Wow. That does not look good.
Can we have some term limits, please?
Can you imagine how many problems simple term limits would fix?
Term limits empower lobbyists and career staffers and encourage legislators to give less of a shit about their constituents. I know “career politician” is often considered a dirty word, but having competent, knowledgeable elected officials is a good thing.
They are already openly corrupt. Term limits would result in younger candidates in touch with this century. Lobbyists would also have to bribe new people. It might also break up the ridiculous 100% party voting.
Not to mention help with our Supreme Court problems. Randomly giving appointments that last decades to whoever is president in at the time is insane.
I really don’t think we have that many competent elected officials anyway.
Yes, eliminating gerrymandering and citizens united would be more effective, but I wouldn’t kick term limits out of bed.
We have term limits in Florida. They have done nothing to solve any problems, and arguably have made the quality of our officials worse, while giving much more power to lobbyists.
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None of that has happened in the states that have term limits. If you think Republicans, no matter how long they have been in office, are going to start putting anyone other than Federalist Society drones on the courts, I’m not sure I can have a good faith argument with you.
Lobbyists would also have to bribe new people.
No they’d hand pick them, run them on utter lies that they can’t be challenged, then throw them out when the public wises up. You seriously underestimate how far the power dynamic can swing.
Term limits would result in younger candidates in touch with this century.
Yes cuz that’s worked so well in places that already have them…
Term limits are as likely as ranked-choice voting, which would also solve a lot of problems but won’t be passed in a significant way in my lifetime
They actually just passed ranked choice voting in my city.
It does seem crazy to have a system where 49% of people preferred the other guy, but he lost so those people now get zero representation.
yeah, because the current batch of politicians are sooooo concerned with their constituents.
On the other hand, lets ignore the fact that the vast majority of senators (and the president, and most presidential canidates,) are so “experienced” that the majority of their experience predates… the internet. Never mind social media or anything resembling the modern world we find our selves in.
A mandatory retirement age is a different suggestion than term limits.
Yep. Why is 65 not a forced retirement for politicians, when it is used in many less important industries?
I don’t think term limits will solve anything near what people pitching term limits as a panacea think they will solve.
People that pitch that as a catch-all solution have no idea how democracy works, they’re just understandably angry at the old white men who have ruined all our lives.
All term limits would do is make it middle aged white men ruining our lives.
Like, these people don’t seem to understand where politicians come from or how they get to be where they are.
Mitch McConnell is the Senator from Kentucky. Trump won that state both years by 60%. It hasn’t elected a Democratic Senator since 1992. In fact, that Democratic Senator retired, ya know, as old men should. Then a Republican took that seat.
So who do you think takes Mitch McConnell’s seat if we boot him out for old age? Does it matter who? We know what letter will be next to their name.
It’s the people. The problem is the people. And the structure of the Senate that gives them disproportionate power.
Also, look at the young Republicans like Madison Cawthorn and tell me they’re any better than their seniors.
A better example is Joe Manchin. The thought of primarying him is laughable. Just hand the Republicans a full Seat in the senate why don’t you.
Do you think Trump could have beaten Obama in 2016?
Yes. In fact, I believe Hillary would have beaten him without that idiotic final weekend FBI announcement.
Dude went full Beaker.
I hope y’all remember this when you ask for Bernie Sanders geriatric ass again
When there’s only one politician of any consequence out there who represents your views…
proof that old fuckers shouldn’t be allowed in politics due to a literally dysfunctioning brain
EDIT: to say ‘ageism is bigotry’ is a gross oversimplification. I’m not prejudiced against people above a certain age, I’m against the idea of allowing individuals with dementia or other degenerative conditions having political control over other people while literally having impeded brain functioning and judgement.
His birth is closer to Lincoln’s assassination and the abolition of serfdom in Russia than to 2023.
I’ve had some relatives reach a very old age and this kind of thing is just part of the territory.
However my aged relatives were not in positions of great power. Neither should this man be.
Feinstein and now McConnell. It shouldn’t be necessary but it’s now bipartisan proof that maybe we should force people of a certain age into retirement.
