John McCain Goes For A Physical: "I'm as Healthy as the Economy!"

[CatWoman]

This weekend brought word that John McCain will be convening a panel of his doctors next month, in an effort to help assuage concerns about his age and health. Of course, McCain's prognosis at that press event is a foregone conclusion: clean bill of health, sound of mind and body. Such an event seems eerily similar to one of the current administration's periodically scheduled reports of the trajectory of the Iraq, where generals and advisers, chosen for their like-mindedness, give stoically rosy assessments of the war. You can hear it now, "Senator McCain is the picture of physical fitness!"; and then, under their collective breath, "...for a man his age."

That may be well and true, but if so, McCain can't blame his recent (and frequent) campaign-trail Iraq war gaffes on a deteriorating mind. Which means that instead he's simply misinformed and does not understand the war we're waging or whom we're waging it against. McCain's campaign has maintained that these blunders were merely examples of the Senator misspeaking.

But these aren't the type of innocent stump speech lapses like when Senator Clinton mixed up the vowel-laden state names of Ohio and Iowa. So, given the implausibility of the "mere misstatement" explanation, what's worse: (a) that McCain doesn't understand the facts, parties, factions, and religious groups involved in the Iraq violence, or (b) that his age and mind are impediments to his perception? Sadly--since it implies that the electorate is accepting of our leaders being egregiously wrong--the more politically damaging explanation for McCain is that it is his age and mind that account for his weak grasp on the facts of the Iraq war, not a fundamental inability to grasp the situation (though both may be linked more than we know).

Despite Robert Scheer's almost weekly protestations on Left, Right, and Center that a septuagenarian is capable of being president, McCain simply doesn't demonstrate the same grasp of the problems facing the nation that Scheer does, or that any presidential candidate should. Ultimately, voters are going to have to decide whether they trust that McCain's doctors and spokespeople are being entirely candid about the Senator's health. But in their medical optimism, McCain's camp shouldn't get too creative with their diagnosis: "He's as healthy as the economy!" That one just doesn't reassure the way it used to.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathaniel-bach/john-mccain-goes-for-a-ph_b_95351.html

[dogday]

1. That's not saying much at all... He better appoint a young VP

cause I heard the Federal Reserve use the "R" word the other day....

[MADem]

2. I think his mind is fine and he has the genetic code to live long.

I think he probably--no, surely--has residual issues from his torture as a POW. He can't lift his arms over his head, can't fix his own collar or comb his own hair (without "assistive devices" anyway), has trouble with stairs as he cannot lift his leg too high, and is probably laden with aches/pains from broken and improperly set bones.

But I don't think his "age" is a reason not to vote for him.

I think his policies and PLATFORM are the reason not to vote for him.

[theoldman]

4. I agree. Make his age number two not to vote for him.

[MADem]

16. I say don't even bring it up. Hit him on the issues, his views, and his generic "health"

which can include age and PTSD from captivity, without actually SAYING those things. But the least of these should be "health."

The minute you start beating someone up for things beyond their control, be it their race, their gender, or their age, you find yourself in a world of shit.

[Alter Ego]

6. His age sure as hell doesn't help.

Just as there is a lower limit on running for President, there should be an upper limit on it as well, I think.

It will also make people look a lot more critically at who McCain chooses as his #2--if he should be elected, McCain's VP has a much better chance of being President than normal.

[MADem]

14. Well, JFK was young. Youth didn't get him two terms, now, did it?

And he was secretly quite ill, as well.

You just never know. Youth is no guarantee. Age doesn't stop a lot of people. Like Popeye's mom.

Certainly, his age does make his VP choice more "interesting." He doesn't have to pick a young 'un, though--just someone not as old or older, I'd say.

Harping on his age with an eye towards selling that as a "demotivator" to vote for the bastard is what stupid young people who are biased towards older Americans might do, IMO. And it will have the effect of pissing off vigorous seventy two year olds, who have no frigging intention of dying in the next eight years.

It's just a poor selling point, the "age excuse"--and it's bound to have blowback consequences. Policies, platform, views on the issues--there's where you take the guy on. Otherwise, count on the old people that aren't already pissed off and thinking about switching their votes to find that sort of "reason" offensive, and cast ill-advised but angrily motivated "so there" votes.

It's not what we need.

[bdamomma]

8. his policies and platform ARE no better than *'s.

and to think at one time, they said he never had a chance in the beginning, watch out everyone this guy could sneak through the back door to the WH, now that's a scary thought.

[MADem]

18. I never said that. I said he's gonna surprise us IF Bloomberg doesn't get in the race.

Once it became clear that Romney was as despised nationwide as he was in MA, and he didn't have enough money to PURCHASE a suspension of dislike (something he did in MA), old Popeye looked like the winner to me. Flintstone Huckabee was a charmer, and if he hadn't been quite so "fundy," he actually may have had a shot, but I think that thinking GOP voters (oxymoronic, that) just were sick of the Biblical bullshit. The only option for them in that case was Popeye--the rest of the field was just to frigging crazy.

[theoldman]

3. Reagan was old when he was elected president.

Oh, I forgot, his brain was mush by the end of his term. All joking aside, McCain may not be able to take the stress of being president for 8 years. It's not like being a CEO of a large company.

[Alter Ego]

5. Oh God...did he really say that?

[Brigid]

7. "I'm as healthy as the economy?"

Oh, boy. :eyes:

Great material for this fall's campaign ads, though. :evilgrin:

[debbierlus]

9. So, he is about to die?

[blondeatlast]

10. More likely implode. Spectacularly. nt

[CatWoman]

11. !!

:rofl:

[Happyhippychick]

12. Boy, your subject line quote says it all!

[Solon]

13. So...one foot in the grave? n/t

[UTUSN]

15. BwaHAH!1 Cw, you always ZONE in on the main point!! n/t

[marmar]

17. If that's the case, he might be six feet under before the election....

n/t