Reader PHB writes in:
How many 72 year olds think that they are up to one of the world's most intellectually demanding jobs?
I think that is the key to the age issue. Disqualifying people on the grounds of race and gender is telling people of the disqualified class that they are not up to the job. But most seniors have left their jobs by 72. They know that they are no longer as quick as they were in their 40s or 50s.
Septuagenarians who are working at that age are almost exclusively doing a job where their long experience makes up for their age. McCain was never a flag officer, never on track to make flag officer. He never commanded a large unit. Now he wants to be President.
Or put it another way. We are both in our 40s. Neither of us is going to make the finals of Wimbledon or Formula One racing driver. That's not ageist, it's just a fact that your reactions at 40 are not what they were at 20.
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