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      Gerontocracy: the exceptionally old political class that governs the US

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      Gerontocracy: the exceptionally old political class that governs the USJoe Biden and members of Congress are increasingly long in the tooth – and more and more out of step with a much younger US public It is the year of the octogenarian. American TV viewers can find Patrick Stewart, 82, boldly going in a new series of Star Trek: Picard and 80-year-old Harrison Ford starring in two shows plus a trailer for the fifth installment of Indiana Jones.And a switch to the news is likely to serve up Joe Biden, at 80 the oldest president in US history, or Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, who turns 81 on Monday. But while action heroes are evergreen, the political class is facing demands for generational change.California senator Dianne Feinstein, 89, announces she will not seek re-electionRead more“America is not past our prime – it’s just that our politicians are past theirs,” Nikki Haley, 51, told a crowd of several hundred people in Charleston, South Carolina, as she launched her candidacy for president in 2024.It was a shot across the bow of not only Biden but former US president Donald Trump, who leads most opinion polls for the Republican nomination but is 76 years old. Haley, notably, mentioned Trump’s name only once and avoided criticisms of him or his administration, in which she served as UN ambassador.Instead, the former South Carolina governor called for a “new generation” of leaders and said she would support a “mandatory mental competency test for politicians over 75 years old”. It was a clue that in a party long shaped in Trump’s image, where ideological differences are likely to be slight, his senior status could offer primary election rivals a line of attack.Lanhee Chen, a fellow at the Hoover Institution thinktank at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, said: “She said what a lot of people are thinking, or are maybe afraid to say, and for that she deserves a lot of credit. The basic foundation of her argument, which is that we need to turn the page and find a new generation of leadership, is 100% right.”Gerontocracy crept up on Washington slowly but inexorably. Biden, elected to the Senate in 1972, has been a public figure for half a century and, if re-elected as president, would be 86 at the end of his second term. At a recent commemorative event at the White House he hosted Bill Clinton, who was president three decades ago – but is four years his junior.The octogenarian McConnell is the longest-serving leader in the history of the Senate and has offered no hint of retirement. Chuck Schumer, Democratic majority leader in the same chamber, is 72. Senator Bernie Sanders, standard bearer of the left in the past two Democratic primaries, is 81.But there are finally signs of erosion in the grey wall. Last month Patrick Leahy, 82, a Democrat from Vermont, stepped down after 48 years in the Senate. Last week Senator Dianne Feinstein of California announced her retirement at 89 after months of difficult debate about her mental fitness.Most profoundly, last month saw Democrats’ top three leaders in the House – Nancy Pelosi, 82, Steny Hoyer, 83, and 82-year-old Jim Clyburn – make way for a new generation in Hakeem Jeffries, 52, Katherine Clark, 59, and 43-year-old Peter Aguilar, as well as the arrival of Maxwell Frost, now 26, hailed as the first Gen Z congressman.Presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle may now seek to harness this hunger for change in the contest for the world’s most stressful job in 2024. A CNBC All-America Economic Survey in December found that 70% of Americans do not want Biden to run for re-election, giving his age as the principal reason.Chen, who ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate for California state controller last year, commented: “He has exhibited some of the manifestations of somebody who probably has seen better days and that’s hard to hide on the campaign trail. There’s a big difference between running for president at 70 or 75 – and what was possible in the 2020 election when Covid was still raging and a lot of the interactions were different – than running in 2024. I do think his age is going to be an issue.”Biden typically brushes off such talk with the simple refrain: “Watch me.” The president underwent a routine medical checkup this week and Dr Kevin O’Connor, his personal physician since 2009, concluded that Biden “remains a healthy, vigorous 80-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency”.Karine Jean-Pierre, 48, the White House press secretary, said: “If you watch him, you’ll see that he has a grueling schedule that he keeps up with, that sometimes some of us are not able to keep up with.”Noting Biden’s string of legislative achievements, she added: “It is surprising that we get this question when you look at this record of this president and what he has been able to do and deliver for the American people.”After a strong performance in the midterm elections, a serious challenge to Biden from within the Democratic party still looks unlikely. Defenders say the obsession with his age merely illustrates his lack of other vulnerabilities after two years in which he has done much to win over moderates and progressives.Tara Setmayer, a former Republican communications director on Capitol Hill, asked: “Did anybody watch the State of the Union? Joe Biden is fully capable of executing his job as president of the United States. He’s in better shape in some people half of his age. So they need to start focusing on the positives because repetition creates reality: perception is reality in politics.