It seems like all the talking heads on cable news want to talk about these days is President Biden's age. They go on and on about whether he has the mental faculties to serve well as president.
The latest story about this is Special Counsel Hur's report on Biden finding some classified documents among his papers. While Hur cleared Biden of any wrongdoing, he added that the president seemed to have a memory problem -- saying "I don't remember" to some of the questions he was asked.
Frankly, I am shocked that the media is making such a big deal about that. Everyone has memory lapses, regardless of their age. There is no evidence that Biden has a problem. Both former Labor Secretary Robert Reich and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu say their recent meetings with Biden show he is competent, clear-headed, and knowledgable about current problems. Others in contact with President Biden say the same.
On the other hand, Donald Trump has said "I don't remember" over a thousand times in depositions and testimony. Where was the fear about Trump's memory? Did the media ignore it because they figured he was just lying (as he did over 30,000 times during his presidency)?
I'm not worried much about Biden's memory. He is surrounded by brilliant people who won't let him "forget" anything important. And more important than memory is empathy, experience, knowledge, and ability -- all of which Biden has in spades.
Both Biden and Trump are old (only three years difference in their ages), but Trump has some other worrying traits. He is authoritarian (wanting to use to Justice Department to punish his enemies and force Congress into compliance). He is a narcissist (who only cares about himself). He is a compulsive liar (who just says what he thinks his base wants to hear). And most worrying of all, he is preparing to people his staff with only sycophants (who will do his bidding even if its illegal or unconstitutional).
An ABC News / Ipsos Poll, done on February 9th and 10th of a small sample, showed that 59% of adults think both Biden and Trump are too old to be president. And there are small elements in both parties who would like to replace them with someone else. That is not going to happen.
Barring an unforeseen tragedy to one or both, President Joe Biden and Donald Trump will be the nominees of the Democratic and Republican parties. It's time to shelve the whining and wishful thinking, and decide which would be best for our country and its democracy.
President Biden has done a good job. We need to stop worrying about his age and give him a new term in office.
