By the time you’re reading this, the nation could have a much better idea who will be slinging mud at one another this fall for the top office in the nation. One way or another, it hasn’t been looking good for long-term care interests. Unless I get my way.
We’d like to think America — land of the free-for-all and home of the brave — can do better that what we’ve seen. Face it: Most of the current presidential candidates either don’t know too much about long-term care or seem too chicken to say anything significant at all.
Can’t we just urge Larry Minnix out of retirement? Everybody seems to like him, and we know he fully understands the issues that the elderly and their caregivers face.
And he wouldn’t necessarily be too soft on them. For many years, he has emphasized that there should be only two kinds of nursing homes: “the excellent and the extinct.”
“Give ‘em hell, Larry!” kind of has a ring to it, doesn’t it?
It’s been more than three months since he officially stepped down as president and CEO of LeadingAge. That’s plenty of time to have recharged the batteries, filled the veins with sweet tea and homemade barbecue, and start to eye new challenges.
Minnix is well-known for his deceiving aw-shucks demeanor. Putin, the smug commie strongman, would never see him coming.
Unrest in the Middle East? Let Minnix, the white-haired sage with a divinity degree apply his Southern charm. It wouldn’t be unprecedented, after all, to put a smiling Georgian in the White House.
When world tensions would get too great, perhaps a blues concert featuring Jim Belushi and his belly bumping partner, Larry, could loosen things up.
We could certainly do worse … and likely will. Perhaps that’s why the nominated nominee decided to share his platform with us.
With healthy doses of service and common sense, he’s built a winning formula.
[For a full round-up of his clever, touching planks, visit: mcknights.com/daily-editors-notes/a-message-from-the-future-president-of-the-united-states/article/481802/ ]
You’ll want to check out what the programs “Young and Old Alike!” “Finish the Race” and “Up With Downs” refer to. He’d also create The Department of Mama’s House and the Department of Head Knocking.
Get ready to jump on the bandwagon — it should get crowded.
From the April 01, 2016 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
