U.S. Vice President 2008

[Medhb]

I admire your response and those are legit issues to call a person out on. I also agree she should have answered Katy Couric's question on more than one supreme court decision she didn't agree with.

The same thing has happened to Biden with alot more frequency than Palin but the media which has now gone far left and doesn't show this.

She isn't just a woman who hasn't done anything she has been a governor of a state.

Thank you You have a valid point about Biden however...Biden has spoken perhaps 80% more than she has? So statistically speaking Biden has only appeared to be an idiot a much smaller percentage than Palin Tonight will be interesting. Can she pull it off? Will she get asked the tough questions and will she be able to answer them? Of course we're all waiting with baited breath! I personally don't think so but...I won't be surprised f she does pull it off.

I applaud her accomplishments as the Governor of Alaska, really I do! However, in reality, being the Governor of Alaska is way less challenging than say...being the mayor of Detroit (not that he's a good one by any means, LOL!) or the mayor of NYC. I think you can see the point I'm making

[Electrophile]

^^Exactly. Executive experience is great, but the amount of work she's had to do isn't near a tenth of what Michael Bloomberg has to do, or what Arnold Schwarzenegger has to do or what any other big city or state leader has to do. She's the governor of a state that has a population less than metropolitan Omaha. The town she was mayor of is smaller than the town I'm living in now, and the subdivision I live in is surrounded by frickin' corn fields.

[~tangerine~]

Barack Obama could have chosen Hillary Clinton who was a lot more qualified than Biden but he did'nt even consider her.

Well you have your views already set so of course you wouldn't cheer Palin on nor would you appreciate her steps forward since she does't agree with you.

You sound clueless...do you know anything about Joe Biden to make such an empty statement? Anyway, to answer the previous post about Sarah being a woman, so what? I choose a candidate based on many qualities and one of the most important to me is "intelligence". If that is lacking i can't even consider them. So Sarah Palin doesn't even get her foot in the door. But if she was smart, she has too many bad qualities in addition (for instance, something about killing wolf cubs and polar bears for oil drilling and fun), just to mention one. I won't go into anything further, if you haven't read my past posts, and you care, then look them up.

[Electrophile]

Watch out, Sarah Palin is getting whiny..........

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/03/p...c_n_131655.html

So, let me get this straight. She was annoyed because Katie Couric was asking hardball questions that were designed to put her in a lose-lose situation. You know, hardball questions like "What newspaper do you read?"

Additionally, it would seem she also had a problem with how Katie Couric wouldn't let her ramble on incoherently for eons until she finally got to the point where she was able to verbally thrash Barack Obama.

So, what? Was she expecting the questions to be phrased like, "So tell me Sarah. Do you think Barack Obama hates America very much, and do you believe he's a ruthless terrorist waiting to savage honest hard working hockey mom's like yourself?"

News flash, Sarah. No one is required to hand you this election on a silver platter. Some people actually want to know what they're getting out of their candidates.

[~tangerine~]

Watch out, Sarah Palin is getting whiny..........

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/03/p...c_n_131655.html

So, let me get this straight. She was annoyed because Katie Couric was asking hardball questions that were designed to put her in a lose-lose situation. You know, hardball questions like "What newspaper do you read?"

Additionally, it would seem she also had a problem with how Katie Couric wouldn't let her ramble on incoherently for eons until she finally got to the point where she was able to verbally thrash Barack Obama.

So, what? Was she expecting the questions to be phrased like, "So tell me Sarah. Do you think Barack Obama hates America very much, and do you believe he's a ruthless terrorist waiting to savage honest hard working hockey mom's like yourself?"

News flash, Sarah. No one is required to hand you this election on a silver platter. Some people actually want to know what they're getting out of their candidates.

I don't know how Katie had the stomach to speak with her, lol.

