Mandatory retirement for public officials

[Politruk]

There should be a mandatory retirement age of 70 for all public officials, including judges and members of Congress.

It is not only a matter of personal ability and vigor and mental acuity. There should be a cutoff on how long a given generation's culture, world-view and way of thinking can shape public affairs in any way more significant than voting.

Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms really should not have been allowed to remain politically relevant as long as they did.

 

[Politruk]

And neither should Ronald Reagan, come to think of it.

 

[Politruk]

Bumping this because of Mitch McConnell's fall-down.

 

[Bn2f]

EVERYONE of all political stripes says this until…
Until they get their hands on power.

I value experience and I’m not an ageist but I intend to beat the drum constantly about the senior citizen, oldest president ever, Aderall riddled, obese slob who intends to use the WH as a napping playpen in between extended rounds of golfing.

 

[Politruk]

EVERYONE of all political stripes says this until…
Until they get their hands on power.

I value experience and I’m not an ageist but I intend to beat the drum constantly about the senior citizen, oldest president ever, Aderall riddled, obese slob who intends to use the WH as a napping playpen in between extended rounds of golfing.

The problem is not that Donald Trump is 78 years old.

The problem is that Donald Trump is two years old.

 

[Bn2f]

I live in South Carolina.
No one complained on Strom as long as his comatose signature and death crypt raised hand brought pork into the state. But more to your point: Ted Cruz once championed term limits. Now? Crickets.
The Contract With America put republicans into power largely due to the promise of them not making the House their home. All sought reelection. Every last one of em. I love Bernie. Ya think he’s gonna listen to either of us telling him to pass the baton on?

 

[Politruk]

I recall an editorial cartoon from 1994 or '95 (the time of Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America" and the "Republican Revolution" of the '94 midterms): The Republican elephant, riding in a carriage with a "JUST MARRIED" banner, is innocently rolling his eyes while kicking out an astonished bride labeled "TERM LIMITS."

 

[Bn2f]

I just saw the news on McConnell falling.
Even if he dies in office, he’s been able to snatch power from the grave - he’s coerced the lawmakers in his state, and not any democratic governor, the ones who select a Kentucky senatorial replacement.

A dem could be the governor but democrats aren’t flipping the Kentucky legislature.

 

[Politruk]

I just saw the news on McConnell falling.
Even if he dies in office, he’s been able to snatch power from the grave - he’s coerced the lawmakers in his state, and not any democratic governor, the ones who select a Kentucky senatorial replacement.

How did he do that?

 

[Bn2f]

How did he do that?

https://www.courier-journal.com/sto...for-filling-u-s-senate-vacancies/70484359007/

At the urging of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2021, the Kentucky General Assembly changed a law that determined how the state would fill any potential U.S. Senate vacancies, shifting appointment power from the governor to the party of the senator leaving office.

I got it slightly wrong.

 

[Boat1]

There should be a mandatory retirement age of 70 for all public officials, including judges and members of Congress.

The "Lamppost Airdance" retirement plan would be appropriate for 99% of them.

 

[Politruk]

It is not only a matter of personal ability and vigor and mental acuity. There should be a cutoff on how long a given generation's culture, world-view and way of thinking can shape public affairs in any way more significant than voting.

This is an underappreciated point. The past sticks out into to present far too much.

 

[UltraChad]

Loving all the anti-Democracy from the supposedly pro-democracy crowd.

Bet you want term limits too don't ya??

 

[Politruk]

Loving all the anti-Democracy from the supposedly pro-democracy crowd.

Bet you want term limits too don't ya??

Really don't object to term limits or retirement ages based on "democracy," that's just too unutterably stupid even for you.

 

[UltraChad]

Really don't object to term limits or retirement ages based on "democracy,"" that's just too unutterably stupid even for you.

Why because you think your anti-Democracy positions are justified??

LOL no I object to them based on freedom of choice....I'm pro liberty. Unlike you I understand that liberalism doesn't mean a TOTALITARIAN GOD LIKE GOVERNMENT IN CONTROL OF EVERY ASPECT OF EVERY PERSONS LIFE FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE!!!

 

[Politruk]

Unlike you I understand that liberalism doesn't mean a TOTALITARIAN GOD LIKE GOVERNMENT IN CONTROL OF EVERY ASPECT OF EVERY PERSONS LIFE FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE!!!

That has nothing at all to do with this.

 

[Boat1]

That has nothing at all to do with this.

How does it not?

The first step in "critical thinking" is to reverse the role or situation, then re-ask the question or replay the scenario....

Do you support congress forcing mandatory retirement for attorneys?

 

[Politruk]

Do you support congress forcing mandatory retirement for attorneys?

At 70? Sure, why not? Of course, only state bars legally could do that. But it would make a certain sense, just as it would make a certain sense for every doctor's medical license to be canceled at age 70.

 

[Politruk]

How does it not?

Liberty and democracy are different things entirely.

 

[Boat1]

Liberty and democracy are different things entirely.

Yes, this is precisely why the founders of our republic placed the 2nd Amendment in such a high place of importance.

 

[Politruk]

Yes, this is precisely why the founders of our republic placed the 2nd Amendment in such a high place of importance.

No, it isn't. Not at all. The 2A was never meant to facilitate insurrection.

 

[Boat1]

No, it isn't. Not at all. The 2A was never meant to facilitate insurrection.

No it wasn't, as it was intended as a means of defense against a tyrannical government.... or a democracy, which is synonymous with "mob rules."

 

[Politruk]

No it wasn't, as it was intended as a means of defense against a tyrannical government.... or a democracy, which is synonymous with "mob rules."

The 2A was never intended to facilitate resistance to government. The "militia" is an arm of the state, not a countervailing force against it. If the militia could fight the state, that would be mob rule.

 

[Boat1]

The 2A was never intended to facilitate resistance to government. The "militia" is an arm of the state, not a countervailing force against it. If the militia could fight the state, that would be mob rule.

Contraire.
You should actually read the writings of the founders, before you make such erroneous statements.
In addition to reading their writings, use a period correct dictionary.
Words matter.

 

[Politruk]

Contraire.
You should actually read the writings of the founders, before you make such erroneous statements.
In addition to reading their writings, use a period correct dictionary.
Words matter.

The word that matters here is "militia," which is what makes the 2A completely irrelevant. The FFs were afraid of a large standing professional army -- it might be used as an instrument of domestic rule, as such typically were in Europe. So the 2A was intended to facilitate a militia-based defense system -- the idea was that when war came, every man would bring his own musket from home.

But militia in the 18th Century sense -- a non-professional volunteer force, as distinct from a National Guard of part-time professional soldiers -- has played no role in any American conflict since the Spanish-American War. Clearly, a well-regulated (which in 18th-Century parlance means "well-armed") militia is not necessary to the security of a free state. The 2A is irrelevant. We get no good at all from having it in the Constitution.