“It’s a distraction and it undercuts the successes that Joe Biden actually has as president of the United States. There is much more concern over Donald Trump’s mental acuity and physical presence than Joe Biden. Joe Biden can run circles around Donald Trump.”A White House doctor once memorably proclaimed that Trump has “incredible genes” and could have lived to 200 years old if only he had been on a better diet. But on the Republican side he could face challenges not only from Haley but Florida governor Ron DeSantis, 44, former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, 59, former vice-president Mike Pence, 63, and 57-year-old Senator Tim Scott.Each has previously endorsed Trump’s “Make America great again” mantra and may now struggle to disavow it. No-holds-barred attacks on Trump himself risk alienating his fervent base. But as Haley showed this week, the promise of generational change might serve as a coded rebuke in party that is no stranger to dog whistles.Drexel Heard, 36, who was the youngest executive director of the biggest Democratic party in the country (Los Angeles county), said: “Hypocrisy is a weird thing in American politics. It’s going to be interesting to see if Nikki Haley only talks about Joe Biden’s age and doesn’t talk about Donald Trump’s age and how the media calls her out on that. She’s going to say things like: ‘Well, you know, I’m just saying that we need generational change.’ She’s never going to call Donald Trump out.”Trump will not be the first Republican candidate to face questions over his age. At a debate in 1984, the moderator reminded Ronald Reagan that he was already the oldest president in history at that time. Reagan, 73, replied: “I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.” Even his Democratic opponent, Walter Mondale, laughed at the line. Reagan won re-election in a landslide.Trump, for his part, will have an opportunity to silence Republican doubters at his raucous campaign rallies. Bill Galston, a former policy adviser to Clinton, said: “If he can’t do that, if he seems older and less energetic, then I can imagine the generational appeal sticking. But if his juices start flowing and he is able to do what he did seven years ago, then the generational appeal will be likely to fall somewhat flat.”Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution thinktank in Washington, and a 77-year-old grandfather, added that it is not the “consensus view” among Republicans than Trump is too old to move back into the White House. “There’s a lot more support inside the Democratic party for the proposition that Biden is too old than there is inside the Republican party for the parallel proposition that Trump is too old,” he said.Of all the Congresses since 1789, the current one has the second oldest Senate (average age 63.9) and third oldest House of Representatives (average age 57.5). Critics say the backup of talent puts it out of step with the American public, whose average age is 38. One example is around the tech sector and social media as members of Congress have often struggled to keep pace with rapid change and its implications for society.Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said: “I’m 70, so I have great sympathy for these people: 80 is looking a lot younger than it used to, as far as I’m concerned. But no, it’s ridiculous. We’ve got to get back to electing people in their 50s and early 60s.”“That’s the right time for president. You have a good chance of remaining reasonably healthy for eight years if you get a second term. Everybody knows that makes more sense but here we are. What can you say? This was the option we were given in 2020 and we’re going to get essentially the same one in 2024.”TopicsUS newsUS politicsAgeingUS CongressUS SenateHouse of RepresentativesJoe BidenfeaturesReuse this content More

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      Biden pleads with Congress to pass gun control after six killed in Mississippi

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      Biden pleads with Congress to pass gun control after six killed in MississippiPresident says ‘thoughts and prayers aren’t enough’ after Richard Crum, 52, suspected of carrying out mass shooting in Arkabutla Joe Biden is once again pleading for Congress to pass meaningful gun control after a man shot six people to death – including his ex-wife and stepfather – at three different locations in a small, rural Mississippi community on Friday.“Enough,” the president’s statement said, noting that there had been at least 73 shootings in which at least four victims were wounded or killed in the first 48 days of this year.Michigan professor calls for tighter gun control after students fatally shotRead moreInvoking a phrase that pro-gun advocates often use to deflect from discussing action after mass shootings, Biden’s statement added: “Thoughts and prayers aren’t enough. Gun violence is an epidemic and Congress must act now.“We need – need – commonsense gun law reforms.”Biden specifically mentioned requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning firearms with high capacities for ammunition, prohibiting domestic abusers from legally having weapons regardless of their relationships to those they have preyed on, requiring the safe storage of guns, and allowing firearms manufacturers to face civil liability for “knowingly [putting] weapons of war on our streets”.