Oh, Joe. What are you doing?
Joe, Joe, Joe.
Joe Biden is running for president, in case you haven’t heard. And he’s been trying to make sure people don’t focus on the fact that he’s 77 years old. I noticed, of course. As I have written before in this space, I believe we need younger, more vital and energetic people in the highest office.
So as far as I am concerned, most of the candidates are too old. Even the president is 73. He loves golf so much he should be spending all of his time on the course, in my opinion.
But Biden recently did something that made me wonder if he had finally lost it for good. He is taking a campaign bus tour – a popular option for people who are not living “normal” lives to try to connect with people who are – with the slogan “No Malarkey!” painted on the side of the bus.
Yes, malarkey.
Right now, there are millennials scratching their heads. Their grandparents don’t even use the word malarkey. I can safely say that as a man in my 50s, I have never used the word malarkey.
Malarkey, as many of you know, basically means nonsense. So, a slogan saying no nonsense make sense. Why didn’t the Biden team use that instead of malarkey? Probably because the 77-year-old thought it was hip.
“Back in high school, we didn’t take any malarkey when we listened to our Ricky Nelson and Pat Boone records while discussing the failed Bay of Pigs invasion,” Biden tells his staff as everyone under the age of 40 grabs their smart phone to update their resume.
By the way, malarkey is a word that came into “popular” use in the 1920s. How did anyone think this was a good idea? Is Biden going for the Flapper vote?
Of course, Biden is right in there with many other candidates. I would bet that Bernie Sanders heard that Biden was using the work “malarkey” and instantly called a staff meeting.
“I hear Biden is using the word ‘malarkey’ on his bus tour! He is apparently going for the hippie vote! From here on out, we are going to put on our glad rags and really razz those Biden voters! I can use outdated words from the 1920s too!”
When I look at 78-years-old Bernie, I think his slogan should be, “Get off my lawn!”
All these dudes make Elizabeth Warren, at the age of 70, look like a kid. But she is so buried in the weeds of her seemingly 14,000-page policy proposal on health care to even notice. Voters are apparently barely noticing her as well.
To make matters worse, in jumps another 77-year-old. To top it all off, he’s another New York billionaire. I might side with Biden if he faces off against Michael Bloomberg and screams, “no malarkey!”
I am trying to use a little humor to make a larger point here. Most of these presidential candidates are woefully out of touch. Younger people are the future of this country and will have to deal with the decisions our political leaders are making today. These are mostly men who are in the last part of their lives. Many are from wealthy backgrounds and don’t understand the struggles most Americans face daily at all.
We need a leader who is energetic, engaged with ALL Americans and who deeply cares about the future of our country.
What we don’t need is more of the same malarkey we are getting from this group.