Rashee Sanook

Prentice

I would say that 70 is a good upper age limit for an incoming President, or Prime Minister.

Yes, I’m afraid you did say those words.

It depends on the state of someones health, regardless of age.

Except Casdon the fact is, I did not say those words.
There will be some older people who are quite remarkable as to clarity of mind, a brain which works sharply as ever, but they are well in the minority.When it comes to people being in real positions of power within a nation, I do think an upper age limit is a good idea.We are just speaking of ideas now, it is hardly going to happen.
At 81 I know that I could not be in any kind of top job, and this is no ageist thing at all, but simply a matter of health.
It is unfair for 50 and 60 year olds to be discriminated against for certain jobs that they certainly could do, but after that it is completely understandable.

Prentice

Churchill was indeed too old and made many mistakes, which were known about but kept quiet about at the time.There is nothing to say that another PM would not have done an excellent job during the war years.Churchill could have had a job in the Cabinet and given his advice.Certainly the people of this country did not want him back in his role when the war ended.Although strangely they did want him in the election after that one in the early 1950’s and voted Labour out.
However, we are talking about now, and an upper age limit to be PM or President strikes me as a good idea.

You are on very dodgy ground. Gladstone, Palmerston and others I’m sure were over 70 too. It’s ageist to say people are incapable of being a leader after 70, and that’s no better than discriminating on grounds of sex, race or sexuality.

Volver as you would say yourself ‘Aye, right!’

Churchill was indeed too old and made many mistakes, which were known about but kept quiet about at the time.There is nothing to say that another PM would not have done an excellent job during the war years.Churchill could have had a job in the Cabinet and given his advice.Certainly the people of this country did not want him back in his role when the war ended.Although strangely they did want him in the election after that one in the early 1950’s and voted Labour out.
However, we are talking about now, and an upper age limit to be PM or President strikes me as a good idea.

It’s about being fit for the job whatever the age. However cognitive decline is sadly more prominent amongst older people, with your chances increasing with age. Biden does seem to be showing some signs as the op points out. Is he running the country or a backup team? I suspect the latter.

Prentice

Maybee there are many diversions as you call it, that can be used to distract from what is happening in politics in the UK, the most compelling being the terrible acts of war by Putin taking place in Ukraine.That does not negate from people being aware that Mr Biden is wrong for his position.It was a rock and a hard place at the last US elections, and Mr Biden fortunately beat Mr Trump, but really many people were aware he was too old and had physical frailty and a wandering mind.It happens to the best of us with age, but there should have been a better and younger candidate in place.

That's a really shocking and discriminatory post.

With age comes experience. But yes, there is a lower age limit for Presidents.

Some people can be intelligent but fail to get names right, pronounce them wrongly or mix words up.
Some people utter spoonerisms, mondegreens etc.

It must be difficult for stammerers to get to grips with unusual words or names too.

That’s Churchill out then.

I would say that 70 is a good upper age limit for an incoming President, or Prime Minister.

Maybee there are many diversions as you call it, that can be used to distract from what is happening in politics in the UK, the most compelling being the terrible acts of war by Putin taking place in Ukraine.That does not negate from people being aware that Mr Biden is wrong for his position.It was a rock and a hard place at the last US elections, and Mr Biden fortunately beat Mr Trump, but really many people were aware he was too old and had physical frailty and a wandering mind.It happens to the best of us with age, but there should have been a better and younger candidate in place.

So, any recommendations for an upper age limit? Anyone?

The late Queen was not in a position to have a finger poised on the nuclear button.
In fact bringing up the Queen and trying to compare her role with that of an old President of the US is questionable.
I do not believe this thread was started to be unpleasant at all nor to poke fun, but for a genuine reason that many are rather concerned about. The President is such a powerful position,
Unlike either Royalty here or indeed our PM.

It’s also a diversion from what is happening in the U.K. Also probably due to to Biden making his views on the NI protocol quite clear ie he’s just a doddery old fool and his views regarding the upholding of international law are worthless.

This is a thread that was started in order to be unpleasant.

If the objective was to express concern for a politician we believe to be ill, then I take it all back.

But my belief is that it was started to poke fun at an older person. To try to say that they are unsuitable for a job, and that their wife should be taking care of them, because they can't take care of themselves. To have a laugh at someone else's expense, and to present the opportunity to call them names.

Perhaps Biden is suffering from cognitive decline - like I said above, not my place to diagnose anybody. And certainly not my place, or anybody else's here, to call him "too old" for the job and not expect to be admonished for it.

Certainly not when we have a recent Head of State who was in post until the age of 96 and a new one starting aged 74. Maddyone seems to be the only person willing to speak about that. Let's have that discussion.

I do realise that one or two seem to delight in saying the opposite to most, on every subject there is, but it is so obvious that Mr Biden physically and mentally is not best placed to be in charge of the most powerful country on Earth.

volver

Of course.

So it's not age that's the problem, its cognitive decline. In which case, can we stop saying he's too old for the job?

Honestly, it's like watching ferrets squirm in a sack.

Unpleasant comment.

He was “too old” when elected.

But obviously the USA thought differently.

Strange, when eternal youth seems so important to them, hence the face lifts and plastic surgery that all famous people over there seem to succumb to.

Calendargirl

It’s both Volver, in his case.

That's unfair.

When does a person become too old?

If Biden's "too old", when did that happen?

Aldom

I agree Joe Biden is past it. But I don't like the name calling. It's unkind when the man is clearly in failing health.

I agree.

They have an excellent VP - Kamala Harris. She can step in and step up.

It’s both Volver, in his case.

volver

^Yet Bidon couldn't even get the vowels right!^

And to paraphrase Casdon, neither can you.

[Blush]

But at least I say it correctly, even if my brain doesn't always keep up with my finger when typing quickly.

Of course.

So it's not age that's the problem, its cognitive decline. In which case, can we stop saying he's too old for the job?

Honestly, it's like watching ferrets squirm in a sack.

The Queen never seemed to forget the names of people she was speaking to. Not as far as we were aware.

And she never stumbled going up and down airplane steps.

Or go into meetings doing a jogging trot, trying to look 30 years younger than she was.

She had more sense.