Stop dancing around the white elephant!
I remember when I was 24. I was running 5 miles up and down hills three days a week. I weighed 155 and could bench press 250. I was going to school and soaking up information like a sponge. I could solve differential equations in my head. It was a good time.
That was almost 3 decades ago. Today my joints can’t bear the weight I once lifted, my lungs don’t have the capacity to carry me as fast and far as they used to, and I am not going to admit my weight. I also do not have the capacity to learn at the rate I once did. Instead of solving differential equations in my head, I find myself reaching for a calculator to do simple arithmetic.
No doubt, as the decades go by my physical and mental capacity will decline further. Such is life.
Which brings us to the point of this essay; what age is too old to be president? At what age has a person declined so far from their peak that they can no longer perform the duties of President? The constitution requires a person be at least 35, but gave no upper limit. However, the job has changed significantly since the constitution was written. The demands on the President are awesome and constant. In this information age, the President could be called upon to make life and death decisions for thousands in the twinkling of an eye.
Think for a moment. How about 85 or 80? I think most would agree that 80 is too old. How about 76? Can we count on a 76 year old person to quickly and accurately access information to determine if pressing the button is warranted?
This brings us to the current presidential race. This “ageism” meme suggesting that we are guilty of prejudice if we discuss a candidate’s age is surreal. Why is the nation dancing around the fact John McCain would be 76 at the end of his first term? We have already witnessed the “senior moments” on the campaign trail. I think it apparent that McCain has suffered a mental decline such that he is not fit for the office. Is it ageism when fighter pilots become too old to fly? If we can acknowledge physical decline, why can’t we acknowledge mental decline. Acknowledging that we decline both physically and mentally does not make us ageist; rather, it acknowledges our shared fate.
So, as we talk about this election with friends, family, and co-workers, we should stop dancing around McCain’s age! Just say this: “The Presidency is no job for old men”. No apologies necessary.
Excuse the poor formatting...first post and it looked good when I hit send.
August 3, 2008 1:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, that's really sad. Not yet 54 and already you've aged way beyond your years. What do you think it was that caused your mind and body to deteriorate so rapidly?
I'm about the same age and I notice almost no physical diminuation and no lessening of my ability to learn or retain knowledge. My father is past 80 and while his body has deteriorated considerably I can't discern any loss of mental acuity what so ever.
At what age a person is too old to be president is a valuable question and topic for discussion. But your prelude is either hyperbole to make McCain's age seem more of a detriment than it may be or you have some severe health problems or life style issues that has caused you to age prematurely.
August 3, 2008 1:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Don't think I've aged beyond my years...most people guess I am younger than I am.
But, check out military physical fitness test that allow for more time to run and fewer repetitions of strength test as people get older. Also, show me the 70+ year old that can keep up with a demanding course load. Think McCain could get through the Naval Academy now?
August 3, 2008 3:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Doubtful - he barely got through it the first time!
August 3, 2008 10:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
Or, third possibility, he's being honest with himself, and you're not.
August 3, 2008 12:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Or, fourth possibility, you and I could never do differential equations in our head to begin with. So we can't begin to understand what Steven has lost, in his slow decline to "normal."
We could call this the "Flowers for Algernon" hypothesis.
August 3, 2008 3:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
"in his slow decline to "normal.""
Slow decline or rapid decline...I think that those who know me would never describe me as normal! "Touched" is the most recent adjective my wife used, although in a loving way.
August 3, 2008 5:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Steven:
When you were 24 you were probably doing differential equations several hours a week, and you most likely had recent coursework in them. You weren't just solving them in your head, I'm sure.
The information and knowledge that we don't use, we lose.
Likewise. you're also correct about the loss of muscle mass and strength with age, and you can add bone mass to that as well. The other thing to consider is that as we age, most of us have a lot more responsibilities on our shoulders and demands on our time than we did when we were in our 20's.
