Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a few years after leaving office, but his son said the symptoms were there in 84, before he started his second term.
Yeah. Past presidents have done a much better job of hiding it but many (most?) experts believe reagan was pretty out of it by the middle of his second term, if not sooner. And I’ve seen a few deep dives that argue similar for bush jr but that gets into the other problem.
Our geritocracy mostly predate the modern internet and 24/7 news cycle (which is arguably why both parties are so focused on the olds). So you have people like Biden and dubyah who both have a VERY long history of speech impediments and “word salad” that predated their infirmity because people did not care back in the 80s and 90s and even 00s. But also… it masked said infirmity. Again, I’ve seen deep dives that make claims as to when Biden went senile but that is the same “body language” analysis that the vast majority of the audience has no way to assess the claims of.
I guess, my view is that we aren’t electing a single person to lead the country. That is just completely unreasonable due to the wide breadth of knowledge that would be required. What we are electing is someone charismatic with good judgment who knows how to surround themselves with experts in all the required fields. So if that person becomes unable to fulfill their duty… it theoretically doesn’t matter.
That said, it would also be REALLY fucking nice to have someone who isn’t drooling while staring into the corner in office.
I agree, but to me I just wish we could have the branches do their actual jobs. The president shouldn’t be doing anything but executing legislation that’s previously written. I don’t think they should be pushing for new legislation, concluding what old legislation means, or pushing any agenda, they should be/ are a glorified cop when it comes to the internal aspects of our country. International relations are another subject. We have 535 people making legislation. 1 person shouldn’t ever have say over them, as they are our individualized representatives designated for their purposes, and are a completely different branch of government. When the president says, I don’t think this legislation means that, the courts can take a look at it, but they shouldn’t be doing that either. It should go back to the legislature, and they should say no actions can be performed until we tell you how high to jump bitch. Now sit and stay or we’ll throw you out of that office and charge you with treason.
I think the President SHOULD be arguing/advocating for legislature AS a representative of The People. I don’t like that the POTUS is often the face of their political party (that is the Speaker Of The House/Word for Minority Leader) but it is also a consequence of a two party system (which is the end state of most representative Democracies but…).
But it should be done through talking/pressuring politicians and exercising vetoes. Not through kingly decrees under the guise of “I guess we are at war with fentanyl?”
But I acknowledge I grew up with The West Wing (and fully believe Veep is a much more realistic portrayal of government) so I still have an idealized view of what a leader SHOULD do.
If the Presidents stayed in their roles, the people would follow their congressmembers/senators if they thought things werent how they liked. It wouldn’t be a giant publicity show, because you’d have 435 people with a vote that’s equal, and 100 in the other house. Making 270 people popular is much harder, and when they can’t count for more than everyone else, their standing doesn’t “demand” as much respect.
Right now it’s the executive branch manipulating the rest, which is rediculous
Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a few years after leaving office, but his son said the symptoms were there in 84, before he started his second term.
It’s like a time honored tradition around here
Yeah. Past presidents have done a much better job of hiding it but many (most?) experts believe reagan was pretty out of it by the middle of his second term, if not sooner. And I’ve seen a few deep dives that argue similar for bush jr but that gets into the other problem.
Our geritocracy mostly predate the modern internet and 24/7 news cycle (which is arguably why both parties are so focused on the olds). So you have people like Biden and dubyah who both have a VERY long history of speech impediments and “word salad” that predated their infirmity because people did not care back in the 80s and 90s and even 00s. But also… it masked said infirmity. Again, I’ve seen deep dives that make claims as to when Biden went senile but that is the same “body language” analysis that the vast majority of the audience has no way to assess the claims of.
I guess, my view is that we aren’t electing a single person to lead the country. That is just completely unreasonable due to the wide breadth of knowledge that would be required. What we are electing is someone charismatic with good judgment who knows how to surround themselves with experts in all the required fields. So if that person becomes unable to fulfill their duty… it theoretically doesn’t matter.
That said, it would also be REALLY fucking nice to have someone who isn’t drooling while staring into the corner in office.
I agree, but to me I just wish we could have the branches do their actual jobs. The president shouldn’t be doing anything but executing legislation that’s previously written. I don’t think they should be pushing for new legislation, concluding what old legislation means, or pushing any agenda, they should be/ are a glorified cop when it comes to the internal aspects of our country. International relations are another subject. We have 535 people making legislation. 1 person shouldn’t ever have say over them, as they are our individualized representatives designated for their purposes, and are a completely different branch of government. When the president says, I don’t think this legislation means that, the courts can take a look at it, but they shouldn’t be doing that either. It should go back to the legislature, and they should say no actions can be performed until we tell you how high to jump bitch. Now sit and stay or we’ll throw you out of that office and charge you with treason.
They are public servants
I think the President SHOULD be arguing/advocating for legislature AS a representative of The People. I don’t like that the POTUS is often the face of their political party (that is the Speaker Of The House/Word for Minority Leader) but it is also a consequence of a two party system (which is the end state of most representative Democracies but…).
But it should be done through talking/pressuring politicians and exercising vetoes. Not through kingly decrees under the guise of “I guess we are at war with fentanyl?”
But I acknowledge I grew up with The West Wing (and fully believe Veep is a much more realistic portrayal of government) so I still have an idealized view of what a leader SHOULD do.
If the Presidents stayed in their roles, the people would follow their congressmembers/senators if they thought things werent how they liked. It wouldn’t be a giant publicity show, because you’d have 435 people with a vote that’s equal, and 100 in the other house. Making 270 people popular is much harder, and when they can’t count for more than everyone else, their standing doesn’t “demand” as much respect.
Right now it’s the executive branch manipulating the rest, which is rediculous
The symptoms were perfectly obvious when he was in office.