Old? OLD?? I'll tell y'all what's old!

[DFW]

Fifteen different daily sources and versions of articles, reposts and arguments about how Joe Biden is OLD..

We got through Reagan's presidency which would have been a far worse disaster had not his autopilot kicked in, parroting rehearsed lines for public consumption.

We got through two rounds of Bernie Sanders constantly ranting against "millionayahs (until he became one) " and billionayahs during presidential campaigns, distracting from vital issues like the future of the Supreme Court in 2016. Did I say vital? More like fatal, as it turned out!

We have suffered 90 year old Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley mucking up judicial procedings in the Senate, having his own senior moments, with his staff conctantly scrambling to avoid them being captured on camera (Iowa source for that, don't ask for a link!) Anyone notice how neither the Republicans nor the media seem to mind him in the slightest?

Under Joe Biden's presidency, for his few senior moments, we have been blessed with a hands-on president who is anything BUT a grandstanding self-promoter. He has been a remarkably aware-yet-laid-back leader who has the vast experience to draw on to deal with the obstacles he knew were coming.

Is he the only Democrat who could do the job? Obviously not. We have an embarrassment of riches there. Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, Gavin Newsom, Eric Swalwell, hell, I'll bet even Hillary Clinton could step in, even now, and do us proud. And that is nowhere near a complete list. But Joe Biden is doing a rather remarkable job, assuming you don't hate women or gays, and don't mind spreading the wealth around a little. Just look at the rest of the first world. There is nowhere in the EU or the UK that isn't having problems right now. Even Germany, the rock at the center of the EU, just had its courts strike down an attempt to push through a bigger decficit than was legally allowed. The coming cutbacks have already brought on strikes causing highway, rail and air travel paralysis. For a few weeks, Germany seemed like a worse version of France, with most working Germans screaming WTF? China, India and Russia have serious domestic situations, too. Biden's USA is a fool's paradise by comparison.

We have to face it that Republican opposition to a benevolent Biden presidency--maybe fueled by Kremlin funding, maybe merely fueled by a wave of mass Fox-induced stupidity, who knows?--has been the only thing that has prevented Joe Biden's (first, I hope) term in office from being one of the most effective, positive three year periods in our last hundred years. It's not the United States of Utopia, so there are, and will be, people on our side who got absolutely nothing out of the last three years. We can sympathize, we can commiserate, and we can try to help. Many of us do. We will not be successful in all cases, but with a government that has our backs, the chances are always better--and THAT never gets old.

[Ocelot II]

1. Speaking of Germany (and old people), I'm old enough to remember

Konrad Adenauer, der Alte, who stepped down at the age of 90 and was considered a competent and highly effective Chancellor for his entire time in office.

[DFW]

8. Adenauer had a far different chore, of course, but he managed to forge a link with DeGaulle

Last edited Tue Feb 13, 2024, 09:44 AM - Edit history (1)

And that is nothing short of amazing, considering where France and Germany had been just a decade before. It helped that DeGaulle spoke fluent German, hgihly unusual for a French leader at the time. Adenauer was 69 when the War ended, 73 when the Federal Republic was declared, and Bundeskanzler from then until he was 87. Trying to head a shattered nation into a fully new and different direction was a monumental task of subtle leadership. He had the advanrtage of not having the rest of the world to contend with, but leading a shattered nation obsessed with aggressive militarism away into a pacifist economic prosperity is an historic accomplishment worthy of its place in the history books. "Der Alte." "The Old Man." They don't all just play Knick Knack Paddywhack.

[sop]

2. How about Mitch?

[DFW]

3. Yes, Republicans don't like to mention his infirmities much, do they?

But I think it's only a matter of (very little) time before a serious challenge to his status as Republican leader of the Senate emerges. There are enough mean-spirited and self-promoting Republican Senators for that (not just Cruz).

Still, a wounded animal can be at its most dangerous when cornered, and McTurtle probably still has some venom left in his fangs for anyone who tries to dethrone him before he's good and ready to cede the leadership voluntarily.

[Kennah]

4. Let's not overlook ...

[DFW]

11. Thank goodnes Strom never got near the Oval Office!

Well into his nineties as a Senator, he never lost any of his voltage.

[Doc Sportello]

5. Was it really necessary to use your rant to bash Bernie?

FYI, he still is taking on the wealthy elite (despite your mocking of his accent) and it is much needed and much deserved as their wealth continues to spiral while the rest of us struggle to keep up. Your sympathy for the billionaires and Bernie bashing is duly noted.

