McCain's med records & age ARE legit issues

Here's an interview in August 2000 between Jim Leher and John McCain where McCain opined that he would be too old to run for president in 2008. A partial transcript:

Lehrer: Finally for the record, you have not lost your desire to be President of the United States have you?

McCain: Certainly it's been put in deep cold storage. Haha...

Lehrer: You haven't lost it?

McCain: Well, in 2004, I expect to be campaigning for the reelection of President George W. Bush, and by 2008, I think I might be ready to go down to the old soldiers home and await the cavalry charge there.

Those are his words, people.

I think it's entirely fair to ask McCain questions about his age. After all, the American public has been blatantly misled about the health of its presidents in the past, from both sides of the aisle.

History now strongly suggests that Ronald Reagan was suffering from the effects of Alzheimer's Disease during his second term. (Of course, I paid attention, and it felt like he was acting that way during his first term, but I digress. And I'm kidding.) Seriously though, Reagan underwent surgery to remove about two feet of his colon after cancer was discovered. He also had several instances of skin cancer. The colon cancer wasn't kept secret, but several of his other medical maladies were kept secret from the public while he was in office.

More serious instances of the American public being misled about presidents' health falls on the Democratic Party side of the aisle - most notably presidents JFK & FDR. Kennedy had Addison's Disease, along with a host of other medical problems, and FDR successfully ran for a fourth term while he was already dying. To be fair, in FDR's case, it was during World War II, and the press was very different back then. And, of course, no president, barring a Constitutional Amendment, will ever run for even run for a third term, much less a fourth.

Anyway, what's most outrageous about McCain's medical condition? That he's so secretive about it.

Yesterday, McCain gave a handpicked, small group of journalists [Read: journalists who are subservient to him who have given him friendly coverage] three hours to look over his medical records. Three hours to look at over 1,200 pages of medical records.

Ridiculous!

I do believe that presidents (and presidential candidates) have the right to keep certain things private, but Americans do have a right to know what sort of medical condition they are currently in, as well as what they have suffered from in the past.

Preliminary reports indicate that McCain is in generally good health, and that's good to hear, but what reporter can adequately go over 1,200 pages in three hours? It should be noted that reporters were not permitted to take any documents with them, too. To me, McCain's allowing very limited access to his medical records indicates that he's got something to hide. At the very least, it appears that way.

However, McCain thinks he's clever - releasing the documents on the Friday before Memorial Day, in addition to hosting three possible running mates at his ranch for the weekend, which is also getting a fair amount of press. Actually, I guess he is clever, because the press is sopping up his running mate pow wow on a plate with a biscuit.

Despite McCain letting a few select reporters peek at his records for a mere three hours, that aspect is getting virtually NO PRESS COVERAGE whatsoever, which strikes me as absurd.

What's more, another pseudo-scandal, Hillary's RFK gaffe yesterday is getting very prominent, national coverage by our corporate media. Coincidence? Not on your life. A chimpanzee could figure out that the corporations that run our national media want McCain elected at all costs over either Obama or Hillary, so how convenient it was for them that Hillary stuck her foot in her mouth yesterday, playing right into their hands.

By the time most Americans begin paying attention to the news after the holiday on Tuesday, McCain's "release" of his medical records will be ancient history, but Hillary's gaffe probably won't be. Bet on it.

In fact, NBC's Chuck Todd hit the nail on the head the other day with his comments about the timing of McCain's release of his medical records...

(h/t to Media Matters for the video immediately above)