Early Signs Of Alzheimer's
Is it fair to question and assess John McCain for this disease? If elected, McCain at 72 years of age would be the oldest president ever sworn in. Mental capacity certainly seems to be an important issue when discussing the leader of the free world.
Below is a checklist from the Alzheimer's Association to help distinguish between normal age-related memory changes and possible warning signs of Alzheimer's disease. The examples listed below are not meant to prove McCain does or does not have Alzheimer's.
They were found by simply Googling the symptom along with McCain's name. Some of the issues McCain has may simply be due to the fact that he is 71 years of age and running a presidential campaign which is no doubt exhausting.
Regardless, it was an exercise conducted due to curiosity, and though it's a controversial topic, some may find it interesting.
Does McCain Display Warning Signs?
- Memory loss
- July 26, 2008: "I didn't use the word timetable," McCain said in an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC.
July 25, 2008: "Well, it's a pretty good timetable. I think it's a pretty good timetable, as we should ha-- or horizons for withdrawal," McCain said to Wolf Blitzer of CNN.
[http://thepage.time.com/transcript-of-mccain-on-this-week-2/]
- January 24, 2008: "Actually, I don't know where you got that quote from. I'm very well versed in economics." McCain to Tim Russert, GOP debate in Boca Raton Florida.
December 17, 2007: "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should," McCain said to a group of reporters in New Hampshire.
November 26, 2005: "I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated." McCain in an inteview with Wall Street Journal.
[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22867407/page/2/]
- July 21, 2008: "We have, we have a lot of work to do and I'm afraid it's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq/Pakistan border." McCain on Good Morning America. Iraq and Pakistan do not share a border.
[http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/07/mccain-appears.html]
- January 19, 2008: "I was in a conference in Germany over the weekend and, uh, uh, President Putin of Germany gave one of the old Cold War style speeches as he addressed the conference there." McCain at a town hall meeting in Iowa. Putin is the president of Russia. Germany's primary policy executive is its Chancellor Angela Merkel. Germany's president, currently Horst Kohler.
[http://www.russiatoday.ru/entertainment/news/20025]
- 1999-2008: McCain has made multiple references to Czechoslovakia, and at a dinner in 1999, he "twice thanked the ambassador from 'Czechoslovakia' for his efforts," according to the Washington Post. Czechoslovakia has not been a country since 1993.
[http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/15/mccain-czechoslovakia/]
- Difficulty performing familiar tasks
- If McCain displays any signs of this symptom, they are not public knowledge.
- Problems with language
- Disorientation to time and place
- Poor or decreased judgment
- 2007-2008: On April 19, 2007, McCain sang, "Bomb, bomb, bomb.... bomb, bomb Iran...." to the tune of the Beach Boys' song "Barbara Ann", town hall meeting, South Carolina.
On July 8, 2008: Responding to a question about a survey that shows increased exports to Iran, mainly from cigarettes, McCain said, "Maybe that's a way of killing them." Poor judgment? Consider if an Iranian politician running for higher office repeatedly joked about killing Americans.
[http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/07/the_killing_joke.php]
- 2007-2008: During his first run at the presidency, McCain declared, "Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan and Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right."
However, during his 2008 campaign, McCain actively sought the endorsements of controversial religious leaders including Falwell, Parsley and Hagee who have, in no particular order, condemned gays, Muslims, Catholics and other groups. While one might argue he was simply pandering for votes, he showed an amazing lack of judgment in not vetting these controversial figures and later had to renounce them.
[http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/article-2044-think-you-know-john-mccain.html]
- 2008: McCain made his name in part by appearing to be anti-special interest after surviving the Keating 5 Scandal. His 2008 campaign website stated, ""Too often the special interest lobbyists with the fattest wallets and best access carry the day when issues of public policy are being decided."
However, McCain's campaign contained more lobbyists than any other former or current candidate of the 2008 presidential elections. Apparently McCain didn't realize the press or public would pick up on this.
[http://www.observer.com/2008/mccain-s-team-lobbyists] and [http://mediamattersaction.org/freeride/lobbyists/]
- June 19, 2005: "The fact is that I have, uh, agreed with President Bush far more than I have disagreed. And on the transcendent issues, the most important issues of our day, I have been totally in agreement and support of President Bush." McCain to Tim Russert on "Meet the Press".
[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8245636/]
- September 29, 2002: "I believe that we can win an overwhelming victory in a very short period of time." McCain talking about war in Iraq in an interview on CNN.
[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0209/29/le.00.html]
- Problems with abstract thinking
- July 22, 2008: "I don't know how you respond to something that is such a false depiction of what actually happened. Colonel McFarland was contacted by one of the major Sunni sheiks. Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening. I mean, that's just a matter of history."
McCain in an interview with Katie Couric on CBS News. McCain states the surge was responsible for the "Anbar Awakening," in which Sunni sheiks turned against Al Qaeda, helping to reduce violence in Iraq. However, then-Colonel Sean MacFarland, described the Anbar Awakening in September 2006 -- four months before the "surge" was even announced.
[http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/22/mccain-anbar-history/]
- July 9, 2008: "I certainly do not want to discuss that issue. I'll look at my voting record on it," he said, before an extended pause. "I don't recall the vote right now. But I'll be glad to look at it and get back to you as to why."
McCain to reporters on why he voted for insurance companies to cover viagra, but not birth control.
[http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/07/09/1190132.aspx]
- July 7, 2008: "Americans have got to understand that we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers in America today, and that's a disgrace. It's an absolute disgrace, and it's got to be fixed."
McCain at a town hall in Denver, Colorado. If that payment system is a disgrace, it has been one since Social Security was created during the Great Depression. For as long as the popular program has existed, today's workers have paid the benefits of today's retirees.
[http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2008/07/did-mccain-call.html]
- March 16, 2007: "Let me think about it a little bit ... I don't know if I would use taxpayers' money ... I'm not informed enough on it. Let me find out ... I'm sure I have taken a position on it in the past ... I have to find out my position on it ... I am sure I am opposed to government funding. I am sure I support the president's policy on it." McCain to press on Straight Talk Express bus on why he didn't support condoms for Africa to prevent the spread of AIDS.
[http://blog.washingtonpost.com/campaign-trail/2007/03/mccain-is-stumped-on-the-stump.html]
- Misplacing things
- Changes in mood or behavior
- October 31: McCain's hometown newspaper, the Arizona Republic, editorialized that "many Arizonans active in policymaking have been the victim of McCain's volcanic temper and his practice of surrounding himself with aides who regard politics as a 'blood sport.'"
[http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/1/10/182118.shtml]
- At a GOP meeting, McCain erupted out of the blue at the respected Budget Committee chairman, Pete Domenici, saying, "Only an a—hole would put together a budget like this." Offended, Domenici stood up and gave a dignified, restrained speech about how in all his years in the Senate, through many heated debates, no one had ever called him that. Another senator might have taken the moment to check his temper. But McCain went on: "I wouldn't call you an a—hole unless you really were an a—hole." The Republican senator witnessing the scene had considered supporting McCain for president, but changed his mind. "I decided," the senator told Newsweek, "I didn't want this guy anywhere near a trigger."
[http://blog.case.edu/conservativemovement/2008/01/29/john-mccains-top-ten-temper-explosions]
- Changes in personality
- Loss of initiative
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