Properly Subversive: Is Joe Biden too old?

Properly Subversive: Sherman R. Frederick

How old is “too old” to be president of the United States? 

Our readers might have the answer to that because Marin County residents skew demographically “old.”  By the end of this decade, the fastest growing age group in Marin will be people over 85. 

Joe Biden would be a whippersnapper at 79 if he lived here. But as president, well, he’s the oldest in American history. If he runs for a second term, he’d be 86 when he’s done.

Constitutionally, of course, there’s no age that’s “too old.” Plenty of people function well in advanced age. For example, when I was 40 (and a fair golfer, I might add), I got my clock cleaned in match play by a gentleman who was twice my age. He hit the ball off the T box consistently straight. It went about 220 yards but, brother, let me tell you he could chip and putt. When we finished I shook his hand and thought: “You are my new hero.”

Golf is different from running the free world, of course. And, if the polls are right, a good chunk of Americans don’t think Joe Biden is doing a particularly great job at that right now. Some think he’s in clear cognitive decline. 

I don’t know about that. I’m a journalist, not a doctor. But it must be said that the idea of a second term for Biden is getting a lot of push back even from his own party. Most recently comes the op-ed piece  by Robert Reich, 76, the former U.S. secretary of labor and professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. Reich asserts categorically that President Biden is just too old for a second term. 

“I’m sure the president is experiencing some diminution in the memory department. I know I am,” he writes, adding: 

“The style sections of the papers tell us the 70s are the new 50s. Septuagenarians are supposed to be fit and alert, exercise like mad, have rip-roaring sex, and party until dawn.

Rubbish. Inevitably, things begin falling apart. My aunt, who lived far into her nineties, told me ‘getting old isn’t for sissies.’ Toward the end she repeated that phrase every two to three minutes.”

He concludes on a philosophical note: 

“Santayana said old people have forebodings about the future because they cannot imagine a world that’s good without themselves in it. I don’t share that view. To the contrary, I think my generation — including Bill and Hillary, George W, Trump, Newt Gingrich, Clarence Thomas, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Biden – have f*cked it up royally. The world will probably be better without us … Joe, please don’t run.”

Do you think Robert Reich is correct? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Send them to me via email at shermfrederick@gmail.com.

RACIST, NOT RACIST

Here’s the latest scorecard on what is racist and what is not racist in the Bay Area. 

Racist: New San Francisco school board member Ann Hsu said one of the biggest challenges in educating Black and brown students was their “unstable family environments” and “lack of parental encouragement to focus on learning.”

Not Racist: In apologizing, she said “I was trying to understand and address a serious problem and seek solutions, and in so doing I said things that perpetuated biases already in the system.” She said she understood how “problems like generational poverty, food insecurity and housing insecurity — which disproportionately affect our BIPOC families, due to systemic racism and inequality — make it harder for children to learn, harder for families to function, harder for teachers to teach.”

Hey, if these two statements sound like a distinction without much of a difference, don’t blame me. I don’t make the rules, I just report them. 

WHAT I’M WATCHING

I caught the new movie “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” adapted from Paul Gallico’s 1958 novel and found it charming. If you’re looking for a summer mood boost, this is it. 

Leslie Manville is in the leading role and, as usual, she knocks it out of the park.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“The education budget in California was $170 billion” last year. I think it’s larger than the entire budgets of all but two states in the country. I say that not to impress you, but to impress upon you that what we do has consequences” – Gov. Gavin Newsom in accepting an award for public school spending

ONE MORE THING

– Vegan food ain’t that bad … once you add meat and cheese.

— Kids born in 2010 are now 18. Let that sink in. 

– You know you’re old if you call decaf instant coffee “Sanka.”

– It’s fairly easy to prevent ladies from drinking laundry soap. But, it’s much more difficult to detergents.

I best let myself out. Thanks for reading and until next week, avoid soreheads, laugh a little and always question authority.

(“Properly Subversive” is commentary written by Sherman R. Frederick for the Novato Advance, San Rafael News-Pointer, Mill Valley Herald, Ross Valley Reporter, Twin City Times and the Sausalito Marin Scope. Mr. Frederick is an award-winning journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)