John McCain: end of a career
A few weeks ago, John McCain seemed to be having a bit of word-finding problems (dysnomia) and was a bit confused as evidenced on some broadcast senate hearings. 3 days ago he underwent surgery for a blood clot (hematoma) in the left frontal lobe. At age 80, this isn't so surprising, as due to brain shrinkage (atrophy) blood clots can often form after minor trauma. Most clots are benign, in the sense that they are unassociated by other brain abnormalities. But in this case, McCain wasn't so lucky. He underwent a sub frontal (inferior to eyebrow) craniotomy for an 5 cm diameter blood clot. 5 cm is the size of a golf ball. The clot was located in the left frontal lobe, actually the part called pre-frontal lobe. This is the last cerebral area to mature, often not fully developed until age 25. The pre-frontal lobes are important in executive functioning (decision making), self-monitoring, especially in social situations. Emotional constraint is also a critical part of prefrontal function. Typically the left pre-frontal lobe is the more "analytical" portion relative to the right pre-frontal lobe but both are important regulators of cognitive, emotional, and social function.
The biopsy, which is routinely performed with any removal of tissue from inside the cranium, revealed glioblastoma. Glioblastoma is one of four grades of intrinsic malignant brain tumors. They are based upon unregulated growth of glial cells. Glial cells outnumber neurons 9:1. They play important roles in neural nutrition, protection, physical support, and very likely non-cognitive functions. Glial cells like neurons require blood supply. The blood vessels accompanied by normal glial cells are, for lack of a better word, normaL
Gliomas are typically divided into four groups, ranging in severity. The divisions are usually based upon tissue morphology (histology) but other factors enter into this. Mixed glioma types are not rare so that portions of the tumor may look more benign or less benign than other parts of the tumor. No matter what the grade of malignancy, ALL gliomas infiltrate surrounding normal tissue. Gliomas can be localized through direct vision or imaging to some extent, but the microscopic spread is impossible to detect with the naked eye, operating microscope and even sophisticated neuroimaging.
The four basic types of glioma, from least malignant to most malignant are:
1. Astrocytoma
2. Anaplastic astrocytoma
3. Glioblastoma
4. Glioblastoma multiforme
The Mayo Hospital derived biopsy report as well as the neuroimaging pre-operatively are so far unavailable to the public. Important considerations are location, size, histologic invasiveness and patient comorbidities.
"Cure" of gliomas is so rare as to be reportable in medical journals. Control is the best that can be hoped for, but control is not cessation of growth. In the usual cases of glioblastoma, the cavity left in the brain from tumor resection can be filled up with new malignant tumor in a surprisingly rapid manner. The faster this occurs, the worse the prognosis.
Typical surgical adjuncts consist of chemotherapy and external radiation. Intracranial radiation may also be used for high local dosing but is generally ineffective for diffuse control. The typical radiation is whole head with/or without stereotactic (highly focused) radiation. Treatment doses can be anywhere from 20 to 30 sessions, usually administered either 5 times a week or every other day, depending upon circumstances.
The acute and subacute results of whole head radiation are not simple. Besides the inevitable hairloss, intense scalp "sunburn" occurs. Taste sensation is lost or severely reduced, at least temporarily. Appetite is markedly curtailed, so weight loss and relative malnutrition occur in the subacute period.
But more importantly in the perspective of John McCain as a sitting United States Senator, his ability to function during the period of radiation will be completely halted. Chemotherapy, deepening upon the agent(s) used may have additional negative aspects.
Despite all the optimism voiced on TV, by all the pols, etc., the prognosis for John McCain returning to work in a productive manner is close to zero. A neurosurgeon from Mayo said on television yesterday that survivals of 5 years or longer have occurred. But such prolonged survivals are almost unheard of for grades 3 and 4 gliomas. Even if McCain survives to his next election, extremely unlikely in my opinion, he will be almost totally, if not totally, ineffective as a legislator--regardless of your opinion of his politics.
Comments
Thanks for the in-depth breakdown
on this. Every person I've known that has been diagnosed with brain cancer (not many, but, still...) don't survive long. Even with the incredible health care he is privileged to have, I can't believe it will save him for long. Time will tell.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Jimmy Carter survived and at 90+
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Carter had Melenoma tumors, brain and liver
He was sucessfully treated with a new drug.
Gliomas something else altogether.
“ …and when we destroy nature, we diminish our capacity to sense the divine,and understand who God is, and what our own potential is and duties are as human beings.- RFK jr. 8/26/2024
Ted Kennedy
Isn't glioblastoma the type of brain tumor that Ted Kennedy had?
