The "Boy" Pope and the Continuing American Gerontocracy

One incidental observation about the new Pope: He is "young." Well, not actually young. But he is "only" 69, with, one hopes (but is far from guaranteed at that age) the energy, well-being, and sharpness of cognitive function to shoulder a burdensome office honorably. (I do not include here the aid of prayer and providence, which I take seriously but are out of my bailiwick.) Born in 1955, Leo XIV is younger at election than any Pope since John Paul II.

By contrast, Joe Biden, whose ongoing, self-negating effort to "burnish his legacy" shows his continuing failure to grasp that it was precisely the chip-shouldered effort to try to use his presidency to build a "legacy" that fatally damaged both the presidency and the election, was born in 1942. Donald Trump was born in 1946. The health and acuity of both is open to serious question. (Cognitive function being an iceberg most of which is beneath the surface, Trump's volubility should not be mistaken for proof to the contrary.) Both men were too old honorably to run or serve in 2016, 2020, 2024, and today. By my lights, two of the current Supreme Court justices ought to retire this year and another two, if they were acting honorably, would have retired several years ago. (I would be inclined to give Roberts and Sotomayor, who at 70 really ought to retire, a bye, given that the current president is an authoritarian, highly corrupt, and creepily obsessed with personal loyalty. But I would note that it's that attitude, combined with the justices' arrogance, the complicity of their family and friends, and the idolatry of their fans that led to this state of affairs in the first place.) Some 20 percent of the House and 30 percent of the Senate is 70 or older. 

No wonder that the new Pope seems like a font of vitality next to these individuals.