decades of my life's journey. Today's world belongs to my juniors.
I agree with this column's sense about Nancy Pelosi. Mea culpa, I strongly opposed her continuation as House Speaker and clearly I was wrong. Bravo to her for treating President Trump as he fully deserves to be treated.
As for Diane Feinstein, I understand fully that her tone deaf response to children asking her about climate change needs to be taken in a context broader than that of a short, viral video clip. That said, I cannot imagine any adult having responded to 10 year-olds more ham-handedly.
Context or not, the video was simply gobsmacking, with nary a sense of welcome to young people willing to engage in a political debate that so crucially affects their futures. Treating them like callow nuisances borders on self-defeating idiocy.
If the Democratic Party has any intention whatsoever of attracting a young voter demographic so essential to winning, then it needs to do a far better job in attracting younger people to its leadership and to the voting polls. More importantly, Party leaders should avoid insulting them through condescension.
2
B.Sharp
B.Sharp
Cinciknnati | Pending Approval
I have my eyes on Pete Buttigieg 37, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana. He is a Harvard Graduate, Rhode Scholar , and is Mayor since 2012 , already a seasoned Politician.
While Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is 29 and a newcomer has a lot to learn from Dianne Feinstein 85 or Madame Pelosi 78 who is fit to be the President.
What I am getting at is age is relative, the President trump is almost 73 years old with no prior political experience has one thing going for him, is an ignorant lying bully, not willing to learn anything , from the past Republican Presidents like Papa Bush . Ronald Reagan and mistakes from G.W. Bush.
To save our Country from disaster trump needs to go and the mature Republican officials needs to develop a backbone and learn to stand up to the bully.
1
I'd be fine lowering voting age to high school freshman level. They are sharp and bring their own wisdom and good energy to the table. It's just a judgment call. I doubt there are bright lines. At the end of the day, we don't say adult idiots should have no say, but a good kid is more responsible than most adult idiots. And I agree, let's not take the vote from the elderly. That is what symmetry would look like. Remember to report on the actual situation next time too. I see the whole video and I don't see Sen. Feinstein being true to the moment in her critique. Perhaps there was some greater truth in her knowledge of the larger group from other, past activities, but she unloaded directly on a group of well behaved kids. Be in the moment be thee old or young!
1
Frank Bruni “doesn’t get it.” Just because he woke up to find he was wrong about Nancy Pelosi being “too old” doesn’t mean he’s right about Dianne Feinstein.
The issue isn’t age, it’s progressiveness, it’s effectiveness. As Paul Krugman repeatedly reminds us, Pelosi is the greatest Speaker of the modern era. She blocked Bush’s efforts to privatize Social Security and she was more responsible than any single person is the enactment of the ACA. How could you have failed to see that she’d be an equally effective progressive force against the latest Republican bimbo President?
By contrast, Feinstein voted for Bush’s “$3-trillion war” and the Bush's FISA bill to drastically expand warrantless eavesdropping powers. She was silent when the NSA was spying on Americans but outraged when the CIA was spying on her. The only good thing about her politics is the “D” after her name.
As for her exchange with the “schoolchildren,” Feinstein is dead wrong that a NGD is fiscally and politically impossible. The Republicans just gave billionaires and multi-nationals a tax break costing the Treasury $2 trillion (while raising taxes on households making less than $75k). Unlike that ripoff, the NGD will actually create jobs.
As to political feasibility, the NGD faces are two formidable but not insurmountable impediments in addition to the Climate Criminals – the Very Serious People and the columnists seeking entry to that club.
1
Nancy Pelosi is a paragon of older health and capability. Unfortunately older also means less capable for many. Fatigue, lack of energy, inability to handle stress as well as a typical younger person plague many over 70. Reagan was known for sleeping in meetings. Typically, I wouldn’t vote for anyone over 60 nationally. 80-85 year old Supreme Court Justices is silly.
1
Silly drivel. Cognitive skills and verbal articulation decline dramatically after reaching 70. The speed of response calculations, concentration and factual recall also fall significantly. Anyone who feels age isn't a significant factor in governing ability hasn't spent ample time around Medicare recipients. I am 70 and enjoy robust health, but, my shortcomings are more than using the forward tees on the golf course. I don't have anywhere near the mental acumen I enjoyed 10 years ago. It isn't getting better. Reagan was a total doofus during his second term.....a good deal of that was his age.
2
Article II Section 1 of the constitution sets a minimum age of 35 for a presidential candidate. I would be in favor of an amendment that would establish an upper limit of 65 meaning we would have no president older than 69 at the end of term. Wisdom matters but so does nimbleness of mind and I don’t know anyone my age, who is honest,that won’t admit losing a step or five by age 65.
The chambers of congress should remain the cages for old political lions and lionesses.
Truer words! I'm a lawyer with 37 years experience. I can easily best other, younger lawyers who did a whole lot better in school than I ever did simply because I've been around and seen a lot. Experience counts -- provided you were paying attention and absorbing what it had to teach you. Other societies give deference to their elders. A little more deference in our society might be in order.
2
Even with all the accomplishments, we allowed the destruction of our economy. We allowed all jobs to be shipped overseas and destroyed the middle class.
I am sorry for this but obviously we had no one with oversight to guide us. Really self congratulations ring hollow.
Well, kudos to you, Mr. Bruni, for becoming "woke," or "awakened," as we septuagenarians say, to the wisdom of at least some of your elders. Your piece brings to mind Mark Twain's observation that when he was 17, he was sure that his father knew nothing; by the time he was 21, he was astonished at how much the old man had learned in four short years.
1
Detente with the anti-democratic government Republicans by centrist Democrats has enabled them and made of the United States a disgrace. Do you hang around to tell of the shocking mistakes you've made or do you take responsibility and fall on your sword (or at least resign)? At least Nancy didn't vote to go to war with Iraq I've found. She'd make a great interim leader of the pro-business centre-right New Republican Party after the old one is disbanded for un-American activities. Please God be immanent and send an army of angels to make it so soon. (He jests.)
I will be completely ready to turn the nation over to the younger generation as soon as they earned that responsibility. I am sick and tired of reading the statistics proving one stubborn fact: younger people just don't vote.
In essence,.. they (and many of us) are getting the government they didn't vote for. And we're sick and tired of that too.
Why, thank you! I have not been looking forward to another presidential season of Bernie Bros - irony of ironies - piling on me on social media & telling me that I'm old & will soon be dead.
The real gerontocracy is the one in its 90s that still has its
thumb on the scales and its fingers in many pies by way of
fraternal networking. It brought us the Cold War, so maybe all the current activity over Korea is a hint that it's about to come out of the shadows. So it's fitting that a columnist should have something to say now about gerontocracy, even if he's aiming at the wrong target and the praise might be premature.
I have my eyes on Pete Buttigieg 37, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana. He is a Harvard Graduate, Rhode Scholar , and is Mayor since 2012 , already a seasoned Politician.
While Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is 29 and a newcomer has a lot to learn from Dianne Feinstein 85 or Madame Pelosi 78 who is fit to be the President.
What I am getting at is age is relative, the President trump is almost 73 years old with no prior political experience has one thing going for him, is an ignorant lying bully, not willing to learn anything , from the past Republican Presidents like Papa Bush . Ronald Reagan and mistakes from G.W. Bush.
To save our Country from disaster trump needs to go and the mature Republican officials needs to develop a backbone and learn to stand up to the bully.
1
Thank you for this essay. I am tired of ageism, which is the last acceptable bigotry in this country (along with discrimination against the disabled). I coined a term, "youngsplaining," not that long ago. I get more idiotic lectures about things I already know from twentysomethings than I do from men.
5
For every Nancy Pelosi I'll show you a Strom Thurmond. Age does not necessarily result in wisdom.
"Show me even one decent parent who doesn’t vote with his or her kids in mind."
C'mon Frank, half of us "decent parents" vote for (R)egressives who ignore this existential anthropogenic climate change disaster even as it is slapping us in the face. Even those who vote for sanity, who accept that climate change is Here, still build underinsulated, overheated/cooled McMansions; still buy urban 4WD SUV gashogs, because you know - cheap gas; still fly to Mexico for long weekends because - cheap tickets and "we deserve a break".
We waste more than half of the energy produced in this country - Waste! We drive when we could stay home, plan trips, walk, ride bikes or buses; we leave lights and TV's on in empty rooms, we're too busy to seal the energy-sapping leaks in our houses, blah and blah.
We give lip service to worrying deeply about our beloved progeny while we refuse - Refuse! - to make any substantive changes to our "lifestyle". We are Fossil Fuel addicts and we Demand our fix - Now!
2
The core of what is wrong with the idea of term limits is just that; the limitations of not allowing for the wisdom that is gained from experience.
I think too much is made by pundits about the so called divides within the Democratic Party; but they do tend to focus on the horse race and not the issues. More profitable that way.
We have another full year before the real election season gets underway and I am exited that so many disparate voices are going to be heard.
We will hear so much from so many about the Green New Deal, about income inequality, about race, about infrastructure, and about Medicare for All. We might hear about this stuff so much that it becomes a bit mundane; which should remove some of the boogie man quality to these ideas that seems to fill the heads of so many of our voters.
They might even realize that Bernie Sanders is not Mao Tse Tung. More like Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
1
As a 73 year old conservative who is very concerned about the future of my grandchildren I look at AOC and say, "What a powerhouse. Give her 20 years of experience under her belt and maybe some things good will result." Meanwhile, we need her energy and ideas, just like we need those of Warren and David Hogg. Matching that we need the experience of Pelosi and Feinstein. We need accelerators and brakes on cars. With only one of those we either go nowhere, or drive off a cliff; with both we can make real progress.
4
I think mainstream American culture is somewhat unique in the world in the degree to which we discount and disrespect elders. In any context. Our culture worships youth and undervalues age. Bruni is right - we need both youth and age working together and listening to and hearing one another. But, I am 54 and can already hear the condescension in the voices of some younger people when they talk to me. I am already getting a sneak preview of how irrelevant I will be perceived to be in just a few years.
3
Frank, you and I were both on the same page when it came to Speaker Pelosi; thankfully we were wrong. How I love watching her take it to Trump. No nicknames for her. I am one year past boomer hood so I know about old. I may not be as energetic, but I'm as passionate as I was in the 1960's. When I went to the Women's March on Washington younger women thanked me for still standing up. I did say to these lovely young women I am passing the torch. Old age is a crap shoot. When we are all 7 yrs. old there is not a lot of difference between us in terms of health and cognition. This is not true when we age. I know a woman who is almost 101 and takes no medication at all, has her cocktail at 5 and is now just beginning to have a bit of memory loss. Sadly my brother who is 80 has a lot of medical issues that slow him down, but thankfully no mental decline. At 74 I am in good shape but I and my Dr. do not know how long it will last. 19 yrs? 5 yrs.? 2? Look at Justice RBG. But we must pray for her to be healthy enough to stay on at the Supreme Court, not so Kavanaugh. The Point? Age does bring experience and some wisdom. AOC needs to find balance between her passions that motivate the young and standing back a bit to gain experience so she doesn't irritate old people like me. Ah the infamy Twitter has wrought. In summary the above means I have real reservations about voting in a primary for the older candidates.
1
At 70, I often find the idealism an enthusiasm of youth sometimes inspiring, sometimes amusing and sometimes frightening. It is why I have resisted the 55 years and older only communities. I like the laughter and sounds of children playing on a playground. I like the fervor of young adults and often their gladiator spirit. Yes we older people can often get pooped but it does not take away from the experiences that we have had and whatever wisdom we have accumulated. The truth is that a vibrant community needs the engagement of all of us regardless of age, our government is no different. As to a presidential candidate I look for compassion, moral decency, truthfulness and thoughtfulness. Some people have this at a young age and some grow into it. I hope for another Obama regardless of age.
3
Great column, Frank. Well, yeah, I'm 73. I went to high school and college in the '60s and that surely shaped how I see the world. And it informs how I see what's happening now and I'm encouraged on one hand by the energy and vision of young people and discouraged by our tail-dragging failure to respond to problems we should long-since have faced and begun to solve: climate change, economic and racial injustice being foremost. But my children are going to have to fix that. I'm pooped. (But I'm glad Pelosi apparently isn't.)
1
Great column. In my dreams, both forty five and Pence would find themselves on the wrong end of Congressional investigations and removed from office.Then Pelosi would be president.
3
Feinstein's approach to climate change so far has been only pretty words and long winded excuses. She knows and cherishes the system and uses it to keep in office while doing nothing.
If Feinstein had worked with Republicans to pass a real carbon tax 30 years ago we would not need a Green New Deal. The fact that she still thinks that this is a solution is a sign that she needs to go.
33
@Chris Martin
Re: " ... pass a real carbon tax 30 years ago ... The fact that she still thinks that this is a solution is a sign that she needs to go."
This is what I mean when I complain that old people's minds were shaped decades ago. (I'm 75)
6
@Chris Martin A carbon tax IS the solution. A take it or leave it omnibus bundle of toothless and vague resolutions on wide ranging topics is not the solution. It's like trying to eat something larger than your head. Feinstein is wrong wrong on many things, but she's right to resist being arm twisted into supporting the GND.
4
@Chris Martin - your last paragraph basically reads: "Sen. Feinstein couldn't overcome the entire Republican Party so needs to go".
Which if the kids coming up today can? And how does the American consumer, the American building owner, the American transportation fleet choose to switch from fossil without fossil being more expensive?
2
As a baby boomer I was raised by fiscally-conservative parents who saw and stood up to racial injustice, understood the interconnectiveness of society and the need for civil dialogue. They were Eisenhower Republicans to the core. I am so happy I was raised by those parents.
Now they are pushing 90 and I listen with dismay to their bigoted, self-centered view of the world and wonder what happened to the parents who raised me. They happily, noisily support the myopic wretch in the White House. So to answer your question, show me one grandparent who doesn't think about their children and grandchildren's future, and I'll give you my mom and dad as Exhibits 1 & 2.
Just as time can turn grape juice into a fine wine, it can also turn to vinegar.
13
Thank you for pointing out the obvious that is often overlooked today. My grandparents and my aunts and uncles (boomers) have all become very self centered, hateful of difference, scared of their own shadow, and just plain mean to the bone.
I’ve seen my uncle stay in the workforce twenty years past when he should have retired, hiring “assistants” that end up doing all of his work. Yet these assistants make low wages while he collects a large check. If he is forced to find something quickly without the aid of his assistant he shows how incompetent he is with technology. Yet he is against paying a fair wage for someone doing his job and theirs.
5
@bob
Same with my parents. At least in my mom’s case I believe a lot of it was due to the constant influence of listening to right wing radio. Scary how much more prevalent that has become.
2
Yeah, sure, wisdom comes with age.
But so does obsolescence.
I prefer government personnel whose minds are shaped by modernity.
2
Great reminder to us all that age and experience do not mean a lack of passion, interest, strategic thinking, and knowledge. With that age and experience comes patience, accommodation, and compromise which leads to incremental success. This is so much better than a lot of noise, high ideals, but ultimate failure to move the needle forward. Well done Mr. Bruni for reminding us of the many successes our more senior leaders managed for us as they brought the needed legislation across the goal line.
6
To have Ms Ocasio-Cortez as an example of young politicians is a real mistake for Democrats specially here in the Midwest. Lets not forget that in the last congressional elections progressives did not flip one single seat. We need to see fresh faces yes but moderates. We are a country, I believe, of the c enter. The GOP is long gone to the radicals (not conservatives). Lets not allow the same to happen to the Democrats.
2
The impact of us oldies is ramping up. Fact is, there are going to be many more of us stacking up at the far end of the demographic curve because so much money and energy is going into "life extension" R&D. By 2025 '90 will be the new 60.' Healthy, highly functional centenarians scurrying all over the place (just dripping experience and wisdom) will be one more kind of climate change. At first the rich will populate the super oldie caucus. The Silicon Valley jillionaires are famously pouring big bucks into the research.Think those folks won't run for office? Think their fellow oldies won't vote for them? Whoo boy.
1
One thing that Mr. Bruni did not mention is the failure of the Baby Boomer generation to mentor and promote the next generation. This is important in any field, so that they can feel that they can finally retire with the knowledge that there are plenty of capable people in position to step in and step up. Thus, and particularly with the Democrats, there are not many Gen Xers positioned to take the reigns because the boomers never made a place for the next generation.
Now, they're getting to the point when they have to, and there's an age gap. That's why we're mainly stuck choosing between 70-somethings and 20-somethings. Welcome, millennials! Hopefully the old guard will at least be gracious about sharing their hard-earned wisdom and power before they're no longer around. You can't take it with you, after all.
1
> Show me even one decent parent who doesn’t vote with his or her kids in mind. Show me one decent grandparent.
I guess you must be talking about non-Republicans only. I can list a million parents and grandparents of gay children who have knowingly voted against their gay children's interests (including my own). The same for climate change. Republicans vote against the interests of their children and grandchildren on a regular basis (not to mention their very own interests, but that's a different topic).
9
Have to agree with the philosophy of retaining the wisdom of years BUT the time has come for an overhaul of our system to make it a true democratic MAJORITY rule system. The founders didn't believe in that as is so clear from the electoral college. The whole basis of their system was for the HAVES to keep what they HAVE. The time has come to update the SYSTEM not just work with what we have... if this sounds familiar to anyone, it's what a lot of us were saying in 1968!!!! WOW!!!
1
"I am unwilling to sneer at the vision of youth …. But vision does not belong only to the young. There are millions of older people who have vision, just as there are some younger men and women who are ready to put a weary, selfish or greedy hand upon the clock of progress and turn it back …."
President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935.
7
I don’t care how old a politician is. I don’t care what color they are or what their gender is. I don’t care about their sexual preferences. I don’t care if they have three houses or have to sleep on someone’s couch while waiting for their first congressional paycheck.i don’t care if they smoke weed or drink bourbon, listen to hip hop or country.
I’m not unaware of the importance of the symbolism of electing more women and people of color and such considerations might tip my vote if all other things were equal.
But they never are.
What matters is what they stand for and what they will do.
I care about who their donors are, whether they are mainly nurses or CEOs, but only as a rough measure of what side they are on.
That is why I am excited about Bernie even though he is a cranky old white man, but also about AOC, Ayanna Presley, Ileana’s Omar and Radhida Tlaib.
It’s also why I don’t care for Schumer or Pelosi or Beto (though I gave Beto money in the hope that he might take down the truly vile Ted Cruz). Harris, Booker and Castro likewise do nothing for me. They are all tools of Wall Street or Silicon Valley. They may have tacked left recently, but their reasons are so transparently opportunist and their reversion following their election is more predictable than an episode of Law and Order.
3
"But you know what else baby boomers did? Helped bring an end to the Vietnam War. Advanced the causes of equality for women, for black people and for L.G.B.T. Americans. Engineered the digital revolution." - yes, when they were in their 20s, 30s, and maybe 40s. when they were younger. not in their 70s and 80s.
3
Yes this is amusing - ‘look at all the great things we did... when we were young!’ Sort of mucks up the gears of the thesis!
"If I only knew then what I know now..."...Age is a cage, break out...but it is the passion of the younger leaders that is so vibrant.
Youth, energy and ideas combined with ideals (oh the last my be dormant in our cyber age...lol) is what our country needs and has in a mix of leadership that is alive and vital.
Bernie Sanders at 77 as the zeal of a forty someone, but with the wisdom of the elder statesman/leader he is.
Joe Biden has the ideals and passion that might ignite a lasting flame of leadership.
Nancy Pelosi has the experience and track record of success and leadership.
The young leaders such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have the down to basic logical idealism and energy needed to move our country into the paradigm shift that is so needed.
The inter-generation mix is great to work with and grow with. With what we know now, combined with boundless energy...that is our time to come...we used to say, "...that is our future, move forward..."...and maybe we still will...
2
What Frank misses is that age comes with status quo bias. If you're invested in drug companies, you're less likely to want to see drug prices regulated. If you're time-line is the last 10 years of your life, you have different desires to see protection of the environment than if your remaining life span is 30, 40, or 50 years. Yes, the baby-boom generation stopped the Viet Nam war and drove Nixon out of office, but a heck of a lot of those boomers are now "me" generation focused and supporters of Trump. Let be careful that we don't focus too much on past accomplishments to the determent of doing the right thing for the future. My problem with Finstien's reaction is that is came across as both tone-def and arrogant.
3
Be careful about singing the praises of gerontocracy. You can take a thing too far. I have great respect respect for Feinstein and Pelosi, but I'm also old enough to remember the Soviet Union under Brezhnev, Andropov, and Chernenko.
2
There is nothing wrong with being old and having amassed an adult lifetime of knowledge, experience and guile.
During that stretch one would hope that they have amassed the infinite wisdom to work within the system to their advantage, - to the advantage of their constituents and the country.
Also during that stretch, one would hope that they would know when to put up a defense and when to defer to younger, fresher and bolder ideas.
The dynamic that is playing out in Washington and in the Democratic party is that maybe (and that is a BIG maybe) all, or most might want the same things, but there are massive disparities in how we get there, and in particular how fast we get there.
One part wants to work within the system, and the other part wants to change dramatically the system overall.
What do you want is the question ?
2
Let's not forget that it was overwhelmingly the Boomers who voted to put the Donald in office.
2
Thank you, Mr. Bruni!
Age and experience harden some people. For others, though, they provide a lifetime of context. Context is what we need to make mental connections and generate ideas.
"Those who do not know history's mistakes are doomed to repeat them." -- George Santayana.
2
I've often wondered why the world went the way it did on the baby boomer's watch. Enough of us tried to make it better, and we had some successes, but overall, at least in the developed countries it isn't better. What went wrong?
Our biggest failure was that we failed to constrain our leaders. We improved and fixed some things, but we didn't pay enough attention to how decisions get made and implemented, or how to prevent the corrosive concentrations of wealth, and the ability of those with it to call the shots and bend society to their ends. We play whack-a-mole with the details but can't do anything to fix the process.
Pelosi and Feinstein will soldier on, fixing what they can according to their vision, but whoever replaces them when they retire will face the same raft of problems. As with most conflicts or wars, the enthusiastic young will be the foot soldiers and the older generals will design the strategy. The Koch's and their ilk will still kill transit systems so that they can sell more oil, the Kushners will still raise the rents in New Jersey, and 7 billion people will become 10 billion. Will they blame it on the baby boomers, or on the generations that follow?
Age, like so much, is relative. How healthy is the older person, or active, open and informed of all that is new information on many matters from science to economics to climate change, for example. In the great university here, for example, the business school far outnumbers the more traditional departments of geography, history, government. Our economic disparity as regards the upper and middle to poor classes versus the 1%, for example, does not bother the GOP. Not all elders have the right stuff. Certainly, the latest group elected to much fanfare in the media, from AOC to others, need guidance as they have learned in a very short time. Pelosi stood her ground in an impressive show of real power gained from her years of experience in the House of Representatives. Nice take on the gerontocracy, but better labeled as the wise, not necessarily the elderly.
3
In the 60s and 70s we blamed our elders for ruining the environment, for poverty and wealth inequality, for the endless and pointless Viet Nam war, and for institutional racism. These themes should sound familiar to younger readers.
There are differences now: We are reaching a tipping point on climate. We have a more poorly educated population than in the 60s which appears to be easily duped by charlatans [a greater percentage of the population read at a high school level in the 1940s than now]. A large segment of the populace seems more interested in identity politics than the compromises necessary for collective action [the "Bernie bros" attitude of Bernie or no one helped create the trump presidency]. We have an ultra-wealthy class that, with help from the Supreme Court, has bought large segments both political parties and therefore our government. [Hillary spent her time fund-raising on Wall Street with whom she identified rather than meeting voters in the Rust Belt with whom she did not].
The problems we face are not generational in nature, they are different visions of the what the US should be: A capitalist paradise with no regard for the consequences, or a nation that exists for the people who live in it. I think it will take everyone's efforts, all generations, to see that it is the latter.
6
I think this whole old vs young issue is hooey. What is actually happening within the Democratic Party is a great debate about policies. Some people are proposing ideas that were not previously considered viable, and now those ideas are getting examined for their actual impact if enacted. This is what should be happening, and the age of those debating these ideas has nothing to do with the discussion. Argue on!
5
The best science tells us that if we don’t make serious changes by 2030, we will significantly harm life on this planet as we know it. Explain to me how “steady hand” and “middle of the road” is ever going to solve that problem. I’m all for more experienced leaders using their wisdom to bring policy change about, but dismissing the idea of the need for a green new deal is just as harmful as what trump has done. The planet isn’t going to give us a break because we made a few token changes. Either we believe the science and accept that we are in an emergency or we think it’s all garbage (or decide we don’t care). At least the GOP is clear on this: they don’t care (and say they don’t believe it to make it sound more palatable).
