Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly, who edged out New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) for a top Democratic post in December before stepping down, died from esophageal cancer on Wednesday, becoming the third Democrat to die in office this term.

The late congressman made headlines in December when, with support from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, he defeated AOC to lead the House Oversight Committee, despite reportedly violating stock trading laws, according to Raw Story. AOC would have been the youngest Democrat to chair a House committee at 35 years old.

  • inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    These assholes are so scared of losing power and corporate money they’re willing to drop fucking dead on the floor of Congress rather than let the new generation take over.

    Fuck these boomer assholes.

    • TimmyDeanSausage @lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      This will be the legacy of the boomers. They lucked into massive wealth, closed the door behind them, and made sure we had to pry the reigns of societal control from their cold, dead hands. I feel for all the boomers that never escaped poverty and will still be dragged through history with the greediest generation on record to date.

  • zebidiah@lemmy.ca
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    7 days ago

    Schumer, pelosi, Ginsburg, and all the other fossils who refuse to retire until they fucking die are just as responsible as the orange piece of shit is for the current state of amerikkka

    • Curious Canid@lemmy.ca
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      7 days ago

      No, they are not. False equivalence just takes the focus off the people who really are responsible. Trump, his enablers, and his supporters created this disaster.

      A lot of useless Democrats failed to stand up and try to stop it. They have much to answer for, but they are in a different category.

      • zbyte64@awful.systems
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        7 days ago

        It was a system of checks and balances, but the Democrats went along with consolidating power. So while yes, they aren’t the direct cause, they were the adults in the room and they failed in that responsibility.

  • BigMacHole@lemm.ee
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    7 days ago

    This is SO BAD! There’s only SO MANY OLD WHITE GUYS WITH CANCER the Democrats can Promote before GIVING UP and Conceding EVERY SINGLE ELECTION to the Republicans!

  • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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    8 days ago

    Hilarious … the only way to beat the old Democratic party is to wait for them to die

      • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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        7 days ago

        The problem isn’t that they’re old. The problem is that seniority trumps everything else. He was worse for the position, but he got it because he had seniority.

        He wasn’t bad because he was old, he was just worse and got it because he was old.

      • gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        Yeah, age isn’t so much the issue when we have decent older people like Bernie Sanders and younger douchebags like Josh Gottheimer running around, the problem is that newly elected Democratic party members have all been told that they need to vote for the people who have been in DC the longest and one day eventually it will be their turn

        That would be bad enough on its own, but coupled with the destruction of any kind of campaign finance regulations making it a lot easier for moderate Democratic party members to secretly work work with rich donors and Republicans to make sure progressives don’t stay in DC for long, we’ve ended up with a senior group of Democratic lawmakers who have shitty policies their voters hate and only know how to solve their problems through hippie punching

      • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        8 days ago

        No, just most of them, including almost all of the ones with the most power.

        Name two people under 70 who’s amongst the 10 highest ranking in the party leadership.

        I’ll even give you Hakeem Jeffries for free so you only have to find one.

      • Pollo_Jack@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        Even conservative think tanks agree, universal healthcare AT WORST would cover every American and cost the same as we are currently paying.

        So, we pay the same to not cover every American or we pay the same to cover every American. Which is the good policy choice?

    • lmmarsano@lemmynsfw.com
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      7 days ago

      I don’t know, guys. Hatshepsut has a proven track record of breaking political barriers for females, leading recovery from a foreign occupation into prosperity, and commanding prolific building projects including some masterpieces of ancient architecture: she delivers. What has AOC done? Dismissing all that accomplishment would be a mistake.

  • ExtantHuman@lemm.ee
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    8 days ago

    So she’ll be replacing him, right?!

    Or did Democrats just shit themselves in the for again and that seat will now remain empty like they did with that cryptkeeper lady from California who wasn’t even different enough to go to Congress and do her job

    • BigFig@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      They will just hand it to the guy he named in his place “temporarily” and refuse to have new committee elections

      • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
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        8 days ago

        It would be so goddamn funny and on brand if the democratic establishment’s plan to keep AOC out of that committee chair backfires so hard that she becomes president or 360 no scopes Schumer.

          • grue@lemmy.world
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            7 days ago

            Because I don’t think you’re allowed to be a Senator and the President at the same time. Although I can’t remember which part of the Constitution says that, so maybe it’s one of those things that’s a norm instead of a rule?

  • Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee
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    8 days ago

    Stay classy, telling a reporter to “kill yourself” for factually reporting on Connolly publicly announcing his cancer diagnosis.

    Why does the party value fealty and seniority so implicitly? There’s a place for the ‘elder statesman’ voice to share institutional wisdom and tribal knowledge, but this man cannot seriously have had more vigor and energy to pour into leadership than someone under half his age…

  • carlossurf@lemmy.ca
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    8 days ago

    Whats with these old fucks not stepping down and enjoying what little they have left of their lives. Same with biden

    • Hanrahan@slrpnk.net
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      7 days ago

      Becase they then become like his, iirrelevant, and its too much to think about for them.

    • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      They’re literally unable to do anything else except remain in their protected little cocoons arguing with each other while people fawn over them and pay them for their favor.

      They’re like the minor peerage of old. All trying to hang on to their name and title to keep their ego afloat.

    • rumba@lemmy.zip
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      8 days ago

      He was somewhat apprehensive about his first term; he just didn’t want Trump to get in.

      When he came back for round two, he seemed to have unfinished business tho

    • leadore@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      It’s the addiction of power. Once someone has acquired it, they can’t give it up. Only exceptional people have the strength to resist and step down. Take Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had been teetering on the line between this world and the next for years, if she had retired while Obama was president, the SCOTUS wouldn’t be so out of balance now. But she just couldn’t do it.

      • carlossurf@lemmy.ca
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        6 days ago

        Bernie has passed the baton to aoc, bernie supporters want him to run, and hes fighting for a good cause to change a corrupt system completely different then the old fucks clinging to power

      • Cenzorrll@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        I haven’t seen much asking for Bernie. Lots of praising Bernie for doing what’s right and we should have had him in 2016, but I see a lot more asking for AOC.

      • keegomatic@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        Nothing is black and white. Bernie may be a geezer, but he has consistently good policy positions for his entire career, and has more integrity than the rest of the senate combined.

    • Neuromorph@lemm.ee
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      7 days ago

      congressional healthcare is insane!!! why give that up in the years you need it the most!!!

  • Eugene V. Debs' Ghost@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    8 days ago

    So we’ll have someone with fresh ideas on how to stop Trump now, right?

    Who will below retirement age, and support major refreshment of polices and politicians, right?

    And actually do something this time, instead of thinking out loud and acting like that is the same thing as doing something, right?

    …Right?

  • MehBlah@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Geriatric democrats trying to keep their grip on their right wing agenda.