In 1954, Nelson Rockefeller – a member of one of America’s most affluent families, who would go on to become New York governor – flew home to Manhattan after serving as a Cabinet undersecretary for President Dwight Eisenhower. His older brother, David, picked him up at then-Idlewild Airport. Piling Nelson’s luggage into the car, in a tone that made clear his dim view of politics, David asked, “Well, did you learn anything useful down there in Washington?”
“Yes,” Nelson replied, “I learned that the only people who matter are the elected ones – president, senators and congressmen. They share authority, and everyone else is just staff.”
Nelson’s response reflected two critical aspects of American democracy – each of which is lost in today’s graceless age of high-pitched screeds, personal demonization and citizens’ over-reliance on politicians as the answer to virtually every life challenge.
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First, Nelson’s use of the word “authority,” not “power,” to describe politicians’ role showed his understanding that we citizens hold permanent sovereign power, and merely vest our public servants with temporary authority. And second, his answer demonstrated a grasp of our system of shared checks and balances: Congress creates laws and the executive enforces them – with the judiciary weighing in only to interpret the law.
But what happens if one government branch ceases to perform its duty? What if members of Congress realize that the best way to hold onto their job is not to see a problem and fix it, but rather to avoid policy decisions, live a lifestyle unrecognizable to citizens, insist on royal-like deference and, all the while, exude a sense that they’re entitled to it all?
Fawned over, pampered
Cable television hosts – thinly veiled advocates for Republicans (Fox News, Newsmax) and Democrats (CNN, MSNBC) – often invite as guests like-minded politicians; fawn over “Mr. Chairman” or “Madam Speaker”; ask “how horrible is what the (insert the other party) are doing to America?”; to which the pol answers, “really horrible”; and then concludes the interview by agreeing that yes, indeed, what the other party is doing is “terrifying.”
Congress members travel to these TV appearances in large, black SUVs, along with a bevy of security guards to shield them from any citizen seeking a word with someone who works for and is paid by them. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, recently introduced a bill to provide members of Congress a taxpayer-funded “dedicated security escort at airports, along with expedited security screening separate and hidden from public view.”
In 2018, Joe Biden – whose more than 40 years in Congress accustomed him to ever-present “staff” – gave a 32-minute speech at SUNY Buffalo. In…
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