Politics Random, Random

[ponchi101]

Must have been part of the deal he cut with the devil.

[ti-amie]

[Suliso]

Population wise US is a younger country than most if not all European ones, but in leadership you're decades more elderly. I wonder why...

[ponchi101]

I have to ask you.
Do politicians have term limits in Europe? Because the issue in the USA is that being a politician becomes a profession. You are not a "citizen" that gets involved in politics, you are a "political citizen" and that is your job. Therefore, you are there for ever.
I remember when I was in Stockholm that we visited that city council (a beautiful building) and I asked where all the council members were. Well, they were working, I was told. They were council members but held regular jobs, which was how they made a living.
That is the reason Mitch McConnell remains in the senate, and Joe Biden will be running for president again at age 98.

[skatingfan]

I think the comparatively low level of political engagement in the US is the reason that we see the political class older, and less diverse than the population as a whole. Both political parties in the US are quite a bit older than the population as a whole.

[Suliso]

I have to ask you.ADo politicians have term limits in Europe? Because the issue in tghe USA is that being a politician becomes a profession. You are not a "citizen" that gets involved in politics, you are a "political citizen" and that is your job. Therefore, you are there for ever.
I remember when I was in Stockholm that we visited that city council (a beautiful building) and I asked where all the council members were. Well, they were working, I was told. They were council members but held regular jobs, which was how they made a living.
That is the reason Mitch McConnell remains in the senate, and Joe Biden will be running for president again at age 98.

No, mostly no term limits. Nevertheless most tend to retire around 70 at the latest or be pushed out by their parties. Angela Merkel, for example, is still not 70.

[ti-amie]

In the US the seniority system is what keeps people there, some beyond their sell by date. It's interesting how the MSM seized on Senator Feinstein's frailty but it was revealed today that this is not the first time McConnell has had medical "incidents". We know about one case where he fell down the stairs but it seems that there were two others that were not reported by MSM.

Now imagine if POTUS had had the TIA/Stroke that we saw yesterday. Yeah.

[ti-amie]

McConnell has fallen multiple times this year, sources say
Manu Raju
By Manu Raju, CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent
Updated 12:33 PM EDT, Thu July 27, 2023

CNN
—
Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, who froze during a news conference Wednesday and earlier this year suffered a concussion after falling down, has also endured two other falls this year, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

The first known time, in February, occurred in Finland when McConnell and a US delegation met with the Finnish president in Helsinki, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

As he got out of his car on a snowy day and walked towards his meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, the GOP leader tripped and fell, the sources said of the incident which hasn’t been previously reported. He dusted himself off and continued on with the meeting.

“It was also very icy to the top,” said GOP Sen. Ted Budd, a North Carolina Republican who witnessed the incident. “So, it could happen any of us.”

Budd added, “All of us are concerned,” though, he said, McConnell appeared normal after the Finland fall.

That incident in Finland occurred just days before McConnell fell in March at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington, where he slammed his head and suffered a concussion and broken ribs, which sidelined him for nearly six weeks before he returned to the Senate.

And just this month at Reagan National Airport in Washington, McConnell was getting off the plane when he tripped and fell, a source familiar with this incident said. He returned to the Capitol later that day. NBC reported on the fall at the airport earlier on Wednesday.

McConnell’s office declined to comment on the incidents.

McConnell, 81, was a survivor of polio as a child and has long walked with a slight limp. He walks on stairs one at a time, and at times rests his hand on an aide to assist him through the Capitol. His falls have at times caused serious injuries, like in 2019, when McConnell fell at his Louisville home and fractured his shoulder.

But his health has received more attention since his fall at the Waldorf Astoria this year. On Wednesday, McConnell froze when speaking to reporters at his weekly news conference, where he was ushered to the side by concerned GOP senators. He later resumed the news conference and answered questions.

McConnell has declined to explain why he froze up, though an aide said he was feeling light-headed.

“I’m fine,” McConnell told reporters when asked about the incident.


It was the second time in as many months McConnell has had an unusual incident at his weekly news conference. The other incident occurred in June when he has having trouble hearing questions from reporters who could be clearly heard by the senators next to him.

McConnell, who broke the record for longest-serving Senate party leader in history this year, is up for re-election in 2026, but he hasn’t said if he would run again or try to stay as GOP leader in the next Congress, which starts in 2025.

In October, McConnell told CNN he would definitely complete his term for the seat he’s held since 1985. “Oh, I’m certainly going to complete the term I was elected to by the people of Kentucky, no question about that,” McConnell said.

But in May, after he suffered his concussion, McConnell declined to entertain the question about his plans to stay in his seat or run for leader.

“I thought this was not an interview about my future,” he said when asked at the time if he would serve out his term or run for leader again. “I thought it was an interview about the 2024 Senate elections.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Katelyn Polantz and Melanie Zanona contributed to this report.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/27/politics ... index.html

[Owendonovan]

Mitch should try the stairs at Ivana's old pad.

[ponchi101]

As a society, we have to start accepting that many rules that were implemented in the past (meaning a few hundred years ago) are no longer valid because our life expectancies were impossible to foresee by the people of the time. The concept of the SCOTUS being appointed for life was valid when the chances of making it past 60 were not better than 50%. For congress and the senate, the idea of no term limits was also fine, seeing as most people would only live for a few cycles.
The fact that a man who set his ideologies decades ago can still be so influential on modern politics is hard to accept as a positive sign for progress.

[skatingfan]

As a society, we have to start accepting that many rules that were implemented in the past (meaning a few hundred years ago) are no longer valid because our life expectancies were impossible to foresee by the people of the time. The concept of the SCOTUS being appointed for life was valid when the chances of making it past 60 were not better than 50%. For congress and the senate, the idea of no term limits was also fine, seeing as most people would only live for a few cycles.
The fact that a man who set his ideologies decades ago can still be so influential on modern politics is hard to accept as a positive sign for progress.

I don't think term limits will be necessary in the US. Demographics will eventually force a turnover in the political class, and it will happen all of the sudden within the course of one or two election cycles. It's just a matter of the millennials, and gen-Z getting to the age where they would consider running for these positions.

[ponchi101]

How long do you think AOC plans to be in Congress? Or the Senate? Serious question. I am ambivalent about her, but being that young, she could be there for 50 years. But the same can be said about Gaetz and Boebert. They could be there for decades.

[ti-amie]

Mitch should try the stairs at Ivana's old pad.

You ain't right.

[ti-amie]

[Suliso]

How long do you think AOC plans to be in Congress? Or the Senate? Serious question. I am ambivalent about her, but being that young, she could be there for 50 years. But the same can be said about Gaetz and Boebert. They could be there for decades.

And if they do by the end they'll be as out of touch with the currenet generation as today's elderly leaders.