Gary Franks: We need new political choices

I remember when Satchel Paige was pitching for the Kansas City Athletics in 1965. He was at least 20 years beyond his prime, much like President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are today in politics.

In his prime his pitches were very difficult to hit. But at an advanced age, this Hall of Fame pitcher would have trouble pitching to an All-Star line-up with players like Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Hank Aaron, Roger Maris or Roberto Clemente.

There is a lesson here for Biden and Trump: Age diminishes your talents. Biden and Trump — your age is showing.

For Team America, we cannot have either of these two old guys on the mound come January 2025. Today we have authoritarian All-Stars like China and Russia that we have to confront daily as well as up-and-coming wannabes like Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea and a host of other countries all looking to take advantage of or do damage to America.

There are always others who are waiting for an opportunity to do damage, defeat or take the place of a legend. Most of the time the legends undermine themselves by playing too long. Father Time becomes their main adversary. In politics staying too long can affect 330 million Americans.

America should pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting any federal government employee from staying on the job over the age of 80. It would also restrict a presidential candidate from running if he or she would turn 80 during a four-year term.

We have the two leading candidates for each party refusing to get off the stage. They both will not allow us to take the ball away from them.

Biden has had some questionable moves on foreign policy. While we are working hard to improve relations with China, Biden recently called Chinese President Xi Jinping a “dictator.” This is the second time Biden has referred to a world leader via “name calling.”

He did this barely before Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned from China. It is hard to understand why “old folks” feel comfortable doing such things. Recall his first slip up when he called Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman a “pariah.” Later he fist bumped the same person while politely “asking” him to produce more oil.

During the same short time span, we learned that China is building a base in the Western Hemisphere, in Cuba. We also made a $6 billion error in funding Ukraine. These are simply examples of things getting worse.

Trump forgot or ignored the basic principle of once you’re arrested, everything you say can be used against you. It is unwise to “try” your case in the media.

The mistakes old folks make are so basic but can be harmful to all involved.

Trump has to remember that there will be three types of trials. He cannot win the trial by the media. They have been waiting for this opportunity for years. Then there is the trial of “public opinion.” A recent CNN poll showed that 45% of respondents do not feel that Trump’s indictment for retaining classified documents and obstruction are a big deal.

In reality Trump has not crossed the line of no return. If it is revealed that his actions caused something very bad to happen or that he was able to enrich himself by using or sharing the documents, that 45% will quickly disappear, evaporating down to single digits.

The third is a jury trial with a judge. This may not start for months.

I pray that we will have better choices come 2024. But getting there could be a very bumpy road.