"I read the news today, oh boyAbout a lucky man who made the gradeAnd though the news was rather sad. . ."
The next line in the Beatle song is "well I just had to laugh." I'm not laughing.
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| Frozen again. |
This is an alarm bell. We can deal with it.
I bring to today's post my perspective as a Financial Advisor, who sometimes included life insurance in financial plans for clients. Life insurance agents acknowledge aging and death. They don't hide from it. They provide a solution to its financial consequences. People feel better when they confront and solve unpleasant problems.
Mitch McConnell froze again. Part of the scene is the care of staff people who were standing beside him. McConnell is propped up by staff people who know full well that the boss is failing.
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| One minute YouTube video |
One heart arrhythmia event, one stumble, one frozen moment like the one McConnell had, and all of a sudden voters are choosing between dangerously feeble vs. crazy. Democrats have painted themselves into a corner. Governors Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, Jared Polis, and Gavin Newsom are holding back. A half dozen senators who ran in 2020 are staying quiet. Democrats are conceding the nomination to Biden. I think that is a mistake, but since they are taking that approach, let's be smart about it. Plan B means elevating Kamala Harris, and doing so now.
Some of this needs to be done with physical theater. This will inevitably diminish Biden, and pundits will comment on it. Harris cannot stay near-invisible and she cannot remain in the public mind behind and two steps to the left of Biden, the usual VP position. This isn't the usual situation. Harris stepping in is not a remote, theoretical possibility. Harris taking over is plausible, even likely.
Kamala Harris is a perfectly competent campaigner. I watched her. She was as good as everyone else in 2020. Better at campaigning than Biden, by far. She lost in 2020 because she was little known and she was one of 20, lost in the scrum. She can move an audience.
Give Kamala Harris some visibility. Give her speaking parts where she announces things that presidents might usually announce. Biden should probably have some good reason not to be there when she does this, for example schedule him doing something else at the same time. Will that make Biden look weak? Yes, probably. But it will also show that he wisely planned for continuity. Airplanes have co-pilots. It isn't an insult to the pilot. It communicates safety and competence for the airline. Wouldn't Kamala Harris be doing some of Biden's job? Darned right she would be. Good for him. Good for her. Good for the USA.
Also put Harris in charge of some do-able policy initiative in the foreign policy sphere, where she won't need the cooperation of Republicans. She won't get cooperation, so don't saddle her with frustration and failure. Let her confront China on trade. And Russia on Ukraine. Let her announce whatever oil deals we make with Middle East petro-states.
Nikki Haley is saying something bold, edgy, and true. She is positing the death or incapacity in office of Biden. Democrats pretend to be shocked at the impertinence. They should not be. They should embrace it. Life insurance agents do it and turn it into a business opportunity.
Whenever I mention Biden's frailty in this blog I get a burst of objections from Democratic activists. Don't say it, they comment. Some call me ageist. Some call me a closet Republican stabbing Biden in the back. One anonymous woman says I am an angry dry alcoholic with a mean streak that is showing through. Some say that if Democrats don't talk about it, swing voters won't notice. Yes they will. They do.
I see Mitch McConnell's events as a preview and a gift to Democrats. Today Mitch. Tomorrow or soon, Biden. Acknowledge reality. There is no shame in getting old. The shame is in pretending it doesn't happen and not planning for it. Show that Kamala Harris is a co-pilot ready to take over.
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26 comments:
The point is your blatant ageism and excessive negativity. Apparently you are not capable of understanding these concepts.
Ageism: "Prejudice or discrimination based on the grounds of a person's age."
Did you sell term life insurance? Whole life is considered a rip off. You really should call yourself a former financial products salesperson.
There is a mandatory retirement age for naval ship captains. There should be something similar for those who run the ship of state. The war babies and baby boomers have done enough damage.
Good idea, Peter, AS LONG AS JOE BIDEN approves, obviously. I’m not sure he thinks he’s as old and weak as you do however..
By the way, Joe is, for all practical purposes, younger than trump.
Thank you, Peter, for putting so clearly what I've been saying for the best part of a year now, and getting excoriated for pointing out that The President is in fact, OLD, and while for his age in apparently good health, which can change in the blink of an eye. Another fall on the stairs on Air Force One? What if he trips coming out and rolls down the entire staircase, perhaps on a trip to meet one of our Allies ? Point is, denying what is apparent to anybody not in denial is counter productive, and endangers our National Security. I've felt for a long time now that President Bidens treatment of his VP is shameful, and had President Obama treated Biden the way he has sidelined Kamala Harris, he in all likelihood would never have been elected. As it is, I'm not aware that he ever publicly thanked the Black electorate of South Carolina for resurrecting his dead in the water Campaign in 2015/16.