“We owe action to American communities being torn apart by gun violence,” Biden said.Biden’s remarks came after authorities alleged that 52-year-old Richard Crum unleashed a deadly rampage in Arkabutla, an unincorporated community with fewer than 300 people in Mississippi’s Tate county.Armed with a shotgun and two handguns, Crum, authorities said, went to a convenience store about 11am on Friday and fatally shot a 59-year-old man named Chris Boyce, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of a pickup truck outside. Boyce’s brother was sitting next to him but ran away without being physically harmed.As Tate county sheriff’s deputies arrived at the store, they received emergency calls from the home of Crum’s 60-year-old former wife, Debra. Crum had shot her to death shortly after returning from the office of a doctor treating her for a stroke she suffered recently, according to the local TV news station WMC, based about 45 miles north in Memphis, Tennessee.Debra Crum’s husband, George Drane, described to WMC how he tried to – but couldn’t – fight off the attacker.“I wrestled with him, and I lost, as you can see,” Drane said, with his head wrapped in a bandage and holding back tears. “We had a good day at the doctor’s office. We ate some soup when we got home and we were going to go into town.”Deputies tracked Crum down to the home of his stepfather, 73-year-old George McCain. Crum allegedly shot dead McCain, his stepfather’s 78-year-old sister Lynda McCain, and two repair workers who happened to be there: John Rorie, 59, and Charles Manuel, 76.One of the murdered repair workers was in the road, and the other was in a car, authorities said. Police said they found Crum inside a car, and he was arrested after surrendering to them, though not before businesses and a school had to temporarily lock down.The local coroner’s office said Friday that five of the dead were from Coldwater, a community that neighbors Arkabutla. Boyce was from Lakeland, Florida.Arkabutla sits on a reservoir that is a popular fishing and recreation spot. It is also known for being the home town of James Earl Jones, the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony-winning actor.The local sheriff, Brad Lance, said investigators had not immediately determined a motive. Lance could not recall any prior encounters between his agency and Crum, who is facing charges of capital murder and was being held without bond.Later on Friday, Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden were grieving with the families of the victims, who were murdered four days after three were killed in an unrelated shooting on the campus of Michigan State University.“We are … mourning … as we have for far too many Americans,” the president’s statement said.Biden last year signed bipartisan legislation passed by Congress that expanded background checks for the youngest gun buyers while funding mental health and violence intervention programs.But mass shootings persist despite what was hailed as the first major firearms safety bill to pass Congress in nearly three decades. The president has long argued that much more must be done to curb gun violence in the US.Chances of more gun control measures passing on Capitol Hill seem slim, however. Biden’s fellow Democrats hold only a slender numerical advantage in the Senate, and their Republican opponents have a thin majority in the House of Representatives.TopicsJoe BidenUS politicsMississippiUS gun controlnewsReuse this content More

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      Ohio is facing a chemical disaster. Biden must declare a state of emergency | Steven Donziger

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      Ohio is facing a chemical disaster. Biden must declare a state of emergencySteven DonzigerA train derailed and flooded a town with cancer-causing chemicals. But something larger, and more troubling, is at work Earlier this month, a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in eastern Ohio, exploding into flames and unleashing a spume of chemical smoke on the small town of East Palestine. The train’s freight included vinyl chloride, a chemical known to cause liver cancer and other sicknesses.In response, government and railway officials decided to “burn off” the vinyl chloride – effectively dumping 1.1m lbs of the chemical into the local community, according to a new lawsuit. Officials said that they did so to avert the vinyl chloride from exploding; in contrast, an attorney for the lawsuit has said that the decision was cheap, unsafe, and more interested in restoring train service and appeasing railway shareholders than protecting local residents.East Palestine residents are reporting headaches, sore throats, and burning eyes; dead pets and chickens; and thousands of fish corpses in nearby waterways. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has said that approximately 3,500 fish, of 12 different species, died across 7.5 miles.In other words, Norfolk Southern’s “controlled burn” may have caused a mushroom cloud of poison to spread over eastern Ohio. The situation demands immediate action from President Biden. Without it, thousands of people – including children and the elderly – and animals will be at continued risk of premature death. Biden must declare a state of emergency and create an independent taskforce to take over the remediation of this eco-catastrophe.Norfolk Southern “basically nuked a town with chemicals” to “get a railroad open”, a former hazmat technician told a local news outlet. It certainly seems like a company with a $55bn market cap chose to sacrifice the health of thousands of people to keep its profits flowing.We need to try to understand how this happened.For one thing, even the initial derailment wasn’t necessarily just an “accident.” It was a function of our out-of-control corporate culture in the United States, which has neutered effective government oversight of hazardous activities – including the rail transport of highly flammable and carcinogenic chemicals. The EPA’s response thus far has been to send a feckless letter to Norfolk Southern pleading it pay for clean-up.That’s not going to cut it. We need to do better.In terms of the sheer quantity of carcinogenic chemicals being released over an area of hundreds of miles, the catastrophe in Ohio is a major, unprecedented public health crisis. Biden must publicly recognize it as such and act to protect the people who live in the affected area. This requires a rapid, all-of-government response overseen not by the EPA but by independent scientists and taskmasters who will be immune to pressure from industry. This sort of taskforce must be willing to threaten the suspension or even nationalization of Norfolk Southern if it does not cooperate.After battling an oil company over the discharge of toxic waste in the Amazon, I can say with some assurance that Norfolk’s response to this crisis so far comes from a time-tested corporate strategy: manage the situation as a public relations challenge and not the humanitarian and ecological catastrophe that it is. Norfolk’s leadership bailed out of a townhall meeting this week, blaming security risks, and has refused to face residents to answer questions.That’s certainly cowardice. But it is also a function of the fact that industry does not respect the power of government to regulate it. Government is supposed to protect us from the excesses of industry; instead it often acts like its partner.If the consequences of not attending had included a sufficient threat to his bottom line, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw – who earns a reported $4.5m a year – probably would have been at the town hall. And if the government had been doing its job in the first place, there is a good chance this accident would not have happened. During the Trump administration, Norfolk successfully lobbied to repeal a safety rule requiring new electronic brakes. The train was also dangerously long – with only two crew members, and a trainee, supervising its 1.7-mile length.I’m not a scientist. But I know a fair amount about toxicology and how the world’s polluters use a playbook invented by law firms and consultants to downplay the impact of major disasters and lower their legal liability. Local and state officials – who may be under enormous pressure from these industries in the form of campaign donations – often work alongside polluters to “manage” disasters’ political fallout.It’s a one-two punch of disaster mismanagement that is playing out now, in Ohio, with awful consequences for people and the planet. Here are three takeaways about what is really happening and what needs to be done:Be skeptical of claims by authorities that it is “safe” to return to the area. The EPA and state environmental officials have been opaque about what chemicals are being tested for and by what methods, and news reports haven’t indicated any plans so far for any sort of environmental restoration. We also do not know what new chemical compounds the so-called “controlled” burn may have created, and whether tests have been run for those chemicals. In fact, test results have not even been released publicly.Bottom line: there is no transparent scientific or public health basis for declaring the area safe. Until there is, I wouldn’t go near the site of the disaster.The EPA can help, but cannot oversee a clean-up. Corporate lobbying in recent years has undermined the ability of the EPA to regulate industry. Under the Trump administration, chemical lobbyists took over important jobs on the inside and the agency is severely understaffed. Further, the EPA is required by Congress to “balance” industry needs with public safety. It is not focused solely on protecting the community. It sent a letter to Norfolk pleading with it to pay for a cleanup; a real government would have sent a disaster management team to Ohio to take over.Longer-term, the railway industry needs to be revamped. We have civil-war era braking systems on trains carrying deadly chemicals though our communities. Railway unions and whistleblowers have repeatedly raised safety concerns only to be ignored. A new industry concept called “precision scheduling” has pushed trains and workers to the breaking point to extract greater profits for shareholders, which include some of the largest hedge funds on Wall Street.Our government institutions as currently constituted are unable or unwilling to respond effectively to industrial disasters. It is preposterous for any ostensibly advanced country to let a massive chemical polluter clean up a mess like this on its own terms and without effective oversight. This is not an isolated incident. Unless we demand accountability, it will happen again.President Biden: the ball is in your court.
