NYT Worried About McCain’s Health?

Here are some excerpts from the New York Times article:

In past elections, the decisions of some candidates for the nation’s top elected offices to withhold health information turned out to have a significant impact after the information came to light…

If elected, Senator John McCain of Arizona, 72, the Republican nominee, would be the oldest man to be sworn in to a first term as president and the first cancer survivor to win the office. The scars on his puffy left cheek are cosmetic reminders of the extensive surgery he underwent in 2000 to remove a malignant melanoma.

Last May, his campaign and his doctors released nearly 1,200 pages of medical information, far more than the three other nominees. But the documents were released in a restricted way that leaves questions, even confusion, about his cancer.

A critical question concerns inconsistencies in medical opinions about the severity of his melanoma; if the classification of his melanoma is more severe, it would increase the statistical likelihood of death from a recurrence of the cancer…

Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, 44, Mr. McCain’s running mate, has released no medical information…

I am a physician who has covered the health of presidential candidates for 36 years. Since 1980, The Times has made it a practice to question nominees for president and other high political offices and, with their permission, their doctors about their health…

…since Mr. McCain selected Ms. Palin as his running mate in August, questions about his health have intensified. In recent weeks, more than 2,700 physicians have signed a petition that ran as an advertisement demanding that Mr. McCain fully release his health records; the petition is sponsored by Brave New Films:

In March 2007, as Mr. McCain was making his second bid for the Republican nomination, The Times began asking his campaign for permission to speak with the senator and his doctors…

On May 6, 2008, Jill Hazelbaker, a McCain spokeswoman, denied the requests, writing in an e-mail message that The Times was “not at the top of the list” and including a link to a Times editorial that had criticized Mr. McCain for not disclosing health information…

The [Mayo] clinic doctors said that Mr. McCain was in good health and that no medical reason precluded him from fulfilling all the duties of president…

In interviews, several melanoma experts questioned why the Mayo Clinic doctors had performed such extensive surgery, because the operation was usually reserved for treatment of Stage III melanoma, not Stage IIA…

If Mr. McCain’s 2000 left-temple melanoma was a metastasis, as the Armed Forces pathologists’ report suggested, it would be classified as Stage III. The reclassification would change his statistical odds for survival at 10 years from about 60 percent to 36 percent, according to a published study.

The greatest risk of recurrence of melanoma is in the first few years after detection. His age, his sex and the presence of the melanoma on his face increase the risk…

…cancer experts see the 10th anniversary as an important statistical benchmark, and that would not occur until 2010…

…melanoma is known to be quirkier than most cancers; doctors cite occasional cases in which melanomas come back after 15 or 20 years…

Last week, The Times contacted the McCain campaign to fill in gaps in the medical records. Ms. Hazelbaker, the McCain spokeswoman, wrote in an e-mail message: “As you know, we disclosed over 1,200 pages of Senator McCain’s medical history to Dr. Altman’s colleagues in the press earlier this year. We also arranged a Mayo Clinic briefing with three of Senator McCain’s physicians that Dr. Altman listened to by phone. Additionally, we released a detailed document outlining his most recent physical and lab test results. It was an unprecedented level of disclosure, and Dr. Altman can look at the public document on our Web site if he wishes to do so. It was certainly more significant than the one-page doctor’s note Obama released, though I have little hope The Times will report it that way.”…

Nothing is known publicly about Ms. Palin’s medical history, aside from the much-discussed circumstances surrounding the birth of her fifth child last April. Ms. Palin has said that her water broke while she was at a conference in Dallas and that she flew to Anchorage, where she gave birth to her son Trig hours after landing.

Last week Maria Comella, a spokeswoman for Ms. Palin, said the governor declined to be interviewed or provide any health records.

John McCain’s Dangerous Volatility. Should We Be Concerned?

I had mixed feelings about posting this video, but decided anyone reading my blog would be smart enough to decide for themselves how they feel about it. 

John McCain’s temper and predilection toward what some would term a “knee-jerk” reaction has gained him criticism over the years. Under ordinary circumstances, I would refrain from too much negative criticism of McCain the man and focus more on McCain’s plans (or lack thereof). But this is one of those instances when his ability to command comes into serious question and the decisions he makes, if President, will effect us all in far reaching ways, many beyond our ability to foresee at this time. So, for this reason, I post this video from Brave New Films, as well as the story and comments that follow:

Many of the comments made in the above video seem to jive with what I’ve heard before and seem very likely the same man I watched belittling Delores Alfond, head of the National Alliance of POW/MIAs, in the video I posted two weeks ago here. 

Michael Kinsley of The Daily Beast reports his experience watching John McCain “lose it” at a gambling casino. Now while this is one man’s word against another, I will, as stated above, leave it up to you to decide what you want to believe and what you think is simply untrue. 

