No Cause for Alarm

At my annual physical yesterday the doctor told me that there was no cause for alarm, which gave me the same degree of comfort as a Homeland Security code yellow. I could be headed for the emergency room in ten minutes, but I didn’t have to panic right this second. Nothing to worry about, Steve, but you should get a colonoscopy this year because of your family history, and it would be nice to drop a few pounds. No, I haven’t joined a gym yet, doc, but thanks for asking.

One’s half-century marks the end of self-delusion. Body parts that once functioned reliably must now be treated with tender care, because replacements are often out of the question and at minimum are very expensive. And the sharp-as-a-tack mind that once impressed educated persons now can’t even win an argument against a teenager who believes that all human knowledge is contained in Wikipedia.

Economist Thomas Sowell questions whether John McCain has the stamina to be President:

Those of us who are in our seventies know darn well that we can’t do everything we used to do, as well as we used to do it….It is not just in physical tasks that age takes its toll. Even when our minds remain sharp, our energy levels are seldom the same, and that affects how long we can concentrate on a given day without taking a rest.

Foreshadowing Hillary Clinton’s 3 AM ad, Dr. Sowell wrote:

But a president of the United States has to be ready to take on any crisis that arises anywhere in the world, at any hour of the day or night. And if he has to deal with it around the clock, then he just stays awake around the clock to deal with it.

If she does win the Democratic nomination, I don’t see Hillary Clinton continuing to use the ad. It’s not because the majority of Americans prefer Senator McCain to be in charge, it’s just that older men are always up at 3 AM tending to emergencies of a personal nature. On the other hand, if you ask whether he's awake at 3 PM.... © 2008 Stephen Yuen