I’ll happily admit to being ageist. I don’t care. Once you hit the mid 70s (arguably earlier) you should be ordered to go the fuck home by Congress.
if it’s ageist to say that people can be too old to be in government, then it’s definitely ageist to say they can be too young, too.
Imagine having a toddler command the nuclear football. (oh wait. we already had that.)
Unfortunately, ageism in the US is only illegal against older adults. I really struggled with this when I was overseeing young volunteers, one of whom was being treated like crap just because he was young by the older people he was volunteering for. Totally legal for them to outright speak of his age as making him useless (and he was a good worker! and kind!). I was so angry that I couldn’t do much of anything to help him.
I don’t think it should necessarily be a hard age cap (which is illegal in the US, anyway), but I do think all politicians and judges should have to be able to pass cognitive function tests annually with absolutely no concerns raised by them. I’d require it probably as low as age 50 or 55, because dementia can come early.
And they should not be allowed to choose their own doctors for these exams. They should all see the same handful of doctors, randomly assigned each year, so as to reduce bias.
The really annoying part is that I’ve seen people on the right already telling people to respect his health issues. Except when Biden stumbles over one word he should be removed from power and hospitalized for life. They don’t even pretend with the hypocrisy anymore
I worked in congress in 2002 after I graduated. The congressman I worked for was old to me then. I saw him on tv the other day and the guy looked one foot in the grave. I hadn’t thought about him in years and then I saw him and I’m like dude wtf why are you still working?! It’s shocking.
TBH, I’m ok with ageism, we already do it. It’s clear a 6 year old can’t run the country, it should be just as clear a 76 year old can’t either for the same reasons, mental development stage.
I live how you guys say this, while also demanding Bernie, a fucking dinosaur himself
Ageism, like all bigotry, is always wrong.
We limit responsibility for youth, is that bigotry?
No. Bigotry is when you assign a presumption to a group based on a completely unrelated parameter associated with that group. It would not be bigotry to limit the age of those serving in congress. It is bigotry to say that every old person’s brain doesn’t work.
“proof that old fuckers shouldn’t be allowed in politics due to a literally dysfunctioning brain”
Oh goodness, I hope it’s nothing minor.
I generally don’t wish ill will on people. That being said, this asshole isn’t a human in my book. He’s just an evil hate filled pile of shit, and it will be a great day for democracy and America when he does die.
I am not going to openly condemn anyone. That said, Mitch opens himself up to some interesting ethical questions.
Is it ok to sacrifice one man to save 300 hundred million?
How about to reduce the medium / long term risk to billions?
I don’t wish harm on anyone, well except Mitch McConnell. Oh, and Steve Bannon. Oh, and Bobo and … Oh, well I guess I do wish plenty of harm.
Fucking Kissinger. Wishing death upon that man makes you a better person.
It is a highly moral position.
Isn’t that the type of incident you should be immediately going to the hospital for? And to maintain some shitty image of power they just yank him to the back line and have him stand there?
Man it took waaay to long before someone even reacted and even then they didn’t focus on his well being but on the press conference.
What a sad sight, zero empathy
Not like the man is known for his empathy himself. So it’s a bit of a FAFO situation I feel.
He’s one of the few people in this world on my “no empathy for him” list. I would’ve just sat back and had some popcorn
I’d agree with Mark Twain on this one, I don’t exactly wish anyone to die but I’ll read some obituaries with satisfaction, paraphrased.
what a sad sight /s
(I have) zero empathy.
If it makes you feel any better, he would have done the exact same or worse to anyone else in his place.
They were torn between wanting to help him but also wanting to minimize the appearance of the episode for him. Both of which are valid concerns for him.
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Controlling the future of a world they no longer have any meaningful stake in.
Their voters too. It’s hilarious that the greatest rage about the direction of the country comes from ancient conservative fucks that are circling the drain and won’t even be alive to feel the effects. And it isn’t even anger for the sake of the well being of their descendants, as their policy positions are almost always to cut everyone off from societal help when they need it just to revel in the pain of anyone outside their in-group.
It’s just very important for Old Republicans to know that Americans that don’t look or act like them will continue to be kicked while they’re down after they’re gone. It’s like they think heaven will just sitting on a cloud with popcorn watching police murder black teenagers and poor women getting declined for abortions.
