News

Dr. Death? Biden’s pick for new Covid taskforce has written that living past age 75 isn’t really worth it

Robert Jonathan November 9, 2020

In a past essay, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, who was just named to Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden’s COVID task force, wrote that he wanted to die at age 75. That sort of time limit makes it awkward perhaps in that Biden is already 77.

You may remember Emanuel, an oncologist and “bioethicist” who advised the Obama administration on healthcare policy, for his many appearances on the cable news channels where he arrogantly and rudely championed Obamacare.

Obamacare critics at the time argued that the misnamed Affordable Care Act set “death panels” into motion that would withhold care from patients in certain circumstances.

If there ever is a Biden administration, it remains to be seen if it will be filled with other Obama retreads.

In a very lengthy exposition published in The Atlantic in 2014 that was titled “Why I Hope to Die at 75,” Zeke Emanuel, now 63, claimed about his self-imposed deadline that “But the fact is that by 75, creativity, originality, and productivity are pretty much gone for the vast, vast majority of us….Once I have lived to 75, my approach to my health care will completely change. I won’t actively end my life. But I won’t try to prolong it, either.”

He noted in the piece that he wasn’t recommending this pathway for anyone else, but it is odd that a physician purportedly trained to improve the quality of life has a fatalistic approach to it.

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) wasn’t impressed with Emanuel’s view.

“A member of Biden’s new coronavirus task force is a lockdown enthusiast who has written that living past 75 isn’t worth it. Americans want our country opened up, not creepy bioethicists who enjoy playing God”

A member of Biden’s new coronavirus task force is a lockdown enthusiast who has written that living past 75 isn’t worth it.

Americans want our country opened up, not creepy bioethicists who enjoy playing God.https://t.co/5NnFm4u7u1

— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) November 9, 2020

Emanuel, the brother of former Chicago mayor and ex-Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, also wrote that “Americans seem to be obsessed with exercising, doing mental puzzles, consuming various juice and protein concoctions, sticking to strict diets, and popping vitamins and supplements, all in a valiant effort to cheat death and prolong life as long as much as possible.”

Most Americans would probably wonder what’s wrong with that. An increasingly large cohort of the population is staying healthy, productive, independent, and active far into their later years. Government bureaucrats, however, generally have a difficult time dealing with anything but a one-size-fits-all approach.

During the campaign, Biden made many odd statements that raised questions about his mental acuity. According to Emanuel’s article six years ago, “Right now approximately 5 million Americans over 65 have Alzheimer’s…Even if we aren’t demented, our mental functioning deteriorates as we grow older.”

Parenthetically, Emanuel’s other brother, Ari, supposedly inspired the Ari Gold character on HBO’s Entourage.

Cotton’s tweet prompted a big response on social media. Here is a sample of those who agreed with the senator:

Biden is going to kill this country. By the end of December, he will already have a plan in place shut down the economy and the country.

— NC (@NCforBAMA) November 9, 2020

https://twitter.com/GolferReader/status/1325806317508972549

And here ya have it folks…extreme Health Care Rationing. Warehouse the Elderly at 75, then deny any medical treatments, then the demise…whether you like it or not…by that standard he just ameliorate SleepyJoe!

— Fiona (@Celticrx) November 9, 2020