July 28, 2006
McGovern Creates Council Of Elders
Moving on the Gannett News Service...
McGovern organizes elders' council to offer adviceBy CHUCK RAASCH GNS Political Writer WASHINGTON - Saying Americans should listen more to their elders, former South Dakota Sen. George McGovern is forming a bipartisan council of seniors to offer advice on issues facing the country.
McGovern, 84, said his ``Council of Elders'' includes ex-senators and members of Congress, as well as professors, activists, ex-diplomats and former union officials. As of Friday, about three dozen people had signed on, and they span the ideological spectrum - from conservatives Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., who is retiring from Congress, and ex-Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming to liberal ex-Sens. Thomas Eagleton of Missouri and John Culver of Iowa. Eagleton was briefly McGovern's vice presidential running mate in 1972 before it was disclosed Eagleton had undergone treatment for depression and exhaustion.
McGovern's Council of Elders will also include former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, who served during the Vietnam War, and former Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall, who served under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.
Civil rights activist and current Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., has also agreed to join, McGovern said, as has feminist Gloria Steinem; retired Springfield, Mo., banker and author Todd Parnell; former United Autoworkers President Douglas Fraser; and Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman.
Posted at 03:21 PM
Comments
Finally! A group of rich old white guys to finally show us how a country is run. It's about time too!
Craig Leslie | 07.28.06 07:01 PM
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If the group includes Alan Simpson and Henry Hyde it is not a council of wise men. Age does not bestow wisdom. People who are wise may get old. That works for McGovern but not for everyone. Morally bankrupt individuals such as Hyde and Simpson do not get better with age. Same goes for McNamara.
Bob Reynolds | 07.29.06 01:35 PM
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too lax, too little, to late
jd sherlock | 07.29.06 03:46 PM
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How doesone sign up for this? I am nearly 77, an elected official due to retire this January, and very opinionated on nearly everything.
Shirley Bianchi | 07.29.06 04:17 PM
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Act upon this senior moment: McGovern for President!
Victor Anderson | 07.29.06 07:30 PM
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Awesome!
I have been missing wiser minds and seasoned voices in US discourse and policy making.
Isn't it odd that the individuals who most need this council are the least likely to accept it? I'm a 38 year old Oregon gal who is really looking forward to this; but, will "they" listen?
Sincere Thanks
Angela Lynn | 07.30.06 05:11 AM
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What a great idea. McGovern is a true elder statesman, always doing something interesting, always serving his country.
Craig | 07.30.06 09:27 AM
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Great idea - in the tradition of wise societies of the past.
Let us know if us old but wise ordinary people can contribute.
Carol Simonet | 07.30.06 09:47 AM
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Although those listed above provided us in their day with some less-than-statesmanlike moments (McGovern cutting Eagleton loose after declaring that he was behind his embattled running-mate "1,000 percent"; McNamara selling us the Vietnam War, to name two), they're right about this. We do need to listen more to our elders. A lot more. The upstarts in government, policy-making, the media, etc., today are, for the most part, not only loud, mean-spirited and otherwise self-serving, but often, as dumb as dirt. What they lack in knowledge and understanding is matched only by their unwillingness to learn and reconsider. Give me someone who has acknowledged and learned from past mistakes any day. The Democrats, for instance, could (and probably will) do a lot worse than Gary Hart come 2008.
charlie reina | 07.30.06 11:26 AM
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Looks pretty stacked against any progressive thought. Most of the people signing up have old issues to cover up.
Ruth Mills | 07.30.06 12:28 PM
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I'll be 73 in 29 days. Does that qualify as an elder? It seems all these Councils of Elders have had money successes but political failures. What they need to council them is someone that has had to live under the political decisions they have made. Most of them with the exception of McGovern and Udall are pitiful. Simpson is purely a Republican apologist, Hyde is purely a hypocrite and McNamara a war criminal for his absolute failure handling the Vietnam war. I'm available. You have my e-mail address.
nellieh | 07.30.06 01:03 PM
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The only thing I want to hear out of Robert McNamara is a cry of shame and the sound of his neck snapping, after a public hangman trips the chute as he is being executed for war crimes.
Christopher Walker | 07.30.06 03:25 PM
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Everyday I hope that there will be spoken voices of reason,principle and sensitivity. Alas, there is little of this issued by our politicians. Even the opposition party- Democrats, are often without principle and courage. Instead most politicians seem to be immersed in punditry and fund raising. The polls are followed as though they were the only guiding force. These are scary times. This country is being lost along with its Constitution. There are so few willing to challenge this horrible State of fear that our President and his gang have waved continuously in their effort to hide their efforts to withdraw the individual rights promised in the U.S. Constitution. Also jointly this period has allowed them to make a whole lot of money for their friends. Thus I am overjoyed to hear your voices and the discussion of what we may do to prevent all the thousands of deaths thatr have occured in the name of the 'war on terrorism", and the preservation of our rights.
Barry De Jasu | 07.30.06 04:21 PM
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It is good to know that someone with the moral leadership of Sen. George McGovern would take the initiative to create the Council of Elders. Our national leadership void has contributed more to destroying the prestige of the United States in the eyes of the world. We are a bankrupt nation, morally and financially.
After the death of her mother, a friend of mine said that what she missed about not having her mother around was that there was no one to call on Thanksgiving to ask "How long do you cook the turkey?"
We need the advice, counsel and wisdom of our Elder Statemen and McGovern's proposal is long overdue.
If only George W. Bush could have someone to call and ask, "How long do you cook the turkey?"
Best wishes and Godspeed...
Richard Barnes | 07.31.06 06:28 PM
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I've though about the need for a council of elders before, but was really thinking along the lines of Bill Moyers, Alan Alda, Jimmy Carter, Walter Cronkite, Bill Mahr, et cetera. A bunch of folks not afraid to tell us the truth.
John | 08.04.06 02:36 AM
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