"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi
"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone
Yes. It also killed my niece
She was diagnosed at age 6, died age 7. This is a deadly, wicked cancer.
All the yammering on TV about how McCain is so 'tough' and such a 'fighter' that he will beat it annoy the hell out of me. It was the same when Kennedy was diagnosed, which was shortly after she died.
Last night at the gym they had TVs on everywhere (like they always do) but CC only, no sound, thankfully. I saw the crawl saying McCain had brain cancer so I started reading the CC. Saw it was glioblastoma, knew that he's done.
Then I saw one quoted well wisher saying McCain is so tough, "cancer doesn't know what it's up against" and I laugh and think "what fucking idiot said that?!" Because they obviously know nothing about this cancer.
Later I was reading some articles and see that this quote was from none other than Barack Obama! Yes, he's officially an idiot for that one.
My niece did have a brief respite of a few months, perhaps three or four, after her initial surgery, radiation and chemo. The tumor shrank dramatically and she was able to live fairly normally for a brief time. Everyone celebrated her impressive improvement and felt optimistic. Then it started growing again and there was no stopping it that time. That's a fairly typical progression.
McCain may be stubborn enough to refuse to resign, and he may even return to work for a brief time, but he is not going to be around much longer.
I'm also wondering who our new senator will be, but I'm not excited or hopeful it will be anyone good so I don't care that much. I won't miss McCain and don't feel sorry for the warmongering liar. I'm not looking forward to all the hagiographic reflections we are sure to endure now.
Hypothetical, if you were diagnosed w/ glioblastoma,
would you want people around around you to say, "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. You can beat this thing, CS," or, "Glioblastoma?! Holy shit, bro, you're fucked. Abandon all hope!"
I would like the info straight and to the point.
This is the way I discussed matters with my adult patients and 99% appreciated this approach. I would not be so charitable in Murderer McCain's case. And why should I? We could ask Hipocrates--oops, too late. So, with charity for some, I would say: "fornicate yourself" and experience what you have doled out to so many.
Your job is to give your patients the most accurate information.
AZ seemed to be implying that friends, families, and colleagues tell a loved one that they can beat cancer is a waste of time.
If someone has fatal cancer and is going to die from it
Then, yes, telling them "they can beat it" -- if they are just tough enough and fight hard enough -- is a waste of time, at best.
Treatable cancers that one might actually recover from are different and encouragement is appropriate, but I still think it's wrong to say "you can beat it" for two reasons. First, it puts pressure on them to feel responsible for the outcome. And that's wrong because the truth is, no one knows if they will get better or not. Not you. Not them. Not the doctors.
The so-called "battle" is something that happens inside their body, and it can go in any direction. The person with cancer cannot control that. It doesn't matter how hard they supposedly "fight" invisible cells run amok inside their body. It's a big fallacy to think otherwise, although a great many people do. I have come to the conclusion it is a harmful belief. Self-care is of course important, but there are limits to what the patient can control.
So why the need to Pressure them like that? What if they get worse, or it spreads and they don't get better? Now the person who is sick feels like a failure!! On top of dying, you get to feel like it's your fault.
Hypothetical question for you: if someone you loved died of cancer, which would you rather someone say? That they weren't a tough enough fighter and unfortunately failed to be stronger than cancer? Or that he or she was a beautiful person who lived and loved fully and was taken too soon by a terrible tragedy?
Caitlin Johnstone...
Have you seen these two essays by Caitlin Johnstone? She is one of my favorite writers. Holds no punches. She got in a lot of trouble with this, but I support her right to write it, and I was sympathetic to it. Very un-PC.
https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/please-just-fucking-die-already-acb3a... https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/good-600a38e0c75d
As one comment pointed out, Bob Dylan's Masters of War has lyrics just as strong about politicians like McCain as Caitlin wrote.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
Yes, I have read Caitlin Johnstone's articles linked.
And I would not change a word in either.
I would want the truth, absolutely no question
As I have family experience with GBM, unlike most people if I got it I'd already know there's no beating it. I studied this disease in great detail when my niece got sick, and my brother and I researched literally *every* possible course of action, however far out or woo woo. I know all too well what grasping for hope feels like, however false. I also understand that other people don't know what to say, and usually think they are being helpful with the "you can beat it" stuff.
I think you offer a false limit of only those two choices for response. I think I'd want people close to me to say something like "man, that really sucks, I'm here for you, what do you need?" I'd want doctors to be fully truthful, no varnish.
No, I definitely wouldn't want anyone telling me "you can beat this" because then I'd have to expend precious time and energy explaining to them that they are wrong. Who needs that?