      Steven Donziger is a human rights and environmental lawyer, a Guardian US columnist, and the creator of the Substack newsletter Donziger on Justice
      TopicsPollutionOpinionOhioUS politicsJoe BidenBiden administrationUS Environmental Protection AgencycommentReuse this content More

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      Kamala Harris: Biden is not too old for president and I intend to run with him

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      Kamala Harris: Biden is not too old for president and I intend to run with himVice-president dismisses ‘Washington chatter’ about whether president should run for a second term in the White House Dismissing Washington “chatter” about whether Joe Biden should run for re-election in 2024 and whether her own party thinks she would be a suitable replacement if he did not, Kamala Harris said the US president “has said he intends to run for re-election … and I intend to run with him as vice-president”.Nikki Haley says Florida’s ‘don’t say gay’ law does not go ‘far enough’Read moreHarris was speaking to NBC News at the Munich Security Conference.Biden has not formally declared a run but all signs suggest that he will. On Thursday, the White House physician pronounced him “fit for duty, and [to] fully execute all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations”.Also on Thursday, however, Politico reported concern among Democrats that at 80, and already the oldest president ever, Biden is too old to run for a second term by the end of which he would be 86.The site also reported that some insiders believe Harris would not be a good presidential candidate herself.Speaking to NBC, Harris said: “I think that it is very important to focus on the needs of the American people and not political chatter out of Washington DC.”She was also asked about Nikki Haley, the 51-year-old former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador now running for the Republican presidential nomination, who has called for a “new generation” of leaders and said politicians over the age of 75 should be subject to mandatory mental health tests.Haley’s only declared opponent for the Republican nomination, former president Donald Trump, is younger than Biden but only by four years. Haley has not said Trump is too old.Harris, 58, said Haley was using “very coded language”, adding: “What I know from traveling our country is that the American people want leaders who will see what’s going on in their lives and create solution.“In Joe Biden, we have a president who is probably one of the oldest and strongest American presidents we have had in his response to the needs of the American people.”Haley made headlines on Thursday by saying she did not think a controversial “don’t say gay” law governing the teaching of sexual orientation and gender issues in elementary schools, signed by the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, went “far enough”.DeSantis, 44, is widely expected to run for the Republican nomination and is the only close challenger to Trump in polling.DeSantis has also targeted the teaching of African American history. Harris, the first woman, the first Black American and the first South Asian American to be vice-president, said: “Any push to censor America’s teachers and tell them what they should be teaching in the best interest of our children … is, I think, wrongheaded.“The people who know our children, are their parents and their teachers … and it should not be some politician saying what should be taught in our classrooms.”TopicsUS politicsKamala HarrisUS elections 2024Joe BidennewsReuse this content More

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      Object downed by US missile may have been amateur hobbyists’ $12 balloon

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      Object downed by US missile may have been amateur hobbyists’ $12 balloonIllinois hobby group says balloon went missing the day military missile costing $439,000 destroyed unidentified entity nearby01:19A group of amateur balloon enthusiasts in Illinois might have solved the mystery of one of the unknown flying objects shot down by the US military last week, a saga that had captivated the nation.The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade says one of its hobby craft went “missing in action” over Alaska on 11 February, the same day a US F-22 jet downed an unidentified airborne entity not far away above Canada’s Yukon territory.In a blogpost, the group did not link the two events. But the trajectory of the pico balloon before its last recorded electronic check-in at 12.48am that day suggests a connection – as well as a fiery demise at the hands of a sidewinder missile on the 124th day of its journey, three days before it was set to complete its seventh circumnavigation.Biden says latest objects shot down over US not linked to China spy programRead moreIf that is what happened, it would mean the US military expended a missile costing $439,000 (£365,000) to fell an innocuous hobby balloon worth about $12 (£10).