NOTE: Once again, I find myself ahead of the game. This post was intended to be published a few days from now, but I’ve moved it up in line because of an article in the New York Times yesterday on the very same subject — not about RBG, but about the aging of our country’s political leaders. (No, I’m not psychic — just in sync with events.) Here’s the link, in case you’re interested.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/29/us/politics/mcconnell-feinstein-biden-age.html?referringSource=articleShare

*. *. *

Shame, shame, shame! How could I have overlooked her when I wrote about the ten people I most want to meet in Heaven? She was, and is, my hero. She was, and always will be, the redoubtable Ruth Bader Ginsburg, more familiarly known as RBG; and I would — quite literally — give my life to meet her. After all, I would have to be dead, wouldn’t I? And since there’s no one I feel I can cut from my original list, I’ll just be greedy and make it eleven.

RBG’s life story is well documented: her early struggles to be taken seriously as a lawyer; her happy marriage to her soulmate, Martin Ginsburg; her rise to a seat on the United States Supreme Court; her often surprising wit; her undeniable wisdom; and her absolute integrity, both as a jurist and as a human being. Her death in 2020, at the age of 87, left a huge hole in America’s highest court . . . and in America’s heart.

But the illnesses and injuries of her last years also raised questions as to the propriety of public officials continuing to serve in an impaired condition — although she quelled any and all concerns by exhibiting a nearly superhuman strength of will and a remarkable mental acuity. But those questions continue to be raised today, in light of the aging of many of our elected officials: Mitch McConnell, Dianne Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi, and President Biden himself, among others.

So when is it time to say “Enough”? Do we just set an arbitrary maximum age limit for officeholders? Do we consider physical impairment, or only mental capacity? Or both? And who is to make the judgment call? Franklin D. Roosevelt occupied the Oval Office in a wheelchair, the victim of polio; would that be possible today? There were questions — fair or unfair — about Ronald Reagan’s mental state toward the end of his term. It is a dilemma of supreme importance to the future of our country.

I am, in terms of age, a contemporary of President Biden and a number of Senators and Congresspersons serving today; and I can speak from firsthand experience as to the “normal” effects of aging — not the ravages of serious illnesses like Alzheimer’s or dementia, or the debilitating aches and pains of arthritis, but the smaller things that creep up on you and remind you that you’re not a kid any longer. Like putting the sugar into the refrigerator and the butter into the cupboard. Or searching everywhere for your reading glasses and finding them on top of your head. Or walking into the next room and forgetting what you came in for. We laugh at those . . . and, to my way of thinking, we should. They happen to everyone, even younger people, and there’s no benefit to letting them upset you.

I find myself more and more frequently groping for a familiar name, or a simple word; so do my younger friends. It’s frustrating as hell. But I can remember every detail of a meeting I had 30 years ago, including what I was wearing and who sat where. Short-term memory, they say, is the first to be affected by age. But does that mean we’re senile? No, it does not! As with most human issues, every person is unique, and trying to generalize is futile and dangerous.

Tell me, with a straight face, that you’ve never gotten to work and discovered that you’re wearing two mismatched shoes. Or that you’ve never found that your child’s homework is in your briefcase and your report for this morning’s staff meeting is probably on his teacher’s desk. Or that you’ve never promised your family Chinese takeout for dinner and then driven straight home without stopping at the China Dragon. Am I right?

But the issues our elected officials deal with on a daily basis are far more complex and vital to the survival of mankind than Chinese food, and those folks must be held to a higher standard. But where to draw the line? I can only say that I’m glad it’s not up to me to make that call. But it’s a serious question, and one that needs to be dealt with.

Obviously, we can’t all be Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But I really look forward to meeting her one day and asking her how she did it.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/30/23