I don't know if any one else saw the op ed piece in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, but it addressed Sen. McCain's age. The writer pointed out that Winston Churchill was 65 when he became Britain' PM in 1940, was 70 when WWII ended, again became the PM at 76 and finally left office at 80; Konrad Adenauer was the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany at 73 and remained in office until he was 87; Charles de Gaulle was elected as the first President of the Fifth Republic of France at age 86 and left office at age 78; Golda Meir was 70 when she became the 4th PM of Israel and left office at age 76; Nelson Mandela was 75 when he became the first democratically elected President of South America and retired at age 80; and Ronald Reagan was 69 when first elected President and was 77 when he left office. Yet some people think McCain's too old? I like the writer's closing quip that McCain's age should not be a factor in this campaign-unless Sen. McCain, to paraphrase Reagan's famous comment to Walter Mondale, chooses to exploit, for political purposes, his opponent's youth and inexperience. :thumb:

I remember that line that Reagan used in the debates against Mondale like it was yesterday. Utterly brilliant!!

I don't know if any one else saw the op ed piece in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, but it addressed Sen. McCain's age. The writer pointed out that Winston Churchill was 65 when he became Britain' PM in 1940, was 70 when WWII ended, again became the PM at 76 and finally left office at 80; Konrad Adenauer was the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany at 73 and remained in office until he was 87; Charles de Gaulle was elected as the first President of the Fifth Republic of France at age 86 and left office at age 78; Golda Meir was 70 when she became the 4th PM of Israel and left office at age 76; Nelson Mandela was 75 when he became the first democratically elected President of South America and retired at age 80; and Ronald Reagan was 69 when first elected President and was 77 when he left office. Yet some people think McCain's too old? I like the writer's closing quip that McCain's age should not be a factor in this campaign-unless Sen. McCain, to paraphrase Reagan's famous comment to Walter Mondale, chooses to exploit, for political purposes, his opponent's youth and inexperience. :thumb:

France has a time-machine?!:eek:

 

 

France has a time-machine?!:eek:

 

 

 

Okay smarty pants, I mis-typed it. de Gaulle was 68 when elected and left office at 78.

France has a time-machine?!:eek:

 

That's just flat out funny. :laugh:

So only Nelson Mandela and Konrad Adenauer were older than McCain would be if he won.

 

Both were a special case, Mandela because of his status during and after Apartheid and Adenauer because of Post-WWII Germany and its denazification.

McCain's current age isn't the only thing that concerns me. Nobody seems to consider his 6 years as a POW. I figure that alone adds probably another 5-10 years to his age, maybe more. By the time he ends his first term, he'll be physically 76 years old. But you add the stresses of the White House plus the trauma from being a POW and I have doubts that he lives to see a 2nd term.

So only Nelson Mandela and Konrad Adenauer were older than McCain would be if he won.

 

Both were a special case, Mandela because of his status during and after Apartheid and Adenauer because of Post-WWII Germany and its denazification.

 

Who cares whether those two were special cases or not. Bottom line is that they entrusted by their peoples to lead their countries at very difficult times. And the other people mentioned were very close in age to McCain. Bottom line is McCain's age is only an issue for those that want to divert focus away from the real issues. But you're not alone. Plenty of Republicans want to make an issue of Sen. Obama's middle name in a like pursuit.

What does being a cancer survivor do to your life expectancy?

Who cares whether those two were special cases or not. Bottom line is that they entrusted by their peoples to lead their countries at very difficult times. And the other people mentioned were very close in age to McCain. Bottom line is McCain's age is only an issue for those that want to divert focus away from the real issues. But you're not alone. Plenty of Republicans want to make an issue of Sen. Obama's middle name in a like pursuit.

I think there are genuine concerns about McCain's age, but there are none about Obama's name.

McCain's current age isn't the only thing that concerns me. Nobody seems to consider his 6 years as a POW. I figure that alone adds probably another 5-10 years to his age, maybe more. By the time he ends his first term, he'll be physically 76 years old. But you add the stresses of the White House plus the trauma from being a POW and I have doubts that he lives to see a 2nd term.

