Day: March 18, 2024

Closing Thought–18Mar24

I have been ranting for many years about the necessity for age limits in our public figures (all of them)….

Well North Dakota has stepped up to be the first (I think)….

North Dakota voters will decide in June whether to prevent people from running for Congress if they would reach age 81 during their House or Senate term, the AP reports. A signature drive successfully added the question to the ballot, Secretary of State Michael Howe’s office announced Friday, and while some legal scholars say the age limit would be unconstitutional, it could lead to a challenge of a US Supreme Court precedent that has held for decades. Howe said the courts may eventually decide the issue. He cautioned against “a blanket approach,” per the North Dakota Monitor.

“I think there are people who are capable of holding office past the age of 80,” he said, “and I think there are people who are not capable of it either.” The ballot initiative wouldn’t prevent current incumbents from running again. The measure could be an attempt to draw a test case to see if the US Supreme Court would allow individual states to set congressional age limits, University of North Dakota political science professor Mark Jendrysik said. The court ruled in a 1995 term limits case that states cannot set qualifications for Congress beyond those listed in the US Constitution, which says candidates must be at least 25 to serve in the House, 30 for the Senate, and 35 to become president. The Constitution sets no maximum age limits.

The measure “looks unconstitutional” under that 1995 decision, said Jason Marisam of the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota. But a test case against the age limit would need a challenge, most likely from a would-be candidate, Marisam said, which may or may not happen. The chairman of the initiative committee, Jared Hendrix, has said the idea is to avoid cognitive and age-related issues related to elderly officeholders. The measure’s push began last summer during age- and health-related scrutiny of members of Congress. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein died last year at 90 after health struggles, and Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, 82, froze twice in front of reporters.

I say bully for North Dakota….but 81?

I think that is a bit odd….why 81?

My thought is make the mandatory retirement age at 65.

Maybe this will help to wake of the voter that old farts need to be a home rocking on the front porch and waving at passing cars….especially at 81.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“There Will Be A Bloodbath”

Over the weekend I read about the prediction from Donald the Orange if he is not re-elected.

But for those that were not paying attention because we know basketball is the most important thing happening in this country….

At a rally today in Dayton, Ohio, former president Donald Trump, while rambling on the subject of automobile tarriffs, suddenly veered into discussion of November’s election and issued a promise: there’ll be a “bloodbath” if he doesn’t win.

“If I don’t get elected, it’s gonna be a bloodbath for the whole…that’s gonna be the least of it,” he told the audience, to no applause or cheers. “It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country, that’ll be the least of it.”

(boingboing.net)

WTF?

What kind of low life turd says something like that when running to lead this country?

What does it mean?

Will there be a political bloodbath or something more sinister?

The line: While talking about the economy, Trump promised to raise tariffs on foreign-made cars. He added: “Now if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole—that’s gonna be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country,” per NBC News.

  • Two meanings: The Biden campaign accused Trump of doubling down on “threats of political violence,” per the AP. “He wants another January 6.” But the Trump campaign said the former president was still talking about cars. “If you actually watch and listen to the section, he was talking about the auto industry and tariffs,” spokesman Steven Cheung wrote to the Washington Post. Cheung added that “Biden’s policies will create an economic bloodbath for the auto industry and autoworkers.” Watch video of Trump’s comments here.
  • Election warning: Trump also said that if he loses, “I don’t think you’re going to have another election, or certainly not an election that’s meaningful,” per the New York Times.
  • Migrants: Trump continued a theme of making “dehumanizing” remarks about migrants entering the US in his speech, per the Post. “I don’t know if you call them ‘people,’ in some cases,” he said. “They’re not people, in my opinion.” He also referred to them as “animals” and asserted that some nations were sending “young people” from their prisons over the border, per the Times. Trump didn’t offer any evidence on that or name the nations.
  • The rally: Ohio votes Tuesday, and Trump made his appearance to back his favored GOP candidate, Bernie Moreno, in the Senate primary race.

Was this some shadowy warning of things to come?  Maybe of political upheaval or something more sinister.

What do you think he meant?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”