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erronis

(17,156 posts)
Tue Dec 24, 2024, 05:23 PM 15 hrs ago

It's The Gerontocracy, Stupid -- Tom Sullivan

https://digbysblog.net/2024/12/24/its-the-gerontocracy-stupid/

But it’s not just about mental acuity

I’ve been on a rolling rant lately about the age of Democrats in top leadership. I’m not the only one concerned about the gerontocracy. Charlie Sykes comments on the disappearance of Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), 81, who seems to have vanished from Congress in July.

“Since early September, my health challenges have progressed making frequent travel to Washington both difficult and unpredictable,” Granger said in a statement to Axios this week. She’s now in an assisted living facility. Her son told reporters she’s having “dementia issues.”

Sykes writes:

Once again, the moral questions of America’s political gerontocracy reveal themselves. This is an especially sensitive subject, because so many of us have loved ones—parents, grandparents, siblings—who are in cognitive decline. They deserve our consideration, compassion, and honesty. That’s also true for members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, and presidents. But the stakes there are much higher, and in those cases, sometimes compassion means being truthful about when it’s time to move on.

Sykes mentions Joe Biden’s decline. And Senator Dianne Feinstein and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who both died in office.

“For much of this year, our politics has been dominated by octogenarians, including Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Grassley (who, at the age of 91, is actually a nonagenarian),” Sykes muses. “But Joe Biden’s decision to run for reelection at the age of 80 was the strongest case against the gerontocracy.”

...


6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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It's The Gerontocracy, Stupid -- Tom Sullivan (Original Post) erronis 15 hrs ago OP
Rapist Dementia? yankee87 15 hrs ago #1
The Rs are recruiting KT2000 14 hrs ago #2
So Biden is too old, but Donnie isn't?? Blue_Tires 14 hrs ago #3
The media were flooded with "He's too old and demented" until Kamala was nominated. Then, no more issue. usonian 12 hrs ago #4
Yep! mahina 11 hrs ago #6
I don't give a rat's if they are old or young, I care how effective they are, and where their values lie. mahina 11 hrs ago #5

yankee87

(2,380 posts)
1. Rapist Dementia?
Tue Dec 24, 2024, 05:26 PM
15 hrs ago

N mention of the rapist having dementia. More sane washing of the rapist.

KT2000

(20,948 posts)
2. The Rs are recruiting
Tue Dec 24, 2024, 05:55 PM
14 hrs ago

younger people. They let them bellow for the cameras - no matter how nuts.

The Ds are keeping the power with the older folks and are the ones shown on TV, except for MSNBC. Not a good look for bringing younger voters on board.

usonian

(14,585 posts)
4. The media were flooded with "He's too old and demented" until Kamala was nominated. Then, no more issue.
Tue Dec 24, 2024, 07:44 PM
12 hrs ago


Merry and blessed ✝️Christmas and Chanukah ✡️ and fuck every hypocritical magat and kissass media participant to hell.

mahina

(19,042 posts)
5. I don't give a rat's if they are old or young, I care how effective they are, and where their values lie.
Tue Dec 24, 2024, 08:41 PM
11 hrs ago

I care about their integrity. Kay Granger is a different fish.

I understand that we are blessed not to be captive to the captives on the right. I understand that we are blessed to have a whole raft of civil servants worthy of the name, and I really do understand that the work is immeasurably harder on every level than it was when they signed up. It is no fun being in the minority but this shit sandwich is a whole new level of nasty, and I am thankful beyond words that they stay.

We are being divided on race, gender, age, every possible way, but we shouldn't help with that task. It is so obvious sometimes too.

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