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“Rahm, do you see these bags under my eyes? I’ve got to disappear for six months to get some work done on my face before the 2016 campaign. You’ll still be there for me when I come out of seclusion, right? You know, 2024 is hardly too long for you to wait to run yourself: you’ll still be younger than I am now! When it’s your turn, Bill and I would love to help you ballet prance your way into the White House. By the way, you shouldn’t believe those rumors about what Anthony Pellicano overheard you saying. Keep smiling to the crowd and doing that nine finger clap of yours while I tell you that you’ve known Bill and I long enough to be confident that we would never save wiretaps like that just in case one of our most trusted subordinates decides to be unworthy of our trust. If I’ve made myself clear, you may now stop clapping.”
Here’s another Straussian subtext to “Why I Hope to Die at 75” in The Atlantic by bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel, a leading architect of Obamacare and brother of the mayor of Chicago and the Hollywood superagent portrayed by Jeremy Piven on Entourage:
Many of the leading candidates for the Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential nomination would be by the conclusion of a second term in the White House well into what Ezekiel Emanuel tells us are their Better-Off-Dead years.
For example, on January 19, 2025, outgoing two-term President Hillary Clinton would be 77 years old. President Joe Biden would be 82. President Jerry Brown would be 86. President Elizabeth Warren would be 75 and a half. President Bernie Sanders would be 83.
In contrast, to pick completely at random an example of a younger Democratic leader with both foreign and domestic experience, President Rahm Emanuel would only be a still vibrant 65 after his two triumphant terms in the White House.
“Uh, Rahm, would you mind not standing so close that I can hear the fierce beating of your heart?”
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Now you’re just baiting people.
No its Deval Patrick. Same Obama formula. Black plus lub White voters and women. That coalition seems unbeatable so far.
Rahm is likely to be kicked out by Bertha Lewis. Black voters call the tune, thus Black leaders dominate.
Deval Patrick has his own War Against Women problem.
I think it will be hard to whitewash that.
Obama had very little baggage going into 2008.
Yeah, the mayor of the deadliest big city in the country is totally gunna be the next president. Oh well, at least unlike so many other politicians who avoided military service, he bothered to take the time to serve HIS country – IYKWIMAITYD.
“Now you’re just baiting people.”
Indeed, how dare some commoner make fun of the Ruling Families of the Democratic Party: the Clintons, the Bidens, the Browns, and the Emanuels?
Julian Castro was suppose to be the Mexican Hussein Obama, is he no longer relevant in national politics ? Is his 15 minutes of fame already up ?
I remember when Reagan ran for president in 1980. He was 69 years old and the conventional (media) view was that he was too old. This was even more of a media theme in 1984 when he was 73. Today 69 or 73 doesn’t seem that old. I also remember there being a big hoopla in the media about Reagan being a divorced man, as though this was some sort of mark of Cain.
Remember, too, that it was Jane who walked out on Ron, and everyone would assume the necessary "fault" was manufactured. (Such was Hollywood.)
It was thus really hard to make a divorce case against Reagan. Not without dredging up pre-no-fault concepts the media were more than happy to keep buried.
Reagan kicked himself later for having signed the first no-fault law. But his opponents were largely grateful he did.Replies: @Art Deco
Rahm’s bating someone there.
Mark me down as a Cankles skeptic. Even though the boomers are heading to their dotage, it’s still a tyranny of youth. Old ugly fat women are tough to sell in a youth culture. Fake Indian, on the other hand, still looks vibrant and fresh. Cankles can probably maneuver around her challengers this time, but The Stupid Party will probably field a plausible alternative this time. It’s their turn and all the former Bush officials are ready to come in from the cold.
They start cutting way down on diagnostic screenings at 75. So when they do the annual physical, they can say, ‘she’s too old to run a lot of the tests’
But an even more interesting trend is to resume vices @ 80. Or hell, 75 rounds up to 80. Like smoking. Moderate drug abuse. Whatever your pleasure. Forget aids. Steak, baked potato with butter, and a nice high fat, high sugar desert. No one ever proved vegetables really matter. Same with salad — why bother? It’s damn near the Atkins diet. Thailand + Viagra. Vicodin to take the edge off. A little dexedrine to wake up in the morning.
