The longest-serving leader in Senate history spared concerns about his health after freezing mid-sentence during a press conference on Wednesday.
  • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2591·
    11 months ago

    You watch. They will only take his congressional seat from his cold, dead hands. He would have to be a drooling vegetable.

    Anyway, if Democrats won’t get rid of Feinstein, Republicans sure as hell won’t get rid of McConnell.

    • Artemis@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      1381·
      11 months ago

      It’s going to take these old assholes dropping dead in the Capitol before we start doing anything but removed about the ages of our congresspeople. And yes, anyone selfish enough run for re-election when they’re over the age of 70 is an asshole in my book

      • Chainweasel@lemmy.worldEnglish
        88·
        11 months ago

        Strom Thurmond was wheeled into the Senate in his hospital bed at 99 years old and died in office in 2003, didn’t change a thing.

      • kescusay@lemmy.worldEnglish
        714·
        11 months ago

        It’s not really about age. There are plenty of older people who are still functioning fine. Hell, Biden is almost as old as Mitch, but he’s physically fit and doesn’t go into fugue states. (And the claims that his stutter and verbal gaffs are evidence of decline are utter bullshit. He’s been that way his entire life.)

        Where we’re fucking up is that we don’t have any systems in place to require our elected officials or candidates to be mentally sound. We should require people running for or in elected office to pass cognitive tests the same way we require people on the roads to pass driving tests. Yes, more of the elderly will fail those tests because age is a factor, but the focus should be on “can this person do the job,” not “is this person too old.”

        Mitch might be someone who’d be removed from office with a test like that, but it would also potentially catch young guys with catastrophic mental health issues, like Herschel Walker, who got frighteningly close to public office while showing blatant signs of illness.

        • treefrog@lemm.eeEnglish
          12·
          11 months ago

          An independent health exam to determine cognitive fitness every year you serve in public office once you’re over 65 was my thought when I saw this news last night.

          It wouldn’t have stopped Walker but it would take care of McConnell and Finnstein. As well as any Supreme Court Justices that go that way.

          • minorcoma@lemmy.worldEnglish
            23·
            11 months ago

            This would be terribly abused. Imagine who Republicans would shoehorn in there based off their Supreme Court picks…

            • NJSpradlin@lemmy.worldEnglish
              31·
              11 months ago

              Gods, remember the doctor that gave Trump his physical during his original campaign? The best health, the fittest adult male imaginable. That guy should have had his medical license stripped.

            • treefrog@lemm.eeEnglish
              2·
              11 months ago

              Shoehorn into the Supreme Court?

              They already factor age into lifetime appointments.l with nominations (look at the median age of Trump’s appointments). I don’t see how requiring public servants be cognitively fit to serve and making them prove it if they’re getting on in years can be abused here.

                • treefrog@lemm.eeEnglish
                  1·
                  11 months ago

                  That is an issue which is why we’d need an independent agency and transparency.

                  And yes, that means this would be public medical information. Want the right to medical privacy, resign. It’s a requirement of the position post 65 that you wave that right in this instance.

            • treefrog@lemm.eeEnglish
              12·
              11 months ago

              She probably is emotionally unstable (along with MTG) but that’s much different than cognitive decline/fitness.

              • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                3·
                11 months ago

                She barely passed the GED on her 3rd try. Decline? She’s never risen above the bottom of the mountain. And she’s never been fit for office.

                • 30isthenew29@lemm.eeEnglish
                  2·
                  11 months ago

                  Think of all the outrage it would cause people getting declared ‘unfit’. People would definitely think there is double play going on…

            • paintbucketholder@lemmy.worldEnglish
              3·
              11 months ago

              Just like any system in existence.

              I’m still not sure that “let’s do nothing and hope for the best” is the best approach in a society where people now live so long that mental decline affects a much larger percentage of the population than it did in 1776.

        • ManosTheHandsOfFate@lemmy.worldEnglish
          6·
          11 months ago

          I think it would be completely reasonable to put an upper age limit on elected officials - say you can’t run after 75. You can run right before 75 and serve as an elected official for a few more years, but after that you’re done.

      • Nowyn@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        3·
        11 months ago

        My question is why are Americans electing them? While we have a similar age group structure, if anything our median age is larger, middle age of our parliament is little bit over 47 years.

    • G_Wash1776@lemmy.worldEnglish
      291·
      11 months ago

      Both parties should agree they’ll force McConnell to step down if Feinstein is also forced to step down.

    • zpm@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      11 months ago

      A lot of these guys want to be zipping around in those beeping, star trek chairs. Just a room full of beeps as they still try and “talk” over each other.

    • SulaymanF@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      11 months ago

      Republicans are more likely to drop McConnell than Dems are to drop Feinstein before 2024. Trump keeps blasting on McConnell and turned the MAGA crowd against him.

  • astral_avocado@programming.dev
    English
    111·
    11 months ago

    Lol I love these articles always “calling for resignation” of Congress people. Mitch will resign when he’s dead and not a moment sooner, this slimy piece of shit has more power than the president and he has the position for life. And he’s evil enough to wield it very effectively. He’ll never give it up.

  • Pratai@lemmy.caEnglish
    692·
    11 months ago

    Dude’s bones are barely propping him up. Why are these geriatrics allows to continue to run our government?

        • effingjoe@kbin.social
          6·
          11 months ago

          While I understand the urge to come to this conclusion, it’s a simpler hypothesis that they just like the policies these people have pushed for, so much so that they disregard all the negatives that seem to be connected to Republican control (lower life expectancy, ineffective government programs[^1], lower standard of living, etc. You might call it “brainwashing” but that term in this context is too vague; they could claim we are also brainwashed with the same amount of accuracy.

