The Thought of 'President Sarah Palin' Scares the Crap out of Me
But when does a political ad go too far? Of course, this is the ad I'm talking about. The ad raising questions about John McCain's health.
If McCain was a happier warrior, maybe this wouldn't even be an issue. But he's not, so it is. Much of it stems from the "grumpy old man factor," which was on display at the debate on Friday. When you trump crankiness with cancer, it raises the doubt quotient even higher. But when you think of a "President Sarah Palin," the importance of McCain's health tilts off the chart.
One can only wonder what ads might have been run against F.D.R.
As for John F. Kennedy, the drug list alone scrolling on the TV screen would have scared voters to death. As Robert Dallek reported in his amazing book, An Unfinished Life, which was one of the sources for my one woman show Weeping for J.F.K. (performed in L.A. in '05). What the public didn't know about Kennedy's health would fill medical journals. A portion from my show is below, research verified through Dallek's book, among dozens of other sources:
He had his women, his doctors and all the drugs that kept him alive:
• Anesthetic procaine, for his Addison's disease
• Cytomel, for thyroid deficiency
• Lomitil
• Metamucil, now there's a commercial for you
• Paregoric
• Phenobarbitol
• Trasentine, to control his colitic diarrhea
• Testosterone, to increase his energy and boost his weight after bouts of colitis
• Penicillin, for urinary tract flare ups
• Fluorinef, to increase his salt absorption due to Addison's
• Cortisone
• Tuinal, for insomnia - a side effect of the cortisone
• Antihistamines, for an array of allergies
• Codeine
• Steroids... Oh, and Vitamin C and calcium.J.F.K. also had lots of doctors who gave him his "vigah." They also led to rumors that Nixon tried to steal his medical records.
He had an allergist; an endocrinologist for his Addison's disease; a gastroenterologist for his colitis; a urologist, because he'd gotten a urinary tract infection from venereal disease; an orthopedist for his degenerative spine, but no one knew.
Today we'd know all about "Dr. Feelgood."
GOP fundamentalists would go wild.
Or maybe he'd get a pass just like Rush.
I'm not squeamish about making John McCain's age an issue, as long as it's done directly. The presidency is the highest stress job on the planet, with McCain already revealing he's got the grumpy grandpa factor, which has been hinted about for years from Senate colleagues. So a president taking office at 72 should pass the fitness test, much more so than a John F. Kennedy or an F.D.R. We shouldn't apologize for demanding it either.
But what about the health test? The ad above has been rejected by TV outlets that are refusing to air it, even though it offers expert medical testimony. No one wants to raise these issue against John McCain, which is a lot like what people felt about F.D.R. and J.F.K. People want to protect our heroes. That's natural, but is it in the best interest of this country? Actually, in the light of our history, it's been proven that our presidents have withstood tremendous health challenges to do great things. However, the other men were much younger than John McCain, which he should have no problem acknowledging. It's not ageism to demand McCain pass the age and health test, which his years and melanoma raise.
It's also important to note that Barack Obama and his team have absolutely nothing to do with this ad, which comes from outside, independent groups.
What do you think about the ad above, the subjects of age and health, and whether it's fair game to ask these questions of John McCain? The ad is running in some battleground states.
When I think of "President Sarah Palin," as tough as the ad is, I understand why. Can we afford not to talk about it?
Follow Taylor Marsh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/taylormarsh
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The answer to Ms. Marsh's question is that it depends on how the concern is expressed.
In the ad, the concern is expressed in terms of Senator McCain being at risk of dying from cancer. We're all at risk of dying from something.
The ad doesn't make any suggestion as to why this is important to the voting populace: fear that Governor Palin would then become President.
Without that, the ad reflects a general concern about any person who might become President: that they might pass while in office. It has little relevance without spelling out the real concern: that Sarah Palin will inherit the Presidency.
The ad is rude. But sometimes, rudeness is required. The message of the ad is important for one reason. Sarah Palin.
We definitely need and ad the ends with the prospect of President Palin, it should include her absurdly cavalier comments about war with Russia, good vs evil, the bady guys, etc, etc.
She, and those connected to her (like Dobson), would be tragic and dangerous for our country.
I'm not from the USA - but the idea of a McCain/Palin victory scares the hell out of many of us here in the South Pacific.
The USA has only 5% of the World's population, but its wealth and power means that it has unprecedented, and sometimes, uncontrolled and improper influence over the other 95% of us - as, for example, in redefining the original Greek concept of Democracy if the wrong people get freely elected by another nation. Consequently, many of us are holding our collective breath for fear that President Palin, Armageddonist, will be the ultimate victor in these elections.
As McCain's health is obviously fragile, a question which needs asking is: who would she choose as her VP if/when she became President?
