Joe Biden and ageism in the U.S.

A good friend came for happy hour last night, and when she brought up Joe Biden’s name, the first thing she said was, “You know he fell again.” The first thing I said was, “He just negotiated a brilliant deal around the debt ceiling.” The two remarks embody a split in this country about our current president and about our aging citizens.

Since before 2020 Republicans have been crowing about Biden’s senility. I maintain that much of what they cite as senility is his style—they are used to the flamboyant drama of trump, but that is not Biden’s way. He’s a low-key guy, who keeps his head down and goes quietly about getting things done. Occasionally he falters in a speech, the result of a lifelong problem with stuttering and nothing to do with senility.

And the fall? Someone had left a sandbag onstage in the path he took to exit after his speech. I fault his crew—security, medical, whoever. They should have been alert to such a hazard and moved it. Fortunately he was not hurt and bounced right back up. His quick recovery is a testimony to his wellbeing.

When I repeat to my friend all that Biden has accomplished—the decrease in jobless numbers and increase in employed, staving off the anticipated recession, lowering inflation, legislation to rebuild the infrastructure, uniting our allies to support Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s attempted takeover, better care for veterans, changing the rampant course of the pandemic—she counters with actuarial statistics. He, at eighty, is more likely to have a stroke than she, in her mid-fifties. I point out he is an actual, living being, not a statistic. Her argument is not that he hasn’t done great things for America but that we can’t count on him continuing to be able to do such.                                                                                                                                 

The whole conflict comes down to America’s continuing affliction with ageism, a fear of aging. Knowing I am almost eighty-five, my friend asked how long I intended to live. I replied that I hadn’t set an end date. I am enjoying life and as long as I am able, I don’t want to leave. I enjoy my family, my work, my dog, my cottage, my friends. She thinks eighty will about do it for her, an easy thing to say when you’re in your fifties, not so easy at eighty. I point out that Willie Nelson is going strong at ninety, and she counters that he is not responsible for a major world power.

Over 52 million American adults are over sixty-five. A recent Pew study reports that there is a huge gap between how young and middle-aged adults view aging and what aging adults actually experience. Younger people expect a much higher rate of illness, inability to live alone, depression, forgetfulness, an inability to drive, an end to sex, and other symptoms than most elderly actually experience. On the other hand, studies show that most older folks feel at least ten years younger than their actual age and experience fewer of the problems young people expect.

At my age, I come at this from a purely personal perspective. Yes, I have some of the problems anticipated: I cannot walk without assistance, I have given up driving, and I probably could not live alone without assistance nearby, as it is in my cottage. (Don’t ask about sex, but I have memories.) But on the other hand, I do meaningful work every day, I am engaged with the world around me (probably too much, some of my kids might say). I entertain friends frequently, I am (I hope) fairly cheerful and fairly healthy. I am not sitting in a rocking chair staring into space.

And Joe Biden’s senility. If the debt ceiling negotiations didn’t put an end to that speculation, Kevin McCarthy’s words should have. McCarthy, who has every reason to continue to spout his party’s line, said instead that in negotiations, he found President Biden and his team, “very professional, very smart, very tough.”

Stereotyping the elderly only makes their problems worse. If you expect the elderly person close to you to exhibit signs of aging, senility, etc. and you convey that message, either openly or subtly, often enough, it will come to pass. But the elderly are like children—stimulate them, encourage them, and they can shine.

Me? I’m voting for Biden. For many reasons, in my mind there’s no choice, but we also might remember his presumed opponent is only four years younger, in much worse physical shape, and clearly not as sharp mentally.

Here’s to growing old gracefully!                                                                                                                                                                                              

Not much of anything and a whole lot of nothing

 

You may have missed it when I posted earlier, but Story Circle Network published a short piece of mine on their blog today. (For those who didn't know him, this is a picture of my ex, Joel Alter, after he finished a marathon, around 1980; I should mention that I was in the picture but got cropped out--perhaps a metaphor). Written some ten years ago, the piece is about my feelings the night Joel died. It was a piece that I found when I was scrabbling through notes and bits and pieces for a memoir. I posted a link to the piece on Facebook this morning and was highly flattered by the responses.  (https://www.storycircle.org/december-12-numb-and-puzzling-grief/) I’m thinking there is indeed a memoir in my future. Two projects remain between me and a memoir—Irene Deep in Texas Trouble—I’m almost at the end of the first draft now—and then my Helen Corbitt project. I have no idea how long it will take me, but it’s nice to have projects lined up before me.

