health records should be available, no question about it, but this seems a little weird given frank rich clamored for them in nyt yesterday for mccain. here we come turning the tables, by throwing in race. r u kidding me? what's next? evaluating post-menopausal women? did hilary ever take hormone-replacement therapy? (that's a huge question to ask, too) what was mccain fed in the pow camp, when so many died of chemical warfare fallout - how do we know he's not a mutant (and u r hypothesizing about what's inside 'a black man's arteries") mccain is routinely succumbing to old-man-napping through the senate meetings in full view on cspan, not to mention the numerous accounts of his rage n physical intimidation during committee meetings.
also how do u prove fixx's artery plaque was exclusively smoking-related? there are people who have artery plaque and who are not over-weighed nor ever smoked. then doctors say the stress of running contributed to fixx's death, n u throw in that stress of presidency is greater than stress of running - this is a logical fallacy. do u have like evidence to support if the stress of the presidency is exceeds that of running in terms of the stress on the arteries, heart, vascular system, brain function, joints, internal skull pressure? WTF? get over your 'black handsome ivy-league educated guy who kills at basketball' envy already.
Obama's Health
The fact that Sen. Obama was a smoker is old news, since he quit. Right? Think again.
The stories that have explored this issue all missed the point: Obama's history of smoking raises questions about his current and future health.
Some, like Jake Tapper, have suggested that Obama was less than honest about whether he still smoked, at least as of last August.
Others have suggested that Obama's smoking history makes him "more human," and that his (alleged) ability to quit makes him more heroic.
And some, perhaps with tongue in cheek to this, think quitting may actually hurt him by changing how his voice sounds.
Meanwhile, Sen. McCain's health questions are almost as old as he is. Congressman Jack Murtha (75), thinks John McCain (71) is too old for the pressures of high office, and he has come under legitimate pressure to release his medical records.
But what of Senator Obama's health? It's not as if once you quit smoking, all of the health effects immediately disappear. In fact, after enough smoking, some health effects are irreversible. Consider just the arteries and lungs.
How long and how much one smokes makes a difference. A 1998 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that the amount of fatty deposits in the carotid artery depended on total pack-years of tobacco exposure, not whether the patient currently smokes. And a smoker's excess risk of a stroke doesn't return to that of nonsmokers until at least five, or as long as twenty years after quitting. Sen. Obama would have to serve a hypothetical four smoke-free terms before his stroke risk returned to normal.
So how long and how much did Sen. Obama smoke? The information has not been officially released, and the campaign has not returned calls or emails posing this question. But he smoked a lot over his life.
He admits to having smoked up to ten cigarettes a day, but usually closer to five or six. Most people underestimate how much they smoke, but let's take him at his word. Let's also assume he really did quit when he said he did, in February 2007 (although he admits to having fallen off the wagon). That's about twenty-six years, given that we know he was smoking by the time he was a freshman at Occidental College. That's more than 55,000 -- maybe 70,000 cigarettes! Has this aspect of Sen. Obama's ability to serve really been explored?
Just because he's young, looks great, and exercises doesn't mean he's healthy. Recall Jim Fixx. An overweight smoker when he turned his life around at thirty-five, Fixx became the icon of fitness. He quit smoking and started running. Then he died in 1984 at age fifty-three -- while running.
Sen. Obama, while not overweight, smoked a lot longer than Jim Fixx did. And while the stresses of running may have contributed to Fixx's death, it was his years of smoking, not his running, that caused the plaque to build up in his arteries. Doctors say the stress of being president may in fact exceed the stress of running. And it's an unhealthier kind of stress.
The public deserves to know how long and how much Sen. Obama really smoked. Does he have other risk factors for heart disease? Compared to whites, for instance, African-Americans are more likely to die of a stroke, according to the American Heart Association. This, in fact, is probably the only time race is a legitimate question to raise this campaign season -- and just one of several health question on voters' minds.