Everything in moderation but pleasure.
Anybody else think think that young Emanuel looks like the poor beta boy Stuart who owns the comic book store in the “Big Bang Theory”?
Well an SNL reference dates me more than a BBT one, but I'm thinking more Chris Kattan.
Just Google Image him.
http://www.google.com/url?q=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Kattan&sa=U&ei=718jVNOFNM-sogTlq4HIBA&ved=0CBYQ9QEwAA&usg=AFQjCNGGuzqr8YeFPDfImgG84QEwr1Uy_Q
Surely we'll never sink to the point that we have MANGO or Mr. Peepers on the POTUS ballot?
“I also remember there being a big hoopla in the media about Reagan being a divorced man, as though this was some sort of mark of Cain.”
When Ronald Reagan officially announced to the media in November of 1979 that he was running for POTUS, it was the era of disco, sex, drugs, and rock n’roll.
So I am surprised some people in the media made a big deal about Ronald Reagan being married more than once, when America in 1979 was no longer as prudish as it was 1959 when on “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”, Ricky and Lucy were portrayed as sleeping in separate beds even though they were a married couple.
The 1970s marked the end of prudish America with the rise of the golden age of porn with films liked “Deep Throat” and “Debbie Does Dallas”.
The 1970s marked the first time an underage actress was cussing up a storm on camera, with 14 year old Linda Blair having a dirty mouth in 1973’s “The Exorcist”. American pop culture was no longer PG and wholesome by the time the 1970s arrived.
Reagan Democrats(mostly ethnic white Catholics) didn't have any problem voting for him.
Dems are throwing away an election if they choose Hillary.
Could Republicans actually choose a worse candidate than her? It could be like Bush-Kerry again…
“Bush was so awful that he almost lost to KERRY!”
“Kerry was so bad that he couldn’t even beat BUSH!”
Whomever gave Hillary those atrocious cheek pads should lose his license. The secret is out: Older women who undergo face lifts, botox, and cheek pads to try to look younger look like older women who have undergone face lifts, botox, and cheek pads to try to look younger. Do they ever look in the mirror?
Ain’t gonna happen. US won’t elect another black president for many decades.
“Been there, done that, got the tee-shirt.”
Rahm is likely to be kicked out by Bertha Lewis. Black voters call the tune, thus Black leaders dominate.Replies: @The most deplorable one, @Brutusale
Whiskey, do keep up.
Deval Patrick has his own War Against Women problem.
I think it will be hard to whitewash that.
Obama had very little baggage going into 2008.
Castro is a dope. I’ve eaten blueberry yogurt muffins that were more exciting than him.
In seriousness though, I think the Ds are getting ready for Hillary and just don’t have the time for the Mexican Obama right now.
No, I think Hillary has a very good chance of being elected. The GOP field is almost nonexistent and even if it wasn’t, they have almost no issue they can use against her other than “liberal Democrat!” and “Bill!”. That’s not going to cut it.
“Mark me down as a Cankles skeptic. Even though the boomers are heading to their dotage, it’s still a tyranny of youth. Old ugly fat women are tough to sell in a youth culture. Fake Indian, on the other hand, still looks vibrant and fresh”
When you say fake Indian, are you talking about Elizabeth Warren ? She is not exactly a spring chicken either.
She was 28 years old when The King Of Rock N’Roll Elvis Presley passed away in 1977. So she is not exactly part of the Miley Cyrus generation.
President Elizabeth Warren? Not when the press gets wind of the fact that the Board she created won’t even acknowledge receipt of a letter from a harried consumer.
Well, sure. But can’t Steve have some fun once in awhile.
Good point. Not so much on Rahm personally; even he is smart enough to know he is not POTUS material. Those analyzing the top picture to see how much older Hillary looks than Rahm might also take a second to notice she is also TALLER than he is. Sorry, munchkin, at that height only a career as a fighter pilot could possibly take you to the Oval Office and even then you would still need at least a short stint in a PoW camp.