That’s what blows my mind. What is motivating these people? If you’re in your 80s, surely you have enough money to just fucking retire already. Is their greed for even more money and power that strong that they have to continue ruining our country well after the average person is deep into their retirement years?
Unfortunately he seems to have recovered, was back out there walking and talking again before too long. Still, an encouraging sign.
He went backstage to finish feasting on the infants.
You don’t live to be 1350 by not drinking the blood of the innocent.
No wonder America’s laws are so outdated, they’re made by guys who still think the 20’s were the “good ol’ days”
You should have to take physical driving tests every 2 years past age 65 to keep driving.
Yet we let these senile millionaires legislate our lives.
Putting aside being the worst President since Jackson on policy alone, we let drooling Alzheimer’s Reagan maintain his hand on the nuclear button for years, with the help of his traitorous wife, putting all of us at risk for no other reason than to protect the “Reagan Legacy.” Aww, he didn’t want to be embarrassed, so we had no one at the wheel in the late 80s who could reliably remember how to tie their own shoes in the event of a global crisis, much less the names and vital details of every major world leader as they should.
I’m sorry if it makes me ableist to say, but having dementia/Alzheimer’s means that the most important decision you should be allowed to make until your death is what you want for lunch. When You’re broken and a danger to yourself to others, fuck your legacy.
Ugh. If if there were a crisis it would be handled by Nancy and her astrologer. We are a total fucking mess of a country.
As a disabled person, it is simply a fact that various disabilities preclude your ability to do certain things. That’s literally what “disabled” means!
I can’t hike up mountains anymore and I don’t go around telling people I can and trying to do so. If he or Feinstein can’t think properly anymore, they can’t do their jobs, either.
Did the demon animating his corpse finally depart?
Maybe the other way around. The ghost of Sinead O’Connor, freed from it’s earthly prison, starts entering the bodies of decrepit right-wingers and starts gumming up the works. A guy can dream.
Underrated comment
Most of the comments here are examples of what’s wrong with American politics. How can you, despite your political views, watch this video and be so spiteful?
I dislike, disapprove and disagree with the man on every level. But I do not enjoy watching this.
I mean the man is directly responsible for blocking several Supreme Court justices from being appointed while Obama was president, which led to roe v wade being overturned so uh, Moscow Mitch couldn’t drop dead any faster in my opinion.
I am not going to reply to everybody. But most of the comments - yours too - underline my point.
For me, politics is about creating something better together. Alienating others in the way that’s being expressed here achieves absolutely nothing. It creates no improvement, only more hatred and division.
One big problem with American politics is the polarization between the individuals who should be collaborating. You too are part of the problem with this approach and almost every comment in this thread is just fuel for the fire for someone else.
Mr. McConnell’s legacy is the exact opposite of “creating something better together.” That you cannot acknowledge this shows how little you understand politics in the USA.
This is some enlightened Centrist bullshit and you know it.
When someone has been instrumental in the dismantling of democracy in this country, you don’t get to play the “be nice!” card. There is no meeting in the middle with guys like him.
When one side is pushing the extremes, is it really fair to meet in the new middle?
For me, politics is about creating something better together. Alienating others in the way that’s being expressed here achieves absolutely nothing. It creates no improvement, only more hatred and division.
If politics is about creating something better together, then alienating others in the way that Mitch McConnell did over the course of his entire career achieves absolutely nothing. It creates no improvement, only more hatred and division.
If it hadn’t become clear LONG AGO that if you play politics by the rules you’ll lose every single time, then your appeal to the better angels of our nature would hold. As it stands, we all suffer because RBG appealed to respect and decorum. We all suffer because Obama appealed to respect and decorum. We all suffer because James Comey appealed to respect and decorum. Hell, we all suffer because LBJ appealed to respect and decorum. We suffer because people on the left have spent decades fighting political battles with white gloves on. We reach a hand across the aisle and have a knife inserted into our spinal column.
