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The Age Issue, Ctd
ByMany of you think it's a legitimate concern, especially my older readers:
This SHOULD be a bigger issue. A commercial pilot cannot fly past 60. Active Duty soldiers in the US military must retire by 62. Even Catholic priests must retire my 70 is some places or 75 at the absolute oldest. If a priest is unable to perform duties past 75, how can we expect a President?
Another:
Until recently I would have dismissed this post as ageist nonsense. Three days ago, however, I attended an AARP sponsored Driver Safety Program.
The cognitive impairment amongst my fellow participants was genuinely shocking at several levels. First, many of the participants were still qualified to drive, without having the capacity to do so safely. Second, as a disturbing harbinger of my own fate. Anyone who feels that they will function as they do now when they are 70 simply hasn't spent much time recently with a bunch of 70 year olds. McCain is too old for the job. Anyone who thinks otherwise is not thinking clearly about the demands of the job or the capacity of the typical 70 year old.
Another:
Of course it's a legitimate issue. Being in my early 40s myself, I know - through my own parents - a lot of people in their early 70s. I can't think of a single one who would be so presumptuous as to believe that NOW would be a good time for him, or her, to take on the job of being POTUS. Least of all, the men. Of the many respects in which McCain is extremely arrogant and hubristic, this is one.
This is clos to home:
In McCain's home state of Arizona, where state Supreme Court picks are chosen very similar to how the federal government makes its own Supreme Court picks, BUT FOR they serve until the age of 70. It's in the Arizona Constitution. They are picked by the Governor, approved by the state senate, and then serve until they reach age 70, when the must retire.
If vague unease about a candidate's aloofness is legitimate fodder for the campaign, genuine concerns about the capacities of any 73 year old in the highest office in these perilous times is surely worth discussing.