4
Let's be blunt. The real underlying concern about relying on the leadership of those in their late 70's and 80's isn't whether their ideas are old fashioned: it's whether they are, or will shortly, suffer cognitive disabilities, including inability to master new information, problems in mental processing, recognizing reality, emotional control and problems with memory.
Obviously, not every person of that age has these issues. But they are statistically not unreasonable to worry about. Our current President seems to exhbit some of the issues.
We should not exclude anyone above a certain age. But we should be willing to discuss the risks.
2
My biggest challenge with older politicians is that their age often implies—but not always—a long tenure in office. I feel it’s important to allow a variety of voices an opportunity to serve. As I recall from history lessons long ago, the intent of the founders was that an individual would leave their chosen vocation for a short period of time to represent their constituents, and then return to their work. The idea was not to make a political position a lifelong career.
2
Frank asks where we could find a parent or grandparent who doesn’t vote with their children in mind. In the UK, in their hundreds of thousands, is the answer, where older voters slammed the door on the younger generation’s chance to move freely, live and work in the EU.
10
There is no aging movie star as beautiful as Nancy Pelosi. Listening to her lecture Republicans is always a joy. She's my favorite politician. Being 75 years old, I can't imagine how she manages to radiate health and energy. Too bad she isn't running for President but then who would run this Country.
3
amazing how one can look at the same thing and see something so different. I find Pelosi to be inarticulate (tinkle - fight?) stuttering, not interested in serious policy goals but more interested in power, and her appearance is that of a secretary from ManMen - I want her to dress like she is working, not like she is trying dress for men.. Vital ? Pelosi? I thnk not.
3
@Denise Daughtry: as a woman, I see a lot of botox, a lot of makeup....more than a bit of plastic surgery (eyes? forehead? neck? chin?)....I see fillers and lasers to smooth and tone 80 year old skin.
Go to the local nursing home, and see some ladies 79 years old and tell me if they look like Pelosi. Hint: they do not.
I also see hair additions or a weave, and in addition, a standing $300 appointment to do highlights and lowlights in hair that would otherwise be all gray and thin.
I see a fine wardrobe of stylish clothing, that costs a small fortune. This is not a lady who shops at Kohl's or JCPenney. (Hint: anyone can look FINE if they have tens of thousands to spend on stylish clothing, PLUS a team of stylists to pick out great stuff and designers eager to dress a famous liberal woman!)
But my real question is this: HOW can she walk in those heels? I am 16 years her junior, and I had to give up heels a decade ago -- just agony. I couldn't walk 3 yards in those 5" heels. Either she has unusual feet OR she is absolutely immune to pain.
2
The media is enthralled by their new darling - Cortez. Sure she's smart and articulate, very pretty and beautiful big brown eyes and making a noise. But I prefer that she gets some mileage and experience behind her. In the meantime, I feel secure with the older, experienced Democrats running the party like Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schif. By the way, I wish Adam Schif would run - the right age, experienced, smart, articulate and possesses integrity. There is talent right under our noses,
3
I am in full agreement about Adam Schiff; every time I hear him speak, I am impressed by his articulation and thoughtfulness.
@styleman: most politicians are not very good looking. And we judge women on looks -- yes, liberals too. Part of the admiration for Pelosi is how she's kept the years at bay, and does not present as an old lady of almost 80.
In Ocasio-Cortez's case, she is actually really pretty -- almost movie-actress pretty. She resembles, to my eyes, a young Rosario Dawson ("Rent") -- thin, big eyes, big photogenic smile.
A lot of liberals are having a real problem separating her LOOKS from her smarts, her policies, her potential. They have a sort of crush on her, like the cutest girl in 7th grade.
I've asked many times: if Ocasio-Cortez had the identical policies and beliefs and said the same things....but was 50 years old, fat, homely, had frizzy gray hair and wrinkles and bad teeth....would anyone still see her as a superstar? or would she be utterly invisible?
1
Reagan was derided for his declining capacity before he left office. His critics were ceaseless in raising the point. Pelosi’s stammering & very frequent confusion in front of the cameras is also evidence of her declining mental capacity - she’s worse than Reagan was. And yet the left today raises no objection.
No 85 year old with apparent diminishing mental capacity should be 3rd in line for the Presidency - regardless of Party. The nation cannot afford that risk. Citizens who care should know better than to place party politics ahead of the nation.
1
Welllll, as they say, it takes a village. The wisdom, practicality, and skills of the elders needs to be paired with the vitality, risk tolerance, and creative flexibility of the young.
The old know how to get things done, and they have good ideas...the young have energy and, let’s face it, more skin in the game when it comes to the future.
I don’t see this as an old vs. young conflict but how can we pair the natural strengths and interest of each group in a beneficial way that prevents mistakes in the present while fortifying our future in ways that the young want and need.
6
I’m 66. Oh, that I had known at 20, what I know now.
6
Is there something new we’ve heard from Diane Feinstein other than her sit-on-the-fence, wishy-washy, middle-of-the-road, utter nonsense?
Has anyone considered where the “middle” of the road is? In the age of Trump, Mexicans are rapists, child separation, massive transfers of wealth to the top 1%, voter suppression, and climate change denial - where exactly is the middle?
It’s no where I want to be. And I don’t want to be represented by anyone who can’t get themselves off the fence to change the future. I don’t want to be represented by anyone that accepts today’s world as normal - and seeks the middle ground with immorality.
Her age is not the issue. It’s her complacency, arrogance, and her loyalty to the institution of the senate - in lieu of the future her constituents are longing for.
I’m 65...
and YES, I do believe her age is part of the problem.
55
@Gary Alexander well said, buddy!
1
One’s status in Congress and Senate depends only on how much money one can raise and distribute to others. Every communication I get from politicians is only a leading questionnaire and a plea for money.
7
@Gary Alexander - Agree completely. But you know what the worst thing is, we won’t get a chance to vote her out of office because she won’t live that long.
Age matters folks.
1
“...but for the most part “complexity and empathy” are left to the humans.”
Too bad this is a requirement to work in a call center but not a requirement to work in the White House.
4
Completely agree re Pelosi, but I've long thought Congress needs official emeritus members who do not vote but act as mentors and consultants. Too many simply can't gracefully go into the good night. Think of Pete Stark if not Feinstein.
1
“Show me even one decent parent who doesn’t vote with his or her kids in mind.” OK, let’s start with the tens of millions who voted for Donald Trump and his band of brigands now so heartily dismantling the “administrative state” that protects their kids’ air, water, natural surroundings, fiscal solvency and healthy democracy. We know you’re not naive, Frank. But you know as well as anyone that many voters, especially today’s GOP voters, are clearly NOT voting with their kids in mind.
3
You obviously haven’t met my parents who vote for Trump and who’s kids are a unionized teacher in a public school and middle class earning IT/Business Analyst at a Federally funded University and who both still live in a high tax state (New York). The conversation actually occurred before the election - “Look, Trump can’t win NY so please just sit this out rather than cast a vote that literally can have repercussions for your kids - and by extension grand kids - financial and professional health.”
Well, no, they just had to stop the Evil Clinton’s from robbing America - whatever that means. So yeah, many people will giddily vote against their children’s interests even when one of those kids specifically laid out that it is not to their children’s benefit to have Trump as POTUS. SMH
1
Who needs the life lessons? The old folks who cannot understand the crisis.
Here is that crisis:
World-wide industrial Carbon (CO2) release continues. World-wide Livestock Industry Methane (CH4) release continues. This is causing global temperatures to rise.
Temperatures will reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit (65.57 Celsius) in certain areas of the planet this century or by the next. The World Bank in 2012 as quoted above made reference to this. It warned of a Methane Hydrate Feedback Loop in the Arctic with high temperatures from CO2 and CH4 release as that area warms. Scientists are now telling us that this warming has begun.
www.InquiryAbraham.com
2
I'm kind of optimistic. Not sure about Feinstein, but Pelosi and AOC are potentially a very powerful team. l think they're both savvy enough to listen to each other. In terms of agenda, they're both on the same page. And it's the right page for pulling this country out of its recent funk.
There are other good signs too. Ailes is already gone, as are O'Reilly, Roy Moore, etc. Will Ingraham ever have the clout of Limbaugh? I doubt it. And the Koch brothers? Past their prime I think, at least in terms of being able to buy the government.
And on the brighter side, Bernie is clearly not past his prime. Cross-generational enthusiasm is evidenced by numbers of supporters and robust financial support (almost all from small contrubitions) of his candidacy. What's really encouraging about that is the fact that it's based on an appreciation of his long-established record of character and his agenda.
1
To address the substantive difference DiFi had with the kids, she was spot on to try to make them realize that, as proposed, the "Green New Deal" is not merely impractical; it's laughable. Even if you could get the Senate to pass the resolution, there is not the tiniest chance that there will be an electric motor capable of powering a semi trailer truck pulling 20,000 pounds in 10 years, or 20. And if there were, where would the electricity come from to keep all 2 1/2 million semis on the road? Likewise, there could be no air travel. And is there were a magical pot of gold to retrofit every building in the US -- tens of millions of them? Age is no excuse for blind ignorance that ignores the most basic facts. There are ambitious but not unreasonable goals that could be set: bringing back tougher vehicle emissions standards, encouraging the market for all-electric cars, stricter regulation of coal, requiring solar panels on new houses, a wide range of conservation measures, among others. Even teenaged idealists should know that even steps like these will be exceedingly hard to get through Congress or state legislatures. If you want anything to happen, political savvy is as important as emotion.
3
Mr. Bruni’s argument, as far as I can tell, is called conservatism. Change is only acceptable if approved by the wise men/elders.
I think he rather shoots himself in the foot with his encomium to his (mine as well) generation. The end of the Vietnam war, as well as betterment for women, minorities, and LGBT Americans, were fought tooth and nail by wise men/elders. Only prolonged activism by (mostly) young people brought the modest change we’ve seen so far. But if our generation is content to sit back and accept Mr. Bruni’s laurels and not continue to agitate for everything we then held so dear, what is the use of our “wisdom”?
If Mr. Bruni doesn’t know one decent parent who votes against his/her kid’s long-term interests (and more importantly, though he ignores it, society’s at large), he’s an ostrich. Any back-yard BBQ in my (admittedly privileged) circle is replete with investors in industries that are demonstrably and disastrously endangering the world our children will have to live in. And outside of this rarefied world there are millions of decent parents whose voting choices are so proscribed that they never get the choice to vote in their childrens’ interest, long or short term.
I’ve got nothing against wisdom, wherever it comes from. To discount it due to the age of the giver seems to me as I grow older, an opportunity missed.
In my sixties, I’ve come more and more to treasure the advice and wisdom my parents gave me. It was the advice of young people.
65
@Gyroscopic
I enjoyed your comment - take wisdom from any source, no matter the person's age. At age 77, I well remember what it took to battle the Vietnam War (irony to see President Trump sitting under a bust of Ho watching a deal done - Boeing selling planes to Vietnam), and only wish we had a similar battle happening today to question, and hopefully reduce our vast military/"defense" apparatus. The amount of funds spent, resulting in questionable outcomes - it's just hard to watch the silence around this by both young and old.
1
@Gyroscopic The children in your privileged circle will probably continue many non-progressive policies, when it comes down to their own self-interest. It has to do with class.
3
@Gyroscopic
"The end of the Vietnam war, as well as betterment for women, minorities, and LGBT Americans, were fought tooth and nail by wise men/elders."
Those moral and ethical changes in America were gained by a lot of YOUNG WOMEN holding yonng and certainly old men's feet to the fire, finally.
3
This column is about more than Feinstein, it is about older legislators in general and potential candidates in particular. I am going to be 76 soon, I work part-time as a professional, and I realize that age alone should not be a deterrent to good leadership. That said, the Democrats need to coalesce and support a possibly younger person, or at least stop hurting themselves and giving the reelection to Trump by their lack of solidarity.
1
Lumping Pelosi and Feinstein together just because they're both from San Francisco and both in their advanced years is simply a mistake. As someone who lived in San Francisco in the 70s and 80s, I can tell you that Feinstein was never considered a progressive. She veered right until it became politically expedient to take a left turn. Pelosi was and is a true progressive. These two women are not cut from the same cloth. And it always amazes me to realize Warren is in her late sixties. Another true and powerful progressive.
355
@James Stoecker This article is not about ones politics. It's about age and wisdom. You missed that?
2
@James Stoecker. Thank you, a well-thought-out argument. My husband knew Diane Feinstein when he was involved with the Novato Chamber, and he can attest to what you are saying. If you dig a little deeper, another bias pops up: lumping women office-holders together because they are women. That makes as much sense as lumping Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden together, because they are all office-holders and men in their 70’s. We might be a melting pot, but there is still lead in every batch.
1
@James Stoecker
Right. Pelosi and Feinstein should not be lumped together. For ANY reason. Not everyone has the same perspective. Not everyone in a particular demographic is the same, uh, right? Pelosi filibustered for eight hours in 4 inch heels. In addition to her more progressive politics, intelligence, strength, and social skills, I love her for doing it all in style and not caving in to how society expects "women of a certain age" to be. Brava!!
5
Older Democrats remember the failures of previous politicians trying to solve environmental and other problems. They know that climate change won't be addressed unless government takes action. Efforts to reduce CO2 will be confronting deeply entrenched industries and vested interests who only see that you're eliminating THEIR livelihoods and wealth, or that you're increasing their cost of living. Try too much too soon and we'll go backward as we did in 2016, another term of Donald Trump's efforts to destroy the planet as fast as he can.
I was embarassed for Feinstein lording it over children like a child herself - it is hard to argue on the spot, but someone should have said, Dianne, you have been at this 30 years and have accomplished NOTHING on climate change. So step aside, or sit down and listen, girl!
and as for Pelosi, she likes power, she cares nothing about policy. We need people who are inspired, who know that climate change is an emergency, not just' whatever you want to call it.." I find Pelosi totally inarticulate - aren't pols supposed to be able to TALK?- and often tone deaf - i still have not recovered from her talking about a tinkle fight..good god.
Feinstein should be ashamed of herself, and Pelosi needs someone to teach her how to have policy that you believe in, not power that you want to weild..
For shame to both of them - oldies that are NOT goodies!
2
I am a Baby Boomer, a government employee and studied Economics and History at BU- the very same university as AOC. Somehow my BU education addressed both short-term and long term effects of economic policy and actions, something that seems to have escaped her and many other millenials. Sometimes it is the long game that is significant. It is clear that the environmental issues we face today are significant and need immediate attention, ditto for health care and the economy. But- the ability to stand firm at times, as did Nancy Pelosi, and the realization that sometimes you sacrifice short-term effects for long-term goals may be a function of applying education and practical solutions over time. The loss of Amazon in Queens exemplified a lack of understanding of the basic functions of funding, use of enhancements for long term economic growth. Even my millenial children understood this.
43
@robin
But there is no long term when it comes to averting climate change disaster -- our actions must be decisive, immediate, and sweeping or we will destroy the ecosystem which enabled the development of human civilization.
2
@Robin. Great comment, and I totally agree with you. The Amazon debacle in Queens is testament to AOC's lack of economic (and political) savvy. I certainly hope Pelosi stays healthy, because we really need her right now.
4
@robin. Children pick up economics pretty quickly, especially those of the marketplace, but are slow on the uptake when it comes to tradition, aesthetics, and the limits to growth — that comes with hindsight.
It is less about age than it is about legislator income and racial diversity, emotional maturity, factual accuracy, self expressive ability and ability to relate personal experiences.
We need a counterpoint in our legislatures to age and money! We need legislators who can express themselves with factually grounded heads and open minds, which means hearts, as well as talking heads.
We do not need conspiracy theorists, obsessive ideologues or silver-haired dinosaurs. We have quite enough of those already!
1
I always enjoy reading Frank Bruni, even when I don't agree with him. That's because he usually has a clear eye for both sides of an issue and is honest enough to acknowledge the flaws in his own arguments. But here, I think he bends a bit too far toward elder worship. And I speak as a 64-year-old woman. Perhaps he's over-correcting for his confessed eagerness to join the anti-geriatric chorus. In a way, that's commendable. But I urge Frank and his readers to apply the same standard of fairness to questions of age bias as they would to any other type. We would not accept dismissing a person's ideas because of their race, ethnicity or gender. Nor should we blindly agree with them because of those factors. Experience matters. But it's not just the quantity of experiences that matter, it's the kind of experiences. And there is no doubt that younger people bring something different to the table. Yes, some are brash, uninformed, unreflective. But so are many older people. What our political discourse cries out for is respect. If we can extend that to both Nancy Pelosi and Pete Buttigieg, I'm optimistic about our future, about improving healthcare, tackling climate change & so much more. But if we keep up the name calling and debate by sound bite, I shudder to think of the country my grandchildren will live in.
2
Age has little to do with the obnoxious treatment of those young people by Feinstein. Her reply virtually assures that they will not be interested in working to better things in the future. Even the old and wise can afford to be gracious.
2
The problem with even suggesting Nancy Pelosi and Dianne Fienstein are some of the "good" boomers is that they are not even baby boomers. Dianne Feinstein was born some 10 years before the first baby boomer was born. Nancy Pelosi was born 3 years before the first boomer was. The problem is not the wisdom that comes with their age, but when they use their age to defend themselves against legitimate criticism. As soon as that starts to happen, it's time for them to get out of office. Part of being a politician is being open to new ideas, and when you dismiss ideas right off the bat, then you are no longer fulfilling that part of the job.
2
There's older, and then there's old. There's wise, and then there's stale. There's experienced, and then there's faded. I don't want some young whippersnapper, but I also don't want someone who can't see beyond the way it's always been done.
5
Dear Frank, Please read some environmental history. Our generation (I'm 68) launched the environmental movement (you were in kindergarten for the first Earth Day) over intense resistance from the corporate right aligned with the hardhats. We launched the women's movement in the modern (post-suffragist) era. We extended the civil rights movement to include Latinos and (then-called) gays. We ended the Vietnam war and chased from office TWO presidents. We reigned in the intelligence agencies and pressed for and achieved political reform in the post-Watergate era. I do appreciate that you had only 750 words or so to present your analysis, but your work will be more thoughtful if more informed and hence more fair.
3
The children to whom Senator Feinstein spoke are passionate about the environment. My generation gave those children the EPA which is now being gutted by Trump.
What incremental things are they doing for the planet? Recycling, not using plastic, riding in small fuel efficient cars and riding their bikes and picking up cans and bottles?
Those children grasp one issue to the exclusion of everything else. Yes the military takes up a huge and growing share of the federal budget. Have those children studied the budget and proposed ways of cutting defense expenditures without reducing capabilities in the face of the Russian and Chinese threats? Probably not.
Have they studied the health care industry and figured out how to make American have health care for all like other civilized countries and controlling its cost? Probably not.
Have the determined how inequality, corporate tax evation and corporate welfare affects the budget and the economy? Probably not.
Have they figured out how to provide for social security and medicare? Probably not.
Have they confronted higher education costs and high school drop outs? Probably not.
So I applaud Senator Feinstein for not crushing their dream of a clean prosperous planet but telling them it is more complicated than coming in and jumping on her desk.
Vietnam Vet
3
When I was in my 20s many years ago I went from young to old in one year and that was when I got my first full time secretarial job paycheck. I was going to solve the world’s problems but I took one look at the taxes that were coming out of that paycheck and said “I am paying for all of this but what am I receiving in return”.
1
For those disagreeing with Bruni on Fenstein, have you seen the full 14 or 15 minute I think maybe an internship. The vid that made its way across social media was edited-- watch the longer one before you are dismissive of her actions. Also we still, I hope live in a civil society, where some sort of respect should be given to all-- senators as well as school children.
2
This is what I find so frustrating about Bernie Sanders: he is old, but he doesn't know better. He rants like he's still a kid on a college campus. He sounds like AOC… but should he?
I hope she remains fiery and passionate, but I am looking forward to the day when she has spent a while in Washington, and becomes more tempered. I look forward to seeing her candidacy for President one day. For today however, both she and Sanders need to step aside and learn a thing or two about how governing works.
We all grow old. It's mandatory. Wisdom, born of experience is optional.
In most human endeavors, the young bring fresh energy and ideas to address problems, old and new. But the best of those young lions and lionesses learn from the experience of their elders.
As a successful professional, I always try to share my knowledge and experience with those on their way up the professional ladder. I do not expect them to become clones of me, but I do hope that they can incorporate my experience as they find their own style and voice.
All successful people have found their own unique voice, but that voice has been built, in part, from the voices of successful people they have worked with and learned from.
Be it music, acting, sports, the law or politics, the best will learn from the mistakes and successes of those who came before.
Yes, the Democratic leadership is aging, but my hope is that the newcomers will learn from their predecessors as they find their own voice.
4
It's not so much age that is useful, it's mindful experience of different roles, tasks, and conditions. You can have 40 years experience or one year's experience 40 times.
That said, diversity in age is just as valuable. There is that existential situation, also. However, I keep in mind the New Yorker cartoon of a mother talking to a rebellious teenage daughter: "I've been your age, but you haven't been mine."
I guess we can't avoid the climate change problem, but if we really consider it an emergency, then it won't wait for elections. We will have to drop everything else, including diplomatic nicety, to move against it.
Almost at the age of 72, and still in reasonably good health, I know my limits. I would rather see someone in her 50s as president. But the main question is, assuming Trump is still around and running, who can beat him? And Mr. Bruni is a bit off the mark here: The only president we have ever had who not only had but also surpassed Nancy Pelosi's legislative skills was Lyndon Johnson. The presidency is not the same as herding cats in congress, and presidents are not usually congressional tacticians.
So to return to my question: Biden probably could beat Trump if he doesn't stumble as he is prone to do. Sanders, not sure; his best chances are probably gone. Warren, maybe, but she would be subject to ruthless harassment and vilification that might drown her out. Perhaps the quickest, smartest candidate on her feet in debate, a strong, charismatic, experienced person whom Trump would have a very hard time vilifying and name-calling, is Kamala Harris. And aim for a better future that really looks like America: add the well-experienced Julian Castro for vice president or if not, Beto; both would excite the young.
1
excite the young? you mean, the young look to the future while the old try to preserve the past? voters are excited by candidates they belive understand their issues and who will work for them. just look at all the MAGA hat wearing Trump voters he hoodwinked. he wasn't appealing to their hopes for the future, but to their dream of returning to the past, even an imagined past, a Disneyland past, where they felt safer and better off. it is about the story you sell, understanding your market, and statistics. even a dotard like Trump understood that, and he's ancient.
1
If you've been watching any of the Senate committee hearings over the past two years, Dianne Feinstein is not exactly a pillar of accomplishment. Her questioning is often slow and unproductive. She never really gets to the heart of any issue. Her presence is mostly a time drain on other Democrats. Then we have those moments like Feinstein's hot mic with Chuck Grassley. Feinstien didn't appear to have any idea what happened. Grassley and Feinstein's aide had to explain it to her... repeatedly.
The other aging members of the Democratic caucus aren't performing much better. Warren and Sanders are more of an exception than the rule. As for Pelosi, she's doing fine as House Speaker. Although, I don't see how any competent politician could botch Trump's shutdown. Mostly though, I disagree with Pelosi's politics. Her and Feinstein and all the others represent an era that is over. The Elves are leaving Middle Earth so to speak. Time to go. Your lingering presence isn't helping anyone.
Feinstein's video goes straight to the heart of the matter. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, at 29, is too young to bear the full burden of leadership. However, children don't respond well to lectures from Grandma. That's exactly what Feinstein was doing. Lecturing children. "I know better because I'm old." That's exactly what your friend's racist Grandfather says when he reminiscences about segregation. The only lesson children learn is which Grandfather to avoid.
Feinstein and all the others need to go.
2
Whether it is an issue of age, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, or a myriad of other personal attributes and beliefs, no one should be written off based on what they are. People should be judged solely by what they say and do. Throughout history and even today, many cultures have revered their elders for the experience and knowledge that they bring to the table. Politics should be no different. While the younger members of Congress have many great ideas to contribute to any discussion, the elders know a thing or two about what is doable and what is not as well as the process to be followed to bring the doable ideas to fruition. It is only through a cooperative collaboration among the entire spectrum of leaders that the nation can move forward. As I approach my retirement I am by no means unbiased and I also acknowledge that one’s intellect and judgement can deteriorate with advancing age but until such things become debilitating I say keep going.