That brings us to McCain. I have trouble simply reconciling his gaffes to age. There are other politicians out there his age who don't come across nearly as bumbling. I've made plenty of jokes about this at McCain's expense, but now I have to wonder:
Is there something about Republican politics that calcifies a person's thought patterns prematurely?
Is Republicanism simply the political-mental equivalent of obesity?
August 3, 2008 8:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
O for the love of pete - who the hell are you to say such a thing to the author of this post?
Disregard this lunatic, StephenD.
and of course age is relative, Lux - but only up to a point/.
August 3, 2008 6:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
You were the one who decided to preface this discussion with you own story of personal decline. Personally I think I read faster, comprehend better and retain the knowledge longer than I did at 24. Most of that is due to having a larger pool of knowledge to analyze with and link new knowledge to.
I've never been extremely athletic though I have always been fit and healthy. Its likely that had my ambition turned toward athleticism I could have done things then that I could not now. But is that really necessary? Isn't fit and healthy sufficient? According to news articles Bush is reported to go mountain biking with people much younger then him and to be able to out ride them. Is that a necessary prerequisite to the presidency?
It seems to me we will get a clearer picture of McCain's mental agility as well as the extent of his ready knowledge in the debates upcoming as well as some idea of how they might go from the republican primary debates. I watched a few of them. Did you?
August 3, 2008 4:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
dont forget that mccain graduated at the BOTTOM 0.55% of his class in college... (classmates were quoted to have been surprised he even graduated... guess what...he's the real affirmative action candidate...his dad and granddad were admirals whilst he was in school)
he also crashed 5 planes. RARELY do elite naval academy officers crash that many planes, if ever. there's a reason they only let the best of the best fly planes...
Do we want a president who is even stupider than bush? do we really trust mccain to deal with the likes of putin?
August 3, 2008 6:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
I thin it's not so much McCains age, as the concern about his mental facilities. Would-be-Presidents shouldn't be mistaking Shias for Sunnis and the borders of countries we are currently at war in.
Gaffes happen, but McCain makes far too many to be overlooked.
August 3, 2008 12:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Gaffes happen, but McCain makes far too many to be overlooked".
I tend to link his age and mental gaffes, as I think most people would. But perhaps focusing on McCain's gaffes and tying them directly to his mental unfitness for the job is more accurate, and more jarring.
August 3, 2008 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
No age is too old. But some people are. If you are showing signs of dementia (as McCain surely is) you are to old even if you are much younger than McCain.
August 3, 2008 1:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Been there, done that, easily countered:
"I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience"--Ronald Reagan in debate with Walter Mondale. Mondale was forced to laugh along with the audience lest he look like a constipated pill without a sense of humor.
August 3, 2008 2:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
and how did that work out for the nation? I seem to recall a president who took more naps than attended meetings and allowed assistants and surrogates to take the reins (sometimes quite disastrously) of major policy decision with little or no input on his part.
a comparison for you to consider:
recent Jerusalem Post article pointed out the differences in interviews on substantive issues with Bush, McCain and Obama. Bush had at least 5 advisers and spokespeople on hand to make sure he didn't fuck up too badly. McCain "looked to Lieberman several times for reassurance on his answers and seemed a little flummoxed by a question relating to the nuances of settlement construction." Obama "knew precisely what he wanted to say about the most intricate issues confronting and concerning Israel, and expressed himself clearly, even stridently on key subjects."
Now, please express to me again exactly what is wrong with having an intellectually sharp president who is able to think critically about complex issues on his own and trusted to not make a fool of himself. It's been a while since we had one and it's clear we could use it.
August 3, 2008 3:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
sorry, here's the link:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1215331099249
August 3, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
You mistake me for a Reagan fan. I was just pointing out that this argument is not a persuasive one campaign-wise. Reagan won, ya know. That's how it worked out, badly in my opinion. Pointing out that he was old did not work out as to him losing. People are not as ageist as one would think, they consider health instead. Pound on McCain's health, maybe you'll get somewhere; age-I just don't think so, not at least to anyone it doesn't already turn off. Your preaching to choir by emphasizing age alone, it's easily dismissed.