[DFW]

9. I have neither sympathy nor enmity toward billionaires

And your ambivalence toward the presence of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barret on the Supreme Court is also noted. They bother me far more than any particular individual's net worth. Sic transit gloria mundi.

[Doc Sportello]

21. So Bernie Sanders is responsible for all that is wrong, including the SC members?

That is so obviously ridiculous that it's nt even worth rebutting. Of course you have no FACTS to back up that charge, just as you have nothing but to smear me by implying I want those members.

The rant you posted was supposed to be about Biden's age, but instead turned into a fact-challenged, personal attack on Sanders. Who, BTW has a 91 percent record in voting with Biden. You and yours have chased off most of the Sanders supporters but, in an incredibly important election year, you decide to start with this BS again. Sure let's refight 2016 again now. I'll be happy everyone from Liz Cheney to Susan Sarandon votes for Biden. But you want to make the tent smaller. Is that smart?

[Kennah]

6. The late Senator Ted Kennedy was 75 at the time of this speech

I defy Trump, at 77, to speak for 7 minutes and be even remotely as coherent and passionate.

[DFW]

10. I was there when he spoke at the Denver Convention in 2008 when Obama was nominated

He was a few months before death from his glioblastoma, and he was on fire as much as he had ever been.

[betsuni]

7. K&R

[usonian]

12. Why one older man and not the other?

Because of his Vice President.

Racism and misogyny.

Nobody younger stepped with more momentum than a stop sign.

[DFW]

14. I have always wondered (not a joke here)

Has the possibility of Kamala Harris in the Oval Office really terrified a sane republican MORE than the prospect of Dan Quayle or Mike Pence in the Oval Office terrified me?

[usonian]

16. Yes, yes, and yes.

magat phobias are projection of their own weaknesses and failures onto others.

Racism and misogyny have been used throughout history to rouse and exploit the rabble.

An African-American rescued the country from financial destruction by billionaire greed gone off the rails, and a woman was acting president for four years and 21 days. Are you proud of this? Well, it scares the crap (literally) out of nutcases who fear both, because they have been taught to hate. Carefully taught.

It's to get people to sign onto the poisonous and ultimately, self-destructive platform below:
Your fears are rational. Theirs are conditioned.

here goes:

• Government dictates what you read, your religion and your private life. Period trackers mandatory, and report to the government.

• More welfare for the rich.

• Americans pitted against each other along lines of race, color, religion, gender, sexuality, and income. Vilification of blacks, Jews, Muslims, lgbtq+ , homeless, and women of strength, with increasing violence, even murder against them.


• Private health care companies deny needed treatments to save money. (Death panels are here!)

• The wealthy pay even less in taxes.

• Every civil right is eroded by clown judges living in the 18th century rewriting the constitution.

• Worker's rights and benefits reduced in order to create greater profits for businesses.

• Safety nets removed, so that homeless, and jobless people are left to die on the streets.

• More, more, more of culture war.

• GUNS, everywhere, with no limitations or requirements. Kids get them freely.

• Minorities and women blamed for every imaginable blip.

• Support of authoritarian regimes across the globe, who eagerly imprison, "re-educate", murder and commit atrocities on others.

• Lies, hate speech and threats are welcomed on "social media" and given support by government officials.

• Medical care and prescription drug costs skyrocket.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

13. Excellent rant, my dear DFW!

At the advanced age of 90, gawd willing, you will still rant with the best.

Thank you.

[DFW]

15. Your kindness, Dear Peggy, will probably never be put to the test

Genetic pre-disposition to both cancer and heart issues has prevented most of my family on both sides from reaching the age of 80. I would be beating the odds to even make it that far, and I'll be 72 next month. Don't place any bets on me!

On the other hand, my wife beat all odds (10,000 to 1) to beat "the murderer," that one form of cancer that "no one beats," and I'm too selfish to let any other man have her, so maybe that will sustain me when genetics says I should have been long gone

[greatauntoftriplets]

17. I bow to you for an excellent rant.

[DFW]

18. Your sentiment is appreciated

And obviously not universally shared!

No worries, the sun will still rise in the east and set in the west tomorrow.

[Raven]

19. Bravo! Hearts for you!

[progressoid]

20. I'm not sure I understand this.

We're supposed to be reassured about Biden's age because look at how these old Republicans managed to only slightly fuck things up in their final years?