2
Very insightful piece. As a boomer I hate to see some of what we have done to contribute to the changing climate, but also that was decades ago when we were young and unaware of the consequences. There is no excuse to downplay this now. I think most of us who inhabit this planet want to do the right thing, but only those of us who lived through past times are the ones who really understand the battles of that time. Experiences are the only things that make us who we are. Youth have always been the ones that foster change. I am glad to see that still happening, but experience also helps in making change a more thought out process considering many aspects unfamiliar to those too young or inexperienced with everything life can throw at you.
That's the problem with experience... only the people who have it understand its value. When I was in my 20s, 30s, and 40s, I thought I knew a lot. Now in my 60s, I realize I didn't know much at all.
2
"Show me even one decent parent who doesn’t vote with his or her kids in mind."
er any one on the GOP side of the equation who refuses to accept choice for women, equality for minorities, sensible gun control and that we are in serious trouble with our environment.
Those people don't vote with their children's best interest in mind.
2
I can hardly wait to peel my life out from under the carcass of the “me first and only” generation.
1
@Jack Jardine Would that be before or after parasitically feeding off the remains, grasshopper?
Judging people on their age (or lack of age) or gender or sexual orientation or .... pick your classification, is just plain lazy. Judge Pelosi, or Sanders, or Biden, or Trump (!!) or McConnell is plain hard work, and resorting to "identity" (when you mean classification) is lazy. Pelosi, IMO, has displayed tremendous skill in the warfare of politics. AOC has demonstrated the opposite - getting the numbers just plain wrong related to whether Amazon stays or goes, as well as threatening to "primary" Hakeem Jeffries - but Pete Buttegigieg (sp?) sounds brilliant at 37 - Beto O'Rourke not so much.
HRC at 69 displayed incredible incompetence as a Presidential candidate, Sanders exactly the opposite (yes I know who won in '16 - but how about now?)
I sometimes agree with Frank Bruni, sometimes not. But IMO, this column of his is spot-on-right.
frank is way off base on this one ... the 30-somethings do not want or need their grandparents (the 75-somethings) to be deciding things and leading things. The baby-boomers (the 55-somethings) have time and time again taken their own needs (the me generation) ahead of their children's needs. grandma nancy and grandpa joe need to go and leave the stage - they are perfectly fine to advise on the sidelines or from the balcony.
the best thing that could happen is for Amy and Kirsten and Kamala, and Elizabeth, and yes AOC to go off on a retreat and decide together who it is going to be ..... with Nancy being right behind them providing all the help they need.
3
Who needs the life lessons? The old folks who cannot understand the crisis.
Here is that crisis:
World-wide industrial Carbon (CO2) release continues. World-wide Livestock Industry Methane (CH4) release continues. This is causing global temperatures to rise.
Temperatures will reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit (65.57 Celsius) in certain areas of the planet this century or by the next. The World Bank in 2012 made reference to this. It warned of a Methane Hydrate Feedback Loop in the Arctic with high temperatures from CO2 and CH4 release as that area warms. Scientists are now telling us that this warming has begun.
We old folks won’t be around to do the suffering.
www.InquiryAbraham.com
4
At the dawn of the last century human life expectancy was 35-40 years old. When Social Security went into effect life expectancy for females was 60- 65 years old.
Alexander the Great and Jesus were both dead at 33 years old. Dr. King died at 39 years old. Chronological age has little or nothing to do with wisdom or insight or humble humane empathy. Trump proves that you can just get older and more ignorant, immature, immoral, intemperate, insecure and stupid.
Vanity aka pride aka hubris is an inherent human condition. Diane Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi and their fake colored hair and thick makeup and medically enhanced features are as ridiculous as were Ronald Reagan's and Donald Trump's.
Feinstein and Pelosi are the exceptions that proves the rule. And unlike Elizabeth Windsor aka ER II their reign cannot be blamed on divine royal sanction selection.
2
If a piece arguing for inclusion of all ages in the democratic process invokes so much vitriol, it’s pretty clear we have a problem. The ability to tweet is not synonymous with the ability to govern, it is synonymous with mob rule.
3
“Dianne Feinstein doesn’t get it.”
Full stop. No qualifiers, no “buts”, she has no business being a senator.
If you doubt me, watch her exchange with the group of students. Arrogant, out of touch and utterly clueless about how to make her point without being patronizing. Oh, and then there is the whole I won’t live to se the seas rise thing.
Age aside, she is an embarrassment for California.
6
It’s a person’s character that comes first no matter what age. Yes experience counts but you can learn from the young too.
3
Decent people need every decent person that can be found to end the foul stain of Trump and his sick Republican Party from power. Nothing else matters. Young, old, male, female, straight, gay, lesbian, bi, trans, if you are a decent human bring help rid this foul stain from America. Decent America needs everyone.
8
As someone a couple of years older than yourself, I appreciate the perspective on aging; I work in an industry (IT), where there is this tremendous idea that somehow the young turks are the only ones who can 'get it', that older people are fossilized, etc...and then they wonder why so many of these tech startups and the like, who overwhelmingly hire only those below a certain age, run into trouble with frat house antics or when the company runs into rough waters. My dad talked about being a young soldier in WWII, and how much 'older guys' (guys in their 30's) meant to the younger kids. That said, this one I disagree with:
'As for the notion that young voters and politicians care more about the future because they have more skin in the game: Show me even one decent parent who doesn’t vote with his or her kids in mind. Show me one decent grandparent. I can’t see how anyone would invest so much time, money and heart in a child’s tomorrow only to ignore that future in the political realm.'
Seriously? Take a look at GOP support, the people who deny climate change, promote fossil fuels, who support the unlimited access to guns, and now miraculously don't care about the Trump budget deficts....and it is heavily older people, parents and grandparents, who most firmly support Trump. Take a look at Reagan, whose administration was the first to rob SS of its surplus, who wanted to roll back environmental laws, and slash education spending, the prototype. Best mix is young and old.
4
Nancy Pelosi is a national treasure.
I feel sorry that so much of politics is spent assassinating the character of the opponent and their party. Donald Trump is the epitome of this, of course.
That’s why it is so refreshing to have Speaker Pelosi articulate a positive agenda and show the country a stark contrast with the incurious occupant of the White House. Even when she slings dismissive arrows (e.g., saying the President’s changing wall characterization might be a beaded curtain today), she does it as she masterfully explains the difference between real border security and a delusional campaign promise.
I think it was a great idea the Dems came up with to limit her term to 4 years, as that will give her time to mentor younger members and conduct the leadership that is needed at this critical time. That’s called a party that can walk and chew gum at the same time.
It hasn’t always been true, but I think the shock of 2016 and the disastrous first two years of Trump has many more Democrats understanding that the perfect is sometimes the enemy of the good. Can you imagine where we’d be now if Hillary was the President? The Republicans being complicit in treasonous behavior, wrecking the environmental regulations that have kept our air and water clean, etc., etc. There is too much to unite, that Russian/Republicans attempts to divide, including by age, will fail.
1
I’m a 74 year old white, male, heterosexual, happily married to one woman for fifty years. But don’t be scared. I believe in the equality of the races and sexes. I believe that gays and lesbians and other folk of any color, gender, and ethnicity are an asset to family values, not a threat to civilization itself. I believe that women have a right to control their bodies just as I do. I believe in the rule of law and insist on due process for all. I believe in a free enterprise economy with regulations and restrictions, including environmental protection. I believe that all – and I mean all – so-called “entitlements” should be indexed so that people (such as myself) should pay their fair share so that all of us can enjoy the fruit of our labors. That is the cost of living in a responsible republic. I believe that a free press is crucial to a democratic republic. I believe that science is the most rational, self-correcting approach to reality and that facts matter. I believe that we already have “small” government, although it should be more prudent in how it spends our tax dollars. I call myself a liberal.
1
"Old age and treachery will overcome youth and enthusiasm" and the democrats will need plenty of treachery to rid us of the Trump nightmare.
3
Boomers ended the Vietnam War! (And started the Iraq and Afghanistan ones!) Boomers advanced social causes! (And relentlessly work to roll them back!) Engineered the digital revolution! (And engineered the end of pensions, affordable healthcare, education without crushing debt, and functional government!).
But hey, let's keep talking about the things boomers did in their twenties and thirties while writing an article on why we should keep them around in their seventies and eighties.
4
It's right there in the title. "Senator" means "elder," and Feinstein sure qualifies, as did the Roman senators of old. The presumption is that with age comes the wisdom only hard experience can impart.
Youth is embodied in that quintessential term describing the passionate young ones: "sophomore," the wise fool. It's not a put-down. Occasio-Cortez is a real life, literal sophomore, quick witted, full of blistering insight about our problems, full of the passion of youth that sometimes runs past facts and strategies, needful of the elders who in turn need her to make sure that fire in the belly hasn't cooled.
I guess we need each other.
1
It has been said that 50 is the new 30;that 60 is the new 40, and that 70 is......70. Being in my 70s myself I find truth in that humorous statement.
3
"Show me even one decent parent who doesn’t vote with his or her kids in mind. Show me one decent grandparent." I can show you several million examples who consistently vote for politicians resist gun control, ignore climate change and rack up massive deficits their children and grandchildren will have to pay for.
6
Enough already--Pelosi didn't "smack down" Donald. She refused to agree to his terms in a budget standoff, which any Democrat could have done. The problem with Pelosi et al, is that these corporate Democrats have been responsible for 1. allowing the move towards the right over the past 40 years and 2. for the election of Donald Trump. There is no denying those two hard facts. And anybody with a brain is not against politicians because they're old (Progressives like Bernie Sanders!). They reject them because of their OLD POLICIES.
2
Bruni fails to mention an old Jewish guy who does not fit his narrative. I'm 77, and also a PhD environmental scientist who has known the basic physics of global warming since 1970. If Bruni thinks that Feinstein is proposing anything remotely adequate to address the looming catastrophe of global warming, he should go read the IPCC report. The kids are right.
5
That said, Bernie and Joe are still too old for the rigors of the job of POTUS. I’d like a person who could reasonably be expected to serve vigorously for eight years.
2
I am in my 70s now and, yes, I do feel much wiser than I did in my youth. As this article points out, there is no substitute for experience. It is unfortunate that so many major life decisions have to made when we are young and dumb. By the time one learns how to live life sucessfully, it's over.
1
This column is a welcome departure from so many bigoted articles about older people. Times columnist have done this on a regular basis. Timothy Egan for example, keeps (in truth he hasn't done this for a while) mocking older people, men in particular, for trying to act "young". Not confining themselves to what he thinks is age appropriate behavior. Others also on a shockingly steady basis. This was particularly true how Bernie Sanders was written about over and over again. Even using age as a weapon against someone as despicable as Trump reinforces reactionary attitudes that makes the world a more dangerous and stigmatizing place to live. Not only for older people like myself but for everyone else also.
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A couple of thoughts:
Oh, there are plenty of parents and grandparents who vote against their childrens' interest when they support candidates who will cut education funding and load up on long-term debt pay for the tax cuts the parents will probably not use to fund college education. We are one of the few members of the animal kingdom who expect the offspring to sacrifice themselves for the parents.
Liberals scare people. (Editors note: liberals lost the war when they let the right wing make 'liberal' a dirty word. Now we are 'progressives'; nobody is fooled.) While liberals see their policies as transformative, much of the country sees them as disruptive. Liberal arrogance is only going to make it worse.
Nancy Pelosi has made it clear she stands with the Healthcare Lobby and will willingly abet their effort to derail MedicareForAll , a policy gaining great momentum and favored by over 80% of Democrats .
Just whom exactly does she work for and represent ?
She gets a lot of fawning admiration from the well off centrist liberal crowd and pundits touting her savvy and political adroitness .
Sorry I don’t see a member of the 1% squashing Progressive ideals and actively doing the bidding of monied interests as exceptional or courageous in any way. Serving the wishes of powerful entities over the needs of a disenfranchised and abandoned electorate is dog bites man in politics and I’m not going to join the worshipful chorus lauding Nancy Pelosi because of cosmetic appeal and some bizarre vicarious thrill she provides me .
I need a public servant who advocates for the common good and looks after the needs of all the people not a lifelong politician who’s good at fundraising and representing the privileged class .
Compare the aged Nancy Pelosi with the similarly aged Bernie Sanders and tell me who’s about maintaining the status quo and serving the ruling class and who’s challenging entrenched powerful interests in the face of great odds to bring relief to the struggling masses ?
As a blue collar Union factory worker I don’t expect much solidarity in this forum but it’s important readers see a view from outside their comfortable bubble .
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Bruni, stop! Just stop. The Boomers have been clawing to the walls of power for way too long. We are burdened with them, not only the Pelosis and Trumps but the entire generation, which has eaten the last fat of the land and will hold on until they break the budget with their entitlement draw downs. Fifty years ago demographers warned this was coming; what they didn't see was facile commentators working overtime to rationalize their continued hold on power. Very simply, the question is this: when can America move beyond the tired Kilkenny Cats war between the right and left and center of one generation. When does the rest of society get enough oxygen to fix all the problems that the Boomers caused, exacerbated, and ignored, starting with climate change (really? you really think Pelosi has anything to say about that?) and all the other pressing issues that aren't being addressed until this tired generation gets turned into Soylent Green.
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@JET Ah those wretched entitlements. What is your retirement account invested in? How much greenness there? How many corporate tax cuts needed to keep your returns up?
One thing for sure, obstinate old men and women who are out of touch with the world, have only their self interest in mind and do not care about the future generations should not be in power.
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In politics there are few combinations better than the wisdom of age joined with the vigor of youth.
The older one sees the "doughnut" while the younger one often sees only the "hole," but combined, they are able to feed their constituents who only want to eat the "roll."
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The boomers to the generations before them - get out of our way, we know best.
The boomers to the generations after them - get out of our way, we know best.
Will the narcissism ever end?
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Mr. Bruni seems to ignore the fact that all the old pols whom he identifies are Democrats (well, Bernie is a Socialist, but you get the idea).
And I've yet to see the evidence that Pelosi is "effective" in opposing Trump. Moreover, it appears that Mr. Bruni has also failed to notice that Ms. Pelosi has a difficult time in her searches for the right word when she holds her press conferences. That's a problem that is typical for someone her age and that I'm sure Mr. Bruni often notes about his elderly relatives.
But, sure, why not try to put a good face on the fact that those in power in the Democrat Party are ancient? That's what your grandmother would want you to do.
Oh, and by the way: the power of these oldsters is what leads to young Democrats embracing AOC. And we're seeing how wonderful that is for the election hopes of the Dems, right?
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Democrat here. I agree, "the attention to age can go too far". So can attention to gender, to color, to religion, etc.
People are not better (or worse) for being female/male, black/white/brown/red/yellow/other, christian/jewish/muslim/hindu/bahai/etc.
The reigning atmosphere of political correctness is cloying already.
JFK was young and idealistic & practical & wise, etc.
Sam Erwin was elderly & idealistic and practical and wise, etc.
MLK was middle aged & idealistic and practical and wise, etc.
Not age not color & not religion were a single, all important factor.
Diversity is important because the country is diverse. Are we about to criticize Kenya or Finland for not having enough whites/blacks in their respective parliaments? Diversity? No, because there are not many in their respective populations.
Do you really believe that we need a bunch of chattering 25 y.o. sophomores in Congress? We have too many fools there as it is!
Diversity means only diversity. Not good, not bad. Same for age. We do not need a random selection of 80 y.o. or 30 y.o. senators! Many will be feeble minded.
1 year of experience repeated 20 times is not 20 years of experience! We do not need people smart enough to get out of trouble; we need them wise enough to not get there in the 1st place.
We need them good, smart, wise, empathetic, ethical, moral, knowledgeable, able to learn, people of integrity - not the conflicted, bombastic know it alls running around there now.
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Show me one decent parent who does not vote with his or her kids in mind? All across the US there are many millions of parents who have voted into power so-called leaders who do not care a whit if we make large parts of the US and the world uninhabitable for humans and kill of enormous numbers of species of flora and fauna in the process.
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Young people brought an end to the Vietnam War and help bring down the last corrupt President we had. Yes we were outraged and a little too extreme which helped bring on the 40 year right wing wave that’s practically destroyed this country. And now young people should be outraged by this older generation that’s destroying the very planet they have to live on.
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AOC is anything but wise. She is a loud mouth as is trump.
She is the darling of the media as is trump. She is self serving and and egotist as is trump. She is inexperienced as is trump. Trump does not represent the majority of the elderly who can think, listen, are experienced and wise.
Please give me the wisdom of Biden, Bernie, or someone who has been around the block a few times. I would even go with Amy.
If OAC can spend a few terms learning for Pelosi she will be a force to be reckoned with. There are many voters-and employers- who not facetiously do not trust anyone who has not been a parent- as pelosi often says, and quite plausibly, her experience as a grandparent and parent to many children was her training ground. AN OAC on the outer side or parenthood promises to be a formidable politician.
"But you know what else baby boomers did? Helped bring an end to the Vietnam War. Advanced the causes of equality for women, for black people and for L.G.B.T. Americans. Engineered the digital revolution."
And we did all that in our 20s and 30s.
Wisdom gained past 50 is awesome. Let's use it. But let's not continue the gerontocracy. Progress ultimately comes from challenging the status quo, not from perpetuating it.
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I am tired of baby boomers like myself getting credit for how humane, tolerant, and free we've made the country. Look around! We're leaving wreckage in our wake. We bankrupted the country AND elected Trump!
Speaking of which: I know an awful lot of voters who vote without their kids and grandchildren in mind *at all.* Some are Trump voters aiming to drag the country back into the past without for one minute asking their kids and grandkids what kind of country THEY want to live in.
Then there are others among us who make darned sure their social security and medicare benefits are protected but don't spend a whole lot of time considering how it's being paid for, or making sure we equally fund investments in future generations. WE got state universities that were darned near free, but free college for our kids and grandchildren? Horrors.
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I love young people. But those like AOC-- self obsessed, selfie obsessed, who think they should be schooling those who have experience and yes, wisdom? Them I would like to see put in a time out, writing "I will not talk in class" hundreds of times on the blackboard. To imagine you have nothing to learn from pathfinders is to lead yourself to the wilderness. I also fault the media for giving loud mouths like AOC a Mic they have not earned.
Frank's excellent column pertains most to our #1 issue, climate change.
The tragic fact is that youth mania for the do-everything of the "Green New Deal" is nails in the coffin of human civilization's future. It's equivalent to spreading out the crew and effort to rearrange all the deck chairs as the ship of conditions of human life on Earth suffers a growing hole in the hull and goes down.
Fix the growing hole in our hull -- now, or never. Do it with pinpoint steps focused on the problem, steps that have most promise for doing most to reduce the peril soonest.
Best I've seen for step #1 is carbon tax. Starting high and rising. With all net proceeds passed out to all the people for max enduring public support.
I have no idea what specific steps Ms. Pelosi has spoken for on this now-or-never matter. But just based on her demonstrated ability to choose what to pursue and how to get it done, I'd prefer Pelosi over any younger Green-New-Dealer, or any younger (or older) person running or said to be thinking of running. They are all babbling about deck chairs as our listing ship approaches the point of no return.
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Children had no business ambushing Feinstein and I blame their parents for what was a cheap publicity stunt. Don't send children to do the work of adults.
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Well, Mr. Bruni. Thank you. In August, I will turn the big Seven O. I am thrilled. Can't wait.
Or maybe I can. Ask me again in a year.
I remember something from the Democratic convention of 1968. Hubert Humphrey talking to a TV reporter, introducing a comparative newcomer. Mr. Walter Mondale--who stood there listening. Unsmiling. Silent.
And my goodness! Mr. Humphrey gave him a rousing introduction. Praised his years of experience. His zeal. His political know-how.
Passing the torch, wouldn't you say?: It's time for the young to step forward.
Mr. Bruni, all your points are well-taken. I have known many older men--and older women--in my time. Wisdom? Discernment? Discretion? Prudence? They had those things in spades!
But the fact remains: I wish--and lots of people wish--the Democrats had more young people. Or even middle-aged people. People to stand by (as it were) and take the torch from failing hands. Take up the cause. Fight the good fight.
BUT--I don't wish to sound cranky.
AND--you are so right about Ms. Pelosi. "Smacked the guy down" you said--bravo! That is exactly what this remarkable woman has done. More power to her!
And--I share Ms. Feinstein's doubts about "the green deal." My overriding dread is: the Democrats will nominate a certified fruitcake. And drive our nation back into the scaly embrace of the right wingers. But that can wait--
--till NEXT week maybe.
I suspect that Bernie Sanders at the age of 90 could slowly enter a stadium packed with young people, unfurl a handkerchief & twirl it over his head to thunderous & deafening applause, speak a few words of encouragement & once again secure the votes of millions.
You either have it or you don't. Agree with him or not, Bernie Sanders has it. And no one today could be better at negotiating with the opposition & obtaining compromise than Bernie.
Boomers created earth day in 1970. Boomer scientists raised the alarm about climate change. Nuff said. Drop the mike.
Feinstein messed-up this interview with school children. However, the old democrats in Congress really rock. They know how things work. Pelosi is one of the most eloquent speakers I know of. Young people like Ocasio Cortez have no experience and do not know how things really work. Thank you, Pelosi and all our super -intelligent, super-experienced Congress Persons.
Age, if nothing else, ushers in patience.
"Show me one decent parent who doesn't vote with his or her kids in mind"!? Then why did parents vote for Trump? All of them are indecent, according to the article. If the writer says so, maybe. But who's definition of "decency" applies? Mother Pence maybe. Yeah, probably everyone is indecent under her definition. nd no doubt she'd like to enforce her views on the world. But it's hard to understand why even octogenarians who have more money than can ever be spent really want to destroy the rest of us. And they manage to be holier than thou too.
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What a lovely OpEd. Thank you.
Yes, Frank Bruni, you're correct. We are ruled right now by a gerontocracy in America. By a geriatric but gaga president who will be removed and replaced when we all understand how cruel, ignorant and bigoted he is. I have it on unimpeachable authority that aged folk (with all their marbles) are better than impetuous youth, who demand instant gratification without kinowing what human life is all about. We learn from experience, so the longer we live, the more we learn. Ageism is a fact of life like sexism and other isms. We only understand the country of the aged when we are old enough to be citizens there. We only know the country of illness when we become unfortunate citizens of that place. Superannuated people -- men and women in "overtime"( over the age of 3 score and 10) -- are running our government today. As Alexander Pope taught us "a little learning is a dangerous thing", that we must drink deeply of the Pierian Spring, the fountain, the mythical source of knowledge. In other words, Frank Bruni, because you're not yet a card-carrying member of the gerontocracy, "we get too soon old and too late smart.
The bookends for defining Baby Boomers are ridiculous. Bruni, born in 1965, a Boomer? He was in third grade when Nixon was impeached; he wasn't old enough to drive, much less vote, when Reagan won. I don't think he had much to do with the `60s or ending the Vietnam War.
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Feinstein came across to me as arrogant. Both Feinstein and Pelosi have ossified thinking. Nothing to offer future generations. Now if those kids had some how raised a million dollars for campaign contributions, the conversation would have been different. It’s the corruption Bruni.... it’s all about corruption. It’s not about the last time you attends cocktail party with your favorite moneyed elite politician.
What a sad mea culpa in the face of future generations. Watching Feinstein engage with those kids all I could think was, if she spoke as honestly as those kids did, Feinstein would respond, "But you don't understand - I needed to take all of that money from the oil industry, otherwise I wouldn't be successful today. And since the oil industry was so good to me, I couldn't possibly write legislation against fossil fuels - that would be rude, don't you think? You kids just don't understand."
And now Boomers, who have been the source of the corruption not just of our environment but also our politics, a generation that fought against Vietnam because they personally were being sent there, but then stayed silent when their kids' generation were sent to Iraq and Afghanistan (and are still there) - now the Boomers want to be part of the solutions to all the problems they caused because they are so wise.
And to say that the Boomers were responsible for the Civil Rights movement is an incredible stretch - Frank, you were five years old when Martin Luther King was shot.
No matter how much Boomers protest, their legacy will be horrible.
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@Elsie Think about the young people outside of New York or other urban areas. Their attitudes can be quite similar to those of the Boomers that you dislike.
BTW: I was 15 when King was shot, and I'm in the middle of the Boomer generation.
Pelosi is part of the Democratic establishment. She's fighting well against our worst president, which any Democrat will and should do. But the Dems must also fight for we the people and give us the representation we need.
But why is Bruni setting up the age-prejudice thing? How is he trying to position himself politicaly, esp on one of the burning issues of our times--global warming?
Just because a person is older, doesn't mean they're wise. Depends on their background. Many office holders have long been entrenched with corporate mega donors for their campaign financing, thus may stay stuck in their views. The USA is ripe for change, and some will resist, sticking with old norms they're used to.
The big news of the day is that for all age groups, public disgust - at big money politics is building.
