Ageism rears its ugly head, but where is the A.A.R.P?

Have you seen the latest political “hit piece” on John McCain (see below)?

You may ask yourself what weakness or shortcomings these ads highlight. Do they focus on his voting record, his military service, or some scandal from his past? No they focus on something far more insidious than the above, this ads focus on his – dare I say it – his age. Of course at 71 the Senator is no spring chicken, and physically he has had his challenges with the debilitating torture suffered while a prisoner of war and his two very public battles with melanoma, why I’ve even touched on some of these very issues myself in my blogging. However I think that to try and use the spector of “age” as if this some how should give sensible people reason to not vote for him for the office of President is ludicrous.

However, what I think and find even more concerning is the utter silence of the self-named guardians of all things “senior citizen”, the champion of older Americans – the A.A.R.P. Why the silence? Lately the A.A.R.P. has been sticking its “finger” in nearly every political pot you can think of all the while claiming to be non-partisan. The group’s rationale for why they are throwing their weight around is grounded in the notion that those issues also impact seniors, who of course are their core constituency. I’m not sure what the A.A.R.P. looks like outside the Los Angeles County area, but here at home they often lean way to the left and often don’t even pretend to be non-partisan. This is also a common problem with many of our local Senior Citizen Commissions and groups.

The question now is will A.A.R.P. issue any kind of statement against attempts such as this ad (which is allegedly funded by George Soros) that attempts to make political hay out of a prospective candidates age? Of course if Soros or his money is behind this idea I find it ironic since Soros himself is 77. In theory one would think that this group can still cleave to it so-called non-partisan agenda and still speak out about this blatant attack of a person solely based on the person’s age, and as one of the many who see 70 quickly approaching on the horizon I don’t think of myself as coming even close to reaching the twilight of my years. If you’ve seen any recent news footage of Senator McCain you’d be hard pressed to believe that he’s 71, since it appears to me that he is very energized by campaigning So my challenge to you is simple, if you believe that the attempt to make Senator McCain’s age an issue is wrong then I encourage you to contact the A.A.R.P. switchboard at 1-888-687-2277, or complete a “general questions” form on their website and be sure to select age discrimination from the drop down menu. And while you’re at it contact your local senior citizen commission and ask them to review the ad and strongly encourage them to denounce the attempt to attack Senator McCain solely because of his age. There are many good reason one can support or not support Senator McCain in his bid for the Presidency, but age shouldn’t be one of them – remember one day it might be your favorite candidate (young or old) that is the subject of a “ageists” attack; if you do not speak out on this one now then you have little moral ground to speak out on any other such attack in the future.

To view McCain is Older then . . . go here.