I couldn't help but notice how quickly "Anonymous" showed up to screech about your age ism yada, yada, again without the courage to even post a false name, much less their own. I suspect "anonymous", at keast this one, is a closeted Trumper, Cowardice is one if yheir hallmarks.
Yes, Biden is a figurehead, but one who has had a distinguished career and who is trusted by the electorate.
The Biden administration has proven itself to be highly competent. It's agenda is a consensus of Progressive issues supported by the majority and that benefit millions of citizens. It's done so against the headwinds of a vicious, unprincipled Republican opposition.
The VP has been more visible recently, especially outspoken about the Dobbs catastrophe, and she is a presence at every event. I suspect this intentional, and I also bet that she will be prominent in the coming campaign.
Think 2028...or taking over after a dignified retirement in '25.
Pilots have a retirement age, usually 65 or lower, depending on the airline. Most people look forward to retirement, thinking 65 is about right...into the sunset spending money they saved over the years. Toss in some Social Security checks, and things look pretty good. At least, they hope.
Getting old isn't so bad. I'm 77 and sharp as a tack (don't ask my wife), but I find I can't do things physically like I used to. My friends agree. And we all have something wrong with our bodies. Could be anything, including body parts you never knew you had. {"Hey Doc, what does it do and is it that important? Okay, can you fix it?}
I face old age like everyone else. I deny it. Reality sucks. So, I wake up every morning thinking I made it one more day, but one day closer to the END. So, it's good and bad at the same time.
I think a lot of people look at Joe the same way. Nice guy but at that age you never know. Like I've said before, he should bow out at the Convention next August and hand it over to the delegates. Then they can decide on Harris or Galvin or maybe Tester. Someone younger to take on the Former Ass*ole. That's a winning formula.
Type “kamala harris word salad” into your favorite search engine and watch some of the videos. Harris may be able to perform a previously-practiced set piece, like when she attacked Joe Biden for being a racist during the 2020 campaign, but she is apparently incapable of operating competently as a politician in real time.
The Democrats painted themselves into a corner when they chose identity politics over competence. Now they have a president who’s too old to run, and a vice president who they can’t get rid of and who could easily lose in 2024.
If they had the best interests of the party and country at heart, both of them would step aside and open up the primary to new candidates. But it won’t happen.
Sorry, Ed, I am one of those anti-age limits people. Yes, we have to go with Biden, and I see no sign of frailty so far. McTurdle is obviously older than is Biden for being the same age, and it looks like he is probably going to retire soon (thank goodness!).
And to Peter, I like your defense of Kamala, as I see her as a competent president if she got the chance, which would only happen if she falls into the office.
I am increasingly concerned with the possibility of Robert Kennedy Jr. being a spoiler. He will run as a democrat in the primaries, but would probably switch to independent in the general. I already see several of my facebook friends supporting him. These friends are the Bernie or Bust people from 2020. (Oh yeh, and there is old Bernie, still going strong!).
Diane, have you seen the videos if the Oresudrnt falling up the stairs of Air Force One, or falling down onstage just recently ? And taken a good look at how frail he is, and the way he walks ? I'm sorry we must agree to disagree, he needs to gracefully retire and become a Senior Statesman, a role he is admirably suited for. His legacy will be the brighter if he chooses that path.
Mandatory retirement age for Oregon judges is 75, probably 5 years too old for some. Nikki is right: gerontocracy.
Just sayin’
You are right Peter. Hope is not a strategy. Look what happened with RGB on the Supreme Court. We hoped she would outlive her cancer but she died and gave Trump a vacancy. I’d she had resigned earlier we would have had an Obama appointment and a 5-4 Supreme Court now instead of 6-3. Joe is great and I will vote for him again but some people won’t. Voters should always consider the VP’s capability - so encouraging Kamala to step forward is smart.
Working in human resources one task was interviewing and surveying retiring personnel. The work product developed a set of skills and beneficial attributes for selection, hiring, and succession planning.The board of directors demanded we identify characteristics starting the process using this metric to identify middle management, line leaders and earmarks head hunters could use to fill the coming vacancies as officers, directors and line leaders retired, transferred or died.