Plus support for reforming campaign finance.
Plus support for affordable health care to match the norm of other democracies.
Plus for aggressive green energy policies.
If Bruni doesn't see these trends, then he is the fuddy duddy. Strange, since Bruni is usually so trendy. LIke a Times restaurant critic is trendy, which Bruni was before his op ed page column.
Thank you, Frank.
When it comes to national political leadership, experience really, really, really counts. Pelosi is a perfect example. And the president is the perfect counter-example. I've always been amazed how virtually nobody in the media wrote in 2016 that Trump would be the first and only president in history with no background of public service whatsoever, as though that fact was not vitally important both pragmatically and as a precedent.
In our next president, we need someone with decency, good and relevant experience, and the capacity to lead and inspire with a positive message.
As for the current group of declared D presidential candidates go, none so far seem that stellar. Bernie is the closest, but ugly as the fact is, a socialist Jewish guy from Vermont would have gotten creamed in 2016 and would get, well, Trumped in 2020, too. (Here come the flames!)
Oh, Frank. Boomers were born between 1946 and 1960. That 1946 to 1964 thing is a cutesy Boomer convention.
You're an Xer, not a Boomer.
Welcome.
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I'm an organic progressive. I was born that way. I've always liked the taste of pie-in-the-sky. At 72, I am holding out for the moment that Trump and Pence are indicted and removed from office, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi is sworn in as President. Coup Coup Kajoob!
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Implicit in Bruni's essay seems to be a hint that the future of a national government lies in the hands of a president, of whatever party, more than in the hands of the branch of government discussed first in the Constitution, namely the Congress. To my mind, the House of Representatives is the actual House of the People. Notably, Presidents are required to report "from time to time" to the Congress on his stewardship; nowhere is the Congress required to report (i.e., submit) to the President.
I usually enjoy Frank Bruni's column, but this one is very strange.
How does he defend Diane Feinstein and her talking down to the children who will probably not live their full lifetime, due to the inactions of people who have had plenty of time to address climate change, but have chosen the safe route due to voters indifference or their lack of knowledge?
When we vote in someone, they are supposed to be our experts, or at the very least find out who the experts are and act on their expertise. How does he conflate gun violence with climate change? By the way, gun violence is only increasing; so I wouldn't want that on my resume.
How do we know someone younger couldn't have handled Trump better?
Now we are better off because we can assume these legislators are great parents and grandparents? We all know politics leave plenty of time for quality parenting!
Baby boomers didn't stop the Vietnam War, the lottery did. When the rich could no longer find deferments and had to go to war or Canada, that stopped the war. Mr. Bruni claims to be a baby boomer, but he's playing loose with the facts. People who are 50 years of age are not baby boomers and even those at 54 are on the cusp.
I am a decade older than he and I pray we get some youngsters with vision in charge before these wise ancients doom the Earth entirely.
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Diversity in ages is always healthy to any organization. New ideas from younger people are vital, but older people bring a past history and experience that is very important. Sometimes without the older people, you end up reinventing the wheel.
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It’s ironic that Mr. Bruni credits the Baby Boomers for getting us out of Vietnam. How were those protesters viewed by the mainstream? As idealistic and unrealistic. The point is, climate change is an emergency like no other we’ve faced. It’s also a moral emergency in some ways similar to the Vietnam war.
Lots of experience with political strategy does not always mean clear seeing or appropriate moral urgency. I think only young people’s idealism, energy, and, frankly, fear that is going to (maybe) get us to adequately address this unprecedented danger.
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I term what Mr. Bruni is describing in this article is seeing cracks in sidewalk, rather than, as with my younger colleagues who try to create cracks in the sidewalk. And, when you see the cracks in the sidewalk---opportunities for reform/redesign---knowing how to use systems and personnel to enlarge those cracks--to the point sometimes, where the organization says, maybe it is time to repave the entire walk.
I would suggest that this article underscores the fact that term limits may also take away the importance of experience and battle scars to the legislative process.
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Thank you for this column. It all needs to be said, and you do it beautifully. I look for a Democratic president who is well seasoned in the art of politics and understands the multiple challenges that he or she must face post-Trump. The new president has to be ready immediately on taking office. I look for the level-headedness and experience that come with age, along with a younger vice president. Warren and Brown or Klobuchar could make a good team, as one other reader noted. I still like Biden, and I like Booker. And it's high time for a woman. Much to pay attention to over the next year.
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Nancy Pelosi is a political Go master. Her GOP equivalent is not Trump, the dizzying, unskilled pinballer with an endless supply of quarters, but Mitch McConnell who flipped a Supreme Court appointment by doing nothing. The Democrats need Nancy Pelosi at this point. Period.
But the kind of procedural knowledge that Pelosi and McConnell possess can also be very limiting. Like the Go master, each undoubtedly has a deep understanding of the game and it’s rules, but, either might easily miss the signs of disaster looming beyond the board’s edge. So, perhaps, others who are younger, less skilled, and less experienced are in a better position to see approaching disaster and to question the sufficiency of politics as usual.
Personally, at this point in time, I think we need to make significant allowances for the procedural naivety and clumsiness of the young. The GOP era of restricted government has been tested over decades and repeatedly disproved. We now need to give young progressives room to expand our vision of what government can do to improve our lives.
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This is not a good article for a couple of reasons:
First, its premise is off. It's argument relies on the concept that there is a substantial movement against older members of Congress, which is simply not true. Yes, voters were excited about the youth entering Congress, but it is not as there is a mass of voters genuinely against older Congresspeople. No serious group is trying to impose an age limit or anything of the sort.
That being said, it is also silly to contend that older Congresspeople are better. There are good characteristics they tend to have, and good characteristics younger Congresspeople tend to have. The point is that age shouldn't necessarily matter - there are good and bad Congresspeople of all ages - everyone should be evaluated individually without generalizations.
Lastly, you also miss the key point of why there are voters pushing for new blood in Congress. It is not because they actively dislike specific older members. Rather, it is because of a general dissatisfaction with how Congress has acted over the past few decades combined with the notion that it is insane to do the same thing over again and expect different results.
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The issue with parents voting to preserve their children’s future is that we can’t decide on what side of the partisan divide best serves our children down the road... parents and grandparents might vote for their children’s well-being, but for some, well-being could be looser gun restrictions and a larger role of the church in politics.
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My problem isn't how old they are so much has how long they have been in office. Nancy Pelosi has been in office since 1987. 30 some years in the beltway bubble. Think she might have lost contact with the people she is supposed to represent? Dianne Feinstein in politics since 78 in the beltway bubble since 92. Bluntly these people and so many like them no longer have a concept of what the people they are supposed to be representing lives are like or problems are. They are in most cases multimillionaires and the vote has multimillionaires. They rarely see or spend time with the voters but boy they hear and spend plenty of time with the big donors. The problem isn't there its the fact they have spent there lives in Washington DC and their interests are more aligned with DC and the big donors then the little people back home.
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Did we really need a "not all old people" article?
Bringing up Nancy Pelosi to try and prop up Senator Feinstein's awful interaction with those schoolchildren is a logical fallacy. Just because one elderly Democratic woman from California is a good politician doesn't mean all elderly Democratic women from California are.
Ironic that this article praises the virtues of age and experience, where in the video of the interaction, Senator Feinstein came off as acting more like a child than the actual children did. As a teacher who encourages teenagers to advocate for their future, it was discouraging to see an elected official act so dismissive.
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Mr. Bruni,
Nancy Pelosi is the exception that proves the rule. Just how many others of her generation ( and mine by the way) do you know whose minds are as sharp, whose values are so beyond self and whose strength is so unflagging. Only one I can think of is RBG.
It is amusing to see that you try to append yourself to our generation. Sir, I'm 77 and marched against the Vietnam war and for a lot of other causes. The son I pushed in a stroller as I marched is now 55, his sister 51 and his brother 49. We often speak of the state of our nation . And their generation has better ideas for solving some huge problems like economic inequality, climate change, infrastructure, healthcare.
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At 85 I share the age concerns. Personally, I think Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren already have done more for this country than most Presidents are able to do.
I lean towards thinking they both can accomplish more where they are - or in a powerful cabinet position - than being in the Oval Office.
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In thinking about the comments I read here, it occurs to me that perhaps our Constitution, as established by the Founding Fathers, is out of date, no longer functional. The Constitution was constructed to prevent rapid, radical change. Instead, it was designed to allow only incremental change, and so it has become obvious to the younger generation that change not only doesn't occur rapidly (enough), they place the blame on the older generation of leaders in the government for it.
Congress appears to be reluctant to uphold their oaths to preserve and protect the Constitution. Today's perfect example is the way Republicans by and large voted in the HoR to support the President's border wall "emergency" while previously having failed to fund it when they had the majority. The truth is, Republicans in Congress don't have the backbone to spend any political capital on any issue, whether-or-not they believe in it.
It is precisely this kind of paralysis that the Constitution was put in place to accomplish, and it is precisely why it may no longer be adequate for today's environment.
Another thing Baby Boomer did is parent Millennials. It seems as if Boomers are going to have influence well into the future.
Dianne Feinstein has a pacemaker, but she remains ambulatory and, most important, mentally acute. She expressed pique at a group of youths who pushed her to support the Green New Deal even after she explained that it had no chance of passing the Senate. During her lifetime Ms. Feinstein has experience much political ferment, including the Free Speech movement in California during the Reagan years and the killings of Moscone and Milk by Vietnam and police veteran Dan White. Feinstein was then the chair of the Board of Supervisors and worked shoulder to shoulder with Freedom Riders like Carol Silver. Ms. Feinstein knows something about political activism.
The youth who challenged her have not experienced political turmoil nor the arduousness of the legislative process. They are unthinking political pawns egged on by overzealous adults.
Sanders, Warren, Biden, Pelosi, and Feinstein are alert, energetic, and fit enough to serve. Western culture has always celebrated youth at the expense of the elderly. Let us not fetishize age—whether youth or the elderly—but evaluate the individual on their merits.
The “gerontocracy,” however, needs to sympathize with the plight of working-age individuals who remain underemployed or unemployed. Retirement-age workers can begin collecting pro-rated social security and continue to work fulltime. In the private sector and among the professoriate, they can begin collecting pensions and work fulltime. This is called greed.
This is not about age.
It’s about changing the political reality to cope with the scientific one.
People who “know a thing or two” about the political reality may be overemphasizing their past experience and underestimating the urgency of action in the face of climate instabikity and a rapidly shifting geopolitical order.
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OK, wisdom and passion are both good; thanks everybody. It’s obvious but true, and also nice to think about.
I, too, am 54, and have chafed for years at being lumped into a “generation” with Hillary Clinton and my own mother.
The thing is, people are individuals. The fact that more of us were born in some years than others is really not germane to how much wisdom we gain or how much passion we maintain. Some older people are super tough; some are obviously in decline. Some people die young.
I’m sad that the uniform for women in Congress of any age is bright monochromatic sleeveless dresses. (Imagine Mitch McConnell needing to bare his arms and legs in something magenta.)
I’m happy, though, that Nancy Pelosi is exceeding expectations as Speaker, and that she can wear a compromise grey short-sleeved dress to work.
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This column, oddly in blind support of being ever-young, denies the reality of deficits that commonly accompany aging. The science on human aging at the clinical level is especially statistically driven; and advanced age per se is a “risk factor” for practically every physical and mental human function known. Sure, there are exceptions at moments in time; for example, young people can have dementia and old people not or not yet. However, with older age, one is always less confident about what may be around corner than in the case with younger age. As for the celebrated wisdom of older age: sometimes; sometimes not. Making rules ... for praise, no less ... from exceptions ... never mind the tentativeness of these ... seems superficial and greatly flawed.
@wak Your comment is an example of why we need columns like this. You could also make negative generalizations about "ability" for black people or women. These are no longer acceptable. Only ageism is the acceptable bigotry.
Rhetorical, I know, but can't help wonder how things might have turned out if Pelosi had been the Democratic nominee in 2016. From what I've observed in her since, she would have been a formidable candidate, and she definitely would have known how to handle Trump. But, alas, I'll settle for her strong House leadership at this point. She's essentially our last bulwark against complete chaos.
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Countries that provide decent care and financing for the elderly also spend more on children. It is not true that the elderly take resources away from the young. The Republicans who want to cut Social Security and Medicare want to give the money to billionaires, not spend it on poor and minority children.
Count me among those who felt that Nancy Pelosi needed to yield to younger blood. I stand rightfully chagrined. I can't think of another person in congress able to stand up to DT the way she has.
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I do not understand the need that supposedly smart people like Mr. Bruni have for reducing what is important to grand common denominators like age and generation? Could someone please explain why arguing by generation/age is little more than saying that one is lazy and cannot be bothered thinking about more than the date on which someone was born?
Start with a simple fact - that the Boomers however defined have been dying and not all of them are still around. Of the people born in 1954, for example, over 60% remain alive. More recent years have higher survival rates. What do those boomers who have stuck around have in common?
Of those remaining, how many are in full working order and not suffering the consequences of poor life habits, genetics, etc.?
After accounting for the culling of the herd, what is wrong with discussing what the remaining individuals have that permits them to contribute and flourish in society, as they have already been doing up until now?
I would not expect Mr. Bruni to understand this, given that he is but a child in his mid 50s. But he will learn and perhaps write a column or a song about the experience.
Over time, people seem to have forgotten that Sen. Feinstein voted for the Iraq Resolution authorizing war in Iraq. Though her political skills have perhaps improved during the ensuing years, her wisdom has not.
2
Yes, Nancy Pelosi has performed well since reassuming the Speaker of the House role. But can anyone name any accomplishments of Reps Clyburn and Hoyer, the #2 and #3 ranking Democrats in the House? I can't. Both the Senate and House reward seniority over merit. People from "safe" districts are the ones that accumulate the seniority and who are never challenged. These people rise to "leadership positions".
Part of being a leader is knowing when it is time to pass the touch. I was disappointed when Sen. Feinstein decided to run again rather than retire with dignity. Her Senate seat could have been the stepping stone for a younger Democratic leader.
1
Experience is great but entrenchment often turns out to be a bad thing, especially for business with management teams and boards of directors that feed at the trough of value while shareholders are left with scraps.
The government is like that, too, in many ways with congress acting as the nation’s board.
There are presidential term limits. Why not for congress?
The limits can be generous and thereby enable the retention of institutional memory, but not so long term that younger leaders can’t gain entry.
More than 200 years ago, George Washington knew that he shouldn’t run for a third term. Maybe members of congress should be able to stay in office longer - say 6 terms for the house and 3 for the senate - which might spur them to act more expeditiously to get things done and leave a legacy rather than go stale or even rot (that’s you senators graham and mcconnell) and would reduce the hold they have over all our lives.
I'm 77 years old, of sound body if somewhat broken body. If given the opportunity and my own desire I'd probably make a decent president or Speaker. Older is not better.
Advanced age alone shouldn't be a bar to serving the nation honorably, but Dianne Feinstein has a poor opinion of the First Amendment with her opposition to the BDS movement and her desperate efforts to cling to the status quo.
Nancy Pelosi is much the same as Feinstein in clinging to the status quo. You need look no further than Mr. Bruni's reference to her derision of the Green New Deal.
Beyond the recent midterm elections throwing a monkey wrench into the Trump/Republican destruction machine, the midterm elections showed that the American people hunger for progressive progress toward the future.
I am reminded of a favorite bromide, that if we had the wisdom of age when we were young, and the bodies of our youth when we are old, the world would be very different.
There is a purpose to stereotypes, whether applied by monikers like "young whippersnapper" or "old geezer." They are evocative of a decided image, and far easier to use than thoughtful, reasoned and fact-based discussion.
There are legitimate arguments both for and against the values of age and youth. One of the most salient points to be made in favor of seasoning in our leaders is the perspective that it affords when considering issues of the day. There is value in knowing what has occurred in the past, what has worked, and above all, how things work. It can surely be instructive to those with less experience.
Certainly, there is also considerable value in new ideas and new approaches in a rapidly changing world that will be inherited by the young.
What it all boils down to is that stereotypes cater to the disinterested in their quick and easy use. As is the case with so many things in life, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
Leadership ability, regardless of age, is an important quality all by itself, and exists, to some extent, also regardless of age. With perspective forged by experience, however, and melded with energy and new ideas, it is just a little more valuable. That's why, after all, one must be thirty five years of age to be a senator or president.
2
At 54 you're a Gen Xer, not a Baby Boomer. You weren't born until After the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted. The Stonewall Riots occurred when you were 4, and all direct U.S. military involvement In Vietnam ended in 1973, when you were 9. (I note this as fellow Gen-Xer). Dianne Feinstein was born in 1933, over a decade Before the Boomer generation. Nancy Pelosi and Bernie Sanders are not Boomers; neither is Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
It indicates how worthless rigid classifications can be. People want to define struggle in simplistic terms, and so we have a supposed generational conflict. Perhaps Feinstein made a valid point on what she believed politically possible, but rigidly refused to consider what the schoolchildren argued was necessary.
As a counter-narrative, James Edward Hansen (77), Director of the Program on Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions at Columbia University, has been one of the greatest champion against global warming for over 30 years. Finally, the work of Naomi Klein (48), and specifically her revolutionary essay "Capitalism vs. the Climate" brilliantly argued how the economy could be restructured to stop global warming. Klein had said that the political right was dishonestly caricaturing those ideas as "a Trojan horse designed to abolish capitalism and replace it with some kind of eco-socialism." (It seems that part was totally lost on the likes of AOC, if she even knows who James Edward Hansen and Naomi Klein are, as they're not Twitter stars).
2
As someone who is closer in age to Pelosi than AOC and her contemporaries, I hold little praise for the elder states people.
Under their watch, student debt has exploded to over $1.5 trillion and counting.
Under their watch, climate change has been left unaddressed.
Under their watch, healthcare is a disaster, unaffordable and bankrupting.
Under their watch, income inequality has gone off the charts.
If voting were left to the over 65 crowd Trump would win another term. And if POC did not vote, he would win by a landslide.
My generation benefited from low cost higher education, affordable healthcare, low rent/housing prices, decent employment benefits. Yet we have stood idly by as these have all been seriously eroded as the privileged few make more excuses why the status quo is the only "pragmatic" alternative.
Statistically, we cannot withstand another decade of the status quo. We will literally burn up in student debt, healthcare costs and by way of the environment.
It is not a matter of chronological age. The old way of thinking and doing politics in DC needs to retire.
7
Frank Bruni makes a good point about the value of the wisdom that comes with age, and how it can temper the impractical idealism of youth. Yet the majority of our founding fathers were not "baby boomers," except George and Benjamin, and their wisdom was of used. In 1776 the ages of the major figures in our founding were: George Washington 44; Benjamin Franklin 70; John Adams 41; Thomas Jefferson 33; James Monroe 18; James Madison 25; Aaron Burr 20; Alexander Hamilton 21; John Hancock 39; Sam Adams 54; Patrick Henry 40; Thomas Paine 39; Nathan Hale 21. The Constitution, written by some of these men, was 13 years later; they were mostly still under age 50.
2
For all the bouquets thrown at the older folks(as am I), Congress has an approval rating one half that of Trump's for a reason. Congress is broken, badly broken, and I care little if a member is 30 or 90. One must admit the folks that are there are doing a dreadful job. Election to Congress is like entering an exclusive lifetime club with only one task; to pawn off its duties to the executive and judicial branches. Age limits, no. Term limits, yes.
1
AOC’s passion has won me over.
I also understand that experienced leaders know how to get the job done.
Despite the back and forth coming from outside their ranks on which is better, the fact is passion and wisdom need each other.
From my vantage point, it seems the Dems know it and are using it well, and that is heartening.
@RG Passion is no substitute for intellect. Stupidity is not a virtue. Don't try and make it one.
1
A certified old guy, I admire many of our leaders born in the 1940’s and generally agree with many of their ideas, as an age cohort their track record of effectiveness brings sadness and at times shame. Lost ground includes campaign finance, income disparity, the ascent of corporations as “persons” whose rights override those of mere humans, cyber insecurity and loss of privacy, immigration reform,climate change, and so on. Perhaps it is time for elders to become mentors and advisors to upcoming leaders who will actually live with the consequences of the current cohort of elder-leaders.
2
Meh. Not so much. My father though it was still 1942 in 2002. His notions were antiquated; his advice was an incessant strategy for failure. Times change. Wisdom comes in a variety of forms, and yes, with age comes the advantage of experience. But as J. Paul Getty stated "in times of rapid change; experience can be your worst enemy".
4
So far age and youth have worked pretty well together in the Democratic Party. AOC met with Nancy as one of her first acts, showing respect. But unlike Republicans who fear their base and are afraid to act, age and youth have worked well together in the Democratic Party - and where this is most obvious is the ground swell of youthful support for Bernie both in 2016 and today.
Well argued, Mr. Bruni. The only "but" I'd offer, is the senior group needs---urgently needs---to be focused on preparing and developing the younger generation to assume the places of the elders. I see too often a competitive "Wait your turn!" response from the senior group instead of a "Come, sit with me." response. Too rare is a graceful "My time is over, your time is now" hand-off.
8
Boomers (I am one) had very ittle to do with ending the Vietnam War. And nothing to do with the Civil Rights movement (fortunately Bruni did not bring out that old saw).
The human life cycle being what it is, we are best served by a President in the 45-65 age range. There is plenty of room for wise elders in the Congress, where they belong.
1
If the Democrats manage to actual COMBINE these forces - youthful passion fueling a detailed legislative program - Americans will be all in. Right now the 2020 media noise level gives rise to an appearance of chaos and that this is some sort of generational divide. Experience matters to successfully guide new ideas to completion.
3
no argument with your argument in favor of age and wisdom. On the far end of it though, body and brain start breaking down. i watched both of my parents decline starting in their mid 70's then die within a decade. my concern is having people physically and mentally at their best to handle high stress jobs of global consequence. Also, although baby boomers, like Donald Trump love glomming credit on themselves for inventing timeless human sentiments and actions like equality and opposing a war, the older Democrats you mentioned are from the Silent Generation, not Baby Boom. And, how about Gen X before leapfrogging to Millenials?
8
Wisdom is not exclusive to one generation or another. An ability to tap into artificial intelligence more rapidly is no indication of intelligence or wisdom. AOC Pelosi ethical Republicans citizens, young and old might bring down the House of Trump. A wise electorate already understands the significance of the whole—-and its impact on the vote. Witness the 2016 youth fueled Bernie run and where that went ironically without collaborating with the older generation. Wisdom is wasted on youth or conversely, often arrives too late.
In an ideal world, the young and old work together. This is how it should be in Washington and across our nation. Just as it's been proven that companies thrive when they have female and male leaders collaborating, the same is true of combining generations. Sadly, I think there's a great deal of room for progress on this approach.
8
Its true. There is a kind of wisdom that only comes from the experience of living through the years. I'm in an economic class and I can explain to the 20 year old that, yes, double-digit inflation really is a bad thing because I lived through it in the 1970's. Reality learning is as useful as book learning.
5
There's much truth to your column today, Frank, but I'd like to counter this point you made about two generations of parents. "Show me even one decent parent who doesn’t vote with his or her kids in mind. Show me one decent grandparent. I can’t see how anyone would invest so much time, money and heart in a child’s tomorrow only to ignore that future in the political realm."
Just look at the Congressional republican's stance on climate change as well a the general public's non-majority, but significant percentage of non-believers. Add to that group the corporate power brokers and lobbyists for the fossil fuel industry who walk the same walk of their tobacco industry forerunners and you'll find an awful lot of parents and grandparents willing to let their children and grandchildren suffer the inevitable consequences of their rationalized myopia.
10
@Christopher Fenger You left out "decent."
I think everyone over 60 understands that old axiom that youth is wasted on the young. Plus, I believe that the majority of people would agree with: “If I only knew then what I know now”. Problem remains that youth has all the answers, when they should be asking questions... Such is life...
8
@ChuckG
“Ah but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”
1
Some older people, like Nancy Pelosi, get better and smarter with age and others like Diane Feinstein become entrenched in the past and wring their hands and say we can’t do that. It’s never been done before. We can’t prevent cataclysmic climate change to save the planet because the Republicans won’t let us. Old isn’t always better. I take my leaders on a case by case basis.
15
As one who is 88 and still quite able in many ways, I also am one who prefers for those over 70 to step back and leave center stage to those of the generation now in their middle years. Yes, we have experience and can advise, but we also have the mental and physical limitations of aging. Furthermore, by standing in the way, we are denying younger people the opportunity to step forward and create the world in which they, not we, will have to live. I would much prefer to see attention, within the Democratic Party, focused on people in their middle years, who have so much to offer. The name Seth Moulton keeps coming to mind.