August 3, 2008 9:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll grant you that, it definitely wouldn't be a smart campaign strategy to run on. I just think it would be a sad day for the country to go with the guy who is clearly a shell of himself when a younger, sharper and more vibrant option exists. This is especially true considering the challenges facing the country are in many ways more complex than any it has faced before and will require very tedious and complicated maneuvering to successfully find solutions, something I just don't see McCain in his current state as capable of. Unlike a lot of others, I thought he was a very viable option in 2000 and was sincerely disappointed that he lost to Bush who I thought (and still think) was a complete buffoon and disaster in the making.
August 3, 2008 11:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
I ran a 50 mile trail ultrarun at age 54 so I think the aging business is pretty relative. Everybody ages at different rates, but exercise can sure retard things! FDR tried, before the court-packing scheme, of setting an age limit on sitting justices. Couldn't drum up too much support for the idea. For every McCain we have an Oliver Wendell Holmes to point at, so fixed limits are probably going to exclude some first rate talent.
Great first post. Recommended!
August 3, 2008 5:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks! All compliments gratefully accepted, and all criticisms thoughtfully considered.
August 3, 2008 6:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
You've made a good point with your first post. Wish I had done as well. Congrats!
August 3, 2008 7:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am very sure that if it were the Democratic nominee who was 72, Rove et al would be pontificating on a daily basis that, if it's not acceptable for public servants to still be working at 72, then how can it be suitable for the President? And we'd have already seen ads showing 70 year olds agreeing how it was just as well they'd had to retire - they wouldn't have wanted to but in retrospect they had to agree they hadn't still been fully up to the job.
August 3, 2008 8:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
My father is turning 90 this year and he's as sharp as ever and still playing tennis, though he says he lets his partners do all the running around.
I'm turning 60 this year and I do an active schedule of martial arts every week, and my mind is doing ok, though I won't be going into any cage fights any time soon. But so far, so good.
Going to school reunions, however, reveals to me the extent to which different people can age, and it's not all the same. To me, McCain has aged tremendously since 1999-2000. I wrote about it once before, and I still think his mind is failing him and he would be a real danger to this country as president.
If you want a fairly clear and recent example, check this out:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/08/03/what-happened/
What happened after this compilation of clips is his claim that he helped make Martin Luther King Day a holiday ( http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/08/02/mccain-lies-about-his-support-for-mlk-jr-day-in-arizona/ ), a baldfaced lie so idiotic and contrary to all evidence that it could only come from someone who is a congenital liar or who really doesn't remember.
Anyway, I think he's washed up and it's a constant amazement to me that the Republicans, with a lot of help from the MSM, are holding this guy up. But what I wonder is if he'll last through the campaign as the candidate.
They're going to throw everything but the kitchen sink at Obama between now and then and hope to catch him with one of their roundhouses, but sort of that, will they stick with him until Nov? If so, it's going to be a long, ugly ride and I I wouldn't be surprised if we were to witness a total breakdown along the way, mentally, physically or both.
August 3, 2008 9:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think genetics have a heck of a lot to do with it also. We all have these differing internal clocks, but I think most of us are past our peak effectiveness at age 70 or so.
I turn 60 in a couple of months also. Yikes!
August 3, 2008 9:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
And don't forget his fellow POW and Naval Academy buddy who had this to say about the physical condition of former POW's in relation to their contemporaries: http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,164859_1,00.html
August 3, 2008 10:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mental and physical ability at advanced age depends strongly upon individual circumstances. Personally I feel that McCain is less fit to be president than Obama. But I don't think that the case is strong when based solely upon chronological age. There's certainly enough evidence from direct observation of McCain's words and actions to make the argument that he's outclassed by his younger opponent in mental and physical terms.
August 3, 2008 11:21 PM | Reply | Permalink