number of Republican figures, including Donald Trump MAGA loyalists, have called on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to resign amid concerns about his health.

(Less cancerous link: https://archive.ph/QMkMM)

  • Rando@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    97
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    Need to get these old ghouls out of office and set maximum age limits for all positions of government

    • Nougat@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      43
      arrow-down
      5
      ·
      1 year ago

      I think it’s clear that people can be disconnected from reality no matter how old they are, and that older people are not excluded from being insightful and valuable to the political process (think Bernie Sanders and Robert Reich).

      It’s easy to feel like elminating older people from politics is a solution, but it’s not. Voting for good people who actually represent your interests and the interests of your community is a better solution, but that’s harder to think about.

      • lynny@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        28
        ·
        1 year ago

        You can’t vote people into office who are younger when your only viable choices are people who are all over the age of 65.

        • Radioaktvt@lemmy.one
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          15
          ·
          1 year ago

          Sounds like Kentuckians like to suffer. I say this as a Texan and my fellow Texans love to suffer and constantly vote against their own best interests.

          • snooggums@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            9
            ·
            1 year ago

            Kentucky is inflicting their suffering on everyone else though, since McConnell was the reason for the shift in scotus by denying and then rushing appointments through the Senate.

      • Iwasondigg@lemmy.one
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        16
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        I would agree with you if it wasn’t for the fact that there is also a minimum age for office. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If a grown adult is considered too young to serve then these geriatric ghouls are too old in my opinion.

        • Nougat@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          7
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          Minimum for president is 35, senate is 30, house is 25. For one, I think those ages are “sufficiently youthful” to be generally representative of current modern concerns, all other things aside. They could easily be some years younger, possibly eliminated entirely, on the same basis as there is not a current upper age limit: let people be elected on their individual merits, and not exclude people on the basis of age.

          I agree that there being a minimum age limit without an upper limit is contradictory, but a better solution would be to lower or eliminate the minimum. Perhaps some other kind of metric could be employed in place of a minimum age limit for federal office, like “having served as an elected official at the State level for two years.”

          • MegaUltraChicken@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            1 year ago

            I’d be okay requiring someone to serve as an elected official prior to serving in the House or Senate. Hell, I’d probably support mandatory public service for most if not all people for a period of time.

      • kool_newt@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Great, they can be advisors or join think tanks or other organizations. Robert Reich has no power. I’m a huge Bernie fan but even I think he’s too old.

      • Nougat@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Even that can be fraught with danger. Who creates, administers, judges those tests? We already see bias issues in standardized testing for students.

        • Drusas@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          There are already such tests and they were created by neurologists and backed by studies.

      • BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        “Literacy” tests from the Jim Crow era South have very clearly demonstrated why these are not a good idea.

        • Stoneykins@lemmy.one
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Those were for voting, not candidacy, AFAIK. Not that candidicy would have been any more fair then…

    • Kingofthezyx@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Maximum Age at election = median life expectancy

      If you want to serve longer, make people’s lives better.

      • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        My suggestion in another thread was if it’s 18 years after birth to vote then it should be 18 years before average lifespan to lose the right to vote.