5
While age brings moderation, reason and experience, it also results in some level of despair. How do those who marched, protested and otherwise participated in the civil rights and anti-war movements of the sixties feel about current attitudes towards rex, sexual orientation and women today? Do they believe that the more things change the more they remain the same? Do they find that people do not learn from history? Are we now an entirely me first nation? Why are college campuses no longer the hotbeds for change? Perhaps boomers are the only ones who can lead the charge.
2
What we old folks have is actually pragmatism if we learned anything during life. We still know how to dream but also know what is possible to achieve. We have seen enough that we should know not to reinvent the wheel (which is a common problem among the young). What we often fail to do is explain why the young are reinventing the wheel. The adage of failing to understand history is likely to repeat still holds true.
As to the comment that "Show me even one decent parent who doesn’t vote with his or her kids in mind. " is too easy to refute. Just ask any of my deeply conservative neighbors who vote for Republicans who insist on rolling back natural resource conservation measures and environmental regulations. There are thousands who vote without thinking of what they leave their children or grandchildren.
3
There is quite a bit of ageism in our culture and there always has been. I guess I have a stance in this point I'm making , since I'm
87yrs, and hopefully filled with "wisdom" (hah) ... I always check out the obits in the Times to see if I know anyone. Just today the listing included a rash of 90-odd yrs olds, and there were quite a few 60-odd yr olds, even a couple of 40-odd yr. olds. Point being deaths occur at all ages and many of us are living longer and we
have a lot of history to us. Perhaps youth can stop for a minute and hear us out. They may learn something about life. We listen to them as they have louder, passionate voices.
3
This also implies that any new administration find a very special position for HRC - perhaps as the Chair of a Special Commission to tackle one or more of America's most pressing problems. America should not waste or ignore her wealth of experience, expertise, talent and leadership skills, which she has given us over her lifetime and offered so generously in 2016. Her in-depth and pragmatic policy statements from the 2016 campaign are available for study, and these syllables also provide America's roadmap for true progress and global leadership.
4
The only reason we’re seeing this backpedaling by columnists like Mr. Bruni is because of the rise of Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Talib, etc. The party elites, and increasingly Democrats and their supporters, are becoming terrified of, and being terrorized by, the rise of the hard left in their ranks and if it takes propping up (literally) the octogenarians in the party to fight back, that’s what you’ll do. A little thinking before the fact about the consequences of where the shift to the hard left was going to take the country would have have been a good thing, but I guess this will have to do for the moment, won’t it?
3
It’s not backpedaling if you admit to your change of heart. It’s honesty. Has candor become so rare that when it does happen we don’t even recognize it?
3
@JB
This isn’t a change of hear...or at least not yet...this is an attempt at damage control
1
It is about time one Journalist comes to the defense of wisdom and experience. What Pelosi, Feinstein, Sanders, Warren, and the rest is the ability to compromise, to understand how the system really works and how to get things done. In addition, they are committed to mentor others. Senator Ed Markey is a perfect example of that ability. He has co-sponsored Cortez's Green Deal Bill.
Sanders and Warren know first hand what is wrong with this country and are willing to work towards solving those problems. Despite the bricks thrown at both of them, they soldier on, they are consistent in their work and rhetoric and they actually have common sense ideas the American voters agree with.
Elizabeth Warren has proven her mettle with the creation of the Consumer Protection Agency that Trump continues to weaken.
Sanders proved his mettle by calling out the real problems in this Country. His honesty is needed. Older President, younger Vice President is the answer.
When you have a Republican Congress for the last 16 years chip away at the rights of women, minorities, at economically deprived citizens to enrich their donor friends. When you have a Supreme Court say that Corporations are people a la Citizens United, that religious belief takes precedence over freedom, (Gay vs.Baker) approve the taking of personal homes a la Conneticut case, you have to wonder why some of these Justices are on the Court. They do not uphold the Constitution.
Age is not the problem. Ignorance is.
10
I've found myself being criticized for not taking a strong stand on certain issues. This is mainly due to the fact that I have become more aware of nuance over the years.
2
Can’t we at least refer to the job sought?
A president is only one person and to do the job requires an enormous personal effort, and is 24/7 on call. A member of Congress, even one in the leadership, creates his or her own schedule and works at will.
Nobody cares that a 90 year old senator is checked out half the time; staff and experience and seniority and Speech no. 1 can carry him. He doesn’t have to wake up at 3 am and head down to a Situation Room and get a briefing for an immediate decision.
All over government and business we see the difference between full time executives and committees or boards or councils that are part time or deliberative.
2
Speaker Pelosi is the outlier among the septuagenarian and octogenarian crowd. The sweet spot for presidential leadership is in the 50's and 60's. It's just a fact that as we age, cognitive functions do start to drop off a bit, with crankiness and impatience more prevalent. Not to mention the myriad physical health issues, both major and minor, that become a fact of aging. (Disclaimer - I am in my late 60's). Looking at Congress, in particular the Senate- it resembles, to an large extent, a retirement community. There is a dire need for new faces in our national leadership. 2018 was a good start, let's see more of the same in 2020 and beyond.
3
Wow, I'm offended. I'm 58, and can easily see that older people are often the ones voting to run this country into the ground. Old itself isn't bad, and neither is youth a panacea, but one of the lessons we should have learned is that we need a consensus, a diversity of opinions, to truly have a democracy. Yes, there can be wisdom from experience, but then again, there is also those that become unwilling to change and want things to stay the same, regardless of how bad they become. The lopsided natures of our major institutions, particularly male-dominated leadership in government and corporations, and again, aging males, does not do service to anyone, except the men at the top of those institutions.
3
Feinstein lost my respect in that exchange. Pelosi I still respect, though she is too moderate for my taste.
1
Well written, indeed; experience in anything counts. She has it like a lot of people in her generation. A very 'young' person is smart to at least 'ask' an older veteran of time what gives on many political endeavors.
2
Young people do trust old politicians, that’s why we voted for Bernie Sanders and will continue to this election cycle. Your article should really be titled “In defense of moderates”
4
@Lou
And by voting for Bernic who had the same chance of winning election as a snowball in Hades, you helped put Mr. Trump into office.
And if you follow and vote for Bernie again, we will have Trump again.
Elderly people like Pelosi who have been doing their job for years have experience both good and bad that the younger ones attempting to replace her cannot see they need.
1
Bernie probably could have beat Trump. Hillary lost the the states that mattered in the end by ignoring the economic issues central to Bernie’s campaign and that are now central to the 2020 platform.
3
With old age comes not only wisdom but often senility. Actually, according to my neurologist, always if you live long enough. But I question that because I've seen a few centenarians on TV who seemed to be all there. But maybe that is why they were spotlighted. We do know that President Reagan was having his cognitive difficulties.
So while Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders, just as examples, may be sharp as a tack today, what mental shape will they be in 4 or 8 years from now when one of them is in office?
1
While it's very true age (and the experiences it allows one to accumulate) bring wisdom and this is a wonderful quality, by hanging on for so long in so many key positions, this aging crop of baby boomer Democratic leaders is denying the younger generations the opportunity to gain vital experiences in some of these key positions themselves. At best it's overly self-regarding and at worst what happens when they are gone and no one younger has been allowed to gain experience by leading?
1
As a man that is surprised to see his aging face in the mirror instead of the 40 something year old I keep thinking I am, I get wanting age and experience to be valuable. But years on the job are not the same as meaningful experience and lessons learned. Just compare Pelosi and POTUS. Some people have the same experience 50 years in a row, some 50 years of experience in only a few actual years. But what we have in Congress is something I dont think the Founders ever imagined: "career politicians. " If you do not surround yourself with people smarter than yourself, you start believing your own press. And when you want the same job for 35 years, urgency is a different matter. That we still have a seniority system for leadership is absurd, and some day I hope we again have some political leaders willing to actually sacrifice position for better good.
4
Thesis: correct and needed.
Primary example: no.
Feinstein's dismissal of young people and their concern for an existential threat was pathetic.
On the other hand, Pelosi is at the height of her powers and Bernie is stronger than ever. Biden...doesn't seem to have much to offer, but if he wants to throw his hat in the ring, so be it.
It would be great if someone under 70 had been able to stand up to Trump. But they didn't; it took Pelosi. It would be great is someone under 70 had challenged Clinton and laid the ground work for a progressive grassroots movement. But no one did; it took Bernie.
Nancy Pelosi and Bernie Sanders are (among) the best we've got. I don't care if they're 120, unless and until someone else steps up, they are our leaders.
5
I thought Feinstein got somewhat a raw deal in how her engagement/confrontation with the students went. I am 200% in agreement with the students. I don't think she was any more condescending towards them than she or Frank would be with anyone who pulls them out of the narrow parameters they usually operate out of. The students knew what they were talking about, made serious answers to whatever platitudes Feinstein threw at them, were certainly less intimidated than I might have been. She was willing to mix it up with them and gave it her best shot. I think in that way she treated the students with respect. At least that's how it appeared in clips I saw.
5
I'm old enough to be a grandparent, and at one point I realized that when (or if) my daughter is ready to have a child, becoming a grandparent would be one of the great joys and privileges of my life. But that realization brought with it a deep sense of responsibility to the future: I now see politics through that lens. It makes me love the world enough to want it to be a good place for my grandchildren—whether or not my genetic descendants ever come into existence, I have "grandchildren." How can you not be passionate about the hopes of small children?
That is why I regard climate change and inequality as the most urgent problems that confront us. And like AOC, I see these two issues as inextricably related. We can't take the collective action we need to try to mitigate climate change and adapt to it because, basically, there are people whose wealth and power depend on the selfish exploitation of natural resources and on pollution.
I don't see the conflict as generational, but rather motivational: are you motivated by the desire to flourish in a world that's happier and healthier? or by the desire to get the most stuff and dominate others? Age doesn't always bring wisdom, but the worst thing it can bring is despair. And what keeps me from despair in the disgusting dystopia of the Trump regime is my confidence in the millennials as they come into leadership roles. Hope bridges age.
11
I wholeheartedly agree. Nancy 'dog walked' Dirty Don. But she also had to good sense to understand that she needs to spend the next four years mentoring and bringing forward a new generation before making room for others. This seems to be something Joe Biden just does not want to understand. Of the thirty-somethings a Pete Buttigieg is light years ahead of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Pete learned the ropes as a mayor, dealing with real people and their day-to-day issues. A O-C thinks she can 'school' senior colleagues and wastes a great idea (new green economy) with a proposal that is grist for McConnell's mill (she didn't advance the agenda: she set it back). In between you have the blind unabashed ambition of a Gillibrand. Many Dems running. But Bernie, if nominated, won't stand up to the scrutiny, and I don't see anyone else out there generating a lot of enthusiasm.
4
The problem with these older politicians isn't their age...it's their political mindset. The main issues facing America today are income inequality, climate change, gun violence, and lack of affordable education and health care...all of which have considerably worsened during the past 25 years. Outside of the ACA, people like Pelosi, Feinstein, Hoyer, Schumer, etc. have done little to address these issues. Now that the problems are in crisis stage, they give the young a little pat on the head and tell them to be quiet.
Remember, until this past November, Democrats had lost nearly 1,000 legislative seats nationwide to Republicans. The younger generation understands that this older generation of Democrats continually gave in to Republicans on these issues while making sure they kept their positions in Congress. This generation wants to get something done, not just sit around and collect fat checks from donors.
12
I am retired and held a top job in School Education. I retired at 62. I found I was in need of more little written notes as reminders to carry out projects; my younger colleagues and staff members had a different view of life, they had longer to live and they mastered new tasks more quickly than I did. I was indeed better at interviews, could handle disappointments more easily. I call this " the tomorrow is another day syndrome"! Younger people want action now. Just like you cannot just be a little bit pregnant so to you cannot change the fossil energy source just a little bit. It needs a new vision and action now. This appears to me to be the task of youth. Older folk want just a little change! It is a new world, Industrial revolution no. 4, This is where age experience is not required, youth with untired but possible outcomes need to be the persons to lead the way. What is so great about the world the 25 to 45 years old age group are inheriting from the 70 plus group?
2
I love this! But the last paragraph is perfect. Thank you!
As usual I sent this to all my kids.
2
I have difficulty understanding how persons with zero experience of the world believe they should be elected as leaders.
An ability to lead comes from participation in the real outside world, learning success and failure, gaining an understanding of people.
That does not mean you have to be 70, but I do believe you have to be at least 45 before you have acquired sufficient experience and balance.
3
Ask a 2nd Lt. in the USMC how old you have to be to lead.
And aside from the wisdom that comes with age, it’s important to note that a healthy 80-year-old today is probably in better shape than the average 50-year-old from a few generations back, the era of chain-smoking and three-martini lunches. Good column.
13
Bruni is right on some levels, but I am struck by some of his obvious focus on extremes (oldest vs youngest representatives). Maybe that is no surprise, given the tone of many comments. Ours appears to be a time of extremes.
There is something to say for experience. There is something to say about gradually relinquishing power with advanced age. There is something to say about not taking videos at face value and developing a narrative (Feinstein and The Children). There is always a middle ground, if if not the road most traveled (these days).
7
@JSK
Like Jim Hightower said decades ago, the middle of the road is occupied by yellow lines and dead armadillos.
@tom boyd
There are other views, even if less amenable to a bumper sticker presentation: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/05/moderates-who-are-they-and-what-do-they-want/370904/ ("Moderates: Who Are They, and What Do They Want," May 2014).
I agree with you about age, although I would not have just 2 weeks ago. Since then I have focused on why I believed what I believed about aging. What brought that on? My very own prejudice. After I wrote about not voting for an elderly white man ever again I wondered about where the ill-informed-will came from. Between that time and this, I have changed that prejudice and I apologize to any whom I upset by writing such drivel.
Everyone deserves to be respected for what they have achieved, are achieving, and might to go on achieving. Some of the brightest women I've learned from have been women and women of all ages. I've got to admit that I've learned less from men than women, but that's because nearly 2/3 of my life the majority of my life most men treated most women as joke instead of a person.
I still won't vote for a republican, nor will I vote for Bernie Sanders (I don't care how much money he has).
6
Time for us Boomers to step back to fight on.
Back in our young boomer days, back when we emerged from the hypocritical fog of the 50’s to fight for civil rights, against trumped up wars, for policies to prevent the Silent Spring, back when we believed it was our duty to build a more perfect union, back then we built alliances with the old, the wise, the New Dealers, the anti-McCathy’s, the heirs of Norman Thomas and all those who also birthed our America. We’re ready now for alliances with the new wave, ready to retell the need for pragmatism lest we repeat the tragedy of stolen presidential elections, ready to keep marching. But, boomers, like Nancy Pelosi, part of our bargain should be to know when to step away from the front of the parade and cheer from the sidelines and trust new leaders who look more like all of 21st century America, let these new leaders lead. Bernie, Joe, Hillary, and Boomers all: please put our aging shoulders to the wheel of progress and help push us into a more perfect, more progressive American future.
4
No. Older people should not step aside, unless they want to. Take Speaker Pelosi. Her job is not hers by right. She has fought to get where she is. Last year she won RE-election to Congress and then beat several younger people to become Speaker. Those younger people lost. If Pelosi is so tired and feeble minded, how come she won and more than one young, vital and crisp contender lost?
1
I would not yet accuse Ocasio-Cortez of being “cavalier with the facts”. I think she is thrusting and being thrust onto the national stage too soon. I would temporarily brand her as - someone who does not have the seasoned executive mindset yet. She is too quick to speak without thinking through the fuller/ wider present effects of her pronouncements and the risky aftermath of having said it. The words themselves from a very green ( both meanings ) Congressperson from a very poor and ethnic district cannot have too great an impact necessarily. She has already stirred up enough to be bridled and idled by her own Dem conference.
2
@Will Eigo. But, such are the follies of youth. When AOC’s learning curve flattens out, she will be a formidable Congress person...
Mr. Bruni sets up a false dichotomy to advance the hegemony of the boomers; your choices are the Pelosi-type, or the Ocasio-Cortez "radical" posture (which is likely a lot more benign than most aging progressives were at that age). No mention of the Kamala Harris's, ie., people with a depth of political experience, enviable intellect, education and achievement, and young enough top appeal to the disenchanted young who will make or break this election.
Meanwhile, no mention of how Sanders was the pied-piper who tacitly encouraged the progressive youth vote to stay home because Hillary was supposedly so awful that it didn't matter; now you have a Supreme Court that will be poisoned for several generations. Such political and policy "wisdom" is not what the Democratic party needs.
9
@Canadian
Nice smear, but no he did not encourage people to stay home. He campaigned in 39 cities after Hillary's nomination. More supporters of Bernie voted for Hillary than did Hillary supporters who voted for Obama.
4
The age thing is a problem that is confounded by the increased life span and demographics. There are just more old people than ever. As the baby boom ages its effects on culture is inescapable. As they came of age, youth was everything, as they matured, things have changed. Now with the greatest proportion of healthy old people running around, they will demand respect for the elderly. High profile moments of the clash between the old and the young will happen, but these old people they will try and hang on. Hopefully without the cranky and dismissive tone. Having long years of experience and the perspective that comes with age is a valued thing, but perhaps not in the role of leadership. Our country needs to appreciate the values of youth and energy combined with the guidance of the experienced. It is not old vs young, but old and young together. Someone like Biden could do the country a great service by modeling the appropriate role of an experienced elder. Rather than consider another run for office, he should assume the mentor, elder statesman role of his party and help guide the younger members to coherence.
8
Thank you for writing this. The prejudice against our older politicians because they're older smacks of hypocrisy. We're supposed to embrace diversity, except for people older than 50. Forcing Nancy Pelosi to promise stepping down in four years was clearly about her age, since the new wave of representatives included many women.
Sure, older politicians aren't perfect because they're older. But they bring lots to the table through experiences and should not be dismissed. A healthy mix of all types of Americans should include older people.
7
It’s not prejudice against age per se but against a generation of baby boomers who have used their demographic majority to exclude anyone else from power. As a member of Gen X I have been listening to baby boomers tell me I’m too young to have an opinion for my entire life. I voted for a Clinton in the first election I was old enough to vote in and I’m still voting for one 25 years later? I’m being asked to vote for candidates the same age as the parents I care for? A few older leaders are fine, and I admire Pelosi and Maxine Waters to name another, but an entire generation that refuses to retire is another. Boomers have been ignoring climate change and dismantling our social fabric for my entire life and were able to do so simply because there are numerically too many of them to out vote. Enough already.
2
"Show me even one decent parent who doesn’t vote with his or her kids in mind. Show me one decent grandparent."
How many Brexiters do you want to see?
Unless not reducing emissions is good for kids, how many congresspeople do you want to see?
They may mean well, and their experience is definitely valued, but their world view may also be tainted by years and years of thinking we can deal with CO2 and plastic "later," voting for politicians who are emptying out the middle class in favour of concentration of wealth, who de-prioritised education, health and even something as basic as the ability to know when you will be able to work in some fast food joint or when you'll get a call 2 hours before a shift to say your are not needed. These are the elders that gifted the young with 2008, unaffordable insulin, student debt, and a bit of plastic in every fish.
They may have voted with their kids in mind, but for all their experience they don't seem to know what their kids need.
8
Good points here. Agree that we need a mix. Wish very much the stereotypes of each age group would stop.
4
Actually, Pelosi is exactly what we don't need, someone with an obsolete vision who is so full of herself and so in love with power that she can't get out of the way.
This has nothing to do with age, and everything to do with the need for sensible change.
Ocasio-Cortez is just as bad. Her issue is that she's an idiot who wants to abolish ICE and helped cost the city 25,000 jobs paying over $150,000 apiece, doing more harm than the greediest Republican could. The Venezuelan approach to economics.
She represents the opposite problem -- change that isn't well thought out and sensible.
The truth is, there are people who "get it" at every age, and people who don't, which is why I find ageism so offensive. Bernie Sanders, for example; if we'd listened to him two years ago, we wouldn't have Donald Trump.
We'd be dishonest if we didn't acknowledge that young people are more likely to adapt and have fresh ideas and old people are more likely to have experience.
The problem occurs when we act in a bigoted way, and assume that all old people are as ossified as Nancy Pelosi and all young people as unintelligent as Ocasio-Cortez.
1
@Josh Hill. 25,000 @ $150k: C’mon, that seems beyond highly unlikely...
We should have more reverence for some politicians in the older generation—and I agree with every example you gave of those politicians who deserve more of our respect. Then I started to think about some on the republican side—McConnell and Hatch, to name a few. To me, they have become more dastardly and cunning with age, more willing to ignore wrongdoing or engage in it directly. Where is the benefit if their wisdom with age? They are still hungry for power and willing to throw our country under the bus to get it. Maybe this just further supports your point.
4
Being old isn't good for most of us. Time for change, I'm 74.
Great leadership is flexible depending on the situation. Sometimes as when a true crisis threatens, think 911, it calls for a directive style. At other times it calls for deliberation and at others times no action at all. The advantage of living longer allows one to develop the different styles needed to match the need. Of course, sometimes it results in entrenchment of just one style. So, when I consider Presidential candidates I do not consider age so much as whether they have the flexibility in leadership to approach the various problems and constituencies with diversity. I also look for a core set of values that are likely to benefit the country. Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and even George W. Bush used diverse leadership styles to convince voters that they were the best choice. Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders? I don’t think so much. Hilary Clinton tried to consciously do this and was perceived as being phony by many. Trump actually uses diverse styles in a unique way. Let’s see if Elizabeth Warren can show diverse leadership styles to match her impressive policy acumen. Kamala Harris is already being accused of vagaries and fluctuation. Think of Nelson Mandela who led from prison and then in front of the world. How about Gandhi who led in various different ways throughout his life. So age is not the key variable. It is the ability to connect with others.
2
Exceptions, not rules.
Our generation not only stopped the Viet Nam War, we fought it. And the generation before us fought World War II. And we had no choice in the matter. Nothing toughens people up like a draft.
6
Yet X and Y joined the military voluntarily because we needed good jobs. After boomers went after unions hard, we were left to right-to-work states paying bottom dollar with no job security.
3
Reagan went after unions. Do you really think that generations act as one?
1
@eric I'm a boomer, I didn't vote for Reagan, I didn't go after unions. How many X and Yers joined the military? What percentage? Bring back the draft and/or mandate a year of national service. Maybe that will help to disabuse younger people of the notion that it was a bed or roses for boomers, give them some sense of reality, and loosen up their man buns.
I have seen memes - multiple - on Facebook, with a picture of a young person on the subway, sitting, while an older person - usually with a cane - struggles to maintain balance standing.
The person who keeps posting it doesn't know it is propaganda meant to divide our generations.
Every time someone posts about useless millennials or resource grabbing selfish Boomers, they are buying into propaganda meant to separate us at the voting booth.
Ocasio-Cortez understands the future she and my kids face - low wages, lost opportunity, wasted talent, automation, sky high debt as a cost of entry, and a planet rapidly approaching unsustainable damage.
Pelosi and the older generation understand *how* things get accomplished - they are generals, wily and well versed in tactics.
In truth we are all in this together. Some Boomers got rich, but many, many face their 50s without healthcare and with minimal job prospects - no safety net at all - if they don't get a chair when the music stops. Some millennials are inward facing and disconnected, but most are just people like my kids, working hard to develop lives. MOST of us all have more in common than we have differences. That's a meme no one shares.
53
@Cathy
Thank you for this great post which illuminates a tactic most have missed.
3
If we’re talking about age, I think the young Parkland student activists are years ahead of AOC and some of the other freshmen in Congress in terms of maturity. Perhaps to be truly effective the new Congressmen could learn a thing or two from their “youngers”, not just their elders. The Parkland students are strong and unbending in their commitment but they accept the help and wisdom of others. AOC sometimes seem oppositional just for the sake of being oppositional. It remains to be seen if she actually is able to get anything done or if she will just waste her time on Twitter wars, like Trump. You don’t have to yell or constantly fight to be effective. I would love to see David Hogg run for office.
6
Green requires some memory of what the environment used to look like. Insects on the windshield, migratory birds in larger numbers, oceans minus plastics, beaches with more live creatures, annual butterfly migration, etc as well as the first signs of massive pollution and DDT damage. I do not think the under 30s have those personal memories of a less damaged world or how fast the slow boil progresses. Those real memories count. Just as my mother remember the American Chestnut forests and my grandmother the Carrier Pigeon.
Many Boomers fought for the environment tho I think we did not have enough science to have a full view of the climate change emergency, specifically how a period of predictable climate patterns could shift to faster paced swings. Action and environmental witness may be the third career for many of us in our retirement years.