The real problem I have with the whole "he's so tough, such a fighter, he will beat this" idea is the underlying message: that those who die from cancer are weak, they didn't try hard enough, they weren't tough enough to "fight it" and failed to win the "battle" due to their lack of fortitude and/or toughness. That's just wrong. It's also hurtful to those who have lost loved ones to cancer.
Your advice is well-considered and appropriate
Actually, I tell patients statistics but remind them statistics are not people. This is actually the most realistic way to ddl it.
P.S., I gather you live in Tucson. That's my favorite AZ city when I lived in AZ. I still go there occasionally.
Thanks AE
Yes, I live in Tucson. We are having a delightful evening thunderstorm right now, with only a little thunder and a lot of rain!! People in Tucson love the rain. We sort of feel like it's something of a miracle when the monsoon season finally arrives, after weeks of baking dry heat. Ahhhhhhhh. Rain.
It makes me feel like not talking about cancer anymore tonight, if you know what I mean.
Thank you for the essay today. I was hoping you might post something about it after I saw the news last night. Good discussion.
@CS in AZ You hit the nail
You hit the nail squarely on the head with this one, CS! Nice summary!
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
This is precisely the same false analysis applied to
the poor or old, handicapped or unable to work or mentally ungrounded, or homeless: the message of the establishment is
Thanks for the incredibly detailed explanation Al!
The technical expertise you share with us in these areas, while sometimes being above my head, are always understandable in the format you present them.
You have a gift for imparting highly specified knowledge in a form that is easy for the lay person to understand.
Thanks again brother!
P.S. The fishing is gonna start getting good down here in a month or so. Can't wait to put some blue crab pots in the water, been craving them something fierce lately! (My crab cake knowledge is at the Phd level unlike my medical knowledge.
)
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
Appreciate reading about this from a medical pov
instead of the optimistic and well wishing cheer leading. At the risk of being totally insensitive, this is good news when it comes to slowing down the GOP. They've lost another vote.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
It's interesting that this diagnosis
…is what stood in the way of a vote to deny life-saving health care to tens of millions of Americans.
Savages.
OMG, I was a mountain of sensitivity
compared to this. I'm not saying I disagree with her, but I am shocked how forcefully she said it.
Here is the whole article referenced in her tweet.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
At least we can feel guilty
for secretly finding the good in this news.
On the other hand, if I can call him petty, privileged and hypocritical when he is in good health, why can't I say it when he is ill?
Caitlin does not mince words.
She delivers her thoughts straight up, without equivocation. She's one of my favorites.
“ …and when we destroy nature, we diminish our capacity to sense the divine,and understand who God is, and what our own potential is and duties are as human beings.- RFK jr. 8/26/2024
I share Caitlin Johnstone's feelings
which although eloquently expressed, which I did not wish to insert into a medical bulletin. Amen to her prayer.
@Alligator Ed I see you have
I see you have already read Caitlin. I posted those links to you before I got to this part of the discussion. Good to see some people who were not "horrified" by her take on McCain. I particularly like the fact that she points out that his prisoner of war experience should have made him more anti-war. Instead he went the other way.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
He's been out for revenge every since he was a POW.
He's been on a killing spree - a mission of murder madness - no matter the person or country. This angry little man is finally getting his comeuppance. Good riddance to rotting flesh.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
This sums up McCain's career
in a nutshell.
When I pointed out the irony that he has all the medical expertise he could want in this country easily available to him courtesy of the American people and yet he chose to try to deny that very same right to millions of Americans, someone I know said that I had no right to criticize a hero in his time of illness.
It was not worth the fight to point out that McCain is not a hero, nor should he have a right that he was so unwilling to extend to the rest of Americans. A hero is someone who takes the right stand in the favor of overwhelming opposition and threats. John McCain is no hero.
I am a compassionate person, but it is hard to muster up any sympathy for someone who is as bloodthirsty as McCain. But since I am compassionate even for those who do evil, I will say that I hope John McCain is able to die quickly and peacefully with as little suffering as possible.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Agree, McCain is no hero--never was
Just a canary sing a bloody song.
Savages.
I'm going to start using that instead of Bastards, fits so much better and my usage may be unfair to actual bastards. No more need to worry about political incorrectness, thanks!
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
the Big Fella has a wicked sense of humor.
May McCain get really f**ked up on the best bud and totally cured of cancer.
Then he repents his sins & witnesses for peace.
Then retires to a leper colony to atone, cleaning wounds & toilets.
can't happen here? see top, lol.
though in this case, more aggressive therapy might be needed.
my advice- shoot it all, John! wtf
McCain says that he would have voted to move the bill forward
this is how much this POS feels towards people in the bleacher sections.
