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Never mind saving “our democracy”—who’s going to save our gerontocracy! With Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden in a contest for Greatest Brain Freeze Moment, while Dianne Feinstein and John Fetterman look on with envy, we are starting to long for the good old days of the youthful vigor of the Soviet Politburo. Is it time for age limits for high federal office (though Sen. Chuck Grassley, still firing on all cylinders two weeks before his 90th birthday, might want a word with us), or do we just need cognitive tests for office?
Equally alarming is how the Baude-Paulson argument for disqualiftying Trump for the presidency under the 14th Amendment is gaining traction. Could a county registrar of voters in some deep blue percinct throw the 2024 election into complete chaos? John has a good article on this scene suggesting the answer is a hard No, which we review.
Meanwhile, the whole Georgia case gets curiouser and curiouser, as you’d expect in our current Alice in Wonderland world of “verdict first, trial later” phase of Trump-specific law enforcement. But also some good news: the forces of decency are fighting back against the left’s demagogic attack on Clarence Thomas.
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Good points by John on the “insurrection” argument. Yes, a candidate can be banned for leading an insurrection, but I would think you would have to have some legal ruling — following a judicial process — to determine that the candidate did indeed lead an insurrection. It can’t just be because Adam Schiff says so. And John rightly points out that Congress investigated that very charge and were left wanting. Of course, John’s common-sense argument will be ignored by NYT, WaPo, et al.
Lucretia might have to take over the all-important task of telling us what the exit music is; Steve forgot again. :)
Lastly, I would have given half of my next pension check to be in the waiting room at the doctor’s office when Lucretia went off on them over masks!
Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House, was 79 when he died.
Upper age limits/mandatory retirement for elected officials or for judges are too ham-handed to be effective. A prime example is Giles Sutherland Rich, principal author of the 1952 Patent Act, who actively served as a judge on the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit until his death in 1999, at age 95. In my armchair survey of patent lawyers throughout the late 1990s, it was clear that whenever Judge Rich was on a panel at oral argument, he was the best informed judge and the most astute questioner. Even an age limit of 90 would have deprived the world of his skill.
With Judge Rich absent from the scene, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the US patent system is currently a disaster – in large part due to the passage in 2011 of the America Invents Act, which radically changed the system laid out in the 1952 Patent Act. Ironically – or perhaps coincidentally – the 1952 Patent Act was drafted in order to save the US patent system from the disaster that it had become at that time.
Why on earth did Lucretia test for CoViD? For at least 2 years now, no good can come of a CoViD test.
That said, I’m disappointed that I have never tested positive for CoViD, because I would prefer to have full spectrum immunity, instead of the now-dissipated spiked protein immunity that I might have gotten from my two doses of Moderna, with no boosters.
Full measure, no less.
I’m guessing that’s a paper cup.
Ice cold, though – hmmmm, . . .