I am struck as a volunteer on a town committee dealing with maintaining potable water supplies how the 35 to 55 group could care less. Short term thinking and a failure to see permanent damage dominates. Cause and effect escapes and consequences elude. You have no idea how hard it is to make any sensible argument against "that's the way it has always been".
Hats off to Pelosi for having the tactics to be heard.
7
In addition to being rude and disrespectful the confrontation between Senator Feinstein and those children was actually illegal under the International Conventions protecting the rights of children.
Children can not be used in political propaganda, advocacy, or any situation in which adults use them to advance an agenda. Children crave approval from adults. So if you tell them you will be proud of them they will do anything you ask. This is a powerful tool, and for adults to use children in this way to make political points is disgusting.
To those of you who think those children thought of those ideas on their own, I ask who taught them to call a sitting US Senator by her last name? Who got them access to a Senator's office? Clearly kids do not do that on their own. They were coached from beginning to end and used a stunt. This is illegal under international law.
The adults who did this should not only be punished they should be taught a lesson abour respecting our government and respecting our leaders. I despise this woman, but I respect her office and if I had the opportunity to speak to her I would treat her with respect and I'd tell my kids to just thank her and take photos with her.
We need to teach our children and some of our adults some manners. The left reeks of disrespect. This episode bodes poorly for the Democratic party's upcoming election.
3
I’m sure you’re correct that those children wouldn’t have been there without the help of adults, but I’ll be very surprised if there was anything illegal about it. Feinstein’s horrid, arrogant reaction is what made that made that confrontation go viral. That certainly wasn’t in the script. You can see the shocked and disappointed looks on the children’s faces.
@jkemp
Wow. Since when are public servants not supposed to receive petitions from their constituents (of any age) ?
“Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” JFK, 1961
I long to hear these words, paraphrased by and from anyone, of any age, in January 2021.
11
Kamala Harris late fifties -seems a pretty good blend of experience and energy
3
Fair point about Pelosi, who has smarts and energy. But I wouldn’t necessarily equate age with wisdom and vigor in all cases. The racist Strom Thurmond held onto his Senate seat until he could barely sit up in his wheelchair. Meanwhile, Trump is 72 and most of the time sounds like the sad old widower who lives down the street—“Hey you kids—get off my (America First) lawn!”
The need for both youth and age is clear. Yes, older, more experienced hands bring a sense of time, of cycles, of calm. They have seen a lot and have a great deal of history to draw from. But without the engagement, enthusiasm and new ideas of youth, they may not see what is coming and how the younger generations—in this case, sometimes 40 or even 50 years younger—see the future. Climate is a great example. Cuts to education and their long term impact is another. Yet another is wealth accumulation. The top 1% in this country own something like 40% of the wealth. That is just not a sustainable model for a successful middle class or a democratic society.
So while I appreciate the wisdom of Nancy Pelosi, she and some of her many 80 year old colleagues are, at this stage of their lives, closer to the nursing home than the maternity ward. This is not ageism but fact. They need the energy of the young to keep themselves engaged and relevant.
3
Great article. I admire Speaker Pelosi and Senator Feinstein because they are smart and beautiful in every way possible.
6
Older is clearly, NOT better.
We get sicker, move slower and lose both physical and mental capacity as we age..
Cmon, let’s collectively get to a point where we can call a spade a spade.
We all get old, none of us are happy about it but we were better at 35 than we are at 75....
That is simply a fact.
1
Only when it comes to sports.
4
When this generation goes, the country goes. Nobody younger than fifty in this country has any concept of patriotism, self-sacrifice or honor.
People younger than fifty in this country don't even have a common nationality. A lot have been taught that America is a bad country, America owes other countries free stuff, America exists to do other countries' work for them. A fifth of them can't speak the language the Constitution is written in. Good ten percent of them are running around with dual passports, and it's not a secret which one they got to pocket goodies and which is the country they're loyal to.
Basically, unless somebody finds the Philosopher's Stone fast, this country is totally up the creek.
1
There should always be a mix of youth and age in the leadership of any society. But the idea of senior leadership, while the mind is still active and sharp, cannot be discounted.
This is because of the dispassionate perspective age affords the individual, and the impact of all the experiences their life has had upon them. It leads to wisdom. Something that youth, by definition, seldom evinces.
Its character is revealed in the individual who can see with a certain clarity, derived from that experiential basis, a path that insures a good longer term future for the group. This is the essence of leadership is it not? To be able to see and guide the way for a people, all while fully recognizing you will not get there yourself. Yet doing it anyway.
Sadly this "wisdom of the elders" seems an aspect lacking in many of our leadership ranks today; but it is one which we need because it is the one thing we cannot long survive without. So listening to the Pelosi's, the Feinsteins, the Bidens, while grating to the young will prove beneficial to them, even serving them well for when they, too, become members of an aged (hopefully wise) cohort.
John~
American Net'Zen
4
Nice quote: "Show me one decent parent who doesn't vote with his or her kids in mind." I suppose you don't think very many people are "decent." Everyone who has voted for a climate-denier or a politician opposed to action on climate change over the past 20 years has not voted with their kids in mind. By far the most important issue we deal with today that people 50 years from now will care about is climate change, and we have failed those future generations miserably.
6
Yes! When the criticism of Diane Feinstein surfaced, I came to the same conclusion as you. You are a rudder in murky times. I want to commend you for the wisdom you reveal in your columns and talks - I witnessed the impact of your wisdom in the presence of Middlebury college students back in January when you were hosted by the college and the Vermont Council on the Humanities. I thanked you then; I thank you now. Keep on keepin' on...
4
A short reminder on the topic of concern for the environment: "The Silent Spring" was required reading and one of many catalysts for green action in the 1960s: including the apparently now forgotten "Earth Day" demonstrations.
But I guess such efforts of the so-called Boomer Generation were for naught - as well as forgotten. Though I haven't forgotten the smell of tear gas and mace, nor the feel of a riot stick aimed with full force at a groin. And I'm pretty sure the young folk of today will be met with similar violent reactions of the establishment once they hit the streets. Though maybe things won't even get so far: thanks to the digital revolution, their every move towards positive change can be nipped in the bud. Hopefully not.
10
As the frogs in the pot, we need to recall the beauty of the natural world that has radically changed since our youth.
We need to jump on the Green new deal.
Those who follow us in age need a planet to love not fear.
Old and young need to fight with all they have to save our beautiful planet.
4
Great piece!
Facts before fancy; reality before dreams.
Goals to attain over many many decades of time and investment of research and additional and gradual implementation of potential solutions.
All the while, being a member of the Paris Climate Accord or not, no matter how much effort the U.S. and other countries commit to making a cleaner planet, the 'Adults in the room' still need to convince China and India to agree to reform their guidelines to make any real impact.
4:47A, 2/27/19
4
@Coffee Bean
The best way to convince China and India is to act and lead. They are looking at us and saying, “why should we stunt our growth if the US isn’t changing?” Same as us. We need to lead by example and then incentivize them to change too.
1
@SDemocrat
Leading by example IS correct - by REALISTIC measures that DON'T wreck the economy in the process.
You know we are living in an aged era when you hear that:
29 is "young".
Thomas Jefferson was 33 as he sat, alone, writing the Declaration of Independence.
George Washington was 43 as be initiated his take down of the most powerful army on earth.
John Adams was 41 as he carefully managed the Boston Delegation and worked to get key areas of the Magna Carta adopted into the Constitution.
The list of "young" people who did more than "oppose" a request for a few billion dollars out of a trillion dollar loan from the Chinese is very, very, very long in American History.
The list of 85 year old people who made a huge difference in American history is astonishingly small.
The truth is: An 85 year old has substantially reduced energy, reduced memory, reduced cognitive ability, and reduced physical strength than, say, a 70 year old. Likewise for a 70 year old relative to a 25 year old.
So, yes, the Democrat party needs a refresh. It really does not matter if Nancy Pelosi can appear robust for 15 minutes in front of the Camera is she is napping half the day every day.
This is the main reason that the Supreme Court should NOT have people appointed for life. Having a bunch of old people sleeping through arguments is just not effective.
11
@Michael
As a tail end Boomer I could not agree with you more. We need term limits for all elected offices and ten year terms or less for all appointed positions. It is not that these aged people are incompetent, but they are out of touch with the reality of today. For decades the Rust Belt has been screaming in pain over trade deals that gave sweetheart deals to companies that moved jobs over seas. Pelosi, Feinstein, and Conyers did nothing but champion the death by 1000 cuts of Flyover America and getting in a few hundred cuts of their own.
We the people are supposed to have a voice in our government regardless of our ability to pay. This time only happens when We the People take our turn serving in government. Being a politician was never intended to be a career. Thank you for your sacrifices to all in congress, but there is no need for you to seek re-election. We need new people and ideas.
3
@Michael-Excellent comment-I am in my eighties and I agree with every word!
I am sorry you are not doing well because of your age. I am only 82 and although I am fine now I will take you at your word that you have deteriorated once you reached 85. I also notice that you failed to mention Benjamin Franklin who was 75 when we won our independence. Churchill was 81 the last time he was PM. But JFK was 53 when he starting pouring troops into Vietnam to kindle that war and its 58,000 dead Americans. And George W Bush was only 57 when we went looking for WMDs in Iraq. If Trump can watch TV for 6 to 8 hours a day I guess we can have a President who naps. Anyway I hope your health improves before you turn 86.
no. just no. the clintons kept their grip on their party during the obama years, and obama showed little interest in moving them out of the way and here we are today
all respect is due to pelosi, but the ranks below are thin because the party failed for 40 years to be anything but republican lite
bring on the new generation and the new vision. it is long overdue.
14
Point taken re Nancy Pelosi and wisdom of the elders. But let's take that on a case by case basis. The climate change crisis trumps all other issues the human race faces today. Anyone who says otherwise is not paying attention. Dianne Feinstein's statements to these courageous children tragically called to mind the Einstein quote (paraphrased) that the thinking that got us into the problem is NOT the thinking that will find us the solution. How is 30 years in Congress an endorsement for knowing how to change the world in this global climate emergency when Congress in those decades now only failed to avert but actually hastened the crisis? Referencing your 7 grandchildren does not put you on the right side of the question, if you are not also saying something like, "I will fight with every fibre of my being to solve this problem head on." Loads of elderly politicians have grandchildren. That's only proof of their cluelessness when they fail to act. We need a new paradigm to save our planet. I want elders, like Bernie, who can envision a different system, to keep engaging, to keep persuading, and to keep mentoring young people. However, the seniors who can't let go of their old boxed-in thinking would best serve the rest of us by stepping aside. The viability of the human race depends on it.
5
@Sheila C
Climate change is the least of our worries, really. People are trying to survive the next 24 hours and need every muscle and brain cell available to do that. Poor people struggle to keep the heat on for one more day and find food. Climate change may come into the top 100 things for a large portion of Americans but it will be in the bottom half. This is reality, deal with it.
I do not see climate change concerned Americans doing anything of value to mitigate the risks of storms, I do not see historical land cover or land use replacing the land uses that contribute to warming. I do not see the legislation that would require all buildings be Zero energy. What I do see is whining people wringing their hands and demanding thwt everyone else fix the climate, which BTW cannot be fixed even within the next 100 yrs. We have to focus on mitigation.
2
@Sheila C
The ever present threat of nuclear war trumps climate change but the denial runs so deep that it's practically taboo to even say so.
It’s very convenient to claim that one knows from age and experience that only incremental, minor change is realistic and to condescendingly tell those who support necessary, meaningful, seriously overdo change to just run along and play and wait another decade or two until it’s their turn to make some decisions. Then you don’t have to do anything much, and especially you don’t risk ruffling any feathers among your corporate donors. I like how Pelosi is standing up to Trump but I think any young progressive would do the same, and I find her casual dismissal of the “green dream, or whatever they call it” incredibly disheartening. This is the leader of the ostensibly progressive party? There’s plenty of childish oldsters in our government, and all the collective experience in Congress hasn’t produced much of value in my lifetime (I’m 56). (Please, don’t tell me the ACA was some heroic legislative accomplishment. It was a Republican, conservative idea, a fatally flawed compromise, and it’s always been a sorry mess. Better than what we had, yes, but light years from what we should have gotten.) So let’s give some younger people a chance. They have more at stake and less political baggage weighing them down.
4
From a non-American's perspective, I wonder why Nancy Pelosi isn't running for President. No other candidate seems to have the gravitas and the governing chops to take on 45. She knows how to provoke the pompous into making silly mistakes, and yet never seems to get provoked in turn. Friends and allies of the US need someone who will restore their faith in American ideals and its democratic institutions. Speaker Pelosi as the 46th might just be the answer.
1
I have mixed feelings about that Green New Deal. It is good to see more attention for the environment. But you can't govern by blueprint. Quite a few bad ideas already got track because they were erroneously linked to the environment (like biofuel and pumping co2 into the ground).
When you stick politicians to blueprints you get "read my lips, no new taxes" disasters. Politicians should convince their voters that they share their sorrows and wishes but they should keep some leeway on how to implement them.
In that context I have mixed feelings about Pelosi's interaction with the children. She was right about the Deal. But she could have done better convincing the children that the environment is in good hands with her.
@Wim Roffel: The problem is not "blueprint" but just how unusual it is for Americans to be offered a blueprint--and of course, blueprint is a false descriptor here. What AOC et al offered is a proposal. We used to call them (far away o'er the rising ocean) green papers. These were left in the wind and rain for a time before being withdrawn or perhaps replaced with upgrades called white papers. What do Americans get? Lock her up, and Build the Wall! That is, gutter politics.
1
I strongly disagree.
See the example of Mr. Konrad Adenauer, the first Chancellor of Federal Republic of Germany (Western Germany)
He was elected in 1949 in the age of 73. His health was not best but extratordnary in comparison to other persons of his age. He was not worn out by the world of politics due to a long term house arrest until 1945.
First Term 1949 - 1953: Great.
Second Term 1953 - 1957: Still good. But his health began to decline apparently.
Third Term 1957- 1961: Meh - at best
Fourth term 1961 - 1963: Weird. Activities were increasingly restricted by age and health problems. Forced resignation.
Physical deterioration by aging is a fact of life. Biology doesn´t listen to any anti-agism agitations at all.
2
A big lesson in life is learning that no matter how much knowledge you have on any subject, there's still so much more to learn. That lesson comes with experience and age.
1
I think Diane Feinstein totally misplayed this one. Hurry up and wait is not going to get this job done. The lack of political engagement is what has brought us to this moment. Would the US have ended it's engagement in Viet Nam as quickly if we hadn't had political demands by young people? We should not be standing on the edge of a climate change catastrophe. John F Kennedy was warned about an uncontrolled climate changes in 1961. Very little has been done since. There lives depend on people like Senator Feinstein. I hope they stay engaged and continue to press her.
4
"We’re [Baby Boomers] rightly charged with befouling the environment..."
I take great issue with that statement.
The degradation of the environment began long before any of us baby boomers were born. We are the generation who brought environmental awareness into being. We had the first Earth Day. It was on our watch when the first ever laws and regulations to restore and protect the environment were brought into being. The EPA was created by Richard Nixon, a Republican no less!,who was responding to political pressure.
Asbestos; banned on our watch.
Lead paint; banned on our watch.
Chloroflourocarbons; banned on our watch.
Pollution controls on motor vehicles; enacted on our watch.
Pollution controls on industry; enacted on our watch
Chemical food additives; awareness raised on our watch.
And on and on and on.
Please, it was the Baby Boomer Generation who halted and turned around degradation of the environment AND our bodies.
Thank you for letting me vent.
13
@Ralph Averill
Well said, Mr. Averill, and I wonder how many of these protections will be in place by the end of the current republican reign?
1
Just call it experience. Ideally we want the experienced person who also has a credible vision of the future. Either without the other is half a loaf.
2
The issue raised by Mr. Bruni is more often discussed in the context of term limits. Some believe that professional politicians are undesirable. Some favor experience. I favor a healthy mix of both. So When Pelosi runs the back room and Ocasio-Cortez tweets to her following, the combined impact is close to ideal.
3
Sometimes wisdom comes with age. But not always. In the case with senator Feinstein she was being very condescending while also being completely wrong.
The 12 years timeframe for action on the enviorment activists are talking about is all the time we have according to the best information available. The accelerating changes in the global climate do not know or care about the glaciacal pace of "how things are done around here" in Washington, or any other world government.
Feinstein may be right when she says that the kind of radical change needed cannot be done so quickly, it certainly looks like that now. But that is due to lack of political will - experts believe we can make the necessary changes to avert the worst of the damage if we act now, but that would require massive changes, not all of them positive or convenient (at least is the short term). That will likely have a political cost and hardly any politician is willing to pay it. The difference between the 1.5 degrees warming scientists say we should aim for and where we are headed now is in millions more lives lost. So when any politician outright says that we cannot (and will not) do what is necessary to get there, no one should be surprised when people get upset.
As for senator Feinstein's extensive experience, a full half of the damage we have done to the enviorment has been done in the last 30 years, while Diane Feinstein has been in government, so I would not boast about it too much in her place.
5
Let's start with Mr. Bruni's reference to the Boomer's role in ending the Vietnam conflict.
The people involved in the movement to end that fiasco were all pretty green. Wet behind the ears, you might say. Young.
Take the example of Tom Hayden. He was 22 years old when he wrote the Port Huron Statement. There were a lot of 22 year-olds screaming in the streets back then. And burning their draft cards. And getting gunned down by the government on college campuses.
Those kids got heard because they kept showing up in the nightly news, on TV and in the print media. Jann Werner started Rolling Stone Magazine, and others followed.
But the progeny of the WWII generation were not informed by the future. They were the best educated generation in the history of the world. They were informed by history.
They were informed by Adam Smith and John Locke, Eugene Debs and Bob La Follette, Karl Marx and Fredrich Engles, as well as Madison, Monroe, Jefferson and Lincoln, not to mention FDR, JFK, Dylan, Bob, and Dylan Thomas.
I seriously doubt that any of these radicals had an MBA, since the first such program of any note began at the University of Chicago in 1940, opening to a handful of students.
I don't accept the idea that the people of that generation are so dismissive of youth that they would reject their advancement of old ideas.
The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970. Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" was published in 1961.
The time for patience has passed.
11
@Skeexix
And President Jimmy Carter had solar panels installed on the roof of the White House. Of course, Reagan removed them almost immediately.
1
When I think of the countries I've been to that have had revolutions or been impacted by young revolutionaries, one thing always stands out: The young who want to tear down the establishment, change the world, and create something radically different, never realize that the day will come when they will be the old and the established. Further, the young of that day may have the same "Change the world" values that drove them. When that happens, the aging revolutionaries are shocked to discover that the new young want to break away from what they have established and create their own future, just as they did. So often the young adopt a value system that posits that the past has nothing to offer, so let's just look to the future. They never stop to think that before long, their future will become the past. Valuing the past assures that the future will be valued when it becomes the past.
Now I admit if I lived in a country still in a feudal system in, say, 1974, I would want change fast and soon whatever age I were. But the young need the old to remind them of what happens when uncontrolled change comes too suddenly, too quickly, with no regard to unintended consequences. Worse, what happens when there is no thought to the day when the old order is overturned and the not everyone agrees on exactly what the new order should look like. Just ask any Ethiopian, Iranian, Lao, Cambodian, Libyan... the list goes on.
@Robert W.
I take your point, but--not so much against what you wrote as balancing it--history is also littered with fallen civilizations that didn't adapt soon enough to changing circumstances.
2
Pelosi, Feinstein, Sanders, Biden are not Boomers. The baby boom began after WWII in 1946. The Silent Generation... 1925 to 1945 includes these and many other active government officials.
10
Age CAN lead to effectiveness — whether the effectiveness of Nancy Pelosi in standing up to trump, or the effectiveness of Mitch McConnell in enabling trump while cashing in and firmly establishing our government as an oligarchy that serves the very few.
Or the effectiveness of the panel of old men who railroaded Dr. Ford and put Kavanaugh on the bench.
Chuck Grassley was the face of the effectiveness of age.
Age not only intensifies the content of one's character: it grants 'seniority' and thus the power to simply maintain one's power, whether for good or for ill.
In the end, it comes down to the person, not the number, and how that person exercises power, and for whom.
Now Frank needs to follow up his essay with a discussion of term limits.
6
I voted for Feinstein's opponent, not because of age, but because my concern about a very basic question: How can we make the American economy work for most Americans? For young adults, many people of color, and most residents of Rust Belt, rural and even some Sun Belt towns, the situation is very similar to a new Great Depression. We still need the programs that were adopted then, but they are inadequate to solve today's problems.
What we need is politicians who embrace new ideas like a Green New Deal, and who inspire us all to vote and to be active in civic and volunteer organizations. If older Democrats cannot do this (and I personally believe there are many who cannot), they should step aside. Those who care about the public good can still share their wisdom and experience without having to be office holders.
9
This reader has been a Pelosi fan from the beginning. Her style is dry, only the intensity of her focus and her considered approach toward creating change for the better reveals the depth of her concern for her fellow citizens, especially those who find themselves in terrible need and distress. The attempted demonization and side-lining of Speaker Pelosi failed so spectacularly because voters, whatever their tribe, can't deny honesty and a pure heart in any leader on those rare occasions they're lucky enough see it.
19
Nancy Pelosi is not playing shortstop. She hasn't suffered from a decline in her physical abilities, which is how Bill Belicheck described a former quarterback (Bernie Kosar). What Nancy Pelosi can do is manage, regardless of age.
When Carroll Rosenbloom, then the owner of the Colts, interviewed Don Shula for the head coach of the Baltimore Colts in the early '60s, he didn't ask his age: he simply asked whether or not Shula could win football games. Shula won a championship with the Colts at an early age, in addition to his later career with the Dolphins.
3
It's a shame that we have to look for ways to separate ourselves from one another: the young from the old; the black and the brown from the white; the women from the men; the urban from the rural. We ALL have a stake in what happens. Isn't about time we looked for ways to come together instead of hewing to our tribes?
I know...wishful thinking.
9
I can tell you, having lived in a gerontocracy like Japan, that sometimes it's not the wise elders that such a system empowers, but the self-centered and self-serving careerists who are out of touch with today's world and whose overlong grasp on power ends up stifling the following generations, sometimes in ways that damage and potentially derail the whole society's future. I'm middle-aged and then some myself, and I know a lot that I didn't know when I was younger, but I also know how hard I have to work to keep up with the world's changes these days. So let's take people's qualification for leadership on a case by case basis and not based on age, young or old. Everyone deserves a hearing, at any age they show competence or indeed excellence, and some elders have so much to offer. But gerontocracy is a term for a certain kind of system-wide automatic privilege that can run a society into the ground if it turns into elevation by seniority rather than by performance or clear potential for future excellence.
4
Tears are welling in my eyes.
As much as I generally agree, with Mr. Bruni, reserving the right to debate small points . . .
Here he makes a direct and cogent argument for maturity. In a Congressional (and Executive) environment of childish behavior that has taken hold in late years, a seasoned, principled adult in Congress is a person to to be treasured.
My reference to principle? Contrast Robert Byrd and Mitch McConnell. Sen. Feinstein was right to smack down a bunch of smart-mouthed kids fed on right-wing pablum.
Our system should be such that holding the office of U.S. Senator does not give that Senator any standing to officiously lecture any citizen.
We all have access to our representatives, but things have gone too far when a bunch of schoool kids, spouting their parents beliefs, based in things of which the children have no experience, are sent in thinking they can dress down a U.S. Senator.
Those kids were shills. And Sen. Feinstein's answers to them were appropriate.
6
Once the truth ceiling breaks, hearts and ears are bombarded by the lies, we are surrounded by the lies--everything is weaponized, even age. Old or young, age is branded. Separate lanes for the generational madness, but racially diverse Gen Xers are the leading home buyers, five years running. (The real estate guy doesn't mention this because it's not important to Putin, his foreign minister diverted to meet with Trump in the Oval and is now with Trump in Hanoi.
In this era of broken truth, the President of the United States sells America for commissions, privileges and perks to be determined later, but his sell-out of justice, truth, and propensity for theft is visible now. Our vibrant farm economy looks like Russia's!
His fellow travelers--blind mules--see no trouble in their path.
The deepest American divisions in an era when media anchors paid millions to deny assaults and politicians lie--the Senate leader forgets the veto override, millions of all ages suffered without paychecks in a fight (Mitch cost us $11 billion in productivity and wages!)--billions that will not increase prosperity or grow jobs, billions that will not innovate, be invested, or pay interest, or go to labor paychecks, or pay rent--and the blind believe.
Underneath Trump crimes are his oppositional-defiance and narcissism, two severe, full blown clinical cases--America is sickened but not shocked--literally, people are ill and others mock.