          Also, while it isn’t your point, this would be a reason they keep getting voted in-- not a reason they run unopposed.

          [1] This may be seen as a good thing, for some of them.

          • ForgetReddit@lemmy.worldEnglish
            6·
            11 months ago

            If you are in the 99% and voting for republicans then you are voting outside of your best interests due to brainwashing. They may like it but it’s due to brainwashing. Fox News and propaganda is remarkably powerful.

            • effingjoe@kbin.social
              3·
              11 months ago

              I don’t buy this. I am a cis, white, middle-class male. Should I vote only for my best interests, or should I take a wider view, and vote even if it will personally disadvantage me?

              Voting against one’s own best interests is not brainwashing, necessarily.

              And this is still within my first point. They are definitely voting against their best interests, but it could just be that they find this an acceptable trade off to getting something else they want-- like more codified religion in the law, or bringing back the good ol’ days (/s) of overt racism.

              The point is that “they’re brainwashed” is a cop out. And, not for nothing, a corollary to them being brainwashed is that they are not responsible for their actions, isn’t it?

              • postmateDumbass@lemmy.world
                2·
                11 months ago

                The current trends are a result of most voting in the interest of their own pocket book.

                It is a great leash tool when combined with mortgages, tuitions, and general inflation.

          • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.ca
            4·
            11 months ago

            It’s not policies, it’s a “he’s one of us” and they are “not one of us” mentality.

    • w00tabaga@lemm.eeEnglish
      51·
      11 months ago

      Agreed.

      The power of being an incumbent and having all that money from special interest groups paying you to influence your policies is hard to run against.

      Democrat or Republican, why would they walk away from that cash cow? They’re all out for themselves and not for who they represent.

  • lennybird@lemmy.worldEnglish
    31·
    11 months ago

    It’s almost like our elected officials should not be allowed to go past retirement age.

  • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.worldEnglish
    29·
    11 months ago

    Dudes like Kissinger and McConnell still drawing breath are the exact reason why so many Republicans are shitting themselves over non-existent dead babies harvested for adrenochrome.

    In their ignorance and propaganda-fed fear, they figure it must actually be happening because of these guys, but want to make sure to assign blame before anyone else figures it out.

  • moon_crush@lemmy.worldEnglish
    301·
    11 months ago

    Resign? Nah, the show is just about to get interesting!

    That look on his face is exactly what would happen at the start of Quantum Leap. Grab some popcorn and see what historic wrong Dr. Samuel Beckett rights in this episode!

  • chrizbie@lemmy.nzEnglish
    28·
    11 months ago

    Oh that’s interesting I thought it might be becausre he’s a psychopathic liar that people are calling for his resignation

  • 😈MedicPig🐷BabySaver😈@lemm.eeEnglish
    24·
    11 months ago

    Wish the old coot would drop dead.

    Know why all these old pieces of shit never suddenly die in office?

    These fuckers have FREE access to great healthcare.

    Countless amount of Repugnants can’t even grasp how they’re fucked over every paycheck by paying into their company health coverage, while these puke balls in DC, get a free ride.

  • w00tabaga@lemm.eeEnglish
    3311·
    11 months ago

    Both him and Biden shouldn’t be in political office, in fact there should be a cutoff and that should be you can’t run after you’re 70. Democrat or Republican people that should be at home retired tending to their garden or fishing shouldn’t be running the country.

    It’s scientifically proven your cognitive ability is significantly declining by that age, and not to mention they are almost always out of touch with the modern world we live in.

    • Moyer1666@lemmy.mlEnglish
      71·
      11 months ago

      I agree, there are plenty of other people from this generation capable of running government. It’s time for these people who have been in power for over 30 years to retire.

      • w00tabaga@lemm.eeEnglish
        43·
        11 months ago

        After 20-30 years they don’t add anything as a politician imo. There should be a max of 3 term limits in most political offices on the state and federal level.

    • Neato@kbin.social
      117·
      11 months ago

      It’s illegal to discriminate based on older age. This sounds like whataboutism. Always expect someone to bring it back to attack Biden.

      • Thatpilotguy89@lemm.ee
        161·
        11 months ago

        If congress can enforce a mandatory retirement age for airline pilots, they can have a mandatory retirement age for anything.

        Unfortunately, the people making the rules dont want to put themselves out of a job…

        • TheRedSpade@lemmy.world
          3·
          11 months ago

          Not to mention that people who won’t be around to see the consequences of new laws shouldn’t be making them.

      • just_change_it@lemmy.world
        11·
        11 months ago

        I’d like to see representation in government that fits the demographics that are being represented, more or less. There’s no room for change in government though, too few seats and too much money involved. “We’ve always done it this way” is in charge.

    • Lmaydev@programming.dev
      81·
      11 months ago

      My nan gets them. At least that’s what we think they are. There’s evidence of previous mini strokes.

      Mid conversation she’ll just stop and her gaze will drift upwards and fix on a point for a few minutes. Then she pretty much carries on where she left off.

      • HonkyTonkWoman@lemm.eeEnglish
        2·
        11 months ago

        McCognitive Mitchfunction & the Spazzmodics

        McCognitive Mitchfunction Presents: Wait I Forgot

        McCognitive Mitchfunction & the………….……………… ….………….………….………….………….………Long Pauses