Desperation in the American election : political assassination

A sense of desperation is slipping into the American election campaign. Hillary Clinton plumbs new depths of cynicism and vulgarity. Why is she staying in the campaign? In case Barack Obama is assassinated.

Senator Hillary Clinton referred to the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968 as a reason she should continue her battle with Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination. My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don’t understand it,” Mrs. Clinton said, dismissing the idea of dropping out. (New York Times)

Whilst Bill and Hillary consider hiring a hitman, John McCain is worrying that he may die of natural causes and so has decided to release his medical records to prove that he is immortal. Studying the records, the first thing we conclude is that the man is a heart-sink patient. What is the easiest test you can perform to check if a patient is a hypochondriac? Weigh the notes.

the details of McCain's health are contained in 1,173 pages of medical documents

1173 pages? Clearly a hypochonriac. But just a minute

The details of McCain's health are contained in 1,173 pages of medical documents spanning 2000 to 2008 (source)

That is only 8 years. What about the other 62? This man is not a hypochondriac. He is a galloping hypochondriac. And note that he has not really released his records. He has only allowed journalists a glimpse. A glimpse on the following terms:

The newer batch of records has strict security guidelines attached. Only certain news networks and newspapers will be permitted to enter the room, and they will have only three hours to examine the papers. No cell phones or Internet access will be allowed in the room, located in a resort outside Phoenix, Arizona. Copying the records is also prohibited. Anyone who leaves the room for any reason except the bathroom will not be allowed back. (source)

Why would a journalist want to take a bath whilst he is reading McCain's medical records? Odd.

For those interested in the details of McCain's medical history – fascinating to most doctors – the sanitised summary of his notes is available here.

The summary is written by:

• Dr. John Eckstein is a physician in our Internal Medicine Division and has been caring for Senator McCain for the past 16 years.
• Dr. Michael Hinni is a surgeon in our Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery Department. Dr Hinni specializes in surgical oncology of the head and neck. He performed Senator McCain's left lower temple melanoma surgery in August 2000.
• Dr. Suzanne Connolly is a specialist in our Dermatology department, with extensive clinical experience. She is Senator McCain's dermatologist.

That is some very special free publicity for those three learned physicians and will not do their private practice any harm. From them we learn that Senator McCain takes the following medication:

• Simvastatin, which is a cholesterol lowering medicine
  
• Hydrochlorothiazide, for kidney stone prevention and Amiloride to preserve potassium in the blood stream
  
• Aspirin, for blood clot prevention
  
• Zyrtec, an anti-histamine as necessary for nasal allergies
  
• Ambien CR, as necessary for sleep when traveling
  
• A multiple vitamin tablet. 
  

Ambien CR is one of the “Z” drugs (not as addictive as valium and mogadon and Librium, honest, the drug companies have told us that…). Some dishonesty here. It is not NECESSARY for sleep when traveling. Drugs like this make elderly people more prone to falling over when they go for a pee in the middle of the night. But John McCain is not old, is he? Let us look at the side effects:

When you first start taking AMBIEN, use caution in the morning when engaging in activities requiring complete alertness until you know how you will react to this medication. In most instances, memory problems can be avoided if you take AMBIEN only when you are able to get a full night's sleep (7 to 8 hours) before you need to be active again. As with any sleep medication, do not use alcohol while you are taking AMBIEN. Sleepwalking, and eating or driving while not fully awake, with amnesia for the event, have been reported. If you experience any of these behaviors contact your provider immediately. In rare cases, sleep medicines may cause allergic reactions such as swelling of your tongue or throat, shortness of breath or more severe results. If you have an allergic reaction while using AMBIEN, contact your doctor immediately. Prescription sleep aids are often taken for 7 to 10 days – or longer as advised by your provider. Like most sleep medicines, it has some risk of dependency.

Does the leader of the free world occasionally engage in activities requiring complete alertness? Probably not.

Hydroclorthiazide and amiloride to stop kidney stones and preserve potassium in the blood. Plausible. Good for high blood pressure too. No mention of his blood pressure – an extraordinary omission that makes it difficult to take the report seriously. I presume (hope) it is mentioned in the full report.

I note with horror that he is taking a multi-vitamin tablet. Now we know he is a hypochondriac. It is inconceivable that a well nourished American multi-millionaire is vitamin deficient. This is wibble. I am amazed that Mayo Clinic physicians have let themselves be associated with that. They do not seem like purveyors of wibble.

The history of melanomas is of concern. I hope he is cured. He may be. But melanomas have a habit of recurring.

Finally, spare a thought for this:

He was a Navy pilot in Vietnam, and his plane was shot down in October of 1967. He broke both arms and a leg after ejecting from his plane. He was a prisoner of war in Hanoi for 5.5 years. As a POW, he was beaten and tortured repeatedly…

That reminds me of something:



Paranoid nonsense. Of course it is.