This is interesting. I think this ticket should be the behavioral problem team Thanks to a friend for telling me about this article.

http://www.readthehook.com/stories/2008/10...ain-ADHD-C.aspx

ESSAY- White Tornado: Could John McCain have ADHD?

by J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., M.D., published October 2, 2008

Cindy and John McCain at a campaign stop in Chesterfield, Missouri.

PHOTO BY CHRIS DUNNImpulsive. Easily distracted. Hot tempered. Gets into fights. Despite intellectual potential, does poorly at school. Sound familiar?

If this were your child or older brother, you would wonder if he had unrecognized and untreated Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD. Yet, when the individual in question is a United States senator running for the presidency, that possibility seems not to have been considered.

Last week, in a fit of fretting about the economy, Senator McCain suspended his campaign and attempted to cancel the first debate.

On Wednesday, September 17, he cancelled an appearance on David Letterman's CBS show Late Night and lied to Letterman about an immediate need to catch a plane to Washington.

He then trots off to be interviewed by Katie Couric. (Letterman later launched a devastating salvo which certainly negated anything the Couric interview might have gained.)

How sudden and thought-out were the senator's decisions?

Some say ADHD is just another over-diagnosed non-malady. Others celebrate it because along with impulsiveness come passion, creativity, and an ability to "think outside the box."

Four to 12 out of every 100 school children have it, and most carry it into adulthood.

The greatest Olympic athlete of all time, Michael Phelps, has it. Scientists such as Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton, along with myriad famous actors, including the beloved Jimmy Stewart and Whoppi Goldberg, turned any alleged ADHD into careers of greatness.

But there's that impulsivity.

"Mr. McCain is known to sign off on big campaign decisions and then to march off his own reservation," according to an August 10 New York Times article. "Out of his hearing, Mr. McCain is called the White Tornado by some people who have worked for him over the years."

Hectic campaign or residual childhood malady?

"McCain frequently forgets key elements of policies, gets countries' names wrong, forgets things he's said only hours or days before, and is frequently just confused," writes Frank Rich August 17, in which he explains why the McCain campaign has stopped the press's previously unimpeded access to Senator McCain on the formerly free-wheeling "Straight Talk Express" campaign bus.

Rich also quotes Rita Hauser, who served on the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board in the Bush administration's first term. "If John says ‘I'm going with so and so,' you can't count on that the next morning."

Such stories may be typical of the rough-and-tumble dialogue of the political year, but they also raise the question of undiagnosed and untreated disorder.

The handbook of the mental health profession, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, notes the main symptoms: difficulty sustaining attention and failure to listen, to follow through, and to organize tasks.

Hyperactivity symptoms include fidgeting, excessive talking, and a personality often "on the go" as if "driven by motor." And the symptoms of impulsivity include interrupting and blurting out answers before questions have been completed.

This is a difficult diagnosis to establish in an older adult, and one cannot make the diagnosis without examining the individual and if possible talking to his family.

We know that McCain showed remarkable fortitude in surviving the repeated tortures inflicted by his North Vietnamese captors. But we also know he had a low class rank (894 of 899) at the Naval Academy, and he reportedly excelled in only those classes that interested him.

In his acceptance speech at the Republican national convention, McCain said he liked to "pick a few fights for the fun of it." Michael Leahy's August 31 profile of Senator McCain's formative years in The Washington Post opens with an account of a McCain fight in a park near Georgetown.

Leahy notes that McCain's grandfather, John Sidney "Slew" McCain, had struggled during his own Naval Academy years, as had McCain's father, John Sidney "Jack" McCain, Jr.: "He had been plagued by the same poor academy standing, made worse because of his prodigious appetite for rakish rule-breaking, a risk compounded in Jack's case because he was partying and drinking during Prohibition. Few fathers and sons could have been more alike as adolescents than Jack McCain and John Sidney III. Youthful rebellion seemed encoded in their DNA."

With a large genetic component, ADHD is found primarily in males.