“For now we are calling pico balloon K9YO missing in action,” the group’s website says, noting that its last recorded altitude was 37,928ft (11,560m) while close to Hagemeister island, a 116 sq mile (300 sq km) landmass on the north shore of Bristol Bay.The object above Yukon was the second of three felled on Joe Biden’s orders on successive days last weekend after a Chinese spy balloon – a fourth separate object – was shot down over the Atlantic after it crossed the South Carolina coast on 4 February.US officials said during the week that the three objects shot down after the destruction of the Chinese spy balloon were probably benign and likely to have been commercial or linked to climate research.On Thursday, after several days of pressure from Democratic and Republican lawmakers, and amid an escalating diplomatic row with China, Biden broke his silence. The president said: “Nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program or that they were surveillance vehicles from any other country.”He said they were eliminated because authorities considered they posed a threat to aviation, although some observers say the downings were an overreaction amid political pressure over the discovery of the Chinese balloon.The Illinois brigade’s membership is a “small group of pico balloon enthusiasts” which has been operating since June 2021, according to its website.It says pico balloons have a 32in diameter and 100in circumference, and they have a cruising altitude between 32,000 and 50,000ft, a similar range to commercial aircraft.They contain trackers, solar panels and antenna packages lighter than a small bird, and the balloons are filled using less than a cubic foot of gas. According to Aviation Week, they are small hobby balloons starting at about $12 that allow enthusiasts to combine their interests in high-altitude ballooning and ham radio in an affordable way.Scientific Balloon Solutions founder Ron Meadows, whose Silicon Valley company makes purpose-built pico balloons for hobbyists, educators and scientists, told the publication that he attempted to alert authorities but was knocked back.“I tried contacting our military and the FBI, and just got the runaround, to try to enlighten them on what a lot of these things probably are,” he said. “They’re going to look not too intelligent to be shooting them down.”National security council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that efforts were being made to locate and identify the remains of the objects that were shot down, but the process was hampered by their remote locations and freezing weather.Kirby also said there was “no evidence” that extraterrestrial activity was at play in any of the downed objects, but the president had ordered the formation of an interagency team “to study the broader policy implications for detection, analysis and disposition of unidentified aerial objects that pose either safety or security risks”.TopicsUS militaryUS politicsChinaJoe BidenReuse this content More

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      Biden waited long to address the mysterious flying objects. Now we know why | Margaret Sullivan

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      Biden waited long to address the mysterious flying objects. Now we know whyMargaret SullivanThe president’s short address didn’t do anyone – including himself – much good, as it shed little light on what was going on After weeks of speculation about a Chinese spy balloon and other weird things in the skies over North America, President Joe Biden on Thursday did what he had to do.He finally talked about the subject in a formal setting – a brief address to the nation from the White House.With criticism coming from both Democrats and Republicans about the lack of information being shared with the public after four flying objects were shot down over the past two weeks, Biden really didn’t have any other option.Americans have been understandably puzzled and unnerved by what was happening, first as the spy balloon was shot down and then as the second, third and fourth objects appeared and were taken down over Alaska, Canada and Michigan.The president had to say something before another day went by.But Biden’s roughly eight-minute address didn’t do anyone – including himself – much good. Filled with fuzzy talk of parameters and protocols, and devoid of much useful information, the brief speech made it all too obvious why it took Biden so long.“Biden’s announcement was underwhelming, to say the least,” tech writer Matt Novak opined in Forbes. It was hard to argue, although it was helpful to hear the president confirm that the US military has adjusted its radar filters, which has led to being able to spot more objects flying about.Biden didn’t have much more to say, other than that he expected to speak soon with President Xi Jinping of China to object to the original surveillance balloon’s apparent violation of American airspace; it was shot down on 4 February over the Atlantic after being seen over Montana by civilians.As for the others, “we don’t yet know exactly what these three objects were, but nothing, nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program or that there were surveillance vehicles from any other country,” Biden said.The other three objects, he added, “were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research”.It sounded plausible but speculative. And that lack of certainty, no doubt, is part of why he hesitated to speak earlier.Making it worse – in terms of transparency with the press and public – the president didn’t answer any reporters’ questions after his prepared remarks. He hesitated, and seemed to consider responding substantively, as he listened to the cacophony of shouts from the press.Then he apparently got annoyed after a question (“Are you compromised by your family’s business relationships?”) got under his skin. He snapped at the reporter with a characteristic phrase: “Give me a break, man.” Not long after, he walked away.It would have been far better to try to identify one or two reasonable questions on the subject at hand and to answer them respectfully – even if it meant saying “we don’t know that yet”.In a less fraught political environment, Biden might have been wise to heed Senator Chris Coons. A few days ago, the Delaware Democrat sounded as if he had beamed, like Michelle Yeoh, into the multiverse and had already experienced Thursday’s non-news event.