Before I retired, I used to worry a lot about retirement, afraid that I would wake up in the morning and think, “What in the world will I do today?” So far, that has been far from the truth. I often wake up with my mind whirling with the things I have to get done. This week, it’s finish the Irene adventure and wrap Christmas gifts—two totally unrelated activities. Any Christmas cooking that can be done ahead is already done, though I may decide at the last minute to do something for extra gifts.

Blog writing is hard these days. My mind wants to be filled with Christmas trivia and goodies and music and all that goes with the season. But for this child of the Midwest, it’s just not looking a lot like Christmas. Today the yard guys came with mowers and blowers and when they finished the thick carpet of leaves was gone from the driveway and yard. But it took them forever to do it, with Sophie barking her displeasure all the time. Although we’ve had just occasional rain, it’s been so damp—and the leaves so wet—that there is mold growing on the patio. I hesitate to use bleach because of the dogs. Storms are predicted for tonight and a freeze highly possible for this weekend. A little snow would sure make it feel a lot more like Christmas.

Another blog problem: I don’t for right now feel the intensity of the political atmosphere that finally really culminated in Raphael Warnock’s re-election to the Senate. Fund-raisers are already pointing us toward 2024 with dire warnings that the Democrats need big war chests (I suppose the Republicans do too, but I don’t get those emails except in rare instances of misdirected mail—I do not want to hear from the likes of Newt Gingrich, thank you).

A few issues do spark my interest. The return home of Brittainy Griner is one of them (who knew she’s a Baylor alum?). I am continually incensed at columns and comments to the effect that she hates America. She proudly brought home two gold medals for her country—funny kind of hate. Even more objectionable are comments that she should have been left behind and Paul Whelan brought home. As several have pointed out, our country suddenly has a wealth of armchair hostage negotiators who know exactly what should have been done. They completely overlook the fact that Whelan’s freedom wasn’t offered, was never on the table. They think it makes a good story to embarrass President Biden who, to his everlasting credit, seems beyond embarrassment as he quietly goes about his job of doing good for the country.

Another issue that interests me is the fight for leadership in the Republican House caucus. I think McCarthy’s days are numbered, and I’m not at all sorry. He apparently has a poor grasp of government issues, and his lust for the speakership overrides any good sense he may once have had. I am afraid, though if he is defeated, someone really awful will take over—like MTG who once again this weekend, at  national Republican youth gala, demonstrated that she has not an ounce of decorum about her. Just don’t ask her about what she saw for sale at Target.

Today was a blah day for me, not that I regret it. I slept late, worked all morning and part of the afternoon, had leftovers for supper (who can quarrel with steak and a twice-baked potato filled with cream cheese?), worked some more in the evening, wrapped some packages. I’ll read a bit and go to bed. But above you see where my mind goes when I have nothing else to offer for the day. If I miss a few days of blogging in the upcoming days, please forgive me. I don’t want to take your time with, “And then I did this, and then I did that.”

Thanks to all who have expressed concern about my cold. I know I whine like a baby but I’m not often sick, and so I take it seriously when I am. Maybe that’s another blog topic. Meantime, it is getting better, and I feel okay—not sure however that my cough would be acceptable in a restaurant or a party, so social plans are on hold.

Night all. I’m going to quit babbling.

What if?

 

After posting how much I enjoyed Nina Totenberg’s memoir, Dinners with Ruth, I was taken back a bit to read a critical review that maintained Totenberg should have put her obligations as a journalist above her friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In other words, as a reporter assigned to the Supreme Court, she should have reported on RBG’s obviously failing health. Instead, she shielded RBG, fed her the bouillabaisse she loved (one of the few things her failing body would tolerate), and turned a blind eye to justice. There’s certainly a lot of merit to that argument. I am among the many who think, dedicated as she was, RBG should have stepped down when Obama suggested it, so that he could appoint a liberal justice. No one knows for sure how the court would have played out—there would still be the sudden death of Justice Scalia and the suspicious sudden retirement of Justice Kennedy (we may never know that full story)—but we would have had one less extremist conservative on the court.

When a friend supported the criticism of Totenberg, I countered with the idea that life is a series of “What if?” moments. If Comey hadn’t brought up those emails at the last minute, Hilary probably would have won in 2016, and we would have been spared the tragedies and depravity of four years of trump. But Comey thought he was doing his job. And if McConnell had followed precedent, Merrick Garland would be on the court—we can’t excuse McConnell on the grounds he was doing his job. He knew better but was more interested in using his enormous power to the betterment of his party and the detriment of his country.

I’m not being fatalistic when I say I accept the uncertainty about life, the fact the “ought” doesn’t win. I think things happen the way they were meant to happen, but I also believe that karma will out. Perhaps it’s my faith as a member of a mainstream Protestant church—I will not ever try to give you an evangelistic argument that God is testing us, because I don’t believe in a cruel God. But I do believe that faith gives us strength when the “what if” moment goes awry. And, like Joe Biden, I believe in America and democracy and right now, I’m hopeful the pendulum is swinging back from an extreme edge.

