by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Joe Biden, who has spent time of late fending off remarks about his age and what some see as his diminishing political prowess, added one more digit to those on-going concerns today as he turned seventy-seven. Should the former senator and vice-president somehow navigate the forest of doubt that has sprung up around his late-in-life political effort and manage to get elected next year, he will turn seventy-eight a mere two weeks after that election - the oldest person, by far, to ever assume the U.S. presidency.
I remember clearly the first time I ever heard of Joe Biden. I was a young lieutenant with the Army serving on Okinawa. One morning in December of 1972 while in our unit's orderly room, I picked up a copy of our "local" newspaper, "The Stars and Stripes - Pacific Edition." There I encountered an article detailing a car wreck that had killed the wife and daughter of the young senator-elect from Delaware, a fellow named Joe Biden. Biden's two small sons had also been seriously injured in the wreck.
I remember feeling so badly for this young man, seeing how his beautiful family had been suddenly and devastatingly destroyed. One moment he had been on the brink of a stellar career in politics, and the next he was adrift in a grief that would take years to overcome.
But Biden held himself and his family together and went on to serve thirty-six years in the Senate. While serving as a senator he made two unsuccessful attempts to secure the Democratic presidential nomination - in 1988 and 2008. After losing the attempt in 2008, he signed onto Obama's presidential ticket as the vice-presidential candidate. In what many assumed would be his "last hurrah," Joe Biden served as Barack Obama's vice-president for eight years.
In 2016 Joe Biden stood aside, one suspects rather unhappily, as Hillary Clinton moved to the fore and secured the Democratic nomination. Joe was seventy-three during that election, and most thought that would be his last opportunity to be a serious candidate for president.
But now it is 2019, Joe Biden is seventy-seven, and here we go again. Centrist and corporate Democrats propped Joe up as their answer to what they saw as the social and economic outrages of the left flank of their party. All he had to do was pose quietly and wave to the crowds, much like the Queen of England, and they would do the rest. But old Joe has spent a lifetime listening to himself talk, and being quiet was not in his nature, nor was it an option. And the more he talked, the more apparent it became that Joe Biden, at his core, is a very old man who slips calmly in an out of times past.
This week he has been tittering about his fear that marijuana might be a "gateway" drug, even though public opinion is swinging wildly toward acceptance of pot in our modern culture - and large American corporations are gearing up to increase their fortunes with the manufacture, distribution, and sales of marijuana and marijuana products.
And it's more than just not being anchored in current times. Age is keenly connected to health. Bernie Sanders, (age 78), the only current contender for the Democratic nomination who is older than Biden, suffered a heart attack on the campaign trail a couple of weeks ago - and Donald Trump, the incumbent, (age 73), was hustled out of the White House one evening this week for a mysterious rushed trip to Walter Reed Hospital.
It would be nice to think that age doesn't play a role in our health and thought processes, but it clearly does. Joe Biden is trying repackage "age" as "experience," but his "experience" is slowing him down, and it shows.
Happy birthday, Joe. Now would be a great time to retire and enjoy life with your grandchildren. I treasure the time that I get to spend with mine.
Citizen Journalist
Joe Biden, who has spent time of late fending off remarks about his age and what some see as his diminishing political prowess, added one more digit to those on-going concerns today as he turned seventy-seven. Should the former senator and vice-president somehow navigate the forest of doubt that has sprung up around his late-in-life political effort and manage to get elected next year, he will turn seventy-eight a mere two weeks after that election - the oldest person, by far, to ever assume the U.S. presidency.
I remember clearly the first time I ever heard of Joe Biden. I was a young lieutenant with the Army serving on Okinawa. One morning in December of 1972 while in our unit's orderly room, I picked up a copy of our "local" newspaper, "The Stars and Stripes - Pacific Edition." There I encountered an article detailing a car wreck that had killed the wife and daughter of the young senator-elect from Delaware, a fellow named Joe Biden. Biden's two small sons had also been seriously injured in the wreck.
I remember feeling so badly for this young man, seeing how his beautiful family had been suddenly and devastatingly destroyed. One moment he had been on the brink of a stellar career in politics, and the next he was adrift in a grief that would take years to overcome.
But Biden held himself and his family together and went on to serve thirty-six years in the Senate. While serving as a senator he made two unsuccessful attempts to secure the Democratic presidential nomination - in 1988 and 2008. After losing the attempt in 2008, he signed onto Obama's presidential ticket as the vice-presidential candidate. In what many assumed would be his "last hurrah," Joe Biden served as Barack Obama's vice-president for eight years.
In 2016 Joe Biden stood aside, one suspects rather unhappily, as Hillary Clinton moved to the fore and secured the Democratic nomination. Joe was seventy-three during that election, and most thought that would be his last opportunity to be a serious candidate for president.
But now it is 2019, Joe Biden is seventy-seven, and here we go again. Centrist and corporate Democrats propped Joe up as their answer to what they saw as the social and economic outrages of the left flank of their party. All he had to do was pose quietly and wave to the crowds, much like the Queen of England, and they would do the rest. But old Joe has spent a lifetime listening to himself talk, and being quiet was not in his nature, nor was it an option. And the more he talked, the more apparent it became that Joe Biden, at his core, is a very old man who slips calmly in an out of times past.
This week he has been tittering about his fear that marijuana might be a "gateway" drug, even though public opinion is swinging wildly toward acceptance of pot in our modern culture - and large American corporations are gearing up to increase their fortunes with the manufacture, distribution, and sales of marijuana and marijuana products.
And it's more than just not being anchored in current times. Age is keenly connected to health. Bernie Sanders, (age 78), the only current contender for the Democratic nomination who is older than Biden, suffered a heart attack on the campaign trail a couple of weeks ago - and Donald Trump, the incumbent, (age 73), was hustled out of the White House one evening this week for a mysterious rushed trip to Walter Reed Hospital.
It would be nice to think that age doesn't play a role in our health and thought processes, but it clearly does. Joe Biden is trying repackage "age" as "experience," but his "experience" is slowing him down, and it shows.
Happy birthday, Joe. Now would be a great time to retire and enjoy life with your grandchildren. I treasure the time that I get to spend with mine.
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