“If I were advising the president on this, I’d say ‘wait until you’ve got clarity’, Coons told reporters. “I wouldn’t just stand up and give a speech to the nation saying ‘We don’t yet know the answer to all these questions,’ because I don’t think that would reassure anybody.”But that sensible-sounding notion had to be weighed against the predictable nastiness of Republican lawmakers like Josh Hawley of Missouri who said a formal presidential appearance “would at least show me that the president maybe is aware of what’s going on, and is lucid”.And Coons’ thinking had to be weighed, too, against strong urging from some fellow Democrats, including Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut: “The American people should be given more information. They’re ready for it. They can handle it. And they need and deserve to know it.”Given the apparent lack of hard information to be shared, this situation was probably a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”. Still, it would have been worse to do nothing, and let the criticism continue to mount from all sides.Hearing from the president directly was moderately worthwhile but the address could have been much more valuable if Biden had thoughtfully responded to a few questions from the gathered press.If transparency was the major aim, not doing that was a missed opportunity.
      Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture
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      Joe Biden declared healthy and ‘fit for duty’ after exam at Walter Reed hospital

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      Joe Biden declared healthy and ‘fit for duty’ after exam at Walter Reed hospitalPresident lost weight since last year, but still suffers from arthritis and had small lesion removed from chest during annual check-up Doctors declared Joe Biden, 80, healthy and “fit for duty” on Thursday after a physical examination that included removing a lesion from his chest and declaring him free of symptoms of long Covid after his bout last year with the virus.FBI searched University of Delaware in Biden documents investigationRead more“The president remains fit for duty, and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations,” White House physician Kevin O’Connor said in a summary of the health exam.The exam was closely watched as Biden prepares for his expected run for a second term in 2024. The summary said Biden did not have any “long Covid” symptoms and that his stiff gait has not worsened since his last exam in November 2021.Biden said his physical went well. “Everything really went well … Thank God for small favors,” he told NBC News.Biden’s three-hour session with doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, was his second extensive exam since taking office in January 2021.Biden takes the statin drug Crestor to keep his cholesterol levels low, an anticoagulant in response to atrial fibrillation that remains asymptomatic and medication to treaty seasonal allergies and acid reflux, the summary said.Several small skin growths were moved from his face and head using liquid nitrogen and “one small lesion on the president’s chest was excised today and sent for traditional biopsy”, O’Connor said. The results are pending.The summary found that Biden’s weight had dropped six pounds, from 184 pounds in 2021 to 178. His body mass index was at 24.1, compared with 25.0 in 2021, and his blood pressure was at 126/78, compared with 120/70 in 2021.The summary made no mention of whether Biden underwent any cognitive tests sometimes given to people his age.O’Connor said Biden’s back stiffness is a result of significant spinal arthritis.“The president’s gait remains stiff, but has not worsened since last year,” he said.Biden, the oldest person ever to serve as US president, has waved off questions about his age, but polls indicate voters have concerns about his ability to serve four more years if he wins in 2024.Asked about the concerns over Biden’s age, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters: “This is a president that works day in and day out, you know, in a grueling fashion with a grueling schedule, and delivers.”About three-quarters of Americans – including more than half of Democrats and the vast majority of Republicans – say Biden is too old to work in government, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted on 6-13 February. Most Democratic respondents said the president remains mentally sharp but about half of them said he cannot handle the physical toll of the presidency.Biden said during a PBS interview last week that any Americans concerned about his age should “watch me” perform the duties of the presidency.TopicsJoe BidenDemocratsUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Biden says latest objects shot down over US not linked to China spy program