McCain’s game is craps. So is Jeff Dearth’s. Jeff was at the table when McCain showed up and happily made room for him. Apparently there is some kind of rule or tradition in craps that everyone’s hands are supposed to be above the table when the dice are about to be thrown. McCain–”very likely distracted by one of the many people who approached him that evening,” Jeff says charitably–apparently was violating this rule. A small middle-aged woman at the table, apparently a “regular,” reached out and pulled McCain’s arm away. I’ll let Jeff take over the story:

“McCain immediately turned to the woman and said between clenched teeth: ‘DON’T TOUCH ME.’ The woman started to explain…McCain interrupted her: ‘DON’T TOUCH ME,’ he repeated viciously. The woman again tried to explain. ‘DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU’RE TALKING TO?’ McCain continued, his voice rising and his hands now raised in the ‘bring it on’ position. He was red-faced. By this time all the action at the table had stopped. I was completely shocked. McCain had totally lost it, and in the space of about ten seconds. ‘Sir, you must be courteous to the other players at the table,’ the pit boss said to McCain. “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? ASK ANYBODY AROUND HERE WHO I AM.”

This being Puerto Rico, the pit boss might not have known McCain. But the senator continued in full fury–”DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU’RE TALKING TO? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?”–and crisis was avoided only when Jeff offered to change places and stand between McCain and the woman who had touched his arm.

Do Veterans Actually Believe John McCain Will Take Care Of Them?

Recently I wrote about Sydney Schanberg’s article in THE NATION suggesting that John McCain sponsored and pushed into federal law a set of prohibitions that keep the most revealing information about POWs left behind in Vietnam buried as classified documents. Last night, during the debate, John McCain made this comment:

“I know the veterans, I know them well, and I know that they know that I’ll take care of them, and I have been proud of their support and their recognition of my service to the veterans, and I love them, and I’ll take care of them, and they know that I’ll take care of them.”

Here’s a video put together by a group who call themselves “Vietnam Veteran’s Against McCain“. They discuss, in great detail, the circumstances behind the federal classification of these documents:

Add to this the organization “Veterans For Peace“, a large national organization made up of veterans of every war, from Korea to Vietnam and Iraq, who led a protest in the streets of St. Paul against the Republican National Convention. 

Then there’s the organization known as “Iraq Veterans Against the War” who claim that:

A formation of 60 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans marched in uniform to Xcel Energy Center… to deliver a briefing on veterans’ issues to Senator McCain on the opening day of the Republican National Convention.

IVAW member Wes Davey led the march and attempted to deliver the briefing to Senator McCain’s staff. Despite numerous mailed, faxed, and in-person invitations to meet, McCain’s office refused to send anyone to receive the briefing. When Davey, a retired Army First Sergeant and former St. Paul police officer, attempted to deliver the briefing, he was escorted off the premises.

On the other hand:

Members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) marched to the Pepsi Center in Denver on Wednesday, August 27 where they were met by Phil Carter, Senator Obama’s Senior Veterans’ Liaison. Carter is negotiating the terms of a meeting with IVAW representatives. IVAW has requested a meeting with Senator Obama himself and his Senior Foreign Policy Advisor.

“Iraq Veterans Against the War” also stated the following about McCain on its Website:

Senator McCain has consistently voted against veterans interests. In a recent report, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave Senator McCain a “D” rating to Senator Obama’s “B+.” Disabled American Veterans reports that Senator McCain only voted for legislation that benefited veterans 20% of the time while Senator Obama supported veterans’ needs 80% of the time.

USMC veteran Adam Kokesh, also a member of IVAW, held up a two-sided sign at the RNC that read: “You Can’t Win An Occupation” and “McCain Votes Against Vets.” He ended up getting tossed out of the convention. Here’s the video:

Here’s yet another video, a joint project of Brave New Films, VoteVets.org, and General Wesley Clark’s WesPAC, urging Senator McCain to support modernizing the GI Bill. For the record, Mr. McCain refuses to support a bipartisan effort to modernize the GI Bill and has voted against nearly every effort to increase funding for health care and disability benefits for wounded soldiers. This video was put out earlier this year:

And once again, Senator Barack Obama has openly supported the bipartisan effort to improve the G.I. Bill.

And finally, here is footage of John McCain belittling Delores Alfond, head of the National Alliance of POW/MIA whose brother went missing in action in Vietnam. His denigrating attitude here is eerily similar to his tone toward Senator Obama in moments from last Friday night’s debate:

I can’t say for sure if all the accusations against Mr. McCain are valid or not, but what I can say with some certainty, is that there are a large number of veterans out there who would disagree with Mr. McCain’s comment that “I know the veterans, I know them well, and I know that they know that I’ll take care of them.”