(Part 2 below.)
1
(Part 2)
Add to our disasters, the darkness of lies, the pain, theft, blame; a few scattered dead, children in cages, a reset to the worst of times, our grief kicked into a bloody pulp. Evidence: A 35 day, million person, government shutdown; $11 billion loss in capital and jobs; 85,000 starving Yemen children, 2,000+ Latino children lost, 2 dead; private jails, 5 GM plants closed, 14,000 jobs lost, a soybean market ghosted; the wall money ($8 billion) going to soybean farmers monthly checks. Under Trump’s socialism, put in play by Mitch, the government is now paying the farmers of the nation. Trump pushes for power, demands obedience, submission. Hate crimes are up 20%. And hate includes every public lie told about a woman. The ones by those who sit on the Supreme Court, using lynching as a lifeline, another who acted like a dry drunk at confirmation, in front of Amy Klobuchar.
The lies depend upon the blind mules! Why is it so hard to reach out? To join together? The Texas proverb tells why, shares its wisdom: the blind mule ain’t afraid of darkness.
1
Leading active political figures in their 70s may well have unique insights & a wealth of experience to offer. However, it is troubling when the political system functions such that elderly figures squeeze out too many talented persons from an array of younger generations who also could add unique perspectives and better represent the electorate as a whole.
Arguably, a lifetime is often needed and consumed in too many cases to win senior office given the very size of the US and the role of money and of the seniority system in State and Federal legislative branches, and for a person to amass the reputation in the public or private sector, the support network and the money to sustain a campaign taking one or several years year.
Further, having attained a senior office these same assets are needed in abundance to keep that office over more than one term, let alone gain another higher office.
This same set of conditions exists in other political systems and other countries but rarely to the extent now evident in the US.
1
A Guardian op ed by Kate Aronoff---
"Don't trust the adults in the room on climate change
Older politicians are too quick to write off younger climate activists. But where are their solutions to the climate crisis?
Realism on climate means something different than it did even a decade or two ago, when a modest carbon tax and a smattering of tax credits might have gotten the job done."
It does seem that many older politicians are afraid to look 'too left wing' or 'anti corporate' per traditional standards of US politics. But those standards have for years been dominated by Republicans in either the exec, the congress or the court--or all 3.
Politicians used to these norms stay cautious. So do many columnists.
6
Feinstein has had over three decades to make some meaningful push about climate change-- she has done nothing. Now, at 85, she is the elder stateswoman to whom we should genuflect? Not a chance. Move over and let someone who actually has a stake in the future take the lead.
12
@John She has been a persistent and thoughtful
legislator on gun control. There are not many out there like her.
4
Sen. Feinstein has championed several wars, the Surveillance State, a medical system on the verge of collapse, and I’m not sure how many bodies this person has stepped over to achieve her station in a life of wealth and privilege. I do agree with her on one statement she made to those kids pleading for a future. She knows how to get things done - almost exclusively for her wealthy benefactors and corporate patrons. Even her own state party disowned her at the last election. She’s been there way too long for her lifetime appointment.
5
I’m a progressive. I applaud those like Pelosi and Feinstein who’ve given us some actual, you know, progress.
5
Mr. Bruni, the positive attributes you ascribe to Baby Boomers were accomplishments achieved when we were much younger. I am in my sixth decade on this planet and I am a firm believer that our younger generations are oftentimes incorrectly dismissed, ignored and ridiculed because of their lack of time aging. Senator Feinstein's behavior towards those young people who met with her was rude, condescending and dismissive and, factually, their sense of urgency accurately depicts the crisis of climate change, not her "old school" approach of "maybe we'll get around some day to fixing that problem." And I wholeheartedly disagree that parents and grandparents in this country uniformly care about their offspring. Look at our miserable life expectancy, horrendous gun violence and world leading opioid deaths and addiction. I believe that Americans are probably the least caring about our younger generations than any other people in the world. We have absolutely no long term planning for anything in this country, except continually enhancing our weapons of mass destruction. Instead, it's "good luck, you're going to need it."
The old man I support in this Presidential election wholeheartedly recognizes the absolute wisdom that our children and younger generations bring to the table. He does not mock their imperfections, but embraces their gifts and insights that old age prevent many from seeing. His name is Bernie Sanders and he will be the next President of the United States.
17
The older ones need to mentor the younger ones. It’s that simple.
3
I have been trying to get the Democratic party to acknowledge climate change as THE problem since responding to voter surveys in 2008, when climate change had to be a "write-in" vote. Ocasio-Cortez and others have finally brought this issue to the forefront and tied it to economic equality. I admire Feinstein for some of her work--gun control for example. But her supercilious and demeaning behavior toward her young visitors was appalling. If a video of that had appeared before November, she might not have been re-elected. Full disclosure: I am old enough to have been a freshman at Stanford when Feinstein was a senior.
8
I saw the video of Senator Feinstein meeting the schoolchildren re: the Green New Deal and was appalled by her behavior. Right away Senator Feinstein tried to counter-present a print-out of her own legislation without showing any interest in receiving the letter the kids had worked on as a key part of visiting her office. This is poor form in any situation, but if you're going to receive kids as part of modeling process for their civic education, such dismissiveness only teaches them that the system and its power brokers don't care about them or their perspectives. Secondly, Senator Feinstein quickly fell into talking over the heads of the kids presenting to her, ignoring them as she got into a back and forth with the accompanying teacher, parent and older students. (Perhaps the adults with the kids also made a mistake in letting that happen, instead of requesting the senator view, or at least receive, the kids' letter. But the senator is the one with the extensive experience in public conversation, so she should know if she'd received the letter the conversation wouldn't have broken down that way.) When Senator Feinstein started getting snarky with even the younger kids ("I CAN read, you know") she totally lost me and was just being outright rude. Whatever the policy disagreements, the senator's arrogant conduct here is precisely the kind of thing alienating kids (and adults) from her, her party and the entire political process. An "F" grade here for Civic Education, or PR.
5
So what's your point?
I agree about Nancy Pelosi and I am happy to make an exception in her case. But I really don't want an elderly presidential candidate. And if Trump, for whatever reason, is not the Republican candidate, you can be sure they will make it a campaign issue if our candidate is geriatric.
3
As a member of the gerontocracy, I would point out the value of our power of memory. For example, I can remember when free college tuition was not a progressive ideal, but an everyday reality in the 1950s and 1960s at leading institutions like the City College of New York and the University of California. So free tuition is really less radical and more doable. It also shows how regressive the policies of the last few decades have been.
22
Big tent, Democrats, big tent. Republicans are doing their level best to pit us against each other so that we self-destruct and leave Trump or his ilk in power in 2020. We cannot let that happen. There's wisdom from all ages in the party, from all geographies represented in the party, and throughout the entire scale from progressive to centrist. Work together. We have so much to do, and many hands will make lighter work.
19
Wrong. None of these elderly politicians have done anything serious about climate change, and will not live to see its impact. "Seasoned" leaders with limited aspirations result in stasis, at a time when we need radical change.
9
One of your best columns, Mr. Bruni! Intergenerational conflicts have always been challenging. I applaud your depth of understanding and advocacy for the diversity required to resolve our pressing issues.
5
I am getting frustrated with all of the older people who have internalized the power structure so fully that they simply can't see any way around it. Their lesson to young people: first you have to understand how things WORK. Senator Feinstein is just one example among many.
There are exceptions, however, like Senator Sanders who seems to be as adept at questioning power structures at his age as he was when he was younger. For all those like him, I have nothing but admiration.
7
And do you think Bernie doesn’t know how things WORK?
1
@KLT
Bernie certainly knows how things WORK. He has spent his entire career talking about the way that they WORK for only a small subset of people. Yet, after all this time, he still believes they could WORK better for everyone.
As many other cultures recognize, age brings wisdom. "It's what I learned after I knew it all that has helped me the most." Thought for the day.
7
How different the U.S. political landscape will look in 10 short years. Maybe the good parts of South American socialism will be adapted by young Hispanic politicians holding the majority of political offices in this country within 10 years. Whether or not run away inflation and VAT type taxes overtake all classes in this country, remains to be seen in the quest for correcting poverty and social injustice. They will be coming into power, likely, during an economic downturn that might mute some of their immediate idealism, but long term they will prevail by addressing immigration reform and creating jobs with infra structure maintenance in mind. I hope 2020 doesn't turn into a showdown on the fifth floor of the nursing home.
I was a little surprised that Frank Bruni so understated his case about Feinstein's role on the day Moscone and Milk were killed. She wasn't just "in City Hall," she was President of the city;s Board of Supervisors when, mind-bogglingly, a recently dismissed supervisor, Dan White, managed to sneak into the building and gun down the Mayor, George Moscone, and then Harvey Milk (another city supervisor), who was his major target. It fell to Feinstein, as chaos reigned, as police tried to find the gunman in the building and as the entire San Francisco city government seemed to be bloodily coming apart, to make the shocking official statement to the media and news cameras about what had just happened, not minutes after she had found Milk's body. The video of her remarkable statement that afternoon -- firm and composed in content and tone, even as she's plainly in a state of shock -- is one of the most impressive and bravest moments in the civic history of the United States. (Easily found on YouTube or Vimeo.)
49
I usually love Frank Bruni's columns, but this one infuriates me. Sure, yes, there are good Boomers. Fine. But, fundamentally, that's not what the Feinstein kerfluffle was about. It was about a powerful woman condescending to terrified children who will inherit an Earth rendered uninhabitable by her brutal timidity long after she is dead. I am 23; if we don't act now to demolish the structures that enable climate change, our planet will be in catastrophe long before I am Dianne Feinstein's age, or Frank Bruni's. Acknowledging that is far, far more important than a fragile generation's ego.
333
You miss the whole concept of this essay. Ms. Feinstein was not dismissive of the children’s concerns; anything but. What she was saying is that large problems deserve passionate attention but also deep thought and planning. The devil is indeed in the details. The passionate intensity of youth insists upon immediate solutions without thinking deeply on the nature of the problem and the construction of complex solutions, essentially saying, “wouldn’t it be great if... or it is terrible that...” It is only through life long painful experience that anything remotely resembling wisdom is gained and one possesses it only at the apex of life and only briefly. Even though passion may seem to have dimmed, commitment remains. You would do well to listen to the elders while you can, rather than charge into what you know little about. Decent manners would not hurt, either.
590
@Paul B....that's the way politicians justify the status quo, on and on. We need deep thought, planning and more details. Get back to you in a few years, while they raise more mega donor $$ for their campaigns. No need for deep thought there.
Be cautious and rein in hot headed youth naively demanding immediate solutions to complex problems. And don't forget decent manners. Be patient and civil.
We're so patient we're generations behind all other world democracies who have HC for all. Too deep and complex for the US, but quite simple abroad. Could our big money politics have any relationship to our "delay"?
It's an age-old technique to justify the status quo, and used by people of any age----as the planet warms, our infrastructure crumbles, our HC costs rise, and ...etc etc.
There's plenty of older people who agree with those youngsters who challenged DF.
92
@Micah
When i saw this video, i didn't think Feinstein was being condescending to the children. She was annoyed at the adult woman with the children egging on the situation. I felt sorry for the children, as they had been set up as pawns for their adult caretaker.
69
It's really striking: on the one hand you're absolutely right about honoring the wisdom and savvy of older people (not only politicians). The deference to age has gone missing in a culture addicted to youth and terrified of what's seen as the irrelevance of old age.
But on the other hand, watch that video of those kids confronting Senator Feinstein at her office. It's spellbinding.
Children barely old enough to sell lemonade on the sidewalk exhibited a thorough knowledge of the stakes involved in being "realistic" about climate chaos. They held their own against a high-status adult to the degree that she ended up talking down to them. She needs to understand that what's going down now is different than anything before in human history. We are in the middle of an endgame. Senator Feinstein needs to wake up to that fact with passion and determination regardless of the political consequences.
246
@free range
Did you watch the edited video or the video of the entire meeting?
The children are wonderful and I share their fears. I also know that Dianne Feinstein is not their enemy. Far from it.
34
@Sylvia
I never said she's the enemy. I said she needs to step up to the challenge confronting. In her case that means thinking outside of the box of what's politically do-able based on her 30 years of business as usual in the halls of outmoded power.
5
@free range Feinstein is aware that the challenge in this situation is not only climate change it is battling the structure of powerful monied right wing climate deniers.
If you want to save the climate work to get those people out of power. Attacking those fighting for climate Solutions is counterproductive
6
The biggest concern I have with Sanders, Warren, or Biden as a potential nominee is not competence, vision, relevance, or projected performance as a President.
It's actuarial.
I'm not a kid myself, and I still find myself worrying more about the health of Justice Ginsburg than my own. I'm not looking forward to freaking out every time the Democratic nominee coughs.
Maybe introduce a treadmill stress test into one of the Democratic debates?
Then challenge Trump to match his fellow septuagenarian's treadmill score. No golf cart allowed.
389
@LT You could not have said it better. I like Biden and Sanders and felt Sanders did not receive the respect and coverage of the media in the last election. But he and Biden, statistically speaking, would not see out their terms. We desperately need a candidate that, at least, actuarially, will see through an eight year run. We have to face it that it is taking a chance to nominate an older nominee is too risky in the face of the repairs that need to be made after Trump has trampled every value this country holds.
20
@LT
I, too, worry about RBG's health, but Warren? No reason to think she won't perform very well at 70. She strikes me as very sharp and energetic.
30
@LT Your argument is one that has caused me considerable pause as well. As much as I would like to see any one of those three superbly articulate and qualified persons elected president, I too (even though I am a Canadian/Australian) worry that a natural death could steal any one of them away whilst they were in office. Of course, if the ticket were immensely strong, with a VP/co-president sort of arrangement; a fully deserving, competent, energetic and deeply involved day-to-day vice-president, that would mitigate my concerns to a considerable degree. When you boil it down, it's simply a truly vexing and perplexing position the world (yes, it affects us all) finds itself in. Me? I'd choose the silver or white-haired president with a perhaps slightly graying partner running the executive branch. And as a final thought, there is this: people are indeed living longer and healthier. I wouldn't bet the farm on that, but I'd take a punt, certainly.
17
We need both the young Dems to inspire us and the older and wily Dems to calculate how to make the dreams of the party come true. Nancy Pelosi would not be so bold without the support and inspiration of the young. Together we shall overcome.
478
@Pa Mae, older and wiser heads are what smart young people surround themselves with in terms of staff, advisors and Cabinet members when Democrats take over the White House.
1
Oh, yes, Nancy Pelosi would most certainly be bold all on her own. She doesn’t need any help.
4
@Pa Mae'
And hand it to Nancy, she has welcomed he youngest members into the center, so that they can learn from her - and others' experience - so that they are ready to forge ahead with skill.
5
Before, after, and even when raising us, my mother was a project organizer and administrator. By association, we learned instinctively how to organize projects, time, and resources. Often she worked cooperatively with political leaders.
One important lesson she taught me was that when visiting any Senator or Representative, whether they spoke it or not, their first thought was, “Who are you and how many you got?” Who do you represent and how many voters do you influence?
Why?
Because if the politician is going to back you, it’s up to you to demonstrate you can deliver the votes if they champion your goal and outcome.
When I read Senator Feinstein’s remarks, that’s the lesson I heard her teaching. Want Green New Deal? Fine, how are you going to deliver the voters? The superficial appearance is that a single politician leads the change. Reality is that an army of grassroots volunteers is organizing the delivery of the votes that will enable the change.
Another important lesson is, “How will you pay for it?” No, Congress rarely raises taxes simply for a good idea. Again, support for that must be organized and delivered at the polling station. Again, that’s what I heard the experienced Senator Feinstein teaching.
15
@Liam Jumper
Too bad she didn't "teach" that lesson in the same gracious and coherent way you just did. Maybe she can afford to be snarky and dismissive in her manner, given the huge majority of Democrat voters in California. But that attitude does not help the party to get younger voters on board, which can be a disastrous problem in swing states and districts and therefore nationally. Senator Feinstein showed no interest in even receiving the kids' letter of petition, much less reading it, before pushing her own document on them. That's no way to have a dialogue, much less teach dialogue. And if you're going to receive kids in your workplace, especially as a public representative, you need to understand that part of what you are doing is teaching not only facts, but now to communicate and exchange views in ways that open minds and hearts in order to build consensus.
2
Beautiful. So well said. Thank you. And how refreshing to see older women joining the older men who have dominated congress for so long.
8
I know plenty of parents and grandparents who bury their heads in the sand and do NOT vote with their children in mind. They continue eating meat, buying single use plastic, living in huge homes in which unused rooms are heated and cooled, voting for politicians who dont support reproductive rights for women, did not manage to get laws passed that guarantee maternity leave for women, advised their kids to take on way too much college debt, Kept a pharmaceutical industry alive that is brazenly holding us hostage, and simplistically vote for politicians who promised them a lower tax rate at the expense of their children’s future.
20
@Mon
I take it that when you get older you will eat only bread and milk, live in a one-room apartment (sitting in front of your TV all day long perhaps), rely on your children to tell you how to vote and (as I do, I must admit) go to the doctor only "after the fact" to know what it was you had or whether your wrist was broken (mine was).
Older people are people too, and I find it disturbing that some, like you it seems, assume that they should "vote with their children in mind." Grown-up children are free to vote as they please, and so are their parents and grandparents.
Or do you think that your parents still "owe you", even when you are fully grown-up?
1
@Mon I can't believe you don't see there are many young people who fit your criticisms as well. Plenty of them are ready to buy one of those huge houses just as soon as they can.
1
Yes, age and experience have their advantages. But Pelosi and Feinstein, brilliant as they are, lack the daring we need to enter a new world fraught with new peril. They may laugh at those who propose new deals, but new deals are exactly what we need. Old Democrats have become too comfortable with the status quo. Yes, they favor incremental change, but incremental change is not enough right now. Bring on the bold new leaders and let them shake things up. We are in perilous times and we need people who will cast aside caution and charge.
16
Ok, why exactly are we in such a crisis? I mean, I know we have issues with income inequality, this is not exactly pre-revolutionary Russia, with a poorly led army dying in the field and starvation brought about by inefficient distribution systems. We do not have the high (25%) unemployment and higher inflation of Weimar Germany. We have 95.5% employment and rising wages. Most people have access to healthcare. I think that the best description of our situation is that we have an imperfect system which works reasonably well for most people, though it does fail some people. That this reader thinks that the best path forward from here is revolutionary change, I think, proves this column’s point. The reader sees the issues that he or she faces as being unique and as presenting previously unknown challenges requiring revolutionary action because the situation is new to the reader. From the perspective of 70 years, I cannot see what this reader-or this President-is talking about:where is the crisis.
2
@Fred Shapiro well said Fred. Churchillian in your wisdom. There will be unequal sharing of the spoils in a successful capitalist system. Yet if we radically socialize it, just watch the capital flee to greener pastures while we all share the misery equally. Problem solved right?
@Fred Shapiro
With respect, a lot of this discussion seems to be centered around the proposed Green New Deal and the issue of addressing climate change, but you made no mention of that in your counter-argument. I honestly wonder, and make no presumptions, about how and why that wasn't part of your comment. As for health policy, it seems to me that the problem is often not about access to health care per se, but the high cost of health insurance for many, compared to their incomes. For what it's worth, I'm closer to your age than the kids' age, and I do respect how articulately you express yourself, even if we may find ourselves disagreeing on some of the issues.
I am 66. As much as I might hate to admit it, I do not function in my professional capacities as well as I did at 40, certainly not with the vigor and energy I had then.
Parts wear out; people wear out.
One has to know when to call it quits professionally.
A few exceptions does not make up for those who cling to their jobs (if they can) and refuse to recognize reality.
Age and experience have much to contribute, but everything has its time and place.
18
@Joshua Schwartz What you say is true for you, perhaps, but not necessarily true for anyone else.
I for one was never quick but reasonably thorough, and still am, with lots more experience to draw on.
11
@C. Richard
Joshua and Richard, your points are logically compatible. I think Mr. Bruni's (perhaps playful) use of the word "gerontocracy" may have muddied the waters here, given it can refer to a system-wide privileging by age, per se, and not necessarily on the basis of wisdom or excellence in current performance.
2
@Joshua Schwartz
What is your "professional capacity"? A 66-year old doctor or nurse probably knows more and better than a 40-year old one. A surgeon or a bus driver, probably not.
There is a whole lot of life between 28 and 78. Just as it's wrong to romanticize the magic of AOC it's wrong to overstate the wisdom of age. The last election showed that current democratic leadership is woefully out of step with the American population. Why do Pelosi and her colleagues get a free pass. Bernie Sanders is as reckless as AOC, more crotchety and toxic too. The hearings on Facebook, dismissal of the Green Deal and the back footnesses of the Democratic party on #Metoo issue is proof that this leadership is not fit for leading us in the 21st century. The true sign of leadership is knowing when to sit down and make room for the next generation. The Democratic party has no obvious successors to the Septuagenarians who are currently in power and ther is no excuse.
6
@McDiddle Are you aware that Sanders has been known for years as the Master of the Rider - very skilled at attaching important - and not related - to riders to bills that will pass. His riders wouldn't succeed on their own, but were worthwhile and he got them through.
AOC on the other hand has managed to accomplish a totally incorrect description of where $3B would come from and go to if the Amazon deal went through. Flash - if it went through it would come off the top of the $31B Amazon or their employees would pay in taxes. Now that $31B goes somewhere else, and instead of NY getting $28B, it gets $0.
2
@C. Richard bingo. AOC and her radical left friends in NY solidified Trump’s re-election.
I have been a constituent of Speaker Pelosi for decades.
There have been times when I have been very pleased with her leadership and there are times when I have not.
Before the 2018 mid-terms I called her office here in SF and requested to leave a message for her. I thanked her for her years of public service and leadership and said with all due respect that I thought it was time for her to step aside as Leader If the Dems won back the House.
Boy, was I wrong. She has schooled the apprentice in the White House as she is playing chess and he is siting in a corner watching tv and eating buckets of KFC.
Woman versus a little boy indeed it is.
183
@Futbolistaviva I'm in Anna Eshoo's congressional district, the 18th, less than an hour from you.
From watching her over the years I knew that Speaker Pelosi was amazing at strategy, and when she stood up to "the apprentice in the White House" over the shutdown before and after he invoked it, I was thrilled but not surprised. I trust that over the next four years she can pass along her steely calm and deep insight to some of the next generation of Democratic leaders.
12
@Futbolistaviva I appreciate your realization and admission.
Perhaps you should call Speaker Pelosi's office and request to leave a message that your previous request for her to step aside was wrong. Express to her that you are very happy she did not step aside as you requested and thank her for her wisdom, experience, and service.
Your call just might put a smile on her face
14
Each election, and each major piece of legislation is about pointing the country in a direction and catapulting it there. In fifteen years, it is more than likely that Sanders, Pelosi, Feinstein, Biden and even Elizabeth Warren will be either deceased from natural causes, or exhibiting sufficient signs of irreversible cognitive decline such that they will no longer be able to lead. Even if they point us towards the promised land, they will be too old to enter, and to continue to lead the way.
What that means is that in the not too distant future, the Democratic party will be taken in the direction that younger legislators and leaders want to take it, because the Old Guard will no longer be around. Yes, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez is influential because she is telegenic, charismatic, and has a great David-versus-Goliath back story. But she is also such a lightening rod for the news media (both left and right) because at age 29, she has the opportunity to make policy and influence public opinion for as long as the next 5 to 6 decades.
2
@Middleman MD
And in 15 years, AOC will be 44 and possibly have a decade and a half of experience in Congress. My biggest concern about some young, new members’ initiatives is that overly ambitious suggestions now will be turned into attack ads against them in future campaigns.
As for presidential politics, the difference between the branches is that an incapacitated member of Congress can quickly be replaced on committees, a special election can be held for a new representative, and a new senator can be appointed. And ultimately, every member of congress is a tiny percentage of the whole.
Not so for the President. In 2008, I was concerned about Obama’s relative lack of experience, but equally concerned about McCain’s age and medical history. Obama chose the seasoned Biden as his running mate. McCain chose the utterly unqualified Palin. I voted for Obama.
3
@Middleman MD Do you admire AOC's totally incorrect characterization of "giving $3B" to Amazon to come, when the fact is that if Amazon came $3B comes off the top of $31B (Cuomo's number) in taxes they would pay, leaving $28B for NY? If Amazon doesn't come, that $31B - whatever goes somewhere else?
Stop and think, MD - this is third grade arithmetic.
