Two days from now, we in the United States will celebrate another birthday, with all the attendant fireworks and barbecues and lazy hours off of work. And in just two years, we will look forward to huge, noisy, Bacchanalian celebrations of our Semiquincentennial, or Sestercentennial, or Bisesquincentennial (none of which is recognized by Spellcheck, which actually makes me feel a bit better), or — final choice — Quarter Millennial.

Any way you pronounce it (if indeed you can pronounce it at all), it adds up to 250 years of Democracy: the experiment that nearly everyone — at least everyone in 18th-Century England — expected to fall flat on its forward-looking face.

But it didn’t. At least, it hasn’t as yet. Though looking back on this last decade or so, I just don’t know . . .

When the Founding Fathers signed off on the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, even they, at the pinnacle of their optimism, hardly anticipated that their newly autonomous nation would one day be the most powerful, the most envied, the most emulated in the world; that our system of government would set the standard for most others; or that our economy would become the bedrock on which the world’s economies rested.

But it has.

And those of us who were blessed to have been born here, or to have been welcomed as naturalized citizens, would like to keep it that way for at least another quarter of a millennium.

But we’ve got problems . . . and I needn’t waste time and energy spelling them out for you. You know what they are. For the most part, they are the same problems that have infected the rest of the world. But in addition to the shared issues, the very foundation of our nation — the United States Constitution — is at peril of being undermined; our Supreme Court has lost its objectivity and its sense of direction; and we are without leaders to guide us toward salvation.

Our bicameral Congress is composed of Senators and Representatives who don’t seem to give a flying . . . well, you know . . . about the welfare of the nation or their constituencies. They care only for their own interests, their own privileged positions, and winning the next election.

And even worse . . . worst of all . . . our White House can’t find a candidate worthy of occupying it. If there is a Jefferson, a Lincoln, a Roosevelt, or a Truman out there, he or she is doing a good job of remaining hidden and anonymous. Instead, we have:

*. *. *

And here is the crux of our problem. I don’t care if you identify as a Republican or a Democrat, liberal or conservative, left or right, red or blue. I have my own political viewpoints, but they’re no one’s business, and they’re definitely not at issue here. What is at issue is that we are being told to choose as our next leader — the leader of the free world — one of two old men who, for different reasons, are no longer qualified for any position of authority, much less that of President of the United States of America.

The arguments for and against each of their innate abilities and past accomplishments are infinite . . . and irrelevant. What is so blindingly obvious is that their respective conditions today totally disqualify each of them from even running (if either of them can still, literally, run). Let’s look at it from a strictly logical viewpoint:

Joe Biden, 81, is visibly fighting the normal challenges of aging. His movements have slowed, his mental responses have slowed. He looks tired, and no wonder — he’s been laboring at the hardest job in the world for four long years. Hell, I have the same issues, and my stress level isn’t even on the same chart as his. It doesn’t necessarily signify dementia, or even mild senility. It’s just age. Could he survive another four years of the same lifestyle? And why would he even want to (other than to keep his opponent out of office)?

As for Donald Trump, 78, he is only three years younger. Other than a serious weight problem that would be dangerous for someone even half his age, he does appear to be in better physical condition than President Biden; but appearances can be deceiving. In four more years, he will be 82 — if his health holds out. And even assuming that it will, his mental focus is constantly interrupted by the need to deal with all of the legal battles that have arisen from his own illegal actions. He is, when all is said and done, a convicted felon. You would be ill-advised to buy a used car from such a person. Do you really think he can be trusted with the future of an entire country?

Incredibly, and sadly, our Constitution — as all-encompassing as it strives to be — does not disqualify either of them from holding the office of President. But common sense does . . . or at least it should. Unfortunately, along with any qualified individuals willing to run for office, we seem to have lost that attribute as well.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/2/24

* Note for the youngest of my readers: Thou mayest find thy selves unable to read thy country’s Constitution, as thou hast not been schooled in the art of cursive penmanship in which it is written. But do not despair: our modern world hast provided thee with Google, and thou shalt doubtless be able to find a printed replica of the document in that mysterious place called “Online.” I wish thee good fortune in navigating the rocky shoals of the rest of thy lives.