He knows that he has a very good chance of dying from cancer in a short time period, yet he still would have voted to move the GOP's bill to take health care away from millions.
People will bend over backward to not criticize him because he was a POW. BFD, he was dropping bombs on people and enjoyed the hell out of it.
Then when this maverick became a senator, he voted against every damned bill that would have helped veterans who had the gaul to have problems after the wars that he voted to send them to.
So my thoughts on his having brain cancer? They are not very nice, so I will do what my grandma asked "if I have nothing nice to say..........."
Look Snoopy, you know as well as I do
…that McCain's only take-away from his POW experiences is brain damage so severe he should have never been in public service. Anybody's feelings about the value of his life, one way or the other, is fine by me.
I am a huge proponent of reviewing brain scans of all elected officials to high office. Period.
Life is too precious to put under the care of the insane and the psychopaths and the senile. These things are visible, now. Why stop at a physical exam? Let's measure irrational paranoia and levels of impulse control. It's ultimately his brain that will damage or destroy society. The people have a right to know whether their president has a healthy functional brain.
A recent neurological study was published that offers a list of seven life experiences that can cause physical brain damage in adults. Many people get through those experiences just fine because their brains maintain good coping processes. But quite a few do not. On that list is simply joining the military. McCain's brain probably scans like it was beaten with a whip.
His brain injuries turned him into a monster. He should have been institutionalized, not elected to office. The CIA would have "retired" him long ago if he hadn't been such a useful tool for the Necon Deep State. (And, no doubt, a source of endless amusement for them.) They slipped him the Steele memo, after all, to smear Trump. They're going to have a hard time finding a replacement such a reliable whacko.
This is a very interesting comment, Pluto
I agree that McCain might have had some problems regarding his time as a POW that may have affected his brain. PTSD just to name one condition.
He was put in charge of the POW committee that was responsible for finding out if the missing POWs were still alive and if not, then the families wanted his help in bringing their bodies home.
The contempt that he held for their families should have been the reason for his removal from that committee. I will try to find the links to this when I get home.
If he had any type of head injury from crashing his planes 5 times, then this would explain his unusual outbursts of anger.
I had a traumatic brain injury 40 years ago this Labor Day and the effects from it are still with me. People with TBIs suffer from short term memory loss, or in my case, many of my memories from my 20's because of both the head trauma and then having to have my jaw reconstructed.
But the biggest thing that I still have problems with is anger. Anger over issues that most people with ignore, but for me, it just comes out of nowhere. I have learned to control what I do with my anger physically, but there have been times that my mouth starts working long before my brain is aware of what its doing.
As to the life experiences you spoke about, I agree with you there too.
I went through 15 major life changing events in less that 18 months, and it finally caught up with me and I had some type of break with reality. Much bigger than a nervous break down, but the same type of reaction to it.
Fortunately I was already in therapy for one of those life changes, and my therapist and I were able to work it out. Touch and go for a few months.
So if McCain has experienced these types of events, then you can look back at his history of his anger outbreaks and tie them to a possible head injury.
However, no injury or illness can explain away his support of every military action he has been involved with that have cost hundreds of millions of live.
This is just plain indifference to other people's lives.
And even now after he went through another surgery and found out that his life can be measured in months, he still says that he is willing to vote to take health insurance away from millions of people that he swore an oath to defend. Enemies foreign and domestic.
I would think that what the republicans want to do to the poorest of us, qualifies as a domestic enemy.
You've had some experience with it.
I'm sorry for your troubles. I am drawn to you because of your good, analytical mind and your singular perseverance on the cruel mental abuse of the American people by their corrupt government. Only here do people ever mention our international atrocities against humanity, but never in the real world. I know you are keenly aware of that, too.
On McCain, I do not think of him as a rational actor. He's more like a specimen, and I don't have an emotional reaction, like Johnstone did. He's just a bug.
An interviewer once said this about the way we should treat one another: "Always be kind. Everyone you meet is dealing with a difficult challenge in their life. You may not see their struggle, but you can be sure it is there. So, be kind."
I aspire to be more like that, without being insipid. You seem to have found that balance.
On protecting the nation, I am very careful to separate domestic and international issues. I set domestic issues aside for two reasons: Domestic problems cannot be solved without revoking our international policies. There's not enough money for both. People conflate domestic and international issues and it is very hard to talk with them. Those fall under two different governments with an inverse relationship to each other. To put it another way, the Deep State has no interest whatsoever in domestic issues. They never participate in them. They don't interact with the People at all. They don't care. Once people compartmentalize what is domestic from what is international, they can start to see the gameboard and the players. There are possibilities.