Could we see a Palin/Palin Presidency, similar to the Governorship which seems to exist in Alaska? I don't know the rules for filling a VP vacacny, but she would probably throw a fine Tanty if she couldn't have what she wanted.
May God have mercy on us all. McCain/Palin cannot win! It would be the final downfall of this country. McCain is clueless on the economy, he only knows about wars. Palin is way out of her league. I definitely don't want a hockey mom (or dad) in the white house. I want an intellectual, well spoken, uniter, someone with plans, not a complete extreme freak, who exhibits good morals and ethics....Palin is most definitely not it.
I honestly cannot believe in the final analysis that any citizen who loves this nation and cares about its future would be so reckless as to make Sarah Palin Vice President and potentially president. No amount of political strife, discord or resentment, no amount of feminism, no amount of cynicism could lead to that vote.
Just wondering. Would you want a Dr. operating on you that had 143 days experience?
She scares me almost as mush as Hillary did. I guess lying outright to the voters isn't such a great idea after all. For either of them.
"She scares me almost as mush as Hillary did" Then you are either a sexist or not paying attention. I switched from supporting Clinton to Obama very early in the primary. And Senator Clinton offended me and pissed me off with the way she lied about things like Wisconsin and Florida. But to put Palin in the same league as Clinton is just nuts. For all her flaws Clinton was smart and knew the issues. She also supported a woman's right to choose and didn't want to turn this country into a Christian Theocracy. Palin is a joke, she's not qualified to be governor of Alaska let alone VP let alone the president. It terrifies and saddens me that so many in the MSM are treating her with kid gloves rather than showing her to be the Caribou Barbie she is. I guess they've been trained well after 7 years of Bush.
Just realized should have written Michigan rather than Wisconsin in the previous post.
well America the great, what a farce...Here we are as a so called democracy now turning to the socialist country that we rail against all the time. Free markets this free markets that and look where that has gotten us at. So you think that these countries are going to listen to us now?
I mean there is not a such thing as a perfect leader but we are the country that put Bush 2 in office twice!!!!
Then we rail against the people in Iran that put the mad man in office. Look we as a country even though we pretend to be above others, there are people here too that make bone headed decisions. I just hope and pray that we dont fail ourselves again.
WAKE UP AMERICA
OBAMA/BIDEN
but they had capable vps
Although the media has been "pussyfooting" around it, unfortunately, due to his past medicial record and the fact that he is 72 years old, age & medical history is a factor during this election.
Compounding the problem is Sarah Palin. I don't want to be disparaging, but Tina Fey would make a better potential president.
I still have a hard time comprehending the Republican rationale. The only thing that I can think of is that they expect to lose and figured they would go out with a big splash by putting a woman in the second seat.
The ad is a "go."
I don't think the ad is offensive at all. It simply states the facts that people already know and then asks why WON'T McCain release his medical records. (But I agree the Obama campaign should have no connection to it.) If there was a VP Joe Biden waiting in the wings to take over, McCain's health/age would not be such a a concern. But with the horrifying thought of SP having to step in, this is a huge issue in this election.
John McCain is a couple of decades older than JFK, collitis is not a terminal disease and LBJ was qualified to take over as president. As we unfortunately had to find out.
When McCain chose such an unqualified individual for his running mate he invited this scrutiny. While his campaign spins the fact that his mother is 93, they ignore the fact his father passed away at the age of 70. McCain is the one who played coy with his medical records giving reporters only 3 hours to pore over thousands of pages.
The American people do have a right to know the status of his health especially in the light he chose a VP under investigation for abuse of office that claims she is a foreign policy record because 'a small strip of water separates Alaska and Russia'.
The issue here is that we need someone who can handle the crises going on in our country at this time. If you vote for McCain/Palin the country will go to hell in a hand basket. The Republicans have had their chance to run the country and the world hates us now. McCain can't even remember what he is talking about and Palin's only claim to fame is that she can't manage her own life, she exploits her children to garner votes and is a woman. To me that falls way below the ability to run the country!!!!!!
Obama/Biden have what it is going to take to get the USA back to where it once was. This is our only hope!!!!
Excuse me, Ms Marsh, but why did you spend a third of your piece talking about the ancient history of John Kennedy's medical records when the issue is the likelihood of McCain's becoming incapacitated during the next four years and Palin's fitness to replace him? Kennedy's VP was Johnson, and whatever one felt about him, his policies and his record, his fitness for office was never an issue. McCain's choice of Palin as his VP SHOULD "scare the crap" out of everyone because she is so clearly unfit to be President. Indeed, it should scare the crap out of every responsible American that McCain would choose her -- and that's before we even get to considering the odds that McCain will be unable to complete a four-year term or what his medical records suggest about his own fitness for the presidency.
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