A Curious Little Blog

Did you know that Joe Biden is the oldest person to become president ?  The previous record was held by Ronald Reagan.  Joe Biden was older when he became president than when Reagan's second term ended .  That means that every minute Biden spends in office, he will be setting new records for the oldest president to have served. Does this matter?  It may or it may not.  One thing is for certain:  we would have heard a lot more about it if Biden had been a Republican.  I recall quite a bit about Reagan's being the oldest president when he ran in 1984.  The fact that many people have raised questions about Biden's mental acuity long before the election makes it even more relevant.  I have heard a number of people question whether he will serve out his term, and I think it is a fair question.  He may, of course; but, at his age, it would hardly be shocking if something happened that forced him to resign.

Presumably everyone is aware by now of Biden's comment that lifting mask mandates is the result of "Neanderthal thinking."   It is only marginally surprising to see a Democraic President insult Republican governors in this way.  It would have been more surprising, perhaps shocking, 25 or 50 years ago, but hardly unusual these days.  (Although it may be the first use by a major public official of "Neanderthal" as a pejoritive; at least, I can't recall any others.) What could he have said?  How could Biden have phrased his comments differently to make the same point but without the contemptuous overtones?  It isn't all that hard to come up with something.  "I realize that it is tempting to open up public spaces and get rid of mask mandates as soon as possible," he might have said.  "We do need to get to that point, but I think we aren't there yet.  The dangers of premature opening are too great, and the goal of having universal vaccinati...

Are we allowed to manage our borders?  Clearly, the people who support abolishing ICE don't think so.  That includes excluding people for medical reasons; after you get rid of ICE, after all, you won't have any means to keep them out.  That's why I'm confused that I haven't heard pushback against Canada's shutdown of immigration from the U.S.   It seems to me that this should be as off-limits as it would be if America shut out immigrants from Canada (or Mexico, or China) because their country was undergoing a covid epidemic.  I would like someone to explain to me why it's okay for Canada to keep out Americans, but not okay for Americans to keep out anyone; and, if it isn't okay, why don't we hear just as much against Trudeau as we hear against American leaders who support basically identical policies?

Calls to boycott the 2022 Olympics in China have been increasing recently.  China's human rights record continues to be deplorable, but I don't think the Olympics are the appropriate place to express our dissatisfaction.  The whole point of the Olympics, it seems to me, is to be a place where countries of the world can come together regardless of political differences.  Even though China's actions toward the Uyghurs are reprehensible, I question whether they are so much beyond the pale that it is worth turning the Olympics political over them. I say that because I do leave open the possibility that a country could do something so egregious that it would seem to be tacit acceptance to participate in an international event that it hosts.  I would expect most human rights issues to be addressed when deciding on the host country, however.  China's treatment of Uyghurs may have gotten worse recently, but their record has been bad going back at least 30 years and pro...