Age is an abstract concept, but only in politics.
November 6, 2023
Another in a series of observations of life as I know it.
You pays your money and takes your choice.
-Dictionary of Idioms; possibly Mark Twain or maybe some French guy.
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It’s Monday again. Oh goody.
Let’s just get the bad stuff out of the way and be done with it, okay? The world is going to hell in a hand cart. There is no good news emanating from any corner of the globe. I looked, so don’t even bother.
Here’s where my cockeyed optimism toward my fellow humans goes off the rails. The fat orange guy currently collecting 91 criminal indictments is leading the sitting president in 5 important states. By significant margins. The voters say that President Biden’s policies have hurt them while the former president helped them. Huh? The pollsters must have been talking with Forbes 500 richest dudes. Not your average Joans and Joes. For instance, my charitable giving used to be tax deductible. I hasten to add that I continue to give, no matter what. But until I can cough up $20k in gifts, not one penny can come off my taxes. I am your average Jane. Tell me more about what draconian policy actually helped me from 2016-2020. I’ll wait.
So here’s the thing. Among younger voters, the Dylan philosophy of not trusting anyone over 30 is back in vogue. Trusting a president who is 81 is out of the question. Okay, kids. Got a better idea? Put your money where your mouth is. Has anybody actually put forward a Democrat who is better than Biden, who can actually lead the nation out of this miasma of misery we currently inhabit? RFK jr? Oh please, spare me. The guy is nuttier than a fruit cake. His own very large Kennedy clan disavows every word that comes out of his mouth. The congressman from Minnesota, Dean Phillips? Who? He’s a significant non starter. Maybe he thinks he can cut Kamala out of the race. And speaking of VP Harris, she’s keeping her head down and toeing the party line. She ain’t budging. I am proving my point. So there!
Like it or not, Joe Biden, our nation’s oldest leader, is running again. He was coy about this in 2020, calling himself a “transitional president”. Well, he’s transitioning into campaign mode. Once in office, presidents tend to like the accommodations. It’s a given. Only LBJ eschewed the siren call of 4 more years, because the presidency had worn him down to a nub. No more, he said. Others have failed to follow his lead. And frankly, more’s the pity.
As we push the gas pedal and rev into 12 months of a rabid campaign, I have this to say. I am getting older by the minute. So is Joe. But he has done what We the People have asked of him. With honesty and grace. No fraud, nor criminal intent or salacious conduct. Old Joe is slow of gait, but flies into war zones. He comforts the many afflicted by our gun mania. The other guy can’t cobble a coherent sentence together, and his menace is legion. There is danger leaking from every orange salved pore. But, hey, it’s your choice. Take your pick. Then live with it.
Caption: Senator Chuck Grassley, age 90. Running again in 2026…
