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Originally Posted by Saratoga_Mike
Maybe they both just made/make mistakes? Maybe they're under constant scrutiny, and they aren't perfect?
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I remember when they were doing this to Reagan, about his memory lapses and bouts of confusion in public, during the 1984 presidential debates and his 1990 Iran-Contra testimony. He wasn't senile and didn't have Alzeimers (yet).
So----my overall thoughts about this, which aren't partisan, is that I prefer to let medical professionals make these calls.
Esp. in an era where a lot of baby boomers are aging, and doing this kind of thing has actually TURNED OFF voters (on both sides) a great deal.
I'ts not like nobody here ever couldn't find their glasses and someone pointed out they were on your head.
So who are both sides going to make fun of next? People with hearing loss in one ear, stutterers, people with PSTD from having served, people who use canes because of knee replacements, people who drop things because their hands are cripped with arthritis, people who are over 65 in general and no longer have the same balance they did at 30? People like Jack van Berg had to attend the races in a handicap scooter?
I mean, where does it end?
Unfortunately, I don't see THIS kind of conversation really elevating political conversation at all, by either side. Personally, I find it uncouth and embarassing, and maybe for people who are low-information on both sides, who aren't knowledgeable enough to debate POLICY.
Case in point: Guiliani sure had a lapse in judgement by not having his team properly vet the reporters, and everyone in the room in that Borat deal......including his decision to accept an invitation into a bedroom. That's called not using common sense and nobody on his team was there to mind him. I have no idea if he was tucking in his shirt or not, as that is a very subjective argument and not even the point. The point is that people expect better decision making from someone associated as personal attorney of a POTUS. As they should.
That said:
People do dumb stuff sometimes. They make mistakes. They forget words. Everyone here, included.
Bottom liine, unless you can show medical papers on a condition that exists, like doctors did with reagans Alzeimers (AFTER he was out of office for 5 years) I just think this stuff is low-class banter and for any voter over 50, it's just a real turn-off. The age-ism is starting to become obnoxious. Most people after a certain age don't have the chops they once had, that is reality.
If this is a concern, then we need to make a law that nobody over the age of 50 can run for POTUS. Until that happens. we should cool it with the age-ism stuff. Esp. at a time when so many died in nursing homes, it plays into the whole "nobody cares about older people" and that's not a good optic.
But maybe, we don't. Do we really want to feed into the whole older people are doddering idiots meme anyway?
