John McCain = Darth Vader

[Drocket]

'THIS IS NOT Luke Skywalker here," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), discussing his friend and Senate colleague John McCain's second run for the presidency. "This is a totally different campaign."

Graham was looking for a way to reassure his fellow conservatives that they no longer had anything to fear from McCain. His choice of metaphor is one of those windows into the fundamental cultural gap that separates hard-core conservatives from the rest of humanity. To most people, who think of Luke Skywalker as a hero battling an evil and immensely powerful empire, Graham's implication would be seen as an unmitigated insult. In the world of the GOP elite, though, it's a form of praise: No, no, don't worry, McCain's with the empire now.

Link (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-chait10mar10,0,6317892.column?coll=la-opinion-rightrail)


The fact that even Republicans have been forced to admit that they're the Empire is disturbing. The fact that they've realized they're the Empire and apparently have decided to keep on going instead of reconsidering the situation is even more disturbing.

[Buck Laser]

I think McCain will fade as a republican candidate, not because of ideological or "values" issues, but because his age makes him a vulnerable candidate. Should he be the nominee and win election, he would be 72 when he took office. That would (I think) make him the oldest ever to enter office. Since his life has included several years of hard time imprisonment, I think the risk to his health is significant, as it's been pretty well established that severe physical trauma like that hastens the aging process.

I'm not posting this as any kind of personal argument against him, but simply making an observation. There are plenty of other reasons to exclude him from consideration, but this is a totally non-political one.

[lily]

Buck, Rove tried the POW/impaired tactic and it didn't work the first time around. While I will agree that his age is a factor, I think that the fact the he has skin cancer would be a better tactic, although I will admit, I'm not sure which type it is.

I think what will be his biggest hurdle is his flip flops....but then again, he may be electable depending on who he chooses for vice-president.

[Buck Laser]

Buck, Rove tried the POW/impaired tactic and it didn't work the first time around. While I will agree that his age is a factor, I think that the fact the he has skin cancer would be a better tactic, although I will admit, I'm not sure which type it is.

I think what will be his biggest hurdle is his flip flops....but then again, he may be electable depending on who he chooses for vice-president.


I don't think skin cancer is much of a factor. Practically everyone I know over the age of 70 has had skin cancer. I had it at about 68, and I don't even count that against the colon cancer and leukemia.

[lily]

Yes, I had my scare too, Buck.........luckily mine was non-melanoma carcinoma. As I said in my post, I wasn't sure which one Mc Cain had. His was malignant melanoma, the more dangerous kind. You know as well as I do, how elections go. You say the word cancer and that's all that needs to be said. Although, as I said, I think his age and health problems would be the least of his worries, which would be kind of ironic, since it was the Republicans who coined the phrase flip flop to begin with.

Link (http://www.riskworld.com/PressRel/2001/01q3/PR01a027.htm)

NEW YORK, Aug. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Arizona Sen. John McCain tells Newsweek
that last summer, even though he was a bit scared after he learned that his
skin cancer had spread and was malignant melanoma, "I really spent my time
trying to keep Cindy [his wife] and the kids calm about it. I'm a little bit
of a fatalist, given that my life has been full of narrow escapes. But I
didn't want to let it show. My doctors told me we had to act as soon as
possible. I was all for that."

It was also in the middle of the presidential campaign. "That was a really
hard, frightening time," says Cindy McCain in a joint Newsweek interview,
the first time they've spoken about his battle against cancer and how it
affected his life and family. "There were people around us every minute of
the day, and most of the night, a lot of times, and we didn't have time to
talk privately." When McCain finally told his wife what was happening, they
still didn't know how serious it was. "They would have to do more tests and
remove lymph nodes to see if the cancer had spread to other parts of his
body," Cindy McCain says. "That was the big fear. One of the worst parts was
that our kids first heard about the tumor on CNN. Our 16-year-old daughter
called, crying, wanting to know what was going on."

She says McCain tried his best to lighten the mood. "But there was no
avoiding thinking about what might happen. The day of the operation was very
hard. He was in surgery for about nine hours," she says in the August 20
Newsweek cover package, "My Battle With Skin Cancer" (on newsstands Monday,
August 13) about McCain's fight with the disease. The package includes a
report on the increase in skin cancer cases each year nationally, new
treatments and how to stay safe under the sun.

[Buck Laser]

Lily, what's the date of that article? Was it 2004 that he had the melanoma? I'd say two years isn't long enough to be certain that the remission is permanent. But I have a friend who's still kicking 30 years after a melanoma on his face, so people do get cured sometimes.

My skin cancer was a squamous cell carcinoma on my hand, and the doc said I could expect more just because of my skin type.

But back to McCain: I see him less as an embodiment of evil than as an unprincipled panderer who'll do or say anything or suck up to anyone if he thinks it'll help his chances.

[lily]

Lily, what's the date of that article? Was it 2004 that he had the melanoma? I'd say two years isn't long enough to be certain that the remission is permanent. But I have a friend who's still kicking 30 years after a melanoma on his face, so people do get cured sometimes.

The cancer was in 2000, but the article I referenced was 2001. Both you and I know that skin cancer is curable, but what I was trying to stress is you say the word cancer and I'll bet you a dollar that's all people hear.

My skin cancer was a squamous cell carcinoma on my hand, and the doc said I could expect more just because of my skin type.

I'm very dark, and didn't expect it. I'm telling you, you don't want to know what a hole that big looks like, when you break your stitches open and it's too late to re-stitch.......but all is well now......now we sound like a couple of old farts!:P

But back to McCain: I see him less as an embodiment of evil than as an unprincipled panderer who'll do or say anything or suck up to anyone if he thinks it'll help his chances.

Um......what's the difference?