As professors and lawyers, we are often asked questions that could be perceived as idiotic or inane, but we take them in stride, for that is our role: to educate, inform and inspire.
Whether someone is too old to serve as President of the United States is a legitimate question and one that has been asked of candidates in the past. (Remember Ronald Reagan?)
So you can imagine our surprise and dismay when we heard Senator John McCain' s reaction to a high school student's question which, when dissected to its very core, asked whether there was any basis for concern that the candidate was "too old" for the job.
While the youngster may have been inartful or undiplomatic in the phrasing of his question, we think it was a fair one to ask of the 71-year old "Senior Senator from Arizona."
Rather than hit this one out of the ballpark, and endear the crowd to him as an experienced, elder statesman who is vying for our nation's highest elected office, McCain was initially unnerved by the inquiry, and then got needlessly insulting and retaliatory.
After all his years on the campaign trail, we certainly don't think his response was appropriate or "presidential."
Here's a video of the question and the Senator's response. Does he earn your vote?
Maybe the question should have been, "Senator McCain, aren't you a bit too angry to be President of the United States?"