Generation X is the jaded generation. Maybe that’s what America needs.

‘I’m not decrepit” is the answer, more or less, that Nikki Haley gives as her reason for running for president.

It’s a sentiment that we heard previewed last week by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who contrasted herself — the youngest governor in America — with President Joe Biden, the oldest commander in chief.

Youth can’t help but be a contrast in an America that is run by a Boomer and Silent Generation gerontocracy. On the very day that Nikki Haley announced for president, Senator Dianne Feinstein (age 89) had her retirement announced. When asked about it by reporters, she seemed not to know that the announcement had gone out, possibly not even knowing it had been decided. Joe Biden falls off bicycles, and up the stairs. America itself seems to be having a senior moment, a failure of cognition that is leading us to shoot down harmless balloons as if they were spies sent from our Oriental foes. Walking into the halls of power, one smells the whiff of talcum powder and hears the arthritic clatter of fingers diving for Werther’s Originals in a piece of Waterford china.

Really, the fact that Nikki Haley — at age 51 — can pose as the voice of a new generation is enough of an indictment itself. Bill Clinton was 46 years old when he was elected in 1992, and the Boomers came into full power. The media helped Clinton’s youth campaign with appearances on MTV and Arsenio Hall’s show. It made up fake stories about George H. W. Bush being confused by bar-code checkout machines. Bill Clinton was always going to win a contest for which candidate is most willing to tell you: boxers or briefs?