My kids love the recent Pixar movie UP. Whenever we watch a movie my kids have to pick the character they want to be and surprisingly my sons both wanted to be Carl Frederickson, the senior citizen hero of the story. In fact, they almost came to blows over who would “be” him for the movie. Then the young boy character Russel came onscreen and my oldest decided to be him.
What is great about that movie is that the hero of the story is a senior citizen. He gets into a sword fight, gets his house to float with helium balloons, climbs a zeppelin upside down, and outruns a pack of trained attack dogs. I had to appreciate the honoring Pixar did to those who many would consider too old.
In the upcoming election season, which is going to start before we know it, one of the issues that will surface is Ron Paul’s age. Ron Paul’s age will be used as an excuse as to why he should not run and just leave presidential politics altogether. Ron Paul’s age will be used as a liability against him. As in many attacks that overlook the actual issue Ron Paul’s age will distract from his message.
I came across an interesting article by Doug Wead where he tackles the tough issue of Ron Paul’s age. He argues that many of our recent great leaders were the same age as Ron Paul’s age will be during the upcoming election season. Doug won me over when he pointed out that Ron Paul’s age will match President Reagan’s age.
Ron Paul’s age is just another side issue to drive a wedge against those who would be interested in hearing what he has to say. Ron Paul’s age will once again be used as an issue to sideline him from making his voice heard.
I hope that people will not allow Ron Paul’s age to distract them from the message. I hope his opponents will not use Ron Paul’s age as a cheap attack point. If my kids can accept a senior citizen hero, I would hope our country could do the same.
Jpotter37's Blog 