Perhaps frustrated by not being able to select friend Joe Lieberman as his running mate, McCain made the seemingly impulsive decision to choose Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. He'd met Palin once. No McCain staff checked with anyone in the Alaska State Legislature or business community. There was no FBI background check.

Now the Couric interviews of Governor Palin reveal what many suspected. This hockey mom vice presidential candidate might actually believe she has foreign policy qualifications because her state borders on two foreign countries and she can see Russia from her coastline.

What about the current economic hurricane? On September 15, Senator McCain said, "The fundamentals of the economy are strong." Yet, that day the Dow nosedived 500 points. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Sunday the 21st, his proposed fix was to announce that if he were president, he would axe the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commisstion. There is a small problem. The president does not have that power.

The next day, September 22, he claimed he had laid out his plan to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and had been "looking at the plan that the administration has put forth." On Wednesday the 24th he conceded, "I have not had a chance to see it [the administration's three-pager] in writing." And, then he suspended his campaign.

"The more one sees of his impulsive, intensely personal reactions to people and events, the less confidence one has that he would select judges by calm reflection and clear principles, having neither patience nor aptitude for either." That came from conservative columnist George Will on September 23.

Yet no one connects the dots.

The next president must immediately confront enduring wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, covert wars in Pakistan, Georgia, Africa and elsewhere, radical Islam on innumerable fronts, Putin's belligerence, dangerous epidemics, global warming, a crippled United Nations, and on the home front a health care crisis with forty million uninsured, the deterioration of public schools, failures of energy policy, and a decaying infrastructure. That is the short list. There will be more on the next president's plate come January.

Some might celebrate an ADHD president. He might pursue new ideas-- perhaps novel solutions to the financial crisis or creative ways of dealing with an ascendant China. On the other hand, America has already received international scorn for unilateral military action. Is impulsiveness a good trait for someone with his hands on nuclear launch codes?

In his 2002 memoir Senator McCain said, "Often my haste is a mistake, but I live with the consequences without complaint." Can we?

The author is a psychiatrist and an Obama/Biden supporter.

#

And Obama is a compulsive liar. his grandfather freed aushwitz? He never heard Rev Wright say anything racist? The list goes on and on.

Maybe the reason you like Obama is because when he gets universal health care you will get to bill the taxpayer for all the whining you have to listen to from spolied americans who think they are owed everything.

Personally I want a man in the white house that isn't afriad to stand up to somebody.

Maybe next week we can get a chiropracter to write an essay linking bad posture and military brilliance.

posted by freud at 10/2/2008 10:07:43 AM

As a former Coordinator for a large chapter of CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) I appreciate the balanced treatment given to ADHD and the speculation regarding John McCain.

However, while I'm not a physician or other professional with the ability to diagnose ADHD, I have to respectfully disagree with the analysis and conclusion that McCain might have ADHD. I'll leave it to neurologists (or additional psychiatrists) to better match McCain's behavior with possible diseases or conditions. However, let's consider whether it's ADHD.

Impulsivity? Yes, that can be a symptom. Many people with ADHD are weak in the "executive functioning" component.

Easily distracted? Yes, particularly for the inattentive variant of ADHD. Not so much for the hyperactive variant of ADHD.

Gets into fights? Yes, but. People with ADHD get into fights not because they're pugnatious or combative. Rather, they have difficulty picking up cues, especially non-verbal cues, from others. Very often, they're picked on; they sometimes come aross as clueless. They have more difficulty telling when people are getting frustrated with them. And that's where the problems arise with the McCain-ADHD linkage. McCain is hot-tempered. He doesn't have difficulty picking up social cues. So, in this case, I don't think his anger supports the diagnosis of ADHD.

Thomson writes: "he cancelled an appearance on David Letterman's CBS show Late Night and lied to Letterman about an immediate need to catch a plane to Washington. He then trots off to be interviewed by Katie Couric." People with ADHD aren't any less truthful than others. And if McCain lied, that indicates planning, not impulsivity. Not an ADHD trait.

