this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2023
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Joe Biden and Mitch McConnell struck up a friendship during their nearly quarter-century in the Senate together. Now in their 80s, the Democratic president and the Senate GOP leader appear to be giving political cover to each other as they fend off questions about their advanced age and health issues.

Notably, McConnell, R-Ky., 81, hasn’t joined Donald Trump, 77, and other Republicans who have attacked Biden’s age, health and mental acuity as he seeks re-election.

And after McConnell’s second freeze-up last week, Biden was one of the first to call McConnell, telling reporters that his “friend” sounded like “his old self” and that such episodes are a “part of his recovery” from a fall and a concussion this year.

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[–] [email protected] 124 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

complicate attacks on Biden's age

No they really don't. They'll talk about Biden's "obvious mental decline" and they'll just not talk at all about Mitch's very public 30 second Journeys Beyond the Stars. They'll absolutely say Biden is too old but that Trump, who is only 3 years younger, isn't. The right is absolutely capable of that level of doublethink. Stop assuming anything matters to them other than getting power they can use to hurt people. They don't care about policy. They don't care about seeming like hypocrites. They've been whipped into a paranoid frenzy and they'll do anything they need to do in order to hurt the people they're afraid of. Start looking at their behavior through that lens and see if it doesn't start to make a lot of sense to you.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I think Trump is younger. He's a monster, but still younger than Biden.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yup, Biden is 3 years older than trump.

I don't see any mental decline... Biden has always been a gaffe machine and he has a stutter he struggles to suppress. He's the same as ever.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

While on the other side, Trump seems to be already through with his mental decline...

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[–] [email protected] 76 points 1 year ago (12 children)

I do have to admit, after getting concussed I also appeared to freeze but I was thinking hard of what the right word is to say next.

That said, probably anyone in concussion recovery should be on leave from legislating. The brain will heal more slowly, and your work will be of poor quality.

That's all before getting into the actual politics of having a gerentocracy.

I know a lot of people have talked a out adding an age limit, but it seems to me most of the ancient ones are skating by on incumbent effect. If we had term limits it would resolve that. Alternatively something like the Virginia Gubernatorial rules where you cannot hold the position successively.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I have the same occasional issue with forgetting words after a TBI, and have worked with people in recover who have it much worse than I. It's an interesting outcome when simple words just cannot be recalled. To fabricate an example; I know what this object is, a tool for writing, it's in my hand, it has ink, but what the hell is it called. (a pen) - it can be for the most mundane and common words.

However; I don't go slackjaw and become completely nonresponsive for 10-20 seconds. This guy needs to be in medical care.

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[–] [email protected] 63 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Literally just yesterday Fox had some other attack piece on Biden and the picture they used of Biden he looked totally zonked-out.

McConnell's walking-dead impersonation changes nothing for Republicans. Hypocrisy means nothing to those people.

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[–] [email protected] 59 points 1 year ago

This would be devastating if conservatives cared at all about hypocrisy or logical consistency.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 1 year ago (17 children)

No one over 70, period. Go home. Retire. Make way.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Keep in mind that includes Bernie Sanders.

[–] [email protected] 57 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 60 points 1 year ago (20 children)

It's so weird how everyone expects progressives to be just as hypocritical as moderates and conservatives...

Bernie would 100% be down for it and immediately pivot to outreach or something else if he could hold office.

He's been saying he's not more important than the movement for decades now

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago

I'm by no means obsessed with the guy, but one thing really solidified my respect for him: before I ever knew who he was he always would show up in a random documentary if US government was ever spoken about, and he was always on the "right side" of whatever the documentary was about. Then in the run up to 2016 he shows up and I'm like "holy crap it's that guy!"

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Age limit tied to Social Security retirement age and joining the military, voting, smoking, and drinking tied to the same age (18 or 21, take your pick). We either need to say people are of the appropriate age to do these things, or not. This cherry-picking bullshit has to go. Also, term limits. The constitution wasn't meant for a congressperson or senator to be in the same seat for 40+ years.

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[–] [email protected] 50 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's incredible how fucking stupid news media is, huh?

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[–] [email protected] 44 points 1 year ago (18 children)

Imagine what a cakewalk it would be if the Democrats could scrape up a viable candidate under 65

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Wait. Trump, three years younger than Biden, is attacking Biden on his age?

[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Trump also thinks he's 215 pounds.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

He was already attacking Biden on his age during the election. At the age Trump now is.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Why do Democrats keep entertaining the notion that rank hypocrisy will ever be a dealbreaker for Republicans? They have decades of evidence to the contrary.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

See also: finally, this heinous act will make Republicans see the light and abandon the assholes manipulating them!

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There's a 4 year age gap between Trump and Biden. Funny how 4 years ago Trump was saying Biden was too old for the job...

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If trump were smart, (lol, bear with me) he would say "people didn't mind voting for Biden at this age, so they shouldn't mind me at this age either. But I promise not to run after the age of 80, unlike that frail old man who just wants to hide in his basement" or some shit like that. He lies all the fucking time, so he has nothing to lose and everything to gain by spinning that just a little bit.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (3 children)

If Trump were smart, he would have also said "we have the best scientists, and I only hire the best, you know, my personal friend Dr Fauci agrees with me that all patriots should wear masks to beat the China virus, and we're going to have beautiful vaccines, the very very best vaccines, and we're gonna use so much of them you won't believe how great we are at beating this virus, we're gonna be sick of being healthy." and would probably have handily won reelection.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I mean, he did at first. Lmao and then (idk the order in which it happened) he flipped with his base to "vaccines will give you rabies and chemically castrate you" when they started coming out. He initially bragged about how fast he was helping companies develop the vaccine, then it came out and he decided to trash them

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago

These are people that have mastered doublethink, there is absolutely no such complication for people inside the GOP bubble. For everyone else, yeah, it's one more minor bit of hypocrisy, but it's not even a thing for the bleach-koolaid drinkers.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago

No it doesn't, because the same people complaining about Biden are usually masters of doublethink anyway.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Well it's not like they both arent too old or anything...

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (3 children)

The choice is between a kindly (somewhat weird) old man and a mean, petty (and extremely weird) old man.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah bruh, I’ll take Brandon over any traitor republican.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You have to have a sense of irony for that to be true, and conservatives tend to lack a sense of irony.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

Trumps age complicate republican attacks on bidens age...

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Why do we get Biden? Is there NO other democrat that can beat Trump, etc? None whatsoever?

The Dems need to stop fighting one election at a time. They're fighting on their back foot!

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (4 children)

More than anything I just hope this could get the US term limits. If an older person gets elected so be it, but let's get rid of people serving in Congress for 20+ years. Two terms Senate, two House gets you twenty years, that is long enough and follows the existing model with the Presidency.

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