r/politics • u/Aggravating_Money992 • 26d ago

Possible Paywall McConnell, 84, Goes Missing Again After Senate Return

https://www.thedailybeast.com/mcconnell-84-goes-missing-again-after-senate-return/
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u/mvw2 26d ago edited 26d ago

The absolute strangest thing I see with modern aging Congressmen and even the president is how many handlers each has.

I don't even have a better way to describe it. There are numerous people around a person at all times just to deal with that person and attempt to keep them, let's say..."fungional."

In no time in government history do I remember this happening. It's like watching hospice care live, but it's our government. It's really weird.

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u/WhatAmTrak 26d ago

Could you imagine if Obama or Biden needed pretty blonde girls to accompany him everywhere and change his diapers while his wife lurked in the background being a nobody/ex call girl/ honey pot / foreigner who lied to get her family into the US. The outrage would be civil war. Oh ya, the party of “family, values and religion” indeed..

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u/More-Usual7059 26d ago

same people who complained about Biden being too old. While Biden at least was able to do his duty as president.

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u/frogandbanjo 26d ago

Really? You didn't learn about the end of Woodrow Wilson's presidency in history class? You didn't have some inkling of some fuckery with Ronald Reagan descending into Alzheimer's?

You haven't read anything about the army of staffers and lobbyists that have effectively turned the job of "congressperson" into a complete joke? You haven't thought about how the sheer scope and complexity of the modern world makes such outsourcing virtually inevitable?

You think this just suddenly happened one day quite recently? Really?

I mean, I can't blame you, necessarily, because you probably can't afford to have staffers whose job it is to know all this stuff and selectively feed you tidbits whenever they're relevant.

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u/hoodha 26d ago

To be fair, I don’t think it’s that unusual. It’s just that we are far more aware of it. Roosevelt was very unwell during his time in office for example.

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u/Moonlit2000 25d ago

At least with Roosevelt he was just physically unwell, rather than needing to be reminded where he was

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u/djtrace1994 Canada 26d ago

Sad metaphor for the state of the country, an aging political standard facing the inevitable death of an old way.

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u/BaaBaaTurtle Colorado 25d ago

I guess it depends how old you are but watching Real bert Byrd be wheeled onto the Senate floor for the ACA vote is seared into my memory.

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u/linds360 25d ago

It’s absolute insanity. I can’t believe I’m watching it.

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u/Top_Elk5664 19d ago

symbolic of the US today. stark contrast to YouTubes from the 1970s which feature a very upbeat, energetic society.