Today we wish to bring your attention to the dumbest website that we’ve seen in some time: http://www.thingsyoungerthanmccain.com/. The moron who is responsible for this website wants to make John McCain’s age an issue in this year’s Presidential campaign because he believes that “because the world is a pretty complicated place right now . . . it’s not such a great time to elect our oldest President ever.” This is so f*cking stupid our heads our spinning.What the dummy who is responsible for this website apparently fails to understand, along with all of the other idiots who want to suggest that McCain is too old to be President, is that the human lifespan is increasing. Anyone who can remember back at least 20 years or so ago should be able to realize that 50 years old today is not what it used to be. Nor is 60, 70, etc. Due to improvements in modern medicine, sanitation, the fact that machines now do much of the hard labor that people used to have to do, and generally increased knowledge of how to take care of ourselves, among other things, we are living longer healthier lives, and this is a good thing – a sign of progress. Moreover, the older that a person can be healthy enough to be President, the better, because an older person will have more years of experience living on Earth than otherwise, and experience is what creates wisdom. This, also a good thing for a President to have. We think that people who don’t get this and make ageist websites and arguments against people who are older than they are deserve to be made redundant at their jobs due to mandatory age limits, and deserve to be ignored by their offspring and placed in nursing homes where their diapers will not be changed as often as they should. And we’re sure that folks like this, with such a bleak outlook on aging, will live out a self-fulfilling prophecy, and will end up in diapers far sooner than those who hold the more reasonable outlook that every day ought to be better than the last. Then, when these people are in diapers, and their offspring will neither visit them in the nursing home nor listen to any of their wise advise, we hope that they will feel bad for making such stupid websites.
As an intellectual antidote to this offensive McCain website, we offer this piece by Ryan Cole published in the 2/27/08 Wall Street Journal, titled “Is McCain Too Old.” This piece briefly touches upon the careers of great world leaders like Winston Churchill, Charles De Gaulle, Golda Meir, Ronald Reagan, and Nelson Mandela, all of whom held office at approximately the same age as McCain would, if he is elected. Mr. Cole explains that:
“This diverse group of leaders shares a common denominator: They faced trying challenges in office and held the reins of power at momentous times in their country's history. They each had a great impact on their respective countries that continues to this today. They are remembered by their accomplishments -- great and visionary war-time leadership, rapprochement and reconciliation in the shadow of war and racial division, and steadfast commitment to defeating the last century's threats to peace and freedom. They are not remembered for their age at the time they entered office.
True enough, age can bring its share of infirmities. But with age can also come knowledge, understanding and expertise. Prior to becoming heads of state, many great leaders were soldiers, generals, ambassadors, activists, political prisoners, governors and ordinary citizens involved for decades with the political system of their respective countries. Some of that same patina can be seen on John McCain's résumé.
Given this precedent, a strong case can be made that age should not be a factor in picking our next president -- unless Mr. McCain, to paraphrase Reagan's famous quip to Walter Mondale, chooses to exploit, for political purposes, his opponent's youth and inexperience.”
