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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowRegarding Jim Shella’s advice to choose an incoherent Joe Biden over Donald Trump, I believe neither should be chosen [“Jim Shella: Age is front and center in national politics,” Forefront, Aug. 11].
Here’s why.
When you get past 70, your cognitive abilities decline—sometimes markedly so. If anyone disputes this, they are either not past 70, or they are lying.
I am past 70, and I take just a little longer to navigate the roundabouts or do anything that requires a quick decision. Yet I have my own business, which requires great skill and mental ability (I audit legal bills). Importantly, nothing I do requires a quick decision. Because of my own experiences, I am firmly convinced that those past 70 can be senators, governors, mayors, etc. Just not president.
Unlike all other types of political positions, being president does require quick decisions. I envision a 3 a.m. wake-up call to President Biden that the Russians have launched missiles that may be headed toward the U.S. and here’s your options and we need your decision now! I can imagine Biden unhooking himself from his CPAP device and perhaps staring blankly into space (such as McConnell recently did) as he wastes precious minutes trying to process what he has just heard.
No. We must have a president who is physically up to the job. And it’s your job, Jim, to use your bully pulpit to encourage both Democrats and Republicans to choose candidates who will be mentally and physically up to the job.
—John Conlon
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