In politics, nowadays, it feels like has been less about the good of the people and more about the good Wikipedia page. Not to be ageist, but what would make someone in any high-stress field want to work until their final days, let alone at all? And I imagine being the leader of the free world can be an itsy bit stressful (we saw how Barack Obama went from a youthful, dark Caesar cut with waves to a Just For Men ad in the making).
As we sit on the dawn of another Donald Trump presidency, and more than likely an even worse one, while white supremacy is absolutely to blame, as well as fraud and just all-around aintsh*tness, I think Joe Biden and Ruth Bader Ginsburg played a much more pivotal role in the decline of democracy, especially Biden than people realize.
Ginsburg is first on the docket of ‘you should’ve rested on the seventh day.’ Her greatness was not just cemented by her being the first female Supreme Court Justice—speaking of Wikipedia, Ginsburg could not have a bat mitzvah because the Orthodox Jewish Synagogue did not allow female humans to read from the Torah. I’m assuming this was added because this was some sort of inspirational story about the foundation and laying the groundwork for her feminism and fight for gender equality. What a shame that religious zealotism still won in the end because of her pride. In 2013 and 2014, the public, as well as legal scholars, pleaded with Ginsburg to leave the bench while Obama and a Democratic-controlled Senate could appoint her replacement. She was 80 and 81 in 2013 and 2014 respectively, she had already survived cancer, four previous times. Her death, after having cancer five times, ushered in a darkness and fizzled any hopes that the Supreme Court would at least be a checks and balances for the White House.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: I'll retire "when it's time" https://t.co/Ecp431279x | AP Photo pic.twitter.com/mIDkULjg2S
— POLITICO (@politico) October 3, 2016
Just 39 days after she died in September 2020, the Trump administration appointed Amy Coney Barrett, you know, the one who perjured herself and changed her abortion stance after her confirmation.
Ahh, yes, Supreme Court Justices lying; that seems…just.
She was 80. Why the f*ck are you still at work?
Now I get it, her husband died, and she was probably lonely, but that’s what they make gardens and cats for; trust me, they work. Her attempt to wait for Hillary to then retire clearly did not work out well for us, but luckily for her, she died before it ever would affect her.
Joseph Robinette Biden is so old, that he has a girl’s middle name that was probably a boy’s name back when he was born. Again, not to be ageist but Joe is in his 80s. You know what you should be doing in your 80s? You should be playing board games, you should be playing Risk and Battleship, and not worrying about high risks of terrorism. Biden has always had a stutter that can easily be confused with cognitive decline, but it does not mean that at 81, he’s as sharp as a tack. At the age that most people have been in retirement for 15 years, he is still worried about the Russians. Leave that stress to them, kids, Joe. Listen, I actively believe that people should work until their final day if they genuinely choose to do that, but within reason. There is a strong case to be made about how being active and having a social life is beneficial to older people, but being the president isn’t some job, but this isn’t like the cool salt and pepper grand zaddy from marketing who loves a good drink and a great joke, or Ted, from accounting who’s just great with numbers and really loves what he does. Naw, this is the PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Yet, we initially had to choose between two people who probably won’t be around for another 5-10 years, making decisions that will affect people for another 50 years.
These are the policymakers for the environment who won’t ever have to worry about running out of water. These are the policymakers for women’s rights whose daughters are all grown up and too rich to make mistakes that people know about. These are the policymakers for the economy who have been rich for 80 percent, if not all, of their lives.
Not voting for Joe Biden is not going to hurt him. If he loses he’ll probably go do what 80 something year old white men have always done. Retire and ride it out in white man-run America.
— Booker G. Washington (@BookerGWash) May 2, 2024
Make America Great Again won’t hurt him either way.
Will it hurt you?
Biden’s age came into question back in 2020 when he ran for his first term. In order to quell any concerns about his age, Joe told people that he would not be seeking a second term, and people lined right up to see him defeat Trump, who is only three years younger and will be older than Joseph was when he started this current term. In 2020, his age was called into question, but in 2024, it was also his cognition. Several egregious media gaffes and an abysmal debate showed later that Democrats were left struggling to find a replacement. While many people happily stood behind Kamala, not everyone was caught in the fever of a rushed campaign with a presidential hopeful who pulled out of the race before primaries even began because of a lack of support.
This is absolutely not a “put old people out to pasture” conversation, but age limits exist for a reason. Can a 21-year-old effectively be the president? I mean, if he can die for his country, he can at least lead it, right?
However, that’s not how that works, and there is a reason that the age starts at 35, and not just because the signers of the Declaration of Independence had an average life span of 66, either. A new adult is not likely to be the best leader, and that is a generally an agreed upon consensus, but an old adult, who’s experiencing the natural atrophy that comes with age, and which should all be fortunate enough to receive the pain of, is an inevitable part of life.
The idea of term limits has floated around for quite some time. People have a hard time retiring from building their legacy, so hard of a time, that they’ll let the world crumble instead.
