IS JOHN McCAIN CLAIRVOYANT?

John McCain doesn't want this election to be about age. I mean, after all, if McCain were to be elected President he would be three years older than Ronald Reagan (the oldest President ever) was when he took office in 1980. McCain will celebrate his 72nd birthday just a few days before the Republican National Convention - and seems to feel he's robust enough to take on a job like President for four years. So why is he so ageist about the Supreme Court Justices?

A few days ago, when McCain wanted to underline the importance of bringing conservative justices to the Supreme Court, he said this:

"There's going to be two, maybe three vacancies on the Supreme Court, according to people that decide these things. People that pay close attention."

He gave a similar response tonight in his discussions with Pastor Rick Warren. But the real question here is, "Can John McCain predict the future?"

You see, Supreme Court Justices get lifetime appointments. That means that they serve until they choose to retire, or die. And without any indications from the current justices about retirement, are John McCain (or these unknown "people" he speaks of) predicting death for two (or more) Justices?

Of the nine current Justices, only one (John Paul Stevens) is in his 80's. The rest are 75, 72, 72, 70, 68, 60, 58 and 53. With this in mind, is it really acceptable for McCain to question the health or vitality of people in their 70's to do their job?

And if it is acceptable, shouldn't we be able to do the same thing to someone seeking the toughest job in the country?