by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
The Constitution of the United States sets a minimum age requirement to be President, thirty-five, but, rather unbelievably, the group of privileged white men who wrote the document that provides for the political structure of our country, apparently saw no need to set a maximum age for the most important elected office in the land.
The seriousness of that error, or oversight, has never been more apparent than it is right now. At present we have a 73-year-old in the White House whose erratic behavior and nonsensical statements increase on an almost hourly basis - and that 73-year-old is preparing to run for another full term. If he gets elected to a second term and manages to survive it, Trump would be 78-years-old when he would finally be forced, again by provisions of the U.S. Constitution, to surrender his office.
We all know people who have died natural and not very surprising deaths before the age of seventy-eight. Donald Trump is the most out-of-shape individual to hold the presidency in more than a century. He gets his "exercise" by riding around in a golf cart, and he gorges on fast food. Donnie Johnnie clearly does not meet anyone's definition of a healthy individual.
But Trump's age will become a vulnerability only if the Democratic Party chooses to emphasize his physical and mental deterioration, something they could easily achieve by nominating a ticket headed by a young dynamic individual, someone who could dance rings around the worn-out and befuddled Trump. If there was ever a golden opportunity to highlight Trump's limited mental and physical abilities, this would be it.
But Democrats, being Democrats, are doing everything within their collective power to throw their remarkable advantage in the upcoming race onto the trash heap. Before even one primary vote has been cast, the press and the "regulars" of the Democratic Party have assured us that the frontrunners are - and presumably will continue to be - Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren.
Biden is currently seventy-six, will turn seventy-eight two weeks after the 2020 election, and, if by the grace of God he managed to get elected and serve two full terms - he would be eight-six when he left office. And old Joe, a "corporate" Democrat who is being artfully supported by elected Democrats and those claiming "superdelegate" status, is already cranking out a regular stream of gaffes and errors that will all come back to bite him - and his party - in a tough campaign.
Bernie Sanders, who is more focused and alert than Joe Biden, is also older than the former Vice President. Bernie turned seventy-eight earlier this month. He would be seventy-nine before Election Day, and turn eighty during his first year in office. Bernie would be eighty-seven if he managed to survive two full terms.
Suddenly Donald John Trump isn't looking so old, is he? Suddenly Trump is the candidate with the age advantage.
And even Elizabeth Warren, the youngest of the three Democratic "frontrunners" is already seventy - which is not nearly as old as Nancy Pelosi's seventy-nine, but she is old nonetheless, too damned old to be President of the United States.
Or, to look at it from another perspective, Pete Buttigieg, the youngest Democratic candidate turned thirty-seven last January. He just barely meets the minimum age that the Constitution demands . On the day Pete was born, Biden and Bernie were already old enough to run for President, and Elizabeth Warren almost was.
The Democrats are standing on the precipice of a generational divide. The older ones are clinging tenaciously to power while the young challengers shout to the winds about change, and idealism, and things that stirred emotions in the older candidates thirty years ago.
If the Democrats can't come up with a stark contrast to Donald Trump - in energy and ideas - in 2020, then we might as well turn the White House into a golf resort - or a rest home. Perhaps we could rename it "Shady Pines!"
The opportunity for change will have been wasted - needlessly.
Shuffleboard, anyone?
Citizen Journalist
The Constitution of the United States sets a minimum age requirement to be President, thirty-five, but, rather unbelievably, the group of privileged white men who wrote the document that provides for the political structure of our country, apparently saw no need to set a maximum age for the most important elected office in the land.
The seriousness of that error, or oversight, has never been more apparent than it is right now. At present we have a 73-year-old in the White House whose erratic behavior and nonsensical statements increase on an almost hourly basis - and that 73-year-old is preparing to run for another full term. If he gets elected to a second term and manages to survive it, Trump would be 78-years-old when he would finally be forced, again by provisions of the U.S. Constitution, to surrender his office.
We all know people who have died natural and not very surprising deaths before the age of seventy-eight. Donald Trump is the most out-of-shape individual to hold the presidency in more than a century. He gets his "exercise" by riding around in a golf cart, and he gorges on fast food. Donnie Johnnie clearly does not meet anyone's definition of a healthy individual.
But Trump's age will become a vulnerability only if the Democratic Party chooses to emphasize his physical and mental deterioration, something they could easily achieve by nominating a ticket headed by a young dynamic individual, someone who could dance rings around the worn-out and befuddled Trump. If there was ever a golden opportunity to highlight Trump's limited mental and physical abilities, this would be it.
But Democrats, being Democrats, are doing everything within their collective power to throw their remarkable advantage in the upcoming race onto the trash heap. Before even one primary vote has been cast, the press and the "regulars" of the Democratic Party have assured us that the frontrunners are - and presumably will continue to be - Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren.
Biden is currently seventy-six, will turn seventy-eight two weeks after the 2020 election, and, if by the grace of God he managed to get elected and serve two full terms - he would be eight-six when he left office. And old Joe, a "corporate" Democrat who is being artfully supported by elected Democrats and those claiming "superdelegate" status, is already cranking out a regular stream of gaffes and errors that will all come back to bite him - and his party - in a tough campaign.
Bernie Sanders, who is more focused and alert than Joe Biden, is also older than the former Vice President. Bernie turned seventy-eight earlier this month. He would be seventy-nine before Election Day, and turn eighty during his first year in office. Bernie would be eighty-seven if he managed to survive two full terms.
Suddenly Donald John Trump isn't looking so old, is he? Suddenly Trump is the candidate with the age advantage.
And even Elizabeth Warren, the youngest of the three Democratic "frontrunners" is already seventy - which is not nearly as old as Nancy Pelosi's seventy-nine, but she is old nonetheless, too damned old to be President of the United States.
Or, to look at it from another perspective, Pete Buttigieg, the youngest Democratic candidate turned thirty-seven last January. He just barely meets the minimum age that the Constitution demands . On the day Pete was born, Biden and Bernie were already old enough to run for President, and Elizabeth Warren almost was.
The Democrats are standing on the precipice of a generational divide. The older ones are clinging tenaciously to power while the young challengers shout to the winds about change, and idealism, and things that stirred emotions in the older candidates thirty years ago.
If the Democrats can't come up with a stark contrast to Donald Trump - in energy and ideas - in 2020, then we might as well turn the White House into a golf resort - or a rest home. Perhaps we could rename it "Shady Pines!"
The opportunity for change will have been wasted - needlessly.
Shuffleboard, anyone?
1 comment:
The most out-of-shape president in more than a century would be FDR who died at the age of 63. There's also Wilson who was incapacitated for his final two years. Harding died at age 57 with several maladies. JFK lived through intense pain and chronic health issues.
I didn't support Trump, but I'm tired of the bias.
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