I think that's why the Dems can't form a Party again. To deliver a message, they will have to expose the inverse relationship between domestic and international. The corruption and failed economics will come tumbling out. I think that's why 2016 was an issue-free election campaign, especially the debates.
Thanks,Pluto
I have had to deal with the effects from my accident for 40 years, but the one thing that got me through it was that I was still alive and have my wits about me. Mostly. I was very lucky that day.
The memory loss was difficult to deal with because I didn't understand why I suffered from it.
I would have an hour long meeting at work one day and apparently told people to give me ideas about how to change things.
The next day they would tell me their ideas and I had no idea what they were talking about.
This went on for decades and I didn't know how often it happening until one day I asked my friend a question.
She said "YES!"
I asked why she answered me that way and she said that this was the 4th time I asked the question in 5 minutes.
I called my doctor and asked what the meds I was on were doing to my mind. This is when I found out that memory loss is common for people who had brain injuries and hadn't anyone explained this to me before?
It was such a relief to finally understand why I forgot so many things.
Now when my friend says "do you remember when we did........?", my response is "was I there?" and we laugh. But one thing I will complain about. I miss eating nuts
As to this,
this is something my grandmother taught me.
You are right about the Deep State not caring about anyone but their peer groups and hanging on to their money regardless of the cost to the rest of us.
They have been trying to undo the New Deal since it was created, and they can see the finish line coming soon.
We are going to see more of this when the republicans roll out their budget plan. Social programs are going to be cut and some might be eliminated all together. The program that helps the vulnerable population survive the winter, Trump wants to totally eliminate it. It's been defunded almost every year since Clinton slithered into office and he was responsible for the biggest cuts to all social programs. This program not only needs more money into it, it should be expanded so that the same people who live in states that have high air cooling utility bills should get money to help them pay for them.
You are so right that for domestic problems to get better, the defense money needs to be both cut and re-named. This country isn't defending its self, it's doing this:
And absolutely this:
Did any debate between Hillary and Donald even cover this?
Even Bernie failed to address this issue except for when he said that the Saudis and other countries should be the ones to fight the terrorists.
How many terrorists groups would there even be if our government hadn't created Al Qaida to fight against the Russians?
I believe there would be far less if our country had stayed home instead of marching towards global hegemony.
@snoopydawg
We're very much of like mind. There's just one point I can seem to nail down anywhere.
In context, you appear to be referring to the Deep State. The Deep State has no interest in domestic politics. They have no political party. They don't care about the New Deal. Their ideology does not intersect at all with American society. The are the permanent government. Their only interest is Greater Israel and Empire.
The folks trying to unblock the New Deal are a completely different group from a completely different government. They are part of the temporary elected government. They are sent by the people to do their business. They're Republicans and Democrats. They have no say over Empire. They just want to play soldier.
The only reason Hillary got to play pantsuit Neocon is because of her SoS position. As president, she would have been relegated to useful idiot, just like George Bush, making speeches and selling the murder and mayhem to the people. Or hiding it from them.
The Deep State are not Republicans. The Deep State operates in a different world than parties do, and they are not really political. Their think tanks produce intelligence and policy papers for both parties separately. Both parties obey them. They are the National Security Council.
I do agree about our millions of terrorists. That was and is a Pentagon operation and it would have happened regardless of who the president was. The only way to stop the Pentagon authorities is to stop funding them. That's how the Vietnam war was ended and the Neocons scuttled back to their holes to regroup. Otherwise we would still be in Southeast Asia. They ascended to permanent power under Reagan.
Putin agrees
In one episode of Oliver Stone's recent four-part Vladimir Putin interviews, Putin is asked what changes he will expect with the new U.S. president. Putin responds, "Nothing will change. U.S. presidents come and go, but nothing changes."
Sadly, he is exactly correct.
Unfortunate that your TBI should give you this insight
but you have gained from it.
I have treated dozens of civilian and military TBI, many of whom, particularly military, suffered concomitant PTSD. Anger management if an ongoing issue in both conditions. Most PTSD patients direct some of their anger inward. Even TBI without PTSD usually affects the gamut of brain functions. This is a bad combination when such people enter public office with the continual stresses pertaining.
From this reply and many others by you, I judge that you have fairly well-mastered controlling the perturbations caused by TBI. In fact, if you had not mentioned your TBI, I never would have guessed it.
what would Jesus say? /ns
about
"least little ones" and all that.
we have gone a long way down the wrong road.
McCain wielded a lot of influence in the US Congress.
