THE NEXT PRESIDENT. . .

It is the 25 September 2010. The President of the United States, John S McCain has suddenly died. The nation is in shock. The Government is in crisis. Vice President Palin has been sworn in on the flight from Phoenix to Washington this morning by the Chief Justice, John Roberts.

The after effects of the financial crisis of 2008 continue. Former Treasury Secretary Paulson has not been seen for the past two weeks. Reserve Bank Chairman Bernanke resigned shortly after the inauguration in 2009.

The financial crisis has gone from that to the political crisis. Presidential Palin has reveled in his signature tune rejoinder to a direct request for details that now characterizes all her interviews: “I will try to find some, and I will bring ‘em to ya”:

(Yes, I think it childish, and less than formal English.)
…………………

Could it happen. Well at minimum there is a forty per cent or higher chance of Senator McCain becoming president. I think it is clear that Governor Palin is not equipped either in terms of natural ability or experience to be President.

Yet McCain’s early death is a distinct possibility. Firstly, he is a POW and they are more likely than others of their contemporaries to die. Then I think it relevant to quote this letter from a doctor, via David Kruger:

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

John McCain is a 72 year old man with recurrent melanoma, hyperlipidemia, degenerative joint disease, and recurrent difficulty with certain efforts at recall. These are the limited facts the American people have had access to. Over 1000 pages of medical records were shown to selected journalists for 3 hours with less than 48 hours of notice. The only medically trained journalist was Sanjay Gupta, MD from CNN. This is the extent to which the American people have been informed.

While I am certainly sensitive to the confidential nature of medical records given the anxiety expressed by many of my patients regarding the risk of lost coverage or lost jobs in this current health economic climate, there are certain exceptions for disclosure regarding public safety. As John McCain knows, a pilot’s records are comprehensively available for review by a certifying agency (the FAA, I believe) to insure the fitness of the pilot and the safety of passengers and the public at-large. In the election of the President of the United States of America, that certifying body is the American electorate.

A recurrence of metastatic malignant melanoma would essentially destroy John McCain’s capacity as the Chief Executive and the American people have yet to receive a full accounting of the facts regarding his actuarial risk. If he has had regional metastasis, his risk could be 30% or greater for distant metastasis to the brain, bone, and lung. As you all know, melanoma is one of the most insidious, pernicious, and aggressive malignancies our patients must deal with and that we attempt somewhat pathetically to control with interferon, interleukins, and dismally active and terribly toxic chemotherapeutic regimens. In addition, we lack the simple data to sensibly evaluate his cardiovascular risk as we would any septuagenerian in our exam rooms.

John McCain should be held accountable by the American people and its agents, the free press, to release without restriction the entirety of his medical records. Any hesitation to do so would clearly imply that there are significant medical concerns about his ability to fulfill the duties of the President.

Sincerely,

Michael D. Fratkin, MD
Internal Medicine
Hospice and Palliative Medicine
Eureka, California

Let it me be clear that I have no wish for harm to befall Senator McCain, much less his death. I don’t wish him to be President because I wish it reasonable for him to behave as we have recently witnessed, and I think it is dangerous behavior. Since it is a dangerous world, we might hope for conservative behavior from a conservative. Temperamentally, it appears, that McCain is anything but conservative. Palin is simply out of her depth, which is understandable because most people would be, even experienced governors of small states, or for that matter large states.

You need to be a Clinton or a FDR. Leadership of a nation such as the United States, so little in evidence in the past eight years, requires intelligence, courage, articulateness, deep knowledge of the government and the Constitution, to name a few. Just remember, all the rest of us who live on the planet look toward the American President to have at a minimum, intelligence and sanity. Other qualities might be desired such as intellectual discipline and training, respect for reason and scientific knowledge, and compassion. If they have those attributes, I don’t really care what their political philosophy they hold, that being an issue for Americans. As you might have guessed, I am hoping for change.

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