John McCain is going to die. We all are. The question is, is he going to do it in office and leave the country with President Palin? It's a relative question indeed, given his advanced age and the fact that he's survived three airplane crashes, five years as a POW (did you hear, he was a POW you know), four bouts with skin cancer But it one that is ultimately unanswerable.
Death comes randomly and without notice. I have seen a seemingly perfectly healthy, gorgeous 34 year old man die of a myocardial infarction right in front of my eyes. Not even the doctors believed it was a heart attack. Young athletes drop during games. Just last night, truly, on October 1, 2008 a cliché came true right in front of my house, Park Howard. A woman literally got hit by a bus, thus proving, you could, in fact, go out today and be run over by a bus. From the looks of her on the curb in front of my home she was ill prepared for such a blow, so she didn't expect it. We never expect it. My mother was 72 and had COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder, Smoker's Disease) and as I watched her breathe her last I was still, well, let's just say no matter how prepared you think you are for death, you're not.
The founder's knew this, especially at a time when one bad infection could wipe you away, or a pesky war could get you killed or just life in the 1700's in general. They knew that death did not take sides or parties, that it knows no agenda. It is a fact of life, and death.
So, in most Presidential elections, the question of the possible president's death as actual discussion seems horrid, out of place, just plain wrong. But these are not most elections. These are desperate times and desperate times call for desperate measures, and fully competent people.
Insurance companies gauge life expectancy all the time. They even have actuarial charts and life tables that guesstimate when you or I will drop. And the results are in for John McCain. He stands a one in three chance of dying before eight years are done, a one in five of dying before the end of term one. Now, that's sad enough, and given the stress of the job it tends to age a President 10 years per every one, so by year two McCain would be 82, 92, 102 and then, well, that's 112 to you and me by the end of term one.
So, voting for him is an increased calculated risk, hiring him for the most important job at our one and only Capital a Human Resource decision that means We, the People may have to hire someone new within four years, or his second string takes over the company; Meaning President Palin.
And for voters that may want to take that risk, McCain isn't making it easy because he isn't fully disclosing his health records. Many of you may think, well, why should he? I don't want my boss looking in to mine. Really? So if you're a pilot they shouldn't know if you're prone to blackouts?
And it's not just his medical records trickling out in bits and pieces with information not there or left vague, it's his psychiatric records. These have allegedly been viewed by a select view and more than nine years ago.
Fact: John McCain was tortured. Fact: John McCain has had four bouts with a fatal illness. Fact: John McCain has gone through divorce and remarriage. Fact: all of these things coupled with a high profile job could screw one's head up royally. Make one less than rational at times, make one make hasty decisions, like choosing Nanook as a VP.
Now I could go on about McCain and why his records are important. I could go on about the promised transparency and straight talk pledged by this campaign, a campaign we have now seen attack the media for doing its job, sequester their VP candidate and the candidate himself scolding journalists or cancelling interviews in retribution. We have seen the candidate change his position several times in one week on critical issues and make real campaign blunders. We have seen a candidate that is a Maverick and "no quitter" suspend a campaign for a thinly veiled grab at headlines. Suspend, stop, quit, to go and do nothing...when your VP is supposed to campaign in your steed should you need to go some place and you should be able to multi-task. These are not stable actions.
So, what's important is Palin; Because by all odds and actions, at some point she will be President. You don't need tables, charts or even medical records to now see that. And no matter what happens tonight in the Thursday Night Smackdown called a Vice Presidential Debate, that woman should not be near the Whitehouse, even as a visitor.
And what is even more important is the hypocrisy. McCain is pledging to change Washington, to reform, to be a Maverick (enough Top Gun references already). He promises straight talk (I prefer gay or bi talk myself, more colorful) and complete honesty. Then he lies in TV ads, scowls at editorial boards that suggest he is less than honest, only partially discloses documents relevant to the people's decision to elect him, appoints a completely incompetent VP and touts her qualifications, let's face it, this man neither practices what he preaches nor seems to remember it from day to day.
Enough lying and half-truths John McCain. Release all your records, including your psychiatric ones. You want to boast and use your internment in that hell hole as campaign currency, then let us see the real cost it had on your mind, body and...well, I'm not sure you have a soul at this point. You want to be the leader of the free world, lay open your life. Yes, it should be private. But you should be retired and sipping Budweiser with Cindy in one of your 13 homes. You want to work for us, and you want us to take a chance on you. That has conditions and one of them is letting We, the People, know that you are fully up for the job. You don't want to disclose, well, no one is making you run. Or are they?
And stop with the lying. You promised transparency. OK, let us see your VP's dealings as well from Troopergate to whatever else is lurking; Stop shutting down media, encourage it. Otherwise you're just a old blowhard that is appearing to become senile because of your inability to remain truthful or consistent on any major point and your total contradictions from week to week.
It's not just about looking in to his medical records; it's about looking in to our futures. I know we all have to go sometime, and none of us knows when, but if we go, a nation doesn't fall.
John McCain's death could mean possible more war, financial ruin (if any more is possible) or a theocratic tone run amok in Washington D.C. It could mean a serious down turn in our future. That makes everything, including health, about he and his running mate relevant. We know nothing of her and he has too many secrets about far too many important things.
Haven't we had enough cover ups, lies, secrets, partial reveals and spin? Which means we've already had enough of John McCain and Sarah Palin.
