The Ophthalmologist & the Septuagenarians

Syria Likely to Defy Calls For Pullout From Lebanon: Reaction to Bombing Underlines Strategic Interest in Neighbor By Scott Wilson

For [Syrian President Bashar Assad], an ophthalmologist by training, remaining in Lebanon has become a political test. Hard-liners in his government, many of them septuagenarian carryovers from his father's time who have resisted even his limited efforts to open up the state-run economy and shrink the Baath Party's influence, could blame him for the loss of regional influence that would result from a retreat from Lebanon.

Not to defend the Syrians, but you can tell I'm getting old, thinking that the fact that they're septuagenarians isn't that big a deal. I haven't heard that complaint about Jacques Chirac, although I did hear it about Reagan. And I suppose being an ophthalmologist disqualifies one from being a political leader? So what about Howard Dean, a physician who practiced internal medicine?

Wait a minute--the French are formers colonizers of Lebanon. It must be a Seventies' thing.