this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2024
15 points (94.1% liked)

United States | News & Politics

2019 readers
885 users here now

Welcome to !usa@midwest.social, where you can share and converse about the different things happening all over/about the United States.

If you’re interested in participating, please subscribe.

Rules

Be respectful and civil. No racism/bigotry/hateful speech.

Post anything related to the United States.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

The 79-year-old plays a key role in preventing a government shutdown

top 4 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] EpeeGnome@lemm.ee 5 points 16 hours ago

When I was a teenager, I got to meet the famously old-but-still-in-office Strom Thurmond. It was a couple of years before he retired from the Senate, so he would have been around 98 at the time. We all lined up to shake his hand. He still had a solid handshake at that age, but one look in his eyes and you could see that he was mentally long gone. He greeted each person with the exact same words, spoken in a mindless monotone. It felt crazy to me that he was still reelected one more time after that.

Sidenote: He wasn't just famous for holding the record of the oldest serving US senator, he also held the record for the longest solo filibuster, holding the floor for over 24 consecutive hours in opposition of the civil rights act. He hated taking away the states' right to make racism the law so much that he led the defection of all the racists from the Democrats, who, outside of the south, were really starting to get on board with the whole civil rights thing, over to the Republicans, who welcomed them, setting the stage for current party lines on the topic.

[–] TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 6 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) (2 children)

There, I said it. I’m going to get dogpiled for saying it. I’ll be called “ageist”

Both brave internet soldier and a paper-thin victim all in one sentence. Not journalism.

[–] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 4 points 19 hours ago

Yeah that’s pretty much Ken in a nutshell. I still appreciate some of the things he covers that most others steer clear of, but it would be nice if he didn’t act like such a martyr while he does it.

[–] limer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 21 hours ago

But however tacky that is, the congressman is senile, and not the only one in congress.