The article continues: ""McCain frequently forgets key elements of policies, gets countries' names wrong, forgets things he's said only hours or days before, and is frequently just confused," writes Frank Rich August 17, in which he explains why the McCain campaign has stopped the press's previously unimpeded access to Senator McCain on the formerly free-wheeling "Straight Talk Express" campaign bus."

Umm... It's not an ADHD trait to be "just confused" or "forgets things he's said only hours...before." Let's just say that a nerologist might have a more accurate diagnosis of these symptoms. But they're not typical of ADHD.

The article notes: "In his acceptance speech at the Republican national convention, McCain said he liked to "pick a few fights for the fun of it." Michael Leahy's August 31 profile of Senator McCain's formative years in The Washington Post opens with an account of a McCain fight in a park near Georgetown." People with ADHD aren't particularly likely to be bullies. In fact, they're far more likely to be victims of bullies.

Actually, McCain's behavior may come closer to ODD-Oppositional Defiant Disorder. From the Mayo Clinic's Web site ( http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/oppositio...ECTION=symptoms ), people with ODD might show these symptoms:

Frequent temper tantrums

Argumentativeness with adults

Refusal to comply with adult requests or rules

Deliberate annoyance of other people

Blaming others for mistakes or misbehavior

Acting touchy and easily annoyed

Anger and resentment

Spiteful or vindictive behavior

Aggressiveness toward peers

Difficulty maintaining friendships

Academic problems

That fits McCain at least as well as a diagnosis of ADHD.

Nevertheless, congratulations again on a well-thought out and presented article

posted by Don Tepper at 10/2/2008 5:19:02 PM

I have been diagnosed with DCWTDCUWNTMTABOM.

a/k/a Don't Care What Term Doctors Come Up With Next To Make Themselves A Boatload Of Money.

[Medhb]

Watch out, Sarah Palin is getting whiny..........

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/03/p...c_n_131655.html

So, let me get this straight. She was annoyed because Katie Couric was asking hardball questions that were designed to put her in a lose-lose situation. You know, hardball questions like "What newspaper do you read?"

Additionally, it would seem she also had a problem with how Katie Couric wouldn't let her ramble on incoherently for eons until she finally got to the point where she was able to verbally thrash Barack Obama.

So, what? Was she expecting the questions to be phrased like, "So tell me Sarah. Do you think Barack Obama hates America very much, and do you believe he's a ruthless terrorist waiting to savage honest hard working hockey mom's like yourself?"

News flash, Sarah. No one is required to hand you this election on a silver platter. Some people actually want to know what they're getting out of their candidates.

OMG! That is toooo funny! Does anyone see the irony in her statements? She lists a half a dozen things she wanted to discuss...every single one of them being things Obama has said that she wanted to shoot down. THEN in the last sentence she says "I just want to let the American people see what we stand for"

Ummmm, I guess she just stands for standing AGAINST everything Obama has ever said or done.

[~tangerine~]

Are you sure that you are not talking about that goof ball Biden??

Is there some reason why you couldn't understand the article? Oh yeah, nevermind, i already know why.

[Electrophile]

OMG! That is toooo funny! Does anyone see the irony in her statements? She lists a half a dozen things she wanted to discuss...every single one of them being things Obama has said that she wanted to shoot down. THEN in the last sentence she says "I just want to let the American people see what we stand for"

Ummmm, I guess she just stands for standing AGAINST everything Obama has ever said or done.

I don't think Sarah Palin understands much of anything. When CBS aired that clip of her unable to name another case besides Roe v. Wade that she disagreed with, the first thing that popped to my mind was Exxon v. Baker. The case that lowered the settlements dispersed as a result of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. She was on record no more than 2 months ago, railing against that decision. How could she have forgotten it? Or better yet, why didn't she say Plessy v. Ferguson? You know, "separate but equal"? The one that was overturned in Brown v. Board of Education? I think that's something to disagree with, no?

