Let’s do a little arithmetic, shall we?
Here are the mortality tables from the Social Security Administration.
And here’s what they say:
Of 100 male children born alive, 67 will survive to age 72.
Of those 67, 57 will survive to age 76.
That’s a mortality rate of 10/67 = 14.9%
Right. If John McCain were in average health, and not preparing to take an extremely strenuous job, there would be between one chance in six and one chance in seven of his not surviving to the end of his first term. And “not surviving” in this case means putting into the oval office someone whose total national security credentials consist of a year and a half as the titular head of the Alaska National Guard.
What was that again about putting country first?