The political left would love you to believe that elderly US officials can do their jobs and command respect, even if they show signs of mental decline. However, a new Pentagon-commission RAND Corp. study says that may not be the case.
As you know, with leaders such as President Joe Biden, Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein and John Fetterman, and GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, mental health and its limitations have become an increasing concern.
Naturally, it has led many to believe that term and age limits might need to be implemented for government employees.
America is not past its prime—our politicians are past theirs.
We need term limits, and we need them now. pic.twitter.com/stymXtF9pF
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 16, 2023
I mean, how many of these employees work daily with sensitive state secrets? And yet, they may also be suffering from diseases that don’t allow them to remember loved ones or misrecognize strangers as someone they know and trust.
And just like that, those state secrets may not be so secret anymore, possibly even falling into the wrong hands.
To be sure, the idea should terrify you. I know it does me.
And now, a study has pretty much proven that possibility as truth.
According to the RAND study, two trends are working against national security. One is that people are living longer. Two is that people are working longer. As we can see with the leaders mentioned above, Americans are working well into their 70s and 80s. Feinstein is 90.
And yet, it’s also estimated that an entire third of the adults 85 and older have Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia. And that likelihood doubles every 4 to 5 years after 65, RAND says.
Naturally, with one-tenth of Congress above 75, the chances of more than a few having cognitive issues that could pose a threat is fairly good.
No wonder pushes for term or age limits, as well as cognitive testing, are only increasing.