But the broader point that ambitous younger Boomers like Eazy Ezekial must be chafing pretty bad at the number of older Boomers in the pipeline ahead of them still resonates.
Deep throat was the golden age of porn? A film that didn’t have a single attractive girl in it? Besides, youngsters don’t vote by and large. Didn’t you know that? That’s why having been divorced might possibly have been a problem. Dolt.
I think he’s a dead ringer for Lou Reed in that pic.
“Anybody else think think that young Emanuel looks like the poor beta boy Stuart who owns the comic book store in the “Big Bang Theory”?”
Well an SNL reference dates me more than a BBT one, but I’m thinking more Chris Kattan.
Just Google Image him.
http://www.google.com/url?q=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Kattan&sa=U&ei=718jVNOFNM-sogTlq4HIBA&ved=0CBYQ9QEwAA&usg=AFQjCNGGuzqr8YeFPDfImgG84QEwr1Uy_Q
Surely we’ll never sink to the point that we have MANGO or Mr. Peepers on the POTUS ballot?
The picture of him in the picture with Bill is funny. From that angle, he is somewhat reminiscent of Malcolm McDowell in Caligula.
Society becoming more coarse and libertine wouldn’t prevent the media from attacking Reagan with his divorce. The rules are different when it’s a conservative. See the treatment of Packwood versus Clinton.
Reagan Democrats(mostly ethnic white Catholics) didn’t have any problem voting for him.
Sen. Jim Webb announced he is thinking about running. He might take a page from Ross Perot on how to gain instant credibility.
I liked the “fierce beating of your heart” caption the first time I saw it.
Is he really missing part of a finger or is it caught in her plentiful pleats? And how did it happen?
Yes, he chopped part of his finger off. I forget how.
We have had haggard looking presidents before. Pictures of the tragic but foolish blowhard Lincoln and the nasty narcissist Jackson clearly exhibit, even in the primitive representations of them that have survived, faces which show the unmistakable signs of the haggard devastation of a philosophically unempathetic life vigorously mis-spent. Not to mention male Hillarys like elderly Harry Truman, dishonest old former Navy officers like Johnson and Ford, and never-young Carter. Absent a biblical revival, I see no reason why this generation is likely to be luckier in their choice of “chief executive”.
1. Truman was variously an office employee, farmer, and small merchant until his 40th year. There was nothing skeezy about his private employments (unlike Hillary's law practice). He spent about half of of his career in local executive positions as a pillar of the Prendergast machine. Hillary has no history in local politics whatsoever. Hillary lies like other people breathe. Truman was so frank he would break the gaffe meter in today's politics. The two bear no resemblance to each other.
2. Johnson was in the Naval Reserve. He was on active duty for all of six months, mostly in paper shuffling positions.
3. Ford was not dishonest.
“Yes, he chopped part of his finger off. I forget how.”
Israeli Yakuza?
Israeli Yakuza?Replies: @Lurker
Android, sorry, artificial person.
As a teenager, he was working at a fast fod restaurant and lost it in a meat slicer.
Reagan was all of nine when James M Cox, the first divorcé ever nominated, ran. (The woman he divorced, get this, was a Harding.) Stevenson was also divorced, and ran twice. So the Ds were in a poor position to complain.
Remember, too, that it was Jane who walked out on Ron, and everyone would assume the necessary “fault” was manufactured. (Such was Hollywood.)
It was thus really hard to make a divorce case against Reagan. Not without dredging up pre-no-fault concepts the media were more than happy to keep buried.
Reagan kicked himself later for having signed the first no-fault law. But his opponents were largely grateful he did.
Sure hope the place wasn’t kosher, because it wouldn’t be after that!
It takes a child to raze a village. Or a couple of sizable cities.
Ron did suffer Alzheimer’s in his last term. On Iran-Contra, that really was plausible deniability. But then Reagan in dotage, whatever his faults, was still clearly superior to all those whose follies we’ve subsequently suffered.
