With all the rancor surrounding the presidential candidates, their character, their positions on national and international issues, and leadership qualities this election year, it is gratifying to hear how we may have finally put race and gender discrimination behind us. The Democratic Party candidates have been slugging it out over practically every issue you can think of and I’m sure that whatever happens, the issues surrounding
What I find puzzling is why age still plays a factor in most of the news reports and “talking heads” monologues. We live in a society where overwhelming numbers of the population represent the baby boom era, so why aren’t we recoiling over the discussions about why John Mc Cain, the Republican nominee for president, may be too old to be our next president? Quite honestly, every American should be outraged. Whatever happened to the saying circulating around lately that when it comes to age, the 60s of today are the 40s of yesterday. Why isn’t anyone talking or reporting on how our life tables have greatly changed and that in fact, with advances in medicine, Americans are living longer. There are a whole lot of people who even look 10 to 15 years younger, eating right, staying healthy, and that’s without the help of a scalpel. Mental awareness, acuity, and ability to communicate are paramount for anyone and especially in our leaders. We should all resent the very notion that age might now replace or become the alternative to gender or race as a barrier to being qualified to lead our country.