That if you can't be the best, you settle for being the longest lasting obstacle.

What happens when Byrd dies in office?

The same shit that happened when Kennedy did. Chaos.


Byrd has, by clinging to power, eviscerated generations of young potential lawmakers in his home state and in the larger national stage, bored the voting population into narcolepsy, and frozen out change and responsive, responsible leadership.

Kennedy, by refusing to retire gracefully and permit rising talent to rise in an orderly process, crippled health care reform at its most critical time.

To permit democracy to work, there must be a farm system and some willingness to admit that at some point that staying is more harmful than retiring. Either individual humility or Party discipline must be in evidence. Otherwise, it's just a shell game of an elite power structure preserving and protecting itself.

There are too many missing rails and impassable blockages on the political ladder in too many states. I don't support term limits as a solution, because it takes time to learn the ropes and crises happen on their own schedule, but there must be something beyond a very unfairly rigged election process that works to preserve the status quo. We need a system that permits and encourages the timely passing of power from the spent to the more vigorous ferment bubbling up from the grassroots.

We really need to cultivate democracy from the ground up.