The kids’ knowledgeable, articulate, and passionate smackdown of Feinstein was glorious. The PayGo Democratic Party centrists, Republicans, and pundits like Bruni are cogs in the political oligarchy, echoing the interests of the economic oligarchy. Grind on with our gas guzzling, backfiring economy that leaves ¾ths of us hitchhiking on the roadside. I cut my teeth in the anti-war and radical minority rights movements of the ‘60s and ‘70s when I was young. We made some gains, but now everything is at stake. I’m good with kids owning their future.
6
@Bruce Shigeur How would you feel about those kids pulling your teeth if you needed it - or heart surgery?
Clearly, we need people of all ages and experiences to help lead the country.
And Nancy Pelosi is a great example of why. She is by far the best person for speaker right now for the Democrats. The skills, experience, wisdom, and raw drive and know-how she brings are key.
Diane Feinstein is a different story. She represents the problems with age. She is out of touch and much more conservative than California.
And what does she bring to being senator that others could not learn quickly? Her wisdom does NOT outweigh the issues with her age.
As a San Franciscan, I'm proud to be represented by Pelosi and embarrassed to be represented by Feinstein.
10
Not a chance. One or two examples doesn’t clear an entire generations worth of apathy and selfishness.
3
Napolean was dead at 51, Obama was President at 47, young people can have a significant impact on politics.
Septuagenarians certainly have experience, and vitality, and wisdom. Certainly. But the next generation has more at stake in the outcome of today's political decisions. Tomorrow belongs to them, and the day after to the next.
If the older want to offer their authority to advance the younger, heed them and thank them. But they have had their chance to decide and to drive the future, and the problems that remain do so despite their years of effort; it is time to let others take over. If they have not yet passed on their knowledge, then they lack wisdom.
15
@Gerard I believe that if Obama had spent 10 or so years as Senator before running and winning the Presidency, he would belong on Mt. Rushmore. He would have learned how to deal with the likes of McConnell and Republicans who believed their goal was to make him a one-term President.
5
Obama was the apprentice before we had the actual and disastrous apprentice. Better by far, but extra time in the marinade for Obama would have served all of us better.
The baby boomers forced some big changes in attitude.
Advances on climate change will need big changes and these older politicians with their corporate sponsors are simply not willing to make the bold, strong choices that will make a difference.
We need politicians who will be interested in making decisions based on fact and not what will bring in the most reelection campaign donations.
9
Hey Matt.
I am a grandmother and I think every day about my grandchildren's future and climate change. And I think about my daughter and her husband, too. About how the changes to come are going to be even harder for them to adapt to because they have known the good life and experienced the beauty of the earth as we have known it. The grandchildren, I hope, will be more adaptable.
We ALL have to get a grip on this and focus on finding solutions instead of foolishly disbelieving or putting it off until our children's and grandchildren's future. And that means voting for people who believe the science and look for solutions.
29
“I can’t see how anyone would invest so much time, money and heart in a child’s tomorrow only to ignore that future in the political realm.”
I agree (from way under 50) with the general point of this column, but this particular line falls flat. Yes, I can accept that most parents love their children, but I do not take it as a given that the connection between voting habits and the long term well-being of their children really factors into the decision-making.
Climate change is the low-hanging fruit. Parents think about their child inheriting a business, a home, a farm or any number of other things. I don’t often hear parents considering whether their children/grandchildren will have to contend with the physical and economic dangers of climate change.
Guns are another one. It doesn’t matter, evidently, how many children are buried. Politicians still feel secure their constituents will support gun proliferation.
Question: If people had to hypothetically choose between a guarantee that (a) their daughters would never paid less than a man for doing the same job; or (b) the LGBTQ would never have the protections enjoyed by straight citizens... what percentage would choose the latter, I wonder? I think the answer would be disturbing.
This is not to say parents are trying to HARM their children with any given vote. I just wouldn’t assume that the relationship between a vote and the 20-impact hits as hard as #emails and furious anti-p.c.
10
The longer we live, the more knowledge we accumulate. The more patterns we recognize; the more wisdom we learn to apply. Elder statesmen like Bernie Sanders are more capable of seeing what matters most, and they are less likely to craft their agendas around protecting their career prospects. Some lose their memories along with their energy and drive. But some just seem to getting stronger and better and wiser.
We would do well to look for this wisdom in the coming campaigns, and seek in our elder statesmen and women a continuity with our more stable and prosperous past.
21
@Theo Horesh
I am 78 years old have very little stake any more in the world's future. I am quite content to place that future into younger hands. According to what Theo writes all our elected politicians should be older than 75. I believe that Boulder is a very nice place to live but is not typical of the US as a whole. I see plenty of younger diverse people in NYC and NJ who I am sure will also give the US a good future!
5
Nice column. It seems such a simple thing for the generations to value and respect each other! Let's try it!
7
Maybe it's not only about age, but also about the fact that it's the same people who have been in place for too long, and voters want change.
15
@Roberta Hmm, change just for the sake of change. Voters said they wanted change and gave us trump. That's not working out very well.
4
@MD but that's exactly my point. They were THAT desperate for change!
@Roberta Wanting isn't enough. Making sense is necessary. AOC doesn't seem to understand that NY wasn't giving Amazon $3B - we were rebating $3B of the $31B they would be paying. If they don't come, they don't get $3B back and we don't get $31B - $3B.
I'm into my 8th decade. I was concerned that retirement would be , to quote F.Scott Fitzgerald, " Twilight on the rifle range with no targets to shoot at ". How wrong I was. Thanks to modern technology I have never been better informed.I daily connect and laugh with my friends of 50+ years ago, even though we live thousands of miles apart, I just finished reading the transcripts of the 2 SCOTUS cases argued today, Amazon delivers books to me within 2 days, I have access to any sporting event or movie I want to see through my cable system, and my insignificant comments even get published in the NYT. Modern technology has given boomers like me access to the world, and their are plenty of targets to shoot at.
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@Don Shipp.
I am over 80 too and feel exactly the way you do! The world is a very big place, and exploring it (from home) is fun.
12
@Don Shipp.
You, sir, are an inspiration to us all.
Although you beat me by a number if decades and all the hours spent at work detract from the enjoyment of life's little pleasures, I enjoy many like you describe and lok forward to retirement in a way I never thought I would.
Thank for for sharing your zest for living adventures.
5
On the night of the election in 2016, Donald Trump was 70 and Hillary Clinton was 69. Who was complaining about how old they were at that time?
It seems like we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let candidates run, and in time the Democratic nominee will emerge.
*All* candidates should undergo exams for physical and mental health. The results should be made public. As should their tax returns.
Democrats should not be looking for any more surprises. They need to be looking to oust Trump. That is what really counts.
78
@Blue Moon
"Who was complaining about how old they were at that time?"
Now look: who is complaining about how old some candidates are now? Mostly, those who oppose Sanders and/or Warren. These are often people who will vote for "the most likeable" or "the most charismatic", sometimes even for "the one most likely to win" (as if they had to guess which horse will win the race, rather than which candidate is the best).
3
@Fran
According to the U.S. Constitution, a minimum age of 35 is required to be president or vice president, a minimum age of 30 to be a senator, and a minimum age of 25 to be a representative. But at the time the Constitution was drafted, the average life expectancy in the colonies was 40-45 years. Now in the U.S. it is 75-80 years.
If we (arbitrarily) take the onset of adulthood to be at age 15, then in the late 1700s an age of 35 was 2/3 of the way from adulthood to death (from age 15 to 45). If we extrapolate in the same sense today, we should set the minimum age to be president to something like age 55. (And age 45 for senator and age 35 for representative.)
We would definitely be favoring the "gerontocracy." (And there would be no room for an AOC, at least not until she hits age 35.)
Food for thought?
4
@Blue Moon - I like your suggestion of exams for all candidates (and that should include the current occupant of the WH). However, we need some criteria for the doctor, based on falsified letter the current occupant provided in 2016.
4
Frank Bruni snidely dismisses younger, more progressive politicians as possessing little more than "aspirations and ardor," couched in "pretty words." Oldsters, he writes, have "moral authority." I beg to differ: Dianne Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi represent a wheezing, clanking Democratic machine, supported by legions of wealthy donors, that deserves to be tossed on the scrap heap. Moral authority? By clinging to power for so long, they are positively hampering our government and the Democratic Party by preventing younger politicians--I refer to people in their 50s and 60s, not the 29-year old AOC--from moving into positions of power. Frank Bruni is here making his usual case for centrism, but couching it as advocacy of age and wisdom. This column is disingenuous at best.
20
@Chris Rasmussen
I am 67 and agree with you about Dianne Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi. However, I will not judge politicians or anyone else based on age. I am more "progressive" than most younger persons I know. Having said that, I would welcome the opportunity to follow them rather than lead, and appreciate not only the energy but the wisdom so many younger people bring to the discussion. And by the way, most baby boomers I know do not look forward to living out their declining years on a declining planet, nor leaving a dying planet to the young.
7
@Chris Rasmussen
"I refer to people in their 50s and 60s": you mean Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker, etc.
No, thanks!
1
For the most part, the US has been a youth oriented society. China for centuries has relied on wisdom from its leaders. We have relied on genius (which is almost a 100% province of the young) and a general preference for youth and beauty. It is good to see the US begin to respect the wisdom of some of its elders. I suspect that if one tallied the average age of the US Supreme Court in every year over the last century, it would be over 65, the accepted retirement age for most occupations in the US.
8
@James Ricciardi Good point about the Supreme Court. Very sadly, the younger members, Alito, Gorsuch, now Kavanaugh, don't exactly fill me with hope for the future.
5
We all have cognitive biases. Personality differences aside, it's more difficult for us older folks to change. "We have wisdom!"
We also have bad backs, memory loss and other deficiencies related to the aging process. To my mind, future generations of leaders need to have more of a technical background, rely more on facts and data and less on bluster!
Case in point. The "Oracle from Omaha" made his money on Oreo Cookies, Insurance and Dairy Queen. Recently, he's made serious mistakes in the world of high tech investing. He admits he doesn't understand technology. That's where we live now and in the future.
7
It’s not the age, it’s the character and also: accomplishments. In this case the Senator spoke down to these citizens. Not shared: what she’s doing about climate change.
21
Old saying:
“Too soon old. Too late smart.”
Anyway, Pelosi is now a national hero.
24
Feinstein and Pelosi were the first generation of female San Francisco political stars, and they gained experience at the forefront of SF's progressive leadership. Guess who is following in their footsteps? Senator Kamala Harris, former SF District Attorney and CA Attorney General. It's no coincidence.
4
@Nick 20 years ago. You don't "get ahead" for that period of time without having smarts of your own. Funny how it's the women whose lives are put under the microscope.
she´s been in congress for 30 years. what has she accomplished on climate change? it not like this is a new issue.
42
@Chris Accomplishments? How about ACA? 50 years in the making. I'm 72 and have been working on environmental issues my whole life. You think this is easy? What have you accomplished on climate change? In a democracy you have to convince a lot of people to take action, left and right, before it happens. Run for office and see how you do with climate change. If you want to criticize someone on climate change, how about Trump rolling back environmental protections so his cronies can make more money?
44
I thought Feinstein made Grassley look young in that exchange with school students. Although those kind of sanctimonious video events are nonsensical, she did come across as a crotchedy old grandma and when she used the "you didn't vote for me", she embarrassed herself not the kids. I voted for Kevin de Leon in the primary, but I am all in love with Nancy! Nancy is amazing!
18
No older isn’t better without intelligence and wisdom and no dementia.
We are selfish and lack will to mentor. Egos are way too big.
Nancy is needed to mentor and protect.
5
The politics of age as a criterion for wisdom in governance pales in comparison with the politics of gender, race, wealth and life experiences (to name just a few) that can be far more worthy of judging how efficient and effective an individual can be as both a leader and a public servant. It's the depth of soul and vibrancy of spirit that always counts more than the years. The rest is just noise.
2
It's not their age, it's the fact that you don't typically rise up the ladder and stay there for decades without becoming completely beholden to wealthy interests. Feinstein was so dismissive because these children were not waving checkbooks. Why are Schumer and Pelosi in charge? Is it because they're cagey political animals, who are policy wonks to boot, or is it because they come from two wealthy states and suck up corporate money like a tornado sucks up rooftops? If the oleaginous Chuck Schumer came from Iowa, he'd be behind a plow right now.
30
@stan continople Schumer's not my favorite, but Pelosi IMO has gotten and stayed where she is because she is super-good at what she's doing. She got the ACA through. She's answering Trump in a way, if you pay attention, that highlights how ... inappropriate he is, without providing the contemptible Republicans with targets for their contemptible practice of politics.
8
In the words of Rodney King: “ Can’t we all just get along ? “.
Ah, the days of youth and dreams. Reagan was newly elected, I was politically naive and from a Baptist, conservative household. I ignored Politics, completely. I was too busy with College, and working. Politics was for older people, with boring lives. After a few years, I had an epiphany. I realized just how much the welfare and lives of my Patients were affected by “ politics “. The difference between being comfortable or miserable. The difference between receiving adequate medication or amputation. And absolutely the difference between life and Death. I’m now a die hard Democrat. In the most simple terms:
I care about the welfare of others, even those I disagree with. Not in a religious fashion, but as fellow traveler on this Planet. And p.s.: It’s the only one we HAVE. Thanks, Frank. And you look fabulous, for your age. Seriously.
130
"Experience is as experience does" Life experience is not an automatic guarantee of political wisdom. The way Feinstein treated those smart kids was appalling. She needs a dose of their idealism apparently to cure her of her bad case of jaded realism and political cynicism!
16
Boomers in 100 years will be known as the generation which let the world end as we had known it. These lessons will be taught to children during times of great strife, war, famine flooding and fires... all
Because of the reckless lives that that generation lived.
We can try to deny reality but the truth will become apparent soon.
26
@Adam Ben-david
You think all "Boomers" are the same. Did we all march against the Viet Nam war? Did we all push for environmental protections for the last 50 (yes 50) years? Did we all push to protect the ozone layer? Get real. Boomers are no more cohesive that any other generation.
Blame the climate deniers. Of all generations. Including yours.
37
@Adam Ben-david Yes, because boomers are the only ones driving SUVs or buying mcmansions. Conspicuous consumption only occurs with people 54 and older. All the generations that come after the baby boomers are living carbon-free lives, reducing, reusing, recycling. Walking and riding bicycles are their sole means of transport. Environmental organizations are comprised solely of the young. Yup, it's all the Boomers' faults.
12
@MD
In my experience, Gen-X with large families (defined as more than 2 kids) are the ones with SUVs and big houses in which to raise their children. I am giving more to charity and will give even more when we are no longer supporting our college student.
6
Surely a party that has both a strong layer of seniority and experience as well as the promise of the development of new talent rising through the ranks is the ideal. Why set one against the other? I won't vote for Bernie because he didn't join with his party until much too late to support the nominee of choice. I cannot Biden because of his deplorable performance in the matter of Anita Hill. Elizabeth Warren at 69 is a very acceptable candidate. I will vote for whoever the Democratic Party nominates but we must pay attention to keeping the party growing.
19
For many of us in the "golden years" to retire is to expire. I enjoyed my 34 year service as a teacher and principal before I retired. I was 56 at the time and I looked forward to the benefits of retirement - traveling, enjoying hobbies, deciding what to do with my time. Huge mistake. It took about a month for me to discover that losing count of what day of the week it was (because every day was like Saturday) was unsettling. I had become an educator because I thought it was my mission. Suddenly I was missionless! I felt unproductive and became quite blue. But I was fortunate. I was able to secure adjunct professor positions at two local colleges, where I prepare future teachers for the profession. When I observe legislators such as Senator Feinstein and Representative Pelosi I am heartened to think that advanced age has its advantages - particularly in the wisdom we acquire over the years.
0.231+/njhu
23
I'm an aging boomer and I say
It's time for a new generation to take the lead.
Having said that, there's plenty of room for wisdom (which comes with age and experience).
Those children that met with Feinstein reminded me of the children of the cultural revolution.
5
@Brad
I was throughly impressed with her patience. I would have thrown them out. There’s a huge difference between getting involved and being rude, spoiled brats.
22
@Phyliss People tend to get emotional when their future is at stake. That’s kind of the point. Those who’ve gotten to check all the big “life” boxes - first kiss, first love, first job, first house, children, travel, success... - they are not going to have fire in their gut the same way as someone who hasn’t had those experiences yet and who worry, rightly, that they might not because of the status quo-accepting incrementalism of the older folks. They’re fired up. They should be. Sorry you don’t like it but they have the right.
3
@Jennifer
The right to free speech is the right they have the right to.
3
Age is just another tally point in the pro-con list of our politicians.
I worry more about for whom, for how long and for how much $$, they have worked for those people that are not part of We The People.
Being jaded, blind and unaware of technology, much less the needs of the little people, for whom so many now have no connection or recollection of the plight of our current 'merica. The pulse and mood of 'merica has altered. Too many are still marching with their blinders on.
7
The debt the boomers rung up (and continue to ring up) at the expense of subsequent generations is criminal.
19
@SAL
Too broad a brush there, SAL. It is the REPUBLICAN boomers that have rung up most of the debt. And it was the boomer Clinton that gave Boosh a nice savings account.
Most of the Obama debt was spending to pump the economy that the REPUBLICANS crashed. Again. See: 1929.
258
@Jus' Me, NYT. Well, most of the local pension debt is on the dems ...
We all know what the baby boomers have done for the younger generations, because we never hear the end of it. And we’ll never escape the consequences of it, either.
As far as anyone being cavalier with facts, I think in this instance it may be worth noting that there are glass houses everywhere. Careful with those stones.
13
Excellent column. Thank you.
13
She needs to address Climate Change!
15
One only needs to watch youtube videos of Pelosi and Feinstein from twenty years ago to see how jaded, slow, and lethargic they have become intellectually over time. Stop comparing them to AOC, or others that are less experienced. Give them a chance to flourish. Compare these aging "leaders" to what they'd been in the past, and it is hard to argue why they should still cling on to power. "The old order changeth, yielding place to new, And the [world] fulfils [it]self in many ways, Lest one good custom should corrupt the world."
3
I harbor no ill will towards older people, but I think Frank Bruni misses the point. If Senator Feinstein really knows what she is doing, then why, for the past 30 years as an elected official, has she done nothing to change the global warming trajectory? Her policy proposals would have been great...in 1988 when James Hansen brought the climate issue to widespread attention but today it's too little, too late.
And why do Republicans always shoot for the moon with their horrible ideas while Democrats tinker around the edges instead of boldly proclaiming what needs to be done?
84
@lzolatrov
How is cutting taxes and being anti pro choice shooting for the moon? Because if there is some novel Republican proposal out there I’ve never heard of it.
Pelosi and Feinstein have been on the right side of history on the environment, health care, gun control and civil rights for their entire careers. Try looking at a you tube video of AOC in 40 years. Even if shallow, self-righteous, and vacuous are your things, unless she grows a brain they will most certainly be cringe worthy.
20
@lzolatrov This is exactly the voice of inexperience Bruni was talking about. Feinstein can't "fix something" by herself, anymore than Obama could just fix everything with a hostile Republican senate dedicated to thwarting him, or Pelosi could do what she's doing now last year, without a Democratic majority in the House. One of the things time teaches you is that political progress is not only incremental and based on hard work but also a group effort, not something you whine to Mommy to fix. If the younger people got out there and VOTED, ESPECIALLY when there's a better but not perfect candidate (which would be, well, always), monsters like Trump and McConnell wouldn't be running things.
15
I'm 63. When I was 30, I thought I had it all figured out. When I was 40, I realized that I was wrong. I didn't know squat. When I turned 50, I was so happy that I didn't fall for all that held sway over me when I was 40. Now I look back at when I was 50 and think, how could I have been so dumb back then?
Life is a journey. I well taken journey endows one with wisdom, and judgement. It's not just the time spent, it's what you did with that time. Some of us continue to grow. Some of us never grow.
Nancy Pelosi is an exception. She is like a Babe Ruth of politics. Her war chest of maneuvers and tactics are second to none. Most people could not function at that level at 78. Heck, most people are dead at 78.
I too want some high energy, young blood in Washington. We must not throw away high functioning older individuals but we have to bring in new trainees for the future. From my perspective, people aged 55 to 65 are at their prime for high office. The ravages of time have not caught up yet and they are old enough to have acquired the necessary experience.
In regards to the president, we must elect someone who will still be robust 10 years. We should not elect someone who will not be able to run for a second term.
This isn't agism, it's reality. Just as it is hopelessly idealistic to look to 28 year old A.O.C. as our new leader, it is just as idealistic to think an 85 year old can be an effective president. The odd are against it.
411
@Bruce Rozenblit Yes, it IS ageism.
21
@Bruce Rozenblit
Bruce, I’ve said the same thing and been excoriated for
Ageism. You are 100 Percent correct, and realistic.
Here’s my ideal team for 2020 : Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren. The heart and the brains.
32
Idealism and foolishness are often joined at the hip.
21
It is notable that while there is much good to say recently about Ms. Pelosi, there were no accomplishments mentioned for Ms. Fienstein. Perhaps not every old politician deserves a immediate retirement, but it does not follow we should look to the past for our leaders of tomorrow. I for one am looking forward to new blood and the passing of the torch.
6
Experiences and a pile-up of years do not assure wisdom or competence. Take Mr. Trump (Please!). His age is ripe enough; he's had loads of experiences in the business world and on the fringes of the political world. But then he lands the most influential political job and handles it unwisely and incompetently. Let's not get hung up on age. Candidates from each age bracket have pros and cons. We just have to hope that the ones who get elected have the best interests of the whole country at heart. Age discrimination is just as loathsome as every other kind.
50
@William
"Take Mr. Trump (Please!)"
Thanks for that!
Thank you, Frank, for acknowledging the contributions of the Baby Boomers. I, for one, am a little tired of hearing how we were solely responsible for ruining the world. And you are partly right; there are few parents and grandparents, at least among progressives and Democrats, who don't think about the world that we are leaving the next generation and want to leave them a world less toxic. My parents, on the other hand, were and still are of the "Silent Generation" and lifelong conservative Republicans. They and their peers seem to have had and still have little to no interest in environmental issues, civil rights, or any of that "hippie-dippy" and "future-generation" stuff.
115
@Jackie
Yep. They came from a generation that expected future generations to be better off than theirs. They trusted government to take care of the big issues and they took care of thei own.
We have Trump so we know better.
2
@Jackie
Yeah, me too. I'm sick of hearing how my generation ruined things, as if all was hunky-dory before us, as if we weren't born into a world rife with problems not of our making.
Every single generation gets handed a world with problems to be solved. We baby-boomers got nuclear annihilation; our children got climate change. Our parents got the Depression and World War II. We all got racism and economic injustice.
But guess what? What our parents did in light of what they inherited enabled us to do what we did; what we did is enabling our children.
2
Donald Trump campaigned as a political outsider, as if lack of experience were a selling point in any job. He has surrounded himself largely with other political novices, too. That's not working.
It will take tremendous effort to reverse the damage done domestically and globally by this inept administration. And that means, yes, Democrats with long political CVs, and at as many levels of governance, as possible. It's going to take a lot of political experience to right the wrongs we're enduring.
763
@NM,
Trump's novices are all of the grifting category. Former mouths on the TV set.
It is the 133 lobbyists that have been placed in our Whitehouse/Gov. that are doing the harms.
69
@NM Perhaps the answer is a presidential mix of aged experience as President with a more youthful but mature Vice.
Whatever the case, it must be well thought out.
22
@NM
Exactly. "I have no experience but you should vote me into the most powerful and consequential office in the world."
I will never understand why that appeals to some voters.
54
I think that we call it the power of mentoring. . .in many areas, a lost art. As exciting as it is to have this new generation of 'politicians' and social activists, as the mother of two Gen-Y's who can applaud their commitment and passion that leads to out-spoken behavior, even at my age - 69 - I turn to the mentors I had as a young graduate student in my field, to sound out ideas and strategies. It is not about power-grabbing, it is about shaping minds for a better tomorrow based upon evidence and the art of enacting it for the better good.
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Nancy Pelosi is a formidable leader, only strengthened with time. Not only has she managed to thrive in the cutthroat world of politics, but also as a pioneer for women in power. She is a survivor.
This is not to insult her younger counterparts; every successful politician cuts their teeth some time. But at this moment, we need Democrats who know how to outmaneuver Trump, govern responsibly and who won't be intimidated. Those smarts come with time and, yes, age.
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@NM: But could she, or someone like her, win the swing votes in the Heartland that will determine (as in 2016) who will be President of this country? I very much doubt that. Forget the Boston to Washington corridor and the West Coast, because they will go Democrat. Forget the South and Mountain States, because they will go GOP. What matters is winning in the Heartland. That is how it appears to me.
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