Opinion

President Joe Biden’s dramatic fall at the Air Force Academy commencement underlined a dangerous theme for Democrats: Joe Biden is too old to serve another full term, until he’s 86. He’s already struggling at 80.

My ‘Ivory Tower’ Is in the Basement of a Suburban Split-Level I got an interesting email (actually, it was more like a rant) from a guy who was upset about an encounter he had with the Social Security Administration. It went on for a couple pages.

Today is the 159th day of 2023 and the 81st day of spring. TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1789, James Madison, then a member of the House of Representatives, proposed the Bill of Rights to Congress.

Dear Annie: My 81-year-old mom and I live together. I work 52 hours a week, so she is home alone a lot.

Tennessee passed a law that bans drag performances anywhere minors might attend. Happily, a federal judge stopped it. Very happily, the judge is a conservative, reminding all that some conservatives value principle over politics.

WASHINGTON -- Last week in this space I wrote about culture and how essential it is to the politics of a nation. If the culture of a country is upbeat, the country will be fine. If the culture of a country is in decline, its politics will follow. Simply put, culture prefigures politics. Russia -- once referred to as the Soviet Union -- is an example of what I have in mind. Imagine mighty Russia struggling with heroic, though much smaller, Ukraine. Closer to home, if the culture of a country is infantile, the political issues that the country immerses itself in will be infantile. America now spends an inordinate amount of time administering to the public bathroom needs -- or claimed needs of people who insist they are something other than what their biological manifestations claim they are. The whims of congenital malcontents trump biology.

Let’s start with a disclaimer: The compelling moments have been fleeting, few and far between for the 2023 Royals. Through Sunday, after all, they’d won 18 times in 59 games and generally given fans far more reason to look away than follow along day by day. Calling it an “evaluation season” doesn’t diminish the agony of all this defeat.

How much independence is your child really ready to handle, and how willing are you to grant it? “Mom, can I walk to Courtney’s house?” My daughter asked me. She was 10 years old.

Dear Annie: My wife and I have three perfect grandchildren, ages 1, 5 and 7. We love watching them at least one day a week. Their parents are caring and careful. But occasionally when I am just about to fall asleep, I have “waking dreams” that the most horrible things happen to the kids. Why? I am able to push these disturbing thoughts out of my brain in a few seconds. I don’t want to pay a psychiatrist for the answer. -- Worried in Kentucky Dear Worried in Kentucky: While I admire your ability to push those disturbing thoughts out of your mind, nonetheless, that which we resist, persists. It might be beneficial to talk to your wife or a counselor about these thoughts. Sometimes just acknowledging and talking about your fears make your fears lessen. If you try to go at it alone, you will continue to suffer.

Pay Down, or Pay Ahead? It Can Be Confusing Years ago, I learned a lesson I won’t have to learn again. It was that poignant.