But my point was that in that election, you favored the guy who did not serve any time AT ALL in the (stuff), as they say, over the guy who actually went there. So, the level of service of the candidates in 2004 was not the determining and overriding quality then that you espouse it to be for the present election choice.
Oh sorry, but yes, to get back to the topic: age should not matter as any generalization should not. These things should be determined on a case by case basis. In Senator McCain’s case, yes, he’s too far gone.
Oh sorry, but yes, to get back to the topic: age should not matter as any generalization should not. These things should be determined on a case by case basis. In Senator McCain’s case, yes, he’s too far gone.
And Obama’s never gotten there ... so let’s all vote for Jason Bugg for president.
Oh sorry, but yes, to get back to the topic: age should not matter as any generalization should not. These things should be determined on a case by case basis. In Senator McCain’s case, yes, he’s too far gone.
Being seventy myself I should be on the other side of this argument but I submit it is not always so easy to tell what the mental capacity of an individual is with out some pretty thorough testing. McCain, as far as we know, has had no such tests administered. Question, should we make this a requirement after a certain age is reached?
Sorry, Bugg is not old enough and I already voted. Obama
So George W. Bush and Dick Cheney’s war records (or lack thereof) were much more impressive to you?
Bush served… maybe not very well but he served. Cheney you can have. Please.
It’s not ‘war’ records that are important, it’s _serving_. Many millions of veterans served in peacetime or never left the states ... their service is just as valuable and worthy of respect as those fought in the deserts and jungles and on the oceans and in the air.
Love of country is what counts the most.
Obama does not seem to have that.
So I’m voting for John McCain.
Love of country? Obama doesn’t seem to have that? There are many ways to serve a nation, many ways to show love for your country. Who are you to judge what’s in the man’s heart. I love my country too but I do not love the way our government has behaved in the world nor how some of it’s citizens have behaved and I count it not only as a right but an obligation to speak out when I think something is amiss.
Again, the topic is age in the white house. If we do not police ourselves the long arm of Steve will reach in here and do it.
Wow….I disagree with people on these forums sometimes, but usually it’s just kind of funny. But Ralph, what you have been espousing actually SCARES me. To question someone’s “love of country” based on whether or not they have served in the military strikes me as more than ridiculous….it starts to border on McCarthyism…. Which has now become the conservative right’s main line of attack… For a group to claim to be defenders of patriotism and freedom, they don’t really seem to understand those two concepts…
I have not served in the military, nor will I EVER. I do not believe in killing people except in self defense. This simply comes from my spiritual beliefs. Does this make me unamerican? Am I one of those people that Palin speaks of? That line of thought DISGUSTS me on several different levels….
I also do not like baseball, rarely, if ever, eat apple pie, and I’m not a christian…. Guess what, Ralph…. I love my country, despite people like you….
Oh, and according to Article 2, Section 1 of the United States Constitution, a candidate for President of the USA must be thirty-five…apparently our esteemed founding fathers wouldn’t have thought that the age of 47 to be too young or they would have made 50 the cutoff age….
As far as maturity? Staying above the ugliness of name-calling, patriotism questioning, and christian-right pandering has shown Obama to have maturity in spades…..I’ve got a lot of problems with Obama, but age & maturity are DEFINITELY not among them…. Nor is his “love of country”...
In the apparent absence of a moderator I might suggest this thread has drifted again, far off topic.
I disagree, Tomh…You will notice that my last two paragraphs swerved to avoid a head-on collision with the horned mammal of “off-topic” just in time…. a few skid marks in the road is all….
Fast moving thread, huh? Let’s try to put this back on track.
Getting back to the original point, I don’t think there’s a double standard at work. McCain one of the oldest people ever get the GOP’s nomination, and asking honest questions about whether he is healthy enough to make it to the end of the term without risk of serious age-related illness is fair game. No serious claims or concerns have really been offered about Obama NOT being healthy, whereas McCain has claimed injuries from his age and military service prevent him from doing relatively simple things like using the internet.
In fact, according to McCain’s own staff, it is “impossible for him to raise his arms high enough to comb his hair—mean[ing] that small tasks make his shoulders ache, so he tries to avoid any repetitive exercise.” (From http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/why-doesnt-mcca.html )
I can’t see any reason that McCain’s health issue should be overlooked. It’s relevant, and it’s not like the media is avoiding talking about Obama’s health—there’s just not that much to talk about. If Obama DID have a serious health problem, the media would jump all over it, just to have something new to talk about.
Wow - look what happens when I’m away from the computer for 24 hours! Fast-moving thread, indeed.
Regards the topic at hand, McCain’s age and health wouldn’t be as big an issue to me if he had chosen a halfway reasonable or qualified running mate. If McCain were to have a serious medical issue or worse, Sarah Palin would be president or “acting” president, and that is, to me, a terrifying prospect.
Seriously, the republican line at the very beginning of this election process was that Obama wasn’t experienced enough for the job….but now they expect the American public to accept that this self-proclaimed “hockey mom” IS? Scary, scary stuff.
It is a reasonable fear that something might happen to Obama (not health-wise, probably - but an assassination attempt, or who knows what) in the first term, but at least Joe Biden is not an imbecile.
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Tatuaje - your reply #21 here is skirting very close to personal insult. Please contain your responses to the arguments posted, not the person posting them. Thank you.
Tatuaje - your reply #21 here is skirting very close to personal insult. Please contain your responses to the arguments posted, not the person posting them. Thank you.
I apologize, Contentpersephone… got a little hot under the collar…
In my defense, I never meant to attack Ralph, merely a specific mindset that seems to be percolating in some corners of our country. In fact, I actually had this weird feeling like I was defending myself…
Perhaps I should have said: I love my country, even though there exists some people who might question my, and others’, patriotism for arbitrary reasons and try to hold others to their perception of an ideal American, as McCarthy did to some of his fellow Americans in the ‘50’s… I would say the same thing to Palin if given the chance….
I enlisted and served four years right after I was in the last lottery drawn during the Vietnam War. I can’t imagine ever thinking someone was un-American for not having done so themselves. This is a free country. We have systems of choice. We exercise our options as we see fit. Ah, Liberty. We are expected when needed. The Americans will be known when they respond to that need.
The president has to be at least 35 years old. In the 1780’s life expectancy was shorter, populations smaller and at what age a man found the full measure of maturity is hard to say. Why 35? I know a lot of 35 year old men today I wouldn’t let borrow my bathroom, but then again I believe in savants. Through time I believe within each generation seeded by fate on the wind are the right people to do the right things at the right time. Bringing them to fruition is the trick. I can’t help but believe that Barack Obama is a political savant. Destined. Age is of little importance in this instance. If Hillary was only 38 would she have been a good president, I think not. 58, yes.
The big question about Barack is where does he go after two terms and he’s in his early 50’s. Maybe Justice of the Supreme Court would see him out nicely. Hmmm?
