Old and Angry Men

I have generally attempted to stay away from writing about the ongoing debacle that plagues the US government these days, but I finally reached my breaking point.  So here goes with my latest thoughts on the matter.

Another “victim” has been arrested as a result of the ongoing Mueller inquiry, one Roger Stone, a Trump insider (Mr. Trump, “Roger who?  I never heard of him.”).  Mr. Stone’s performance before the crowd and press after being released on bail was pure angry man.  And he is no youngster either.  He is so like so many of Mr. Trump’s inner circle and particularly his cabinet; old, privileged and angry.  Their main concern seems to be, “How can we get back to good, old days?”  The answer should probably be “because you’re not young anymore.”

Now perhaps there is something to be said for FDR’s statement when he was accused of nominating a “son of a bitch” to his cabinet, “There are enough of them in the country so maybe they deserve representation.”  But surely an entire government leadership and key advisors that are old and angry men is a bit too much. Oh, and most of them are very well off. Of course, it does reflect the nature of their leader.  And when you see many of Mr. Trump’s audiences, you see that same preponderance of old, angry men and women.  They are those that lost their jobs to technology, who wish for the days when the big, dirty steel mills and auto factories would come back.  Days when we didn’t worry about climate change and pollution.  Make America Great Again meant bringing back those “good old” (bad old) days.

 

In many ways, we are lucky in Canada with our present government.  Not only do we have the much- touted gender balanced cabinet but we have a healthy mix of ages represented in out cabinet.  We have cabinet ministers that range in age from their 30s to their 70s.  The recent exit of John McCallum could be seen as part of the passing of the old brigade.  That’s not to say that some of the older ministers such as Mark Garneau and Ralph Goodale are not doing a good job (unless you’re a Conservative), but they are balanced by an age-diverse group of other ministers. And for that, whether you are young or old, we should be thankful.