McCain is Free of Cancer – and Angry

 

(The Republican nominee’s health is good, but he’s none too happy with a couple of endorsements)

 

 

I suppose that eight years of medical records are sufficient to tell the story of someone’s health. The McCain files were released Friday and revealed, among other things, that Senator McCain is free of melanoma, the most dangerous kind of skin-cancer. The Republican presidential nominee has had four bouts with melanoma, one serious, and the latest six years ago. He still has regular, in-depth check-ups because of the danger of recurrence, and has the occasional benign lesion removed, something most older Southerners can relate to. Besides, as an captured pilot, he spent five-and-a-half years exposed to the Asian sun in North Vietnamese prison camps, where he sustained severe sun damage. McCain is fair-skinned anyway, and under the best of circumstances would be wise to limit his sun exposure.

So much for that element of things. Otherwise, McCain is in good health and his heart is in better shape than most guys his age. Why don’t we let the Senator’s long-time physician, internist John Eckstein of the Mayo Clinic summarize the situation: “Senator McCain enjoys excellent health and displays extraordinary energy. And while it’s impossible to predict any person’s future health, I and my colleagues can find no medical reason or problems that would preclude Senator McCain of fulfilling all the duties and obligations of the President of the United States.” That should reassure his supporters and silence his enemies, for the most part. Emphasis on the last phrase: I still expect to hear about the stresses and strains of the presidency on a 71-year-old…blah, blah, blah. Listen, a president such as James Buchanan, who was 65 years old when he took office, would have been considered quite an old man back in the 1850’s.

So what’s McCain got to be unhappy about? Two particular preachers endorsed his presidency. Usually, that’s a pretty good thing, or at least won’t do any harm, unless it’s among the heathen dogs. But these two televangelists, both with large congregations, have said things that would be considered, um, impolitic from a nationwide standpoint.

One of them, John Hagee from down Texas way, endorsed McCain months ago. But now a tape has turned up in which Hagee implied that Adolph Hitler actually helped the Jews reach the holy land, since their exodus from Europe led them to Israel. Interesting, but insane. Reverend Hagee tried to explain that he only meant the Holocaust could be considered pivotal in the founding of the Jewish State. Whatever he thought he meant, anyone who suggests that the horrible deaths of 6,000,000 people might be a good thing needs a change of medication. Hagee apologized and withdrew his endorsement. Senator McCain called Hagee‘s comments “crazy and unacceptable.”

Later, McCain repudiated the support of an Ohio preacher, Rod Parsley, who has sharply criticized Islam, calling the religion inherently violent. I would remind Reverend Parsley that not all, in fact not most, of Moslems are members of Hamas, or followers of Osama bin- Laden. Quite a few live here in the United States and cause little trouble to speak of. McCain told the Associated Press, “I believe there is no place for that kind of dialogue in America, and I believe that even though he (Parsley) endorsed me, and I didn’t endorse him, the fact is that I repudiate such talk, and I reject his endorsement.” Good words, and sundry straw polls give McCain credit for them.

Speaking of people opening their mouths and toads dropping out, Democrat Hillary Clinton is doing some apologizing of her own. She was giving an interview to the editorial board of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader and the subject of her withdrawal came up. Saying she didn’t understand why so many Democrats think she should step aside because it’s getting late in the day, Clinton commented, “My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary, sometime in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.” Whoops. Was that ever the wrong thing to say; using the campaign length of an assassinated leader, a popular one at that, to justify her own staying in the race. Let’s be charitable and say it was insensitive. Plenty of folks are using other words, like “outrageous.” Obama’s people are all over it. This is an especially bad time for Senator Clinton to say foolish things, although I have to say that, in my opinion, Clinton’s remark was dumb but not malicious in any way. She’s been apologizing all over the place, but she may just have done major damage to her campaign. We’ll see if she recovers.

 

Explore posts in the same categories: Uncategorized