Jeffrey Blount: Past his sell by date

I was born into a world of ubiquitous and widely accepted racism. “Colored Only” signs, back of the bus, segregated schools, postcards made of the burning bodies of lynched African Americans, Bull Connor and George Wallace – “I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” Racism was a cornerstone of the United States of America. Thankfully, that is no longer the case.

There is, however, an “ism” that has taken its place in terms of its widespread acceptance, regardless of the pain it causes. It is ageism and the impending 2024 Presidential election has brought the issue to the fore and America is heartless about it and seemingly just fine about being an ageist nation.

Republican presidential hopeful, Nikki Haley, recently mocked President Biden, declaring he would die before his next term was over should he be reelected. That of course, flies in the face of a growing number of Americans living well into their 80s and into their 90s. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he would bring “soft food” for President Biden to eat during their debt ceiling meetings. About the debt ceiling outcome, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said, “Republicans got outsmarted by a President who can’t find his pants.” Which doesn’t say much for the younger Republicans.

Another Republican presidential hopeful, Chris Christie, has committed to an all-out assault on Biden’s age, referring to him as “past his sell by date,.” which is, in my opinion, ugly and meanspirited. And according to Christie, he was even called an ageist by one of his own children. He said he looked at the matter, though, and declared himself unbigoted toward older people. Yet, he said of Biden on ABC’s This Week, “He’s old, he’s boring.”  He also attacked Biden’s ability to weather the stress of a full presidential campaign. “Can you see Joe Biden on Air Force 1 doing 7 or 8 campaign stops a day at 82 years old and being effective?” he asked. But the odd thing about this question is that Christie ignores the fact that his morbid obesity is more than likely to shave years off his life. He ignores the fact that morbid obesity makes it increasingly difficult to perform normal everyday movements like walking. It makes it difficult to breathe. Given these facts, one could assume that Christie may not be any more capable of handling a full campaign than Biden.

However, no one is calling Christie out about his obesity because that person would likely be called out for body shaming. Note, ABC anchor Jonathan Karl did not push back on Christie for his ageist comments about Biden. As a society, we do not tell people that ageism is wrong. Over the past few months, I have witnessed many reporters and political commentators falling down the ageism rabbit hole and it is truly disappointing.

And it isn’t just politics. In an NFL Play Football ad, Peyton Manning is acting as a coach of youth flag football players. The commercial is about conditioning and when Manning can’t do enough pushups a young girl says derisively, “He’s got potential, he’s just old.” This is supposed to be funny and we’re supposed to be disgusted by the idea of aging. And at the same time, we teach the youngsters that it’s okay to laugh at the elderly. We belittle their worth.

We’re also supposed to be downright afraid of aging. Film director, M. Night Shyamalan’s 2021 film is called simply, “Old,” And it’s a horror film. The great horror is that the characters will be trapped on a beach and the terrible, horrible thing is that they will get old and die inside of a day. Imagine making a film where characters were trapped on a beach and unless they could escape, they would become Black or Jewish or that they would become gay or transgender. Imagine the uproar. There is, of course, no uproar about ageism. It remains okay to make generalized stereotypical conclusions about the elderly that would never be accepted for other groups of Americans.

Former CNN anchor, Don Lemon, created a firestorm of trouble for himself by stating that presidential candidate Nikki Haley was past her prime at age 51. It was an extraordinarily misogynistic comment, and he should have been taken to task for speaking those words. Lost in the melee though, was Lemon’s truth, because, wrong though he was, he was merely reflecting the culture in which he came of age at CNN. Think of Wolf Blitzer, older and gray. There is no equivalent female anchor at the network. There is no female anchor his age with gray hair. There is no female anchor with a comparable look of aging. CNN management punished Lemon for his comments, yet they perpetuate ageism toward older female on-air talent daily. They are not alone.

While we have reduced our older citizens to cute dancing reels on social media, the butt of late-night jokes, and political liability, it would do us well to remember that these citizens are the brain trusts of America. They have lived an American life and that wisdom is no small thing. I should tell you that I searched for the oldest Nobel Prize winners and found 51 men and women over the age of 80. Despite this, ageism remains a cornerstone of American culture.

During his 34-year career at NBC News, journalist turned novelist Jeffrey Blount directed a decade of Meet The Press, The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, and major special events. Blount and his wife, former CNN journalist Jeannee Meserve, live in Washington, D.C.