Belated congratulations are in order...

... to U.S. Representative John Dingell (D-MI), who was first sworn into office on February 11, 1955.

To put that into perspective, Mr. Dingell has been "ruling" over some of the peasants in Michigan since two years before the iconic '57 Chevy was the cool new car on the block. Does anybody really think he has any clue about what it's like to be an ordinary peasant today?

Our system of government was never designed to include lifelong monarchs in the House and Senate who have never held employment outside of the public sector, and who too often grow far too powerful for the country's welfare by hijacking the government purse-strings for decades for their own personal gain, both political and monetary. For example, try touring West Virginia sometime and counting the public projects named after Sen. Robert Byrd. Bring a lunch; you'll be there for awhile.

Some voters just don't seem to understand the vital importance of limiting the power and influence of any one individual because of this very reason, so today we find ourselves burdened with "rulers" such as Dingell and Byrd, along with other lifers such as Ted Kennedy and John Conyers, who stubbornly refuse to give up any of their precious power and "authority" right up until they die in office, as is rumored to be happening to Sen. Kennedy right now and will surely happen to Sen. Byrd before long.

We suppose the aides for these men will soon begin largely taking over their work in a blatantly unconstitutional manner, as was long rumored to be taking place when Sen. Strom Thurmond was still in office at age 100.

Term limits aren't the answer; people should be free to run for office as much as they wish. It's up to an informed populace to enforce discipline on their elected leadership.

Well, it's a nice idea, in any event.