Common Courtesy
We all know one thing for sure. We aren’t going to live forever. No one has to go into great detail about that, it’s just a fact of life. We know it from “anecdotal evidence”. When you get to my “great age” of sixty-six, you have a whole list of folks you knew (and loved) who no longer are with us. And we also understand the correlation between old-age and death. The older you get, the closer you are to dying. It’s what it is; dwell on it and get depressed, or accept it and, as the Tim McGraw song goes, “Live like you were dying”.
But, at least here in America, it’s not considered polite to talk about other folk’s impending death. Even in politics, where, like a knife fight, there are no rules (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid); you still don’t talk about someone dying.
Lack of Oxygen
Unless, of course, you’re Nikki Haley, former Governor of South Carolina and United Nations Ambassador, running for the Republican nomination for President in 2024. The problem Haley has, is that all “of the oxygen” is gone in the Republican race. First there’s Trump: on civil trial for rape, indicted for business fraud (both in New York); awaiting indictment in Georgia for election interference; and facing Federal charges for stealing classified documents and fomenting an Insurrection. Talk about a lack of oxygen, all of that turmoil sucks the media coverage completely dry.
And then there’s the quixotic DeSantis campaign. The Governor of Florida can’t travel to Fort Lauderdale to view the flooding, but he can fly to Israel on an “economic excursion”. And speaking of economics, DeSantis is attacking the biggest economic force in Florida, Disney Corporation. So we get the “side-show” of DeSantis versus Mickey Mouse, which makes the Governor look more and more like Mickey’s friend – Goofy.
There is so little “oxygen” left, that Haley can barely light a match, much less light her campaign “on fire”. What’s the phrase, “…desperate times require desperate measures”? And there is nothing more desperate than a Presidential campaign ignored. It’s not just media, it’s the money that media coverage generates. Haley can’t raise cash, and that’s a death sentence for a political campaign.
Do the Math
In a Fox News interview, Haley said:
“I think that we can all be very clear and say with a matter of fact that if you vote for Joe Biden, you really are counting on a President Harris, because the idea that he would make it until 86 years old is not something that I think is likely.”
Can we Nikki? Is it really so clear that if you reach 80, it isn’t likely you’ll reach 86? Let’s look at the facts. The Social Security Administration is in the business of estimating life expectancies. They have a whole country, and almost ninety years of data, to get a clear estimate of the life expectancy of eighty year-olds. And here it is: while the life expectancy of a newborn male in 2023 is a little over 74 years, the life expectancy of an 80 year-old male in 2023 is…7.74 years. The life expectancy of an 81 year old male is 7.25 years. Simple addition shows that Joe Biden, on average, can expect to live until he’s at least 87 – after a second term of his Presidency is over.
Goofy
So, Governor-Ambassador Haley; as a matter of fact we can estimate that Joe Biden will outlive his Presidency. That’s clear. But what’s also clear is the desperation your ill-fated campaign for the Presidency must feel. This is not a slip, a mistake. You made a clear strategy choice, trying to “Call a spade a spade”. The problem is, that the “spade” you called was actually a “heart”. It was a dumb move, and it made you and your campaign look impolite, socially inept, and willing to “light your hair on fire” to get attention.
But there really is so little oxygen left on the Republican side of the campaign, that your hair didn’t light. So, like Governor DeSantis, you just look a little,“Goofy”.
By the way, the same actuarial table says that a 66 year old man faces a life expectancy of a little over sixteen years. Thinking back, I realize how quickly sixteen years goes by. Not just the first sixteen, birth to driver’s license, but the middle sixteens, like thirty to forty-six or fifty until now. I better get going – and “start living like I’m dying”.