I realize the office of POTUS is a special case. All elective offices simply require a majority of votes to assume office. In the past the GOP ran more as a corporation with heir apparent showcased and advanced. True to their brand, identified hopefuls were groomed after they came to the attention of the committee. In the days of closed-door smoke filled rooms a candidate was put forward steeped in policy and direction the party pre-approved, at the most to candidates were put forward, however we know from history this process a weakness.
The current nominating process gives us flash and glitter suitable for primetime media, not real policy credentials or successful leadership. Looking at Biden's track record with needed policy, he has more than fulfilled my expectations. That said, developing a backbench makes perfect sense to me.
Harris wasn’t an unknown in 2020 after her powerful debate broadside at Joe Biden’s expense. She faded rapidly after the opportunity that high point afforded her, and even in her home state.
The Veep was given a high-profile policy brief with foreign policy components: she was assigned to determine and assess the root causes of our immigration crisis, with Central America a focus. Crickets.
She remains best known today as a wellspring of repetitious banalities, despite occasional, wishful legacy media efforts to reframe and invigorate her image. Given Biden, they are not done trying to help.
Ed, - Biden cannot retire! Despite the current polls, Biden is mostly sure to be re-elected, and none of the other democratic candidates are tested enough to put them forward. We absolutely cannot afford to gamble on losing this election! Even if it is one of the other non-trump candidates, no republican has really sane positions on the important issues. We need to be ridin with Biden, despite the health concerns. We have had other presidents with health issues, like FDR, and Reagan with his dementia. Like FDR, Biden's mind is intact.
I have to laugh at those who criticize Democrats for playing identity politics, as if Republicans didn’t. Their White identity politics is the basis of their ‘war on woke,’ and why they get so hysterical at the prospect of Kamala Harris becoming president.
Republicans don’t say things upfront like, “We will only appoint a black woman to a Supreme Court slot.” That was the Democratic president, Joe Biden, playing identity politics in the grossest and most blatant way.
Hate to tell the ageists and ableists who cling to their prejudices and discrimination, but individuals can have many health issues of which others may not be aware. The ignorant among us have probably never heard of invisible disabilities, for example.
Abraham Lincoln suffered from major depression, a mental illness. John F. Kennedy was a sickly child and adult. He had Addison's disease, hypothyroidism and severe back pain. He used steroids and amphetamines.
I care about job performance. Joe Biden is doing a good job. Like any other president, the vice president will take over if something happens to him. THAT IS WHY WE HAVE A VICE PRESIDENT.
The sky is not falling. Some of you people need to stop obsessing and calm down. Maybe the author of this blog should retire the blog. He appears to have mental issues, which may or may not be age related.
"John F. Kennedy kept these medical struggles private," 11-22-19 at pbs.org
Men especially are uncomfortable dealing rationally and maturely with health issues, at any age. Maybe that is the problem with this particularly "old school," male-dominated blog. The attacks on Joe Biden are another example of toxic masculinity and the ills of patriarchy. Get over it. This is the 21st century.
People over a certain age are inherently incompetent, just like women and black people.
If only women, blacks and older people would stop agitating for their rights and some R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Archie Bunker for President !
So brave, throwing rocks from behind the veil of anonymity. Maybe there needs to be a new edition of Profiles In Courage.
“Kamala Harris”
🎶 Well I just had to laugh 🎶
No further comment
Yes, just exactly what does VP Harris do each day besides giggle at inappropriate times?
She has been assigned several serious jobs, and all we get in return are crickets.
When's the last time we heard from the border czar about the untenable increase in migrants and asylum seekers at the southern border?
I recall a very visible VP during the Bush administration. Cheney was everywhere, including speaking on the Sunday morning news shows.
Have to be careful with McConnell's recent issues. Those same voices fail to mention Feinstein, and Biden who both demonstrate frailty.
McConnell could easily step down from his minority leadership position and stay in office. His staff could easily continue to support efforts in the Senate, assisting whoever is selected to replace him.
Besides, there may be others who are having competency issues in the Senate and either the House or Senate, yet are not in the limelight. Too much talk about age and health issues place the focus on Biden, too.
M2, possibly fir the first time M e ever, I agree totally with what you're saying in this thread.
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