Somehow or other he wormed his way into the upper reaches of the MIC, and from that lofty position he did everything in his power to promote aggressive US interventionism. He had a good long run at it too. I doubt that the nation will suffer much from the fact that his run is finally over.
native
John McCain is fortunate to live in a state where
…there is a cure.
Jeff Sessions would probably have McCain arrested if he used modern medicine.
There are scores of similar studies out there.
question it would work with Cain
pot makes most people peaceful, he may have too much resistance built up already
question everything
great explanation
makes sense. Had to laugh at Caitlin Johnstone's essay over at medium.com
https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/please-just-fucking-die-already-acb3a...
question everything
LOL - I just posted her article & tweet up above.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
I wonder who is footing McCain's medical bill?
You're talking some serious medical treatment and care. The guy is a multi-millionaire; he's never worried about bankruptcy. Inoperable brain cancer is generally a quick death. McCain is 80. He's lived a good life. Wonder who will take his place in the Senate? Thanks and rec'd!!
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
Who else but us?
They expect a six figure paycheck, free health care, Cadillac pensions, and all the
graph[oops] graft their grubby hands can handle. The great unwashed should get the fuck up out of their comas and get a GD job."Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
The yahoo cashes his SS checks, too. Stick that one in
your pot pipe and smoke it. Good riddance!
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
Bingo.
Your Medicare dollars at work. Sure, he's got other resources but since when did any rich person not use gubmint bennies?
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
Well,
I am for Medicare for everyone regardless of income levels. Medicare is a form of universal healthcare. To do so otherwise, turns it into a welfare programs.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Oh, don't get me wrong, I am too
on healthcare. What pisses me off is these are the same people who will cry "government takeover of healthcare" and other such rubbish while they themselves are using it. A lot of my attitude there goes back to Repugnant family members who whined and bitched about those same programs for others, but when their time came, well, that was different. I hate that with a passion.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
@dkmich I read recently that
I read recently that our grifters in Washington want a $2,500 a month stipend to help pay for their housing needs. Most of them are millionaires with a few billionaires thrown in, but they cannot make do with their fat salary and all their special perks.
With the passing of Bomb Bomb the world will become a better
place. Unfortunately, there are still dozens more of his ilk that need to be permanently removed from positions of power within the US government.
"To initiate a war of aggression is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." - The Nuremberg Judgment
John McCain is guilty of crimes against humanity. The fact that he used the power of the state to affect his killing, maiming and destroying does not make him less liable. The blood of many innocent men, women and children will still stain his hands till his death.
Thanks for the details. Look forward to his
recovery and early retirement.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
He won't recover for two reasons
1. There is no cure for psychopathy
2. There is no cure for glioblastoma.
He should resign now as he will be unable to resume useful function--if one can say he ever had one.
Yah, sorry, I just thought writing what I did sounded better
than what I really feel, i.e. may he soon rot in hell for all the thousands who have died during the policy of endless war that he was a leader of. But that sentiment is not really something I want to express out loud, here, today.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Dying in office
He'll die in office; why not keep the perks to the end. It's not as if there are any consequences to him personally for doing this and that's all he cares about.
I look forward to his death. Just as he looked forward to the
deaths of countless thousands of innocents around the world by calling for American bombs and debilitating sanctions. I have zero empathy for serial killers. Why should I have any for this killer?
yeah, you right
ain't no forgiving the crimes he's been living
question everything
Thank you, AE. I feel sorry for anyone in this
situation. Whether or not I should, given how many people have died and suffered because of warmongering is another issue. I cannot help what I feel personally.
Politically, I don't think anything will change. This was Goldwater's seat before it was McCain's. I think it likely that, if and when McCain doesn't run again, someone much like them will replace McCain. )-:
Process if he retires early
including tweet from BO. Heh.
http://heavy.com/news/2017/07/john-mccain-replacement-how-when-chosen-el...
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Compassion should be the watchword here
Politics aside, as human beings, we should pray for him and his family. May God be merciful, and make his suffering as short and as painless as possible.
It's just my opinion. It can't hurt you
Better yet...
.. may his suffering be as short and as painless as the evil he has inflicted upon the people of Arizona and the people of the United States of America.
@SpamNunn I wish I could be zen
I wish I could be zen all the time. Take a reasoned, sanguine and peaceful approach to all of lifes challenges.
I don't wish ill on anyone, but I can't say I am staying up and lighting a candle for John McCain.
since praying has exactly 0.0 likelihood of having
any effect, positive or negative, i guess i'm okay with it.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
what goes around, comes around
if you think the destruction made in this world is worth your compassion, try to put it into perspective. you would be better to feel for the victims than the initiator, one would think? or feel...
question everything
Yeah, God, right.