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Of the three remaining candidates, John McCain is a 71 year old former POW who suffered extreme torture (and who also used to smoke), and Hillary Clinton is a 60 year old who somehow convinced herself that she was under attack of sniper fire at one point in her life; but Barack Obama is the one who you most feel should be required to prove to the American public that he is of sound health?
This is the dumbest thing I've read all day (and I read the comments on Perez Hilton).
Well, does Obama benefit from a double standard?
And isn't the double standard he is benefitting from really about his race or more precisely his races? Everybody is so squeamish about the subject. How much more obvious do Hillary's advisors have to make it? Barack Obama may be "biracial," but we all know that he is Black enough to be Black, in this country anyway. Have you seen that hair in pictures of him as a teenager?
Jeff Stier is on the money. Though taboo and "politically incorrect," race is an important issue in evaluating an individual's health and deportment. African Americans are more likely to suffer from sickle cell anemia than white people. Half-Black or not, why hasn't Obama been forced to give samples for DNA testing? Many other Black men have.
This isn't a one way street. Race is also a major issue when it comes to pedophilia. Criminologists have long known that white people are disproportionately represented among pedophiles. Has anyone asked McCain, has he fondled any of his children and if he denies it whom can he cite as a corroborating witness? It is also well known that sometimes wives suspect pedophilic activity but do not press the issue sufficiently. Has Hillary ever denied suspecting that Bill had inappropriate relations with Chelsea? What did she know and when did she know it?
Finally somebody begins to raise the tough issues. As Jeff Stier rightly asks, is Obama benefitting from a double standard?
Why haven't the same probing questions been asked of him as were demanded of Bill Clinton? Owing to concerns about his weight and eating habits, and their corresponding risks of heart disease Clinton was famously forced to itemize each cheese burger he had eaten between the years 1980 and 1992, and keep a running log throughout his White House years. And if questions about health are going to be raised about a 72 year old overweight McCain whose cancer is in remission, and therefore by American Cancer Society standards qualifies as a "survivor" (though not cured) why not about a 47 year old somewhat skinny guy who plays basketball on every primary day? Speaking of skinny, how has the fawning pro-Obama media managed to suppress the obvious question of whether Obama suffers from an eating disorder and of what kind?
Stier is on the money regarding Jake Tapper's hard hitting story about Tapper smelling smoke on Obama's clothes several years ago. THAT has been hushed up mighty quick. Tapper writes for the ABC News organization, one of the pillars of US journalism. What if someone trying to quit smoking outright lied about backsliding? We know that Michelle Obama wanted him to quit. What kind of President would someone make who would lie to someone he didn't know about sneaking a cigarrette, just so his wife didn't hear about it?
Jake Tapper's story used a false headline stating Obama lied to him about smoking, but in reality he never asked Obama to his face and instead liaised with Obama's campaign, of which he requested that they double-check with the senator and they said they did. However, that is not proof he'd lied to anyone because his stuff may have fed Tapper the official soundbite. I do not maintain Obama is above lying - I don't know that - but the Tapper piece was a fallacious one and that's why it didn't go anywhere. He falsely claimed Obama lied when Tapper himself screwed up by not asking the man on the spot, only to realize several months later he could get mileage out of it.
That kind of person would be a bad president. And it would embolden the terrorists.
Using Jim Fixx as an example was more than a little stupid considering that the men in his family had a history of heart disease. His father had a heart attack when he was 35 years old and died when he was 42. Your article is the first I have read that blamed his death on smoking.
This is an absurd rationale for supporting the Triangulator in Chief. I need a smoke..not
Health issues are legitimate to consider. But often it does not seem to make much of a difference, as in the case of Dick Cheney. And few suggested that GWB's alcoholism should have been an issue. The point there is once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic and if George began drinking again, it would be alcoholically. Also, alcoholics have control issues and that certainly manifested itself in the case of GWB.