Mitch McConnell succeeded beyond his wildest dreams because when he sensed blood in the water, he acted with ice in his veins. He abandoned all pretense to get whatever he wanted at every turn, naysayers and opponents be damned. He paved the road of his career with the guts of his enemies and never hesitated to lie, cheat, or steal to gain and maintain power, and we will all spend the rest of our mortal lives living with the ramifications of his actions.
Look around, Helen. American politics can’t get much worse, so if it’s a bloodsport they want, it’s a bloodsport they’ll get.
edit: How very, very convenient that you don’t even live in the US and so you’ll never be directly affected by Mitch McConnell’s actions and have the luxury of finger-wagging at those of us mired in his shit, all the way from the other side of the fucking ocean. How very convenient indeed.
Look around, Helen. American politics can’t get much worse, so if it’s a bloodsport they want, it’s a bloodsport they’ll get.
If you think the answer is to be as morally bankrupt as you think your opponent is, you are ignoring your own supposed values.
edit: How very, very convenient that you don’t even live in the US and so you’ll never be directly affected by Mitch McConnell’s actions and have the luxury of finger-wagging at those of us mired in his shit, all the way from the other side of the fucking ocean. How very convenient indeed.
Your are right. But American politics have a way of being everyone’s business and influence a lot of people - people from the EU included. I see this influence on our political system, and it is not pretty. The idea about not playing by any rules is just sad; if you have no compass you are truly lost and don’t really work for anything.
Side note: I am amazed that you think my nationality excludes me from having an opinion on this. It highlights the problem with a community called ‘politics’ on lemmy.****world only about American politics - and apparently only for Americans.
Nobody is saying you can’t have an opinion on it. They’re saying that the ignorance of your opinion is explained by that fact that this asshole’s boot isn’t on your neck.
If you think the answer is to be as morally bankrupt as you think your opponent is, you are ignoring your own supposed values.
This isn’t about values, it’s about winning. I gave up on values because all it got me was a bunch of symbolic but feckless victories. My wife’s life is in danger, my black friends are having their history rewritten, and my gay friends now have to worry about the validity of their marriage thanks to values-oriented thinking. I’m fucking done with that chapter. From now on I only care about what I can win for them.
Your are right. But American politics have a way of being everyone’s business and influence a lot of people - people from the EU included. I see this influence on our political system, and it is not pretty. The idea about not playing by any rules is just sad; if you have no compass you are truly lost and don’t really work for anything.
Nice of you to say when you’re not living under the yoke of people who won with no principles and no values. Meanwhile in this world…
Side note: I am amazed that you think my nationality excludes me from having an opinion on this. It highlights the problem with a community called ‘politics’ on lemmy.****world only about American politics - and apparently only for Americans.
The beauty of free speech is that you can have an opinion on this, and I can have an opinion on your opinion. Namely that it’s bullshit and irrelevant. But keep spouting by all means. Meanwhile I’ll wipe the blood off my wife’s uterus and try to figure out the next tactical step I can take to keep her safe. Hope the scene’s not too gruesome from your moral high horse.
I will not be shamed into being civil to people who are literally trying to get me killed. You may think this is hyperbole but for women who have even intermittently functioning uteruses, the rollback of Roe v Wade can get you killed. Get an ectopic pregnancy or certain kinds of complications in the wrong state and the doctors will delay or even refuse treatment. Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if we started seeing violent attacks by grieving widowers and orphans.
You are never getting that from Mitch McConnell, or any other Republican holding office for that matter, because they’re not even in the same zip code of what your view of politics is. They want to create something that makes them and the people that donate to them rich. More recently, part of them have turned straight fascist.
I would love to have a sane other side to negotiate with, but as a Millennial there has never been a sane other side. Only these profiteering nut bags that have courted the kind of people who want to see anyone who is not a straight, white male of Christian faith heavily restricted by rule of law.
You wouldn’t happen to be a white, cis, male, would you? I ask because you seem to have a somewhat abstract concept of what politics is.
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It’s simple. Him and his policies and actions hurt the most vulnerable of communities. I wish we could see him brutally beaten to death by the folks he’s disenfranchised, but I guess we’ll have to settle for watching him stroke out and shit his pants on television.
As opposed to what? Being compassionate towards this piece of political garbage? I can’t wait till he’s in the ground.
