From what I can tell, most jobs have a mandatory age for retirement. I believe for clergy in the Episcopal Church the mandatory retirement age is 72. Most of the members of my parish are retired, but that's because when the U.S.A. turned over administration of the Panama Canal to la República de Panamá, many of the workers were offered the opportunity to retire with full benefits, so we have lots of people who retired at the age of 55 or so. I know people who are looking forward to retirement, but I really don't think about it. However, I have been thinking about retirement for others. Why the heck is David Broder still writing columns for the Washington Post? As far as I can tell, he hasn't written anything worth reading in years, yet his columns appear like clockwork. He's like 80 years old; doesn't he want to relax and enjoy the mischievous antics of his great-grandchildren? I think his brain retired a while back. And what's the deal with Andy Rooney? Any time I watch 60 Minutes I hear "All that, and Andy Rooney!" like that's a good thing! He is self-parody personified. He just sits there and gripes for several minutes and he ceased being witty several years ago. I'm surprised he doesn't end his weekly gripes with "An you kids drop those walnuts and get the HELL OFFA MY LAWN!" I believe he's 90 years old; he probably has great-great-great grandchildren whose mischievous antics would only add more fodder for his mind-numbing pieces for 60 Minutes (I almost wrote: "60 Minute pieces" but, thank God, CBS doesn't give him 60 minutes!) so he should probably retire to one of those No Children Allowed Here Endeth The Rant, and GET THE HELL OFFA MY LAWN!
11 comments:
Why the heck is David Broder still writing columns for the Washington Post?
Because he's the dean of the Washington DC pundit-corpses that get together for the "poker game for mummies" on Press the Meat, as James Wolcott so eloquently named the round table of codgers. (Can a female be a codger? If so I nominate Andrea Mitchell and Cokie Roberts.)
I ask you, who will pay me to complain for five minutes every Sunday? I can do it, I tell ya!
I like Cokie Roberts! I don't, however, watch Meet the Press because I am at Church on Sunday mornings singing in the choir. I don't think I'd watch it even if I didn't have a good reason.
And Mickey, you are beginning to sound like Andy(I almost typed Mickey) Rooney.
Just for the record, Episcopal Church retirement age is indeed 72 for bishops (Canon III.12.8 and Const. art. II), priests (Canon III.0.7) and deacons (Canon III.7.7). (They call it "resigning from all positions" but it is really retirement.)
David Broder turned 80 September 11.
Andy Rooney turned 90 January 14.
Why are you fixated on walnuts?
Gee, you're right, Susan!
I hates walnuts, Paul A. They make the roof of my mouth raw, Plus, I thought that's what grumpy old men holler.
Dearest Susan. . .
Please don't rank on the Mickey.
He only gripes in exaltation, for the
good of Humanity.
We should all be so Gripe-ified.
(Wait. Is there such a word as gripe-ified?)
Where's my dictionary. . .
Peace and Happiness,
Atkins TV, Blah, Blah, Blah. . .
I think that Atkins T.V. Jack-in-the-Box blah blah is either David (not Dahveed), Larry or Frank from My Wayward Youth.
Susan, I once wrote to Cokie and Stephen to take issue with something they wrote in their newspaper column, and Stephen called me names. Mind you, I did not attack them, but what they said.
They've written some dumbass stuff in their columns, and I've heard Cokie say some dumbass stuff on the TV. I am not a great admirer of my Louisiana sistah.
I'm with you, Grandmère; Cokie's Kookie!
I can't listen to her blatherings on NPR any more.
Ok, OK, I stand corrected again... I have't listened to her lately, and I've never seen her column, so I can make no judgements on her. I'm sure you know her way better than I do, Mimi.
The word thingie is 'irrgly.' Maybe I's just being too irrgly today. I am tired from all my holiness yesterday. I saw the mos' beautiful granchile yesterday.
I'm in total agreement about Andy Rooney and have made the same complaint often.
I believe I liked Cokie a zillion years ago but she is just one more tired member of the Village, that group of isolated, inbred, brain-dead Beltway denizens whose opinions are usually ill-formed, wrong, or irrelevant. They all should have retired decades ago. It's like the social equivalent of inbreeding for generations.
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