As to Barack's smoking, it is true that he most likely damaged his lungs and other parts of his body by smoking. But I have many friends my age (62) or older who were heavy smokers. I do believe that Barack will live another 8 years looking at him. Indeed, I believe he has a better chance of living another 8 years than Hillary and certainly better than John.
I think that the comparison with Fixx is wrong-headed because it is anecdotal. It would be better to look at the statistics of a man of 46 who is in otherwise good health but had smoke for a number of years to make our judgment. But even then, I caution people in making a harsh judgment. After all, two of our greatest presidents, Lincoln and FDR, had serious health issues. But they helped our nation survive our two greatest periods of turmoil. I think Barack could do the same.
How did this silly article make it on the Huffington Post? The last paragraph stating that we should use race to evaluate somebody's viability for public office based on generalized health statistics is so racist it's frightening. Because of heart disease statistics evaluating thousands of Black patients, the author argues that when voting for one individual black man, "race is a legitimate question to raise this campaign season." Obama's only "half black" so should we now be "half as concerned" about his heart health? Do you see how silly this race-based argument is.
Because he's black, the author suggests we should worry more about trim, athletic 47 year-old Obama's likelihood of getting heart disease more than we should worry about 72-year old cancer victim John McCain's likelihood of relapse because John McCain is white. According to the author's logic, Black people should not be allowed to run for any public office because we are more likely to die of heart disease. Black men are also more likely to be murdered than whites. Should Obama stop running because somebody might shoot him? Hey, men are more likely than women to die of heart disease and women live longer than men, so maybe men should not be allowed to run for office. Again silly, racist, disturbing and pathetic little article. Shame on you, Jeff Stier.
While perhaps not a major factor when evaluating a candidate for office, the issue of health is not unimportant. Two examples make this clear. When FDR ran for his fourth term in 1944, his health was visibly failing, but his doctors assured the voting public that he was in good health. Of course, he died less than four months after his fourth inaugeral in January 1945. In order for FDR to win reelection, the public was deceived. In this case, however, a sick Franklin Roosevelt was preferable to a healthy Thomas Dewey.
JFK was also afflicted numerous physical disabilities, such as Addison's disease, and was regularly injected with a cocktail of medications, including demerol, simply to function. It is not clear how the medical problems that confronted FDR and JFK effected their ability to perform their duties as president. Still, it must be recognized that the public needs to know the health of presidential candidates. Senator Obama has an obligation to share his health records with the American people.
>How did this silly article make it on the Huffington Post?<
A good question, PhDiva. It appears that Mr. Stier is grasping at any anti-Obama straw he can find, no matter how nonsensical it may be. First he compares Senator Obama to Jim Fixx--a white man with a history of weight problems and a family history of heart disease--then he goes on to cite Obama's "probability" of health problems due to his black ancestry.
>so maybe men should not be allowed to run for office<
Or maybe men (and women) who torture logic till it screams shouldn't be allowed to post blogs on public forums. ;)
Thanks Bro but we'll take our chances.
jeff stierrrrrrrrrrrrr,it seems u didn't have nothing to write about.....with such a long overdrawn campaign of the democrats...,.....pls go out more....bars,club....and pls go fishing....plenty of time for u to relax while fishing....take my advice for it......don't try basketball cos with ur reasoning potential ...u'll be bad at it......do some fishing
Okay, you earned one laugh from me - keep the "very important issues to voters" coming
And how much basketball can you play, Mr. KitchenSink?? Double-chinned bloggers living in glass houses shouldn't throw ashtrays.
This is a classic case of someone who has too much time on his hands. Get a life, dude!
Actually, I started paying attention to Obama when I found out he was a smoker. Over my life as a smoker, I have met the most interesting people and closed the most critical deals in smoke-pits. As soon as I pictured Obama smoking, I realized that it probably has a lot to do with his social skills -- the vital ingredient of any political career. Furthermore, his ability to quit speaks volumes about his strength of character.
Kurt Vonnegut smoked unfiltered Pall Malls all his life and died at age 84 from injuries suffered in a fall.