She's just intellectually incurious. That's not a problem, a lot of people are. But when you want to be Vice President, it is a problem.

[~tangerine~]

I must admit that your rants are so narrow minded and long winded that I skim through them. In my haste, it seemed like they had to be talking about the guy that sticks his foot in his mouth daily. You know, your heroe................."Say it ain't so Biden". But it is the media, so I should have realized that they would be attacking Sarah and giving old Joe the free ride that they have been giving him for all these years.

Oh sorry, like the article suggests, you too must be ailed by the same symptoms as MCAttention Deficit Disorder John McCain. I know, too many words hurt your little brain. Something you have so much in common with George and Sarah Stupid.

edit for typo

Edited October 5, 2008 by ~tangerine~

[THE FIRST LEDZEP]

John McCain Rocks

[THE FIRST LEDZEP]

Republicans Rock

[~tangerine~]

No, it's just your words. They are BOARING!!!!!!!! Unless of course you are talking about saving all your little animal friends.

No, it's just you have a tiny mind.

[Electrophile]

No, it's just you have a tiny mind.

Kindly tell him that the word is spelled "boring". If you're going to chastise someone for being none-too-bright, please make sure you spell all the words in that post correctly.

[~tangerine~]

Kindly tell him that the word is spelled "boring". If you're going to chastise someone for being none-too-bright, please make sure you spell all the words in that post correctly.

I have a hard time being kind to him, lol.

[~tangerine~]

You would only be nice to me if I were a furry little animal.

I would only be nice to you if you were a HUMAN.

[I have got a horsey]

You would only be nice to me if I were a furry little animal.

No people would be nice to you if you were nice to them

[Electrophile]

This is all you need to know about Sarah Palin:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/05/p...t_n_131967.html

At a rally today in California, Gov. Sarah Palin offered up a rather jarring argument for supporting the Republican ticket. "There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't support other women," the Alaska Governor said, claiming she was quoting former Clinton Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Okay. Fine. I already knew I was going to hell anyway, now I have another reason.

[~tangerine~]

This is all you need to know about Sarah Palin:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/05/p...t_n_131967.html

Okay. Fine. I already knew I was going to hell anyway, now I have another reason.

There's a spot waiting for her in a nearby State Hospital. She is certifiable.

[Medhb]

There's a spot waiting for her in a nearby State Hospital. She is certifiable.

This woman is simply frightening...can anyone say Aryan Nation?!

[~tangerine~]

This woman is simply frightening...can anyone say Aryan Nation?!

Every day we find out more disturbing information about her.

[Mary Hartman]

This woman is simply frightening...can anyone say Aryan Nation?!

Newcuelar?

[Del Zeppnile]

Newcuelar?

On Sarah Palin's pronunciation of 'nuclear':

Turns out that General Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Watler Mondale as well as George W. Bush say it the same way. And given that Jimmy Carter had a degree in physics and worked on Nuclear Submarines when he was in the United States Navy, I don't see why everyone wants to pick on Sarah Palin, a hockey mom from Alaska, for saying it the same way.

Is there no limit to how much you liberal nutters are afraid of this woman's popularity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucular

[Lake of Shadows]

No, it's just your words. They are BOARING!!!!!!!! Unless of course you are talking about saving all your little animal friends.

Look who is calling whom a pig.

[alucard]

Maybe he's really a redneck from Arkansas.

[Electrophile]

Sarah Palin has an interesting theory about freedom of the press:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/.../964/231/621158

Is she seriously trying to say that media is abusing the "privilege" of free speech? First of all, freedom of speech is not a "privilege". It's a right. Same could be said for freedom of the press. I swear this is more continued butthurt from her over that Katie Couric interview. Perhaps if she didn't want all of America thinking she was an idiot, she shouldn't have come off like one.