Well, there is no God. However,if there was, and He/She/It made someone like John McCain immune from suffering at the end of his life, when there are millions who suffer everyday with no sign of divine intervention, then that God shouldn't exist anyway.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
I hate it when ppl do this
it reminds me of that other place. As much shit as atheists get from the holier-than-thous, I'm baffled as to why you guys don't show refrain from giving shit to people who aren't.
And you're certainly not the only one doing it, so I apologize for replying only to you (not going to reply to everyone, so tag - you're it - and I've loved reading much of what you have to say at both sites over the years, to be clear.) Your comment has been upvoted, so I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I just had to get it off my chest after reading the comments earlier and thinking about it a bit.
My daughter is an atheist but she doesn't tell my mom, "There is no God" when Mom states she's praying for someone. She just doesn't. Wish more people on both sides would be more like her.
Well...
the thing is, if you follow this back to the beginning, SpamNunn started out with a comment telling us what we should all do in order to be proper human beings:
My reaction to that is: If you want to pray for someone, go ahead. If you want to express compassion for a person who shows none for anyone else, fine. But when you pronounce that we all should have the same views and "pray" for him, that's straight up religious superiority talking, and not cool at all.
His later comment about "humanity" dictating his view reinforced the judgmental attitude toward those with a different take. That naturally draws pushback and rightly so, IMO. Talking down to the non-religious or suggesting that we lack humanity tends to draw some fire.
I see that SpanNunn backed off that position and took a more open-minded position later, and I'm glad. But he did start out by lecturing that prayer is the only "correct" and "human" response. Atheists have every right to stand up to that kind of attitude.
Fair enough
I guess I missed the lecturing part.
In my view, spirituality is a personal matter.
It seems to me that everyone can speak freely. We already know no harm is intended.
[edited]
@Deja Oh but I am like
Oh but I am like your daughter. When my 91 year old deeply believing mother in law tells me she's praying for me, I smile and thank her. When she tells me that she can't believe that a lowly person like her could be loved by Jesus, I grit my teeth but I don't counter her. She's family. But when someone comes on a website or blog who is not my family and starts in with the God stuff, I treat it just as I would any other opinion... if the declaration has no evidence to support it and the author of the statement acts like it is a given that his/her god exists, I challenge it. God IS only an opinion, not a fact. To bring an unsubstantiated opinion into a discussion puts one in a position of possibly being countered. Anyone who throws their god belief into the ring of a discussion on a non-religious site should be prepared to be countered. There is nothing special about religious opinion and it is certainly time to get that across to those who think that religious opinion sits on a pedestal somewhere marked "do not touch".
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
Heard, FishTroller
as stated above in my reply to CZ in AZ, I must've missed the lecturing part.
Side note: glad you're that way with your mother-in-law.
Welcome SpamNunn!
Good to see you here!
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
Caitlyn is overdrawing her karma bank here.
What she wrote was classless and makes "progressives" look nutty, IMHO.
It's just my opinion. It can't hurt you
Sadly
as much as I like her tell it like it is attitude on many things, I agree with you. When someone with a broad platform throws needless mud, it soils all of us whether or not we agree.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
like hell
these evil assholes deserve no constraints from calling them out as the greedy warmongers they are. shit does not deserve a revered place on earth period. if you are going to make money by killing innocents, your karma is cooked. Die evil, let the good grow.
question everything
Caitlin...
You are getting her mixed up with Daily Kos. If any set of writers and opinions is making Dems look nutty and clueless, it is the ones on that site. Markos himself wrote about how Trump voters deserve not to have health care and disaster relief. Caitlin lives at the heart of progressivism. It's just that most people don't recognize it. She has more humanity in her little finger than Sir Markos. And the fact that Dems did not distance themselves from his comments says more than anything else about where the morality lies.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
John has been struggling with melanoma for years
and melanoma has a tendency to spread to the brain.
Although I disagree with him at every turn, I wish him a pleasant rest of his life and a peaceful end.
I should go so easy.
ETA: And as Nunn said above, it's just my opinion. It can't hurt you.
Life is strong. I'm weak, but Life is strong.
It does seem a bit pointless
to stay pissed off at someone, once they're in the process of dying. Even if they've been your mortal enemy, it's no use beating on a dead horse. Death renders everyone helpless in the end... it's one of the few events we all have in common. Nonetheless, eulogizing a bloodthirsty S.O.B. like John McCain sure ain't my cup of tea.
native
And there really does become a point
where you can indeed ethically ask yourself if you should feel sorry for someone who's responsible for as much death as he is.