In fact, Reagan was too old, at least for his second term. He was already suffering from Alzheimer’s by the end of his Presidency.
Hillary is no Reagan, and Reagan was actually fortunate to have held on to a few good ideas and smart, capable people to carry them out. Hillary is a daft old woman with zero gravitas. She’ll be the Democrat John McCain.
I say elect her and let’s get the collapse over with.
Neither Hillary nor McCain are daft. I can think of people with 'zero gravitas' (Howard Dean, John Edwards, Barack Obama, Ron Paul, Joseph Biden, and Newt Gingrich), but John McCain ain't one.
Rahm is likely to be kicked out by Bertha Lewis. Black voters call the tune, thus Black leaders dominate.Replies: @The most deplorable one, @Brutusale
It could work that way for Gov. Squeaky Patrick, Whiskey, but unfortunately for him, unlike Obama in 2008, Patrick has a record. And it sucks. His latest problem, firing two women who had a problem with his convicted rapist brother-in-law being left off the Commonwealth’s sex offender registry, is a minor issue compared to a lot of governmental dysfunction manifest on his watch. Google Annie Dookhan. Massachusetts is going to be dealing with the fallout from that fiasco for years.
80s Chicks, former Gong Show bikini girl and porn actress Carol Connors was in Deep Throat, and I think she fulfills all parameters of a hot chick.
Nobody dares challenge Hillary at this point, but the Democrats just don’t love her.
Rahm, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and now Jim Webb are just waiting to claim the prize for themselves.
Except we now know the actual show was run by George HW Bush, who was still a relatively young age of 55 on 1980 and 64 on 1989 when he began his third term.
The last time a Republican won a presidential election in a clear landslide was in 1988 with HW. The Super Nintendo did not even exist yet, let alone X-Box. The last time a Republican won the presidency in a landslide Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin were all still alive.
Dubya won in 2000 and 2004 by a hair, by the skin of his teeth.
We have had haggard looking presidents before … Not to mention male Hillarys like elderly Harry Truman, dishonest old former Navy officers like Johnson and Ford, and never-young Carter.
Truman was 68 years old and still physically vigorous when he left office. He lived almost another 20 years. Ford was quite youthful-looking for his age when he was in office and lived another 30 years. Carter may not have looked young, but he is still active even though he will turn 90 in a few days. At 33 years and counting he has had the longest post-presidency in US history.
Not to mention male Hillarys like elderly Harry Truman, dishonest old former Navy officers like Johnson and Ford
1. Truman was variously an office employee, farmer, and small merchant until his 40th year. There was nothing skeezy about his private employments (unlike Hillary’s law practice). He spent about half of of his career in local executive positions as a pillar of the Prendergast machine. Hillary has no history in local politics whatsoever. Hillary lies like other people breathe. Truman was so frank he would break the gaffe meter in today’s politics. The two bear no resemblance to each other.
2. Johnson was in the Naval Reserve. He was on active duty for all of six months, mostly in paper shuffling positions.
3. Ford was not dishonest.
Bush the Elder was elected to office with a plurality of ordinary dimensions, as was Clinton in 1992, Clinton in 1996, and Obama in 2008 and 2012. The conventional use of ‘landslide’ requires a plurality of 10% of the ballots. No candidate has recorded one since Ronald Reagan in 1984. The dimensions of Obama’s plurality in 2008 were almost certainly a function of timing: had Lehman Brothers and AIG reached the end of their tether seven weeks later, the outcome might have been different.
He was already suffering from Alzheimer’s by the end of his Presidency.
He was not. Reagan’s experience with Alzheimer’s fit a particular course: a collapse in lucidity which happened over a period of about 20 months. Others have graduated declines. Per Edmund Morris, the six month period from August 1994 to February 1995 was particularly stark. Maureen Reagan said she observed nothing disconcerting until the middle of 1993.
Remember, too, that it was Jane who walked out on Ron, and everyone would assume the necessary "fault" was manufactured. (Such was Hollywood.)