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      Biden says latest objects shot down over US not linked to China spy program‘Private companies’ conclusion set to fuel criticism that downings were overreaction amid pressure over initial balloon discovery01:19Joe Biden has broken his silence on unknown aerial objects shot down over North America during the past week, assessing that they were “most likely” operated by private companies or research institutions rather than China.The US president’s tentative conclusion is likely to fuel criticism that his orders to take down the objects were an overreaction amid political pressure over the discovery of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that transited much of the country.FBI searched University of Delaware in Biden documents investigationRead moreBiden spoke for eight minutes at the Eisenhower executive office building on Thursday after Republicans and some Democrats expressed concerns that his unwillingness to comment on the issue could allow conspiracy theories to thrive.“We don’t yet know exactly what these three objects were but nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program or that they were surveillance vehicles from any other country,” the president told reporters, against a backdrop of flags and the presidential seal.“The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research.”Earlier this month an American fighter jet downed a balloon sent by the Chinese government off the coast of South Carolina. The incident prompted accusations from Republicans that Biden had been too slow to react and should have shot it down before it passed over the continental US.When three additional unidentified objects were spotted on Friday off the coast of Alaska, on Saturday over Canada and on Sunday over Lake Huron, Biden was quick to order that they be taken down.But on Thursday, with efforts to relocate the wreckage hampered by weather, he acknowledged that many objects are sent up by countries, companies and research organisations for reasons that are “not nefarious”, including legitimate scientific research.“I want to be clear,” Biden said. “We don’t have any evidence that there has been a sudden increase in the number of objects in the sky. We’re now just seeing more of them partially because the steps we’ve taken to increase our radars.”The president, who has directed national security adviser Jake Sullivan to lead an “interagency team” to review procedures, said the US is developing “sharper rules” to track, monitor and potentially shoot down unknown aerial objects.These rules would help “distinguish between those that are likely to pose safety and security risks that necessitate action and those that do not,” he added. “Make no mistake, if any object presents a threat to the safety and security of the American people I will take it down.”The downing of the Chinese surveillance craft was the first known peacetime shoot down of an unauthorised object in US airspace and continues to send out diplomatic ripples.The White House national security council has said the balloon had the ability to collect communications and that China has previously flown similar surveillance balloons over dozens of countries on multiple continents, including some of the US’s closest allies.The US blacklisted six Chinese entities it said were linked to Beijing’s aerospace programmes.China has denied that the balloon was a surveillance airship. Wang Wenbin, a foreign ministry spokesperson, told a press conference that the balloon’s entry into US airspace was “an unintended, unexpected and isolated event”, adding: “China has repeatedly communicated this to the US side, yet the US overreacted by abusing the use of force and escalating the situation.“It also used the incident as an excuse to impose illegal sanctions over Chinese companies and institutions. China is strongly opposed to this and will take countermeasures in accordance with law against relevant US entities that have undermined China’s sovereignty and security to firmly safeguard China’s sovereignty and legitimate rights and interests.”US relations with China have been tested over the last year due to tensions over cybersecurity, competition in the technology sector, the looming threat to Taiwan and China’s failure to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.On Thursday Biden criticised China’s surveillance programme, saying the “violation of our sovereignty is unacceptable,” but said he looks to maintain open lines of communication with Beijing. “We’re not looking for a new cold war.”Secretary of state Antony Blinken postponed his first planned trip to China as the balloon was flying over the US and a new meeting with his Chinese counterpart has yet to be scheduled.“I expect to be speaking with President Xi and I hope we can get to the bottom of this,” Biden said. “But I make no apologies for taking down that balloon.”Senators from both sides of the aisle have complained about being denied detailed information. John Cornyn, a Republican senator for Texas, told the Politico website that the White House was “creating a bigger problem for themselves by the lack of transparency because people’s minds, their imaginations begin to run wild. I think they’re behind the curve on this and they really need to be more transparent.”On Monday, just to be sure, the White House felt compelled to announce that there was no indication of “aliens or extraterrestrial activity”.TopicsJoe BidenUS politicsUS militarynewsReuse this content More