Fourth Time’s The Charm: McCain Releases Medical Records After Three-Month Delay
Fourth Time’s The Charm: McCain Releases Medical Records After Three-Month Delay
This morning, the McCain campaign finally released Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) health records. The delayed disclosure comes on the heels of three broken pledges to release the senator’s health documents and contrasts sharply with the way McCain released his records during the 2000 campaign. In fact, while McCain proudly disclosed “1,500 pages of medical and psychiatric records” in 1999 and gave journalists “direct access” to his personal physician, he has circulated “precious little medical information” after being diagnosed and undergoing surgery for melanoma in August 2000:
At least three times since March 2007, campaign officials have told The New York Times that they would provide the detailed information about his current state of health, but they have not done so. The campaign now says it expects to release the information in April.
McCain’s secrecy and reluctance to discuss his health has raised several eyebrows among medical doctors. While repeatedly claiming to be in “excellent” health, McCain has delayed the release of his records. During an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes in March, McCain promised to release his medical records in April:
PELLEY: At 71 years old, McCain’s health has been an issue. After his presidential race in 2000, he was diagnosed with the most lethal form of skin cancer. How’s your health?
MCCAIN: It’s excellent. It’s excellent, excellent. Thank you. And we’ll be doing the medical records thing with the media sometime in the next month or two.
PELLEY: There has been some criticism that you have not released your medical records.
MCCAIN: Mm-hmm.
PELLEY: You’re saying in this interview that you’re about to do that.
MCCAIN: Oh, I will do it in the next month or so, yeah.
Two months later, the records are out. But today’s release comes with certain caveats that were missing from his previous disclosure. Rather than allowing full and open access to all interested media organizations, McCain is releasing some of his records to a select group of reporters who “can neither photocopy nor keep the documents”; they will only “be allowed to take notes from the records.”
McCain’s handpicked reporters will have to scribble fast, but the senator may change his mind before they finish. Just eight days ago, during a campaign event in Columbus, Ohio, McCain promised that his “administration will set a new standard for transparency and accountability.” Today’s holiday weekend document dump suggests that McCain may continue Bush’s secretive ways.
UPDATE: The Huffington Post notes: “Notably absent from the list is the New York Times. Could this have anything to do with [who] wrote the paper’s controversial article about McCain’s ties to lobbyist Vicki Iseman?”
7 Responses to “Fourth Time’s The Charm: McCain Releases Medical Records After Three-Month Delay”
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McCain promised that his “administration will set a new standard for transparency and accountability.”
What new standard? The most opaque transparency there ever was.
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:18 pmI’m a little confused about McCains document dump. Just yesterday, it was reported that just 400 pages would be released and today we find that nearly three times that were produced.
Given that he has never produced psychiatric files or prescription information just how big are his medical files anyway?
From the New York Times today:
“The details of McCain’s health are contained in 1,173 pages of medical documents spanning 2000 to 2008 that his campaign made available to the AP to make the case that he’s healthy enough to serve as president, as well as to counter the notion that he’s too old.”
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:33 pm“McCain’s most recent exams show a range of health issues common in aging: He frequently has precancerous skin lesions removed, and in February had an early stage squamous cell carcinoma, an easily cured skin cancer, removed. He had benign colon growths called polyps taken out during a routine colonoscopy in March.”
Whatever conclusion is drawn by the small cadre of selected journalists who get two hours to thumb through these records, one thing is clear, A man who frequently has precancerous skin lesions removed and has a medical file bigger than a phone book, who has easily cured skin cancer removed in February, and is diagnosed with benign colon polyps in March, is only fooling himself and would be better served spending the rest of his life carefully monitoring his own obviously failing health.
You leftards have to tell me…..
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:42 pmHow does it feel to wake up every day pissedoff and hating your country????
Correction
That’s 1,173 plus the 1,500 pages he divulged in his last run at the White House, and not including his psychiatric or prescription info.
In a word WOW.
Either McCain is much more unhealthy than we will ever know, or he has the most exclusive health care plan in existence, one the rest of us can only dream about.
The conclusion I draw, is that McCain is not worthy of the Presidency, or this is evidence that he is the supreme elitist that he accuses everyone else of being.
Which one is it?
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:01 pmIt feels . . . . good?
I guess you’ll get used to it over the next 8 years huh bobby boy?
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:02 