TheWiseOldFart

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart There are no guidelines, no requirements to offer proof of experience or expertise when any individual files for the right to run for the House or Senate. The truth is, the regulations for becoming a Representative or Senator are minimal. [To serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, you must be 25+, a U.S. citizen for 7+ years, and a resident of your state; for the Senate, you must be 30+, a U.S. citizen for 9+ years, and a resident of your state, with both offices requiring you to be an inhabitant (resident) of the state you represent at the time of election.] In common language, “nearly anyone can become an American lawmaker.” Writing, presenting, and passing legislation intended to serve the American people should be just as simple. However, this is far from the truth. History proves that most of America’s elected officials have been incompetent and uninformed. I am positive that most voters are just as uninformed as the men and women who r...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart Born in July of 1946, it is obvious that I am an original baby boomer. My father was discharged from the United States Navy in Seattle Washington in 1945. He met my mother, who had been working for Boeing during the war. They married in July, and less than a year later I took my first breaths. I was too young to know much about the Korean Conflict. Most of what I learned about it came from the popular television show, “MASH.” The first war I remember was Vietnam. I graduated from high school in 1964 and enlisted in the USAF. I couldn’t afford college, and the recruiter promised me that the Air Force would train me well. He lied. However, I feel a small amount of gratitude. After I was out of tech school in Mississippi, the war in Vietnam rapidly escalated. I might have died for nothing on a battlefield halfway around the world. I was medically discharged in 1965. I watched the news as the body bags began to arrive from Southeast Asia. I learned that some of the ...