ST. LOUIS 鈥 I gave a speech at the downtown last week.
As is my practice, I had a folded sheet of paper in the pocket of my blazer, with an outline of my talk. I pulled it out and placed it on the lectern. There were bold words in all-capital letters at key points to remind me of my plan should I veer off course.
I apparently share this practice with President Joe Biden.
Members of the national media have been aghast over the fact that Biden, like pretty much every president ever, when he gives talks to donors, members of the media or the American people. But because Biden is 81 and some people are grasping at straws to get him out of the presidential race against Donald Trump, the note cards earned headlines and breathless social media posts for a few days, all so the 鈥淏iden is old鈥 story could be recycled.
People are also reading…
Yes, Biden is old. So is Trump, just four years younger than the president.
Old people forget things. So do not-quite-as-old people. Like me, for instance.
The last round of pearl-clutching stories about Biden鈥檚 age came after the Department of Justice declined to accuse the president of a crime related to his possession of classified documents. , as Trump currently faces 91 charges in various courts 鈥 including for keeping classified documents at his Florida home and refusing to fully cooperate with the Department of Justice.
That鈥檚 what the news should have been about when Biden wasn鈥檛 charged. Instead, there were headlines about an interview in which the president couldn鈥檛 remember some details about the timing of his son Beau鈥檚 death.
The incident reminded me of my mom鈥檚 death. If an FBI agent walked into my house and asked what year my mom died, I probably wouldn鈥檛 get it right. Make no mistake, I can remember everything about the moment when I got the news. I was actually in her house at the time, watching my children when she was out of town on vacation. The call came from my aunt. I fought back tears so I could tell her grandchildren of her passing.
I gave the eulogy at the funeral. I used note cards.
But what year was it? If I thought for a moment, I鈥檇 probably get it right, though I might be off by a year. Particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, my sense of time 鈥 (was an event last month, six months ago, two years ago?) 鈥 has been diminished. To be accurate, I鈥檇 have to pull out the family Bible I received after my mom鈥檚 death, where her obituary and family documents are folded and stuck into the pages.
Maybe it鈥檚 me. I鈥檓 57 鈥 not 81 鈥 but I鈥檓 not good with dates. Or names.
My children will tell you that when three or more of them are in the same room, I can鈥檛 get their names right. When I go to the pharmacy to retrieve a prescription for one of them and the pharmacist asks me for a birth date, I have to pause, remember which child it is and make sure I鈥檓 not confusing one for another.
My wife doesn鈥檛 have this problem. She remembers dates. She can blurt them out in a heartbeat.
She also has the benefit of living a life that doesn鈥檛 focus on the daily nitty-gritty of politics. She is better off for it. For instance, she probably doesn鈥檛 know that it鈥檚 been almost 10 years since President Barack Obama wore a tan suit to a news conference, sparking an inane national political frenzy.
When it comes to American presidents, I don鈥檛 care about the color of their suits, the size of the writing on their note cards or that they sometimes get the name of a foreign leader wrong while being shouted questions from reporters.
Count me out on the 鈥淏iden is too old鈥 canard. Wake me from my nap when he鈥檚 been indicted for 91 crimes.