 

Come on HHS Dad, now you're playing physician and speculating how the imprisonment affected his physical condition and life expectancy. I can speculate just as much to the contrary and state that his imprisonment resulted in him taking much better care of his body than the average person so he's going to live even longer than he otherwise would. Neither you nor I can logically conclude what if any effect his imprisonment had on his age expectancy. Heck, Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years and after being released then led his country from age 75 to 80 (and I have a feeling the medical care that McCain has received is just a tad bit better than what Mandela has received).

LN, McCain is hardly hale and whole. It's foolish to say that he is. He can't even comb his own hair.

 

I am not saying, btw, the physical disability disqualifies him from office. I'm saying there were long term health effects to his time as a POW.

http://www.vanityfair.com./politics/features/2007/02/mccain200702?currentPage=5

McCain seldom talks about the details of his torture by the North Vietnamese, but he has written about them in clinical depth. Despite the injuries he had already suffered, upon capture he was promptly bayoneted in the ankle and then beaten senseless. The North Vietnamese never set either of his broken arms. The only treatment of his broken knee involved cutting all the ligaments and cartilage, so that he never had more than 5 to 10 percent flexion during the entire time he was in prison. In 1968 he was offered early release, and when he refused, because others had been there longer, his captors went at him again; he suffered cracked ribs, teeth broken off at the gum line, and torture with ropes that lashed his arms behind his back and that were progressively tightened all through the night. Ultimately he taped a coerced confession.

 

McCain's right knee still has limited flexibility. Most of the time this is not too noticeable, but McCain mounts the steps onto planes with a herky-jerky gait. A climb up dozens of steps at the New Hampshire International Speedway, in Loudon, leaves him badly winded and sweating profusely. Because his broken arms were allowed to heal without ever being properly set, to this day McCain cannot raise his arms above his shoulders. He cannot attend to his own hair. An aide is often nearby with a comb and small can of hair spray.

 

McCain has difficulty putting on his suit jacket unassisted. Once, as we prepared to get out of a cramped airplane cabin in Burlington, Vermont, where McCain would be greeted by the governor, I turned my back for a moment, only to find him struggling. He could sense that his collar was all bunched up, and asked me matter-of-factly to help him straighten it out. I felt the pang that those around McCain feel whenever they realize the extent of his injuries. "You comb someone's hair once," his 2000 communications director, Dan Schnur, says, "and you never forget it."

 

One of McCain's aides tells me that two years ago, campaigning with McCain, George W. Bush asked him if the senator would like to work out with him. Told that McCain did not, could not, really "work out," Bush replied, "What do you mean?"

 

Just after the Republican convention of 2000, a malignant melanoma was removed from the left side of McCain's face, leaving a track of deep and angry red scars that are only now receding. Salter notes that if McCain's campaign had not died six years ago McCain himself might have, because he wouldn't have taken time out from the trail for the examination that produced the diagnosis. There has been no recurrence of the cancer, and McCain undergoes checkups every three months. At the slightest sign of direct sunlight he breaks out the baseball cap that is always kept at the ready, and slathers his face with so much sunblock that he looks like Marcel Marceau until his skin absorbs it.

LN, McCain is hardly hale and whole. It's foolish to say that he is. He can't even comb his own hair.

 

I am not saying, btw, the physical disability disqualifies him from office. I'm saying there were long term health effects to his time as a POW.

http://www.vanityfair.com./politics/features/2007/02/mccain200702?currentPage=5

 

Saying he has physical disabilities resulting from his imprisonment is one thing; saying with certainty that such will cause him to not survive a term as President is a whole another thing (and a foolish one at that since you added the foolishness factor to the thread).

I am as concerned about McCain's age as I am Obama's lack of experience. Both are very troubling.

Saying he has physical disabilities resulting from his imprisonment is one thing; saying with certainty that such will cause him to not survive a term as President is a whole another thing (and a foolish one at that since you added the foolishness factor to the thread).

Why insert the word 'certainty'? I think we can all agree that would be foolish.