Posted on 01/24/2008 3:22:31 PM PST by K-oneTexas
McCain's Age
By Thomas Sowell
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Among the painful signs of our time are the shocked reactions to Chuck Norris' raising the question of whether Senator John McCain is too old to be president.
Have we reached the point where we have so many politically correct taboos that we can't even talk sense?
Does a man in his seventies have less energy for either physical or mental tasks than someone younger? Those of us who are in our seventies know darn well that we can't do everything we used to do, as well as we used to do it.
It was appalling to me when my driver's license was renewed last year without my having to get behind the wheel of a car and demonstrate that I still could drive safely.
Even if my own driving was still all right, I could get killed by some other old-timer whose driving was not all right -- and who had not been tested behind the wheel for many years.
While teenagers have high rates of fatal accidents, the decline that sets in as they mature does not continue indefinitely. The rate of fatal accidents declines to a plateau in middle age -- and then begins to rise again for older people, until old-timers eventually reach the point where their rate of fatal accidents is at least as high as that of teenagers.
It is not just in physical tasks that age takes its toll. Even when our minds remain sharp, our energy levels are seldom the same, and that affects how long we can concentrate on a given day without taking a rest.
It is easy enough for me to take an afternoon nap and wake up refreshed, especially since my younger research assistants are working while I am dozing, and have plenty of material ready for me when I am ready to resume work.
But a President of the United States has to be ready to take on any crisis that arises anywhere in the world, at any hour of the day or night.
And if he has to deal with it around the clock, then he just stays awake around the clock to deal with it.
It can be a killing job. You need only look at pictures of Abraham Lincoln when he took office and compare them with the pictures of him just a few years later, when he looked like he had aged at least ten years during the Civil War.
Look at pictures of Franklin D. Roosevelt taken in 1940 and compare them with pictures of him taken in 1945, after World War II had taken its toll.
Today we know that FDR's doctor had put him on a restricted schedule -- and that still was not enough to keep him from dying in office, just a few months after he began his final term as President.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was younger when he died than John McCain is right now. Moreover, FDR had not been abused for years as a prisoner of war.
When we are talking about a President of the United States, we are not talking about the fate of one individual, but the fate of a nation and of generations yet unborn.
This is no time to get squeamish or politically correct, when talking about whoever is to carry the load of the free world on his shoulders in the White House.
Quite aside from age, there is all too much evidence already that John McCain is not the kind of man who has given in-depth thought to many of the serious issues on which he shoots from the hip, which some people equate with "straight talk."
The media have dubbed him a "maverick," which is another way of spinning the fact that he is headstrong and unreliable.
Senator McCain's teaming up with Senator Ted Kennedy on immigration, and with equally left-wing Senator Russ Feingold to violate the First Amendment in the name of "campaign finance reform," are classic examples of a loose cannon.
Senator McCain is not a bad man. He has some admirable qualities. But there are plenty of good people who would be dangerous in a job for which they are not suited.
Back in the 18th century, Edmund Burke said that some people "may do the worst of things without being the worst of men." The White House is not the place for that.
Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute and author of Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy.
Sowell, The Sensible..
Being POTUS is a h*ll lot harder (mentally and physically) and stressful than driving a vehicle. Is McPain up to the job? Who knows? He’s not my candidate.
Quite good. Thank you.
Sowell, he is always right...
When McCain people say age is not the matter, they point to Reagan who was also 70 when he became President.
It’s not about age, it’s about health and energy. Reagan was an outdoorsmen, and had the body of a 50-60 year old. He was in great shape and still had plenty of youth. Reagan at 70 was a lot younger than many at 60.
The same cannot be said for McCain. He really does look and act old. He’s just going to get crankier and nuttier as the months and years go by. He looks 10 years older than Reagan did when Reagan took office. He already called Putin the President of Germany. What’s next.
911 aged President Bush and forced him to go on a diet and exercise plan to prevent health problems. Can you imagine what a 911 would do to McCain?
McCain often brings up his quite spry 95 year old mother, and she is spry.
She was not tortured for 5 years however.
His second wife, Cindy (18 yrs his junior), has been seen helping him out of vehicles. I'm just waiting for the video to hit You Tube--
His father, however, died shortly after hitting 70.
I think his age is a big negative.
Thanks for posting this article.
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“Senator McCain’s teaming up with Senator Ted Kennedy on immigration, and with equally left-wing Senator Russ Feingold to violate the First Amendment in the name of “campaign finance reform,” are classic examples of a loose cannon.”
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..................very excellent observation.
McCain’s is a year away from taking office should he be the successful nominee, and he is not in all that good of health. He has been struggling with skin cancer for a number of years, and his time as a prisoner of war will likely have a debilitating effect on how long he lives. People are often declining quickly in the mid 70’s if not showing alzheimers.
Important considerations. ???? I believe so.
To me they are serious considerations.
This man is my age. Humbling. Sorry if it's off topic but I can only bow in his direction.
At age 80, a male American has around a 1 in 6 chance of having clinical dementia, mostly Alzheimer’s. Ronald Reagan began to display memory loss and personality change obvious to those around around 3-4 years after he left the White House, and more than 2 years before medical diagnosis.
So IMO physical capacity is a serious concern for someone who would be starting the Presidency at near 72 years of age.
I don’t care for McCain in general, and he is probably too old, but he is younger than Luap Nor.
I have been amazed at how few people mention McCain’s age as a serious drawback. When a caller on the Medved show suggested McCain’s advanced age might be a problem, as he would be 80 at the end of his second term, Medved seemed taken a back, as if he hadn’t considered it. After a brief station break, Medved returned to suggest a McCain presidency would only be for one term.
Thomas Sowell (born June 30, 1930), is an American economist, political writer, and commentator. While often described as a "black conservative", he prefers not to be labeled, and considers himself more libertarian than conservative.[1] He often writes from an economically laissez-faire perspective. He is currently a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. In 1990, he won the Francis Boyer Award, presented by the American Enterprise Institute. In 2002 he was awarded the National Humanities Medal for prolific scholarship melding history, economics, and political science.
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