My friend who had a non malignant vascular tumor that was essentially a stroke said she has trouble wishing that on anyone. I agree with her, but we didn't wish him to get brain cancer, it happened, and maybe his karma brought it back to him.
While he's busy worrying about voting to cut other people's medical care out from under them you'd like to think he'd see the irony there. But I highly doubt that. If he truly had one shred of empathy for anyone else he'd use this to make the case for universal care for everyone, not just him and his uber rich friends. Now THAT would be a real legacy and something to be proud of. He could earn those "maverick" creds by being a true maverick, not just another boot licking toady.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
But he's not just in the process of dying
if he can, he is going to return to congress and vote for moving the republican's bill forward as you stated. Even though he knows that he is facing death soon, he hasn't changed his way of thinking of ways to make people's lives miserable.
This means that not only does he want millions to lose their health insurance, he wants the people in Syria to continue living with constant fear of death or becoming refugees.
Since there isn't much coverage on our military being sent to countries that surround Russia, I'm not sure what he thinks about this, but knowing his history of being for every military intervention since he's been in congress, I would think that he's on board with this.
He has been constantly calling out Russia for their agression in Ukraine and Syria.
First, it was the USA and its allies that overthrew the Ukrainian government just because the previous president wouldn't allow foreign corporations to work in his country. Ukraine's governments have a long history of working with Russia for their energy needs.
Second, Russia and Iran are the only two countries that have been invited to help defend Assad and the Syrians from the USA, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Qatar and other countries because Assad told the Saudis and Qatar that they couldn't build their pipelines in Syria.
McCain is upset with the ceasefire that Putin and Trump devised and that Trump has decided to quit funding the 'moderate' rebels who are actually offshoots of Al Qaida.
These two pictures are of McCain's meeting with the moderate Syrian rebels who happen to be the leaders of terrorists groups. This should be considered treason because he met with them and offered to support them behind Obama's back. He is working with the terrorists that Bush claimed attacked this country.
He is fully aware that they have tortured and murdered Syrians, including the 12 year old boy who they beheaded.
And who our troops fought against during the Iraq war.
McCain will use any assets he can to continue this country's march to hegemony.
None of this will change when McCain dies, but this is why I'm not upset about his upcoming death.
How long...
will Lindsay Graham wear his widow's weeds?
I would almost feel sorry for lovely Lindsay
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4aUf5JC2W4&ab_channel=jean-françoisMILLION]
Campassion for a mass murdering maniac?
No thanks. If God was merciful he/she would have taken this dude down long ago.
as you know
there ain't no god who's job it is to hold these greedy power mungers responsible. we the people do not approve of the world domination tactics of this example of a wasted life. wish it were so that positive opinion still mattered in this ride to hell.
question everything
I always get a kick out of people who say that
Gawd saved their homes from a natural disaster while seeing a picture of one house standing while all the other houses in their neighborhood were demolished.
Do people really think that Gawd thought they were so special and righteous and everyone else must have deserved having their homes destroyed?
Or that Gawd has a favorite football team? What happens when players from both teams think that He a hand in helping them make a great catch or run?
This cracks me up every time someone says this.
McCain is pure slime.
He's lived a long time, ensuring that many others did not live.
His death will result in the deaths of fewer other people.
Nobody should feel sorry, because nobody had the guts to pull the trigger years ago.
Instead we waited for karma, which has followed through brilliantly.
My reaction to ANY dead politician will always be "Good."
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Someone
I love dearly is struggling with a disease that is likely to result in death, hopefully later rather than sooner. The last time she was in the hospital I had to walk past a children's ward to visit.
I don't want to hear about Karma and fatal illness.
That's just me
That's just me
I can't be any other way.
It's just my opinion. It can't hurt you
And that is OK here.
That is the great thing about this place. Sure, other's might not agree with what you say or think but they'll explain the why of that when they do it. We don't do pie fights or insults and you ARE allowed to feel compassion, even for a shit bag like McCain.
I personally can never forgive him for introducing us all to Caribou Barbie and her ilk. He has one hell of a lot to atone for. Then there's the fact that from his hospital bed he's advocating more war in Syria... I like to think people learn something when dying, but really, that's pretty naïve of me I think.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
McCain continues war-mongering despite terminal brain cancer
That fucking asshole needs to go before he does more damage. I repeat, the world will be a better place once he's in his grave.
McCain needs to leave Syria alone so they can rebuild their country. They have suffered far, far more than McCain will with his one percenter Cadillac health plan. Take note that Russia has been highly instrumental in finally bringing peace and security to the war torn country.
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