I mean, I also did not enjoy watching those women in Texas cry and vomit while telling their post-Roe stories in court, but the world now has to observe their pain in high definition and this man is almost singularly to blame for it. Two conservative SCOTUS seats can be attributed directly to his actions. He is heralded as a savoir by half of this country for making them suffer, bleed, and even die, and so turnabout is certainly fair play.
Fuck him sideways.
The worst part is that only scratches the surface of the damage he is responsible for. Fuck him sideways with electroboom’s magic wand
Being callous about bad things happening to objectively evil people isn’t even close to the top ten worst things about American politics. These people should know what we think of them, they literally put themselves into the public as servants to the public, by their own choice, and for a great personal profit. They manged to dodge all other accountability, I will not hold my tongue in the name of some imaginary sense of decorum because somones having a rough time after decades of putting thier constituents in rougher times. Ya get what you give, and it’s his turn to get.
They actively work on keeping half the country in border line poverty.
Yeah they need to fucking die off already. And as they do, nobody will shed a single tear because fuck 'em.
His politics and actions in while power have been particularly spiteful towards people not on ‘his side’ or of his ‘station’, despite the fact that we’re supposed to be the United States of America. He hasn’t done a lot to garner good will from me.
The man literally, openly wants me to die.
I’m not allowed to reciprocate?
Fuck that.
I reserve my compassion for human beings. If Mitch McConnell ever had any humanity, he sold it a very long time ago.
I agree, but I also recognize that people need to vent their anger and frustration.
I think what separates us from people like him, is that we can be empathetic about a situation. We can see human suffering and be like “Yea, that sucks”
He is clearly unwell and should be getting help, not doing press conferences and making political decisions.
Sure. But it’s also a fact that he is personally responsible for causing the repeal of Roe vs. Wade leading to multiple deaths and untold suffering. It’s very much a situation where I can’t blame anyone wishing him harm as he has by his actions caused harm to others. FAFO applies.
I will never forget the look of absolute giddy glee as he was excitedly explaining to Colbert how SuperPACs allow for unlimited anonymous dark money to be funneled into his coffers.
This man has done untold damage and is responsible for an incalculable number of deaths. My empathy does not extend to objective evil.
Probably because this man is one of the all time worst in history, and his actions have killed countless and harmed the lives of literally billions of people?
People like you are honestly pathetic and as big a part of the problem as Mitch. Murder away! As long as you’re important and the numbers large enough numbskulls like you will come out of the woodwork to confirm your humanity and worthiness of life.
He does not deserve life. He has shown that. The sooner he dies the better.
This person empathizes. Thank you.
Mitch McConnell, however, does not. So fuck him.
I have empathy. I don’t want McConnell to suffer. I just want him gone for the sake of the country. That doesn’t have to be death; he could simply retire and stop being the vampire on democracy that he is.
it’s called schadenfreude, and most people have some sense of it, especially when it comes to seeing bad things happen to people who richly deserve it.
Nobody enjoys watching mitch mconel.
At least theres some comfort in knowing it might die soon.You’re being downvoted but I agree with you. This man is a garbage human and don’t agree with him on anything politically, but I don’t understand how anyone can put themselves above others and revel in another person’s suffering. I say this as a McConnell hater, but I may also be biased. I had a stroke at 30, which caused epilepsy from the damage later. It fucking sucks and I couldn’t wish that on anyone.
Have you been conscious since 2016? If so, maybe you’d understand people being a little bit spiteful.
Looks like he finally realizes all the evil things he has done ✅ My grandma said she was fine too, then proceeded to fall down the stairs.
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Strom Thurmond was 98 and still there. The rest of the world is laughing at us. America is a joke.
McConnell’s office has been flooded with phone calls, tying up the lines. His office request that you send a telegram, or preferably a message by pony express.
I’d like to send this letter to the Prussian Consulate in Siam by aeromail. Am I too late for the 4:30 auto-gyro?
Oh no, how “terrible”
Man’s turkey neck accidentally folded meaning he couldn’t talk
The lizardpeople living in the sewers of NYC were performing updates, so their control signals couldn’t get through…
Babies make the same kinda face when theyre focusing on shitting their diaper…