My point? Just like you I don't really have one......
A,) You worked with Giuliani. Which leads to B.
B.) Somehow you don't address the downside of candidates who screw around on their wives and the STD's they could spread to their spouses and others by being nasty scummy man-sluts
C.) Any candidate could get cancer for any of a number of reasons. Hillary is of the ripe age for a number of cancers, no comment on that?
D.) Most folks don't give a shit how old McCain is, we just care that his whole campaign is a promise to continue Bush's foreign AND domestic policy. Crazy doesn't have an age, it does have a name though and that is McCain.
I'm going to guess this is satire. If I have to think this hard to figure it out, it's not good satire.
This is Chick and Georgie's new debate issue. Their second question will be whether he smokes with his right or left hand. Of course, if it's the left, he cant' be a muslim.
Actually, it's Chick and Georgie's new debate issue. The secondary issue is whether Obama smokes with his right or left hand.
Perhaps this is an effort to find sympathy in PA, NC, and IN among the many who not only oppose smoking on scientific and medical bases, but simultaneously display a tacit disgust at those who engage in the NASTY habit.
Obama's possible health risks from smoking? Really??
Are you kidding? Most Americans are concerned about the availability of health care in the country and this writer thinks its time to discuss whether Obama might have a health issue.
I'd say we all have a health issue - not just a preventative health issue, but an undeniable truth - millions of Americans have no health coverage.
Please tell me this is satire right?
Because if it isn't, this is so desperate that it's laughable. With all Hillary's oppo team -- the best money can buy -- and this is all you've got, smoking? Actually, not even smoking -- it's Jake Tipper thinking that maybe he smelled smoke on Obama's clothes, get real.
What's next-- he'll have to submit a record of his meals in case he's eating high cholestrol foods or too much sugar? Perhaps you'll also require bodily fluid samples? Hey -- to be fair, how do we know that Hillary doesn't have a drinking problem? Can you see how utterly stupid this is? C'mon -- if you have to sink this low, and grasp at anything this desperately, is it really worth it? {rolling eyes}
I don't know about smoking, but this pale green lettering is making me go blind!!!
"the stresses of running may have contributed to Fixx's death, it was his years of smoking, not his running, that caused the plaque to build up in his arteries"
Actually, Dr. Dean Ornish; Reversing Heart Disease, circa 1990, documented the fact that Fixx had massively high cholesterol and had let it return to high levels under the belief that exercise would prevent further arterial deposits of plaque.
As regards the 1998 JAMA study, I think the poster must have misunderstood or misquoted. The locus of plaque deposits in the arterial system could hardly be specific to the carotid artery. In any case, I know of no conclusions that smoking causes arterial deposits. What smoking is known to do is cause arteries to be less elastic and therefore can contribute to stroke or heart attack probability, but not in the absence of fat deposits. In any case, the effects of smoking on arteries is cleared up in a matter of months not years. There are actual improvements within hours of smoking cessation.
OMG. I can't believe you're trying to pick apart Obama's smoking issue. I'm sure the man has been check out by a doctor. I'm sure if he had arterial problems or heart problems, his doctor would have raised a red flag. The man has actually LOST weight while campaigning, which is totally against the pattern. He eats well. He plays basketball regularly. If he was going to keel over from a stroke, he'd have done it before now. Many of our presidents smoked, and as far as I know, none of them died from it while in office. If this is the best you can come up with, you need to find a better hobby.
By the way, years of stress also take a very physical toll on a person. I'd say torture as a POW (McCain) and years of putting up with an unfaithful spouse who was also President of the United States (Clinton) may have take more of a toll on those two candidates than Obama's smoking has on him.
Will we have to publish full physicals on all candidates from now on? Worry about your own health. Obama is fine.
wow what other aurgument will his opponents try to make up? he quit smoking years ago so he must have cancer and cancer is related to terrorist so he'll lose to mccain.
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Posted April 18, 2008 | 01:08 PM (EST)