Ageism?

I’m an elder and since I hang out with elders quite often and read a lot of elderblogger comments, I’m hearing a lot about age discrimination and John McCain. Is it wrong to vote against McCain because he’s old? It’s actually a complicated subject and not easily settled with a yes or no.

One of the reasons, and there are many, that I’m voting against McCain is his age. Most (not all) elders are resistant to change and change is what is needed. Also, McCain is obviously not comfortable with any new technology and that’s definitely a negative in my book. And he’s made it quite clear that he is too old to embrace new technology. He’s simply not interested. And as a nation we need to be focused on the future and not the past. We already have far too many Senators and Congressmen that are in their 70’s and 80’s. And judging from their behavior during the past 7+ years, they can’t even remember their history lessons. There should be mandatory retirement for them at age 65.

And I had this thought as well. Airline pilots have to retire at age 65. Why? Is that Ageism? Will you get onboard a commercial flight and fly the ‘Friendly skies’ with a pilot aged 93? 89? 79? What is the cutoff age for you? Why?