Too old? Says who?

I keep hearing complaints that John McCain is too old. Interesting, isn't it, that people think others are too old only if they, themselves, are not as old as the one they are discussing.

When they talk about someone being too old, they seem to be saying the older person is not smart. In my opiniion, it is usually the younger ones who are not as smart.

How about you. Is your age:
25? Are you smarter than you were at 15?
35? Are you smarter than you were at 20?
50? Are you smarter than you were at 35?

It is a fact that people get a little smarter each year, because they endure more learning experiences each year. Let's talk about political awareness.

I was just a kid when FDR was elected in 1932. And 1936. And 1940. And 1944. But I well remember the WPA, the NIRA, the NYA, the CCC and his whole alphabet soup of failed New Deal attempts to end the depression, while my father was raising five kids on a salary of $25 a week.

Roosevelt did not survive his fourth term and when he died, Harry Truman inherited the presidency. In 1948, Truman ran for election on his own. I lived in Missouri at that time, not far from Truman's Independence home, but I was not a supporter of Harry. He had been too close to Tom Pendergast, the political boss in Kansas City.

Anyway, I could not vote in 1948. I was a veteran of service with the U.S. Army Forces Western Pacific, but I was not yet 21 years old. Independent candidate Henry Wallace scared me in that election. I wasn't crazy about Thomas Dewey, described that year as like "the little man on top of the wedding cake". So, I probably would have voted for Truman if I could have. Then, Truman chickened out and would not let General MacArthur win the Korean War - a mistake still haunting us today.

In 1952 I liked Ike and my first vote was for him. Eisenhower ended the fighting in Korea but did not really end the war. Another lingering problem. He did initiate the Interstate Highway System, and did give us fiscal responsibility during those wonderfully gentle 1950s.

In 1960 it was Camelot. I didn't vote for Kennedy and he did not finish his first term. But in the nearly three years he was president, he accomplished very little, so I never regretted not voting for him.

Lyndon Johnson inherited the presidency in November, 1963 and ran on his own in 1964. At that time I was fulfilling a personal dream, building my own radio station in a small Kansas town whose economy was tied to a U.S. Air Force base. I felt sorry for Johnson, having become president through tragedy, and voted for him. Promptly upon being elected, Johnson closed our Air Force base, shattering my dream and wiping out what little fortune I had amassed. So much for sympathy voting.

In 1968 and again in 1972 it was Nixon. Nixon was a foreign policy expert and courageous to boot. While Vice President, he once stopped his motorcade in Argentina and jumped out of his car to personally confront a group protesting his visit. But Nixon let himself become embroiled in a stupid mistake by his reelection campaign and had to resign.

Gerald Ford became president, and pardoned Nixon. For that the press hated him and helped sweep Jimmy Carter into office in 1976. Campaigning, Carter decried what he called the "Misery Index" - the combination of high inflation and high unemploymennt. Both skyrocketed after he was elected. He facilitated the ouster of the Shah of Iran and helped bring the Ayatollah Khomeini to power. When Khomeini's radicals invaded the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, a clear act of aggression, Carter trembled in the White House. The only thing good about the Carter presidency was that it ended at the end of one term.

Then there was Reagan. Ronnie restored pride in America, and ended the Cold War, but when terrorists attacked a U.S. Marine base in Lebanon, killing over 200 Marines and injuring scores more, Reagan cut and run.

In 1988, Reagan's Vice President. George H.W. Bush was elected president. Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. Bush 41 launched the "First Gulf War", won it in six days and became very popular. But in 1992, a clever campaign staff for Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton convinced America that "It's The Economy, Stupid!", and Bush lost his reelection bid.

You can take it from there, but what of those earlier elections. What did you learn from them?

What? You didn't learn anything because you were not yet born? Uh... neither was Barack Obama!

Maybe that old guy is the better choice!