It was thus really hard to make a divorce case against Reagan. Not without dredging up pre-no-fault concepts the media were more than happy to keep buried.
Reagan kicked himself later for having signed the first no-fault law. But his opponents were largely grateful he did.Replies: @Art Deco
Reagan’s divorce from Jane Wyman was scarcely discussed in 1980. It was the subject of at least one Doonesbury cartoon, but GB Trudeau never preached to anyone but the converted who fancied themselves initiates. Both Ronald Reagan and Adlai Stevenson were defendants in divorce suits, not plaintiffs. Mary Ellen Stevenson moved out to Reno so she would not have to prove grounds and Reagan elected not to contest Wyman’s preposterous allegation of ‘mental cruelty’. Since Jane Wyman contracted five civil marriages to four different men and Reagan was the only one she was married to for more than four years and the only one who sired any children by her, few people who gave it much thought would hold it against him for failing at marriage to a rather difficult woman. Adlai Stevenson III has said in public print that his mother was wretched to the help and anyone else who got in her gunsights.
I say elect her and let's get the collapse over with.Replies: @Art Deco
Hillary is a daft old woman with zero gravitas. She’ll be the Democrat John McCain.
Neither Hillary nor McCain are daft. I can think of people with ‘zero gravitas’ (Howard Dean, John Edwards, Barack Obama, Ron Paul, Joseph Biden, and Newt Gingrich), but John McCain ain’t one.
The nature of power.
You gotta be like the old Jewish lady in Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef” commercial.
While the two wasp ladies are minding their manners, the Jewish lady belts out WHERE THE BEEF?
It’s time for us to say….. WE DON’T WANT BEANS. WHERE’S THE BEEF?!?
http://youtu.be/2MK9jJzbBT8
If Truman had been dishonest (which he wasn’t), he certainly didn’t enrich himself in the process. He had relatively little money after leaving office, just a small Army pension and some modest royalties from his memoirs. His financial straits were such that Congress passed a law in the late 1950’s retroactively giving pensions to former presidents. Herbert Hoover, the only other living former president, had no need for the money but decided to take it in order to make the situation less embarrassing for Truman.
No, he’s not daft.
But he is insane.
The Chicago Police don’t like Emanuel much. Their first names for him were “Rahmballina” and “Tiny Dancer,” based on his stature and ballet training. With half of the middle finger on his right hand missing, other nicknames for him include “9.5” and “The Nine-Digit Midget.”
http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/search?q=tiny+dancer
““Why I Hope to Die at 75” in The Atlantic by bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel . . . “
I think this guy is getting a bum rap. I think his opinion has real merit. In fact, I’ve written a short pamphlet entitled “Why I Also Hope Ezekiel Emanuel Dies at 75 . . .”
” . . . President Rahm Emanuel . . . “
I can just picture it. “F*CK YOU, Assad, you slimy piece of Syrian sh*t, go ahead and cross my Red Line In The Sand – where is the line? Oh, you’ll know when you cross it, dipsh*t, ‘cuz all your camels will be smoking holes in the ground!! . . . . ”
“ . . . . Hilary . . .”
It’s going to be Elizabeth Warren. And she’ll stand a better than even chance of winning. And then we’re into that “here there be dragons” part of the map.
Warren is a smarter, more organized, more ambitious, further leftward Alinskyite than Obama. She lies more deniably. She has cred through past dishonest efforts. (See bankruptcy reform. It was her study that “proved” that medical debt causes most bk’s.) And she’d be The First Woman President! Maybe even the first Native American Woman President! Every reporter who lied for BO will happily jump on the Liz-train!
What’s more, where Obama walked away from running his office and from mixing with the commoners in Congress, Warren can crack the whip on a large organization as well as charm the dumb Congressettes into building their “bipartisan” legacies with votes for her “reasonable” requests.
She’d be a more effective, more harmful Obama. She understands that the path to complete power lies in regulation. We’d be well and truly f- . . . uh . . . Native Americans, every one of us.