That said, I am baffled by much of what is going on in this country. “The former guy” while not indicted has been clearly exposed as a criminal on several fronts, from tax fraud to tampering with elections to stealing national security documents. Governors Abbott and DeSantis have shown themselves to be heartless despots who use innocent and helpless people as political pawns and then abandon them. Congresspersons Boebbert and Marjorie Taylor Greene spout conspiracy theories, defend an extreme “Christian” nation, and are beyond comprehension. Herschel Walker produces word salad every time he opens his mouth. No sense even talking about poor, befuddled Louie Gohmert. They are willing pawns of people like trump, and what’s scary is that they promote his possible run in 2024. Why are these people anywhere near political power in this country?

Columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr., offers a solid—and familiar—theory in an essay titled, “We believe Herschel Walker.” Contending Walker has shown us clearly who he is, Pitts suggests that his popularity is part of America’s historic tendency to equate ignorance with authenticity. We distrust leaders who seem “too smart.” Politicians spend a lot of time in shirtsleeves, eating hot dogs they don’t want, and saying things they clearly don’t believe, just to be one of the regular people. Instead, Pitts says, we should want our leaders to be a bit better, a bit smarter than we are. Not arrogant, but with knowledge and understanding of policy and international law.

On the positive side, President Biden has quietly been achieving a better life for most American workers—the infrastructure package, relief from the covid pandemic, improved health care for veterans, averting a catastrophic railroad strike, restoring our international standing, working to control climate change and save our environment, reduced unemployment. How would Boebbert, Greene, Walker, and Gohmert handle these issues? Do we want to give the indecisive and weak Kevin McCarthy power over the House? Why did things go south under trump? Don’t we need educated men and women, with some grasp of government, to lead us in these times?

I know I’m prejudiced. I see life—and politics—through a blue lens these days. But there are so many good candidates for Senate seats and governorships, good people running for the House to free us from all the conspiracy theorists. Can’t we have a little common sense?

What if we voted for the good of all the people rather than those who would force their will on us? What if we restored a unified America, a Congress that worked across the aisle? What if we elected people who, like Biden, want to make life better for Americans, rather than those who would wipe out a century of progress?

Rant over.

 

A puzzlement

Warning: a political blog coming. Stop now if you don’t want to hear about my puzzlement. As most of my readers know, I write as a liberal—my sons-in-law would probably tell you from the far far left.

I’m not sure how I feel about Hillary Clinton. I think she smart, intelligent, well versed in political doings and protocol; and I think she would do an efficient, capable job as president. But a little something holds me back—perhaps it’s my enthusiasm about the ideas of Bernie Sanders, though I harbor a lingering doubt that he could effectively put them into practice as president and he might be over his head internationally. Let’s say I like Bernie’s philosophy better but I have more faith in Hillary—wow! Just now worked that out in my mind.

But I think Hillary is getting a really raw deal from the Republicans. Now that Kevin McCarthy has openly blurted that the Benghazi investigations are nothing more than an attempt to stop Hillary’s campaign momentum, what more do people need to know? How many Benghazi committee investigations have there been (I’ve lost count—but I know they all came up empty and at great cost to that budget Republicans keep worrying about when convenient). There were more embassy attacks and more Americans killed on George W. Bush’s watch than Obama’s, but no one raised an eyebrow. With McCarthy’s verbal blunder, I hope we can put Benghazi to rest—as someone said, the ongoing fruitless investigations are an insult to the memory of four courageous Americans killed there.

And, oh yes, those emails. I’m not as clear on what’s involved, but I have read, repeatedly, that Bush and Cheney deleted thousands of emails that they had sent and exchanged on the server of the Republican National Committee. Since I am among those who think those two men did irreparable harm to this country, harm that may not be undone for generations, I am at a loss as to why that record is not being investigated. Instead we are bombarded almost daily with headlines blaring that more emails have been discovered, etc., in spite of the fact that to date investigation reveals that while using a private server may have been an act of poor judgment, it was not at the time against the law. I blame the media in part for continuing to stir the pot.

It seems clear to me that Republicans are out to scuttle Hillary’s campaign any way they can, morality, ethics, even legality be damned. I realize that politics is, unfortunately, a dirty business and probably nobody’s hands are lily white, but I think the conservatives are sinking lower than I thought possible. That’s not the kind of country I thought I lived in nor is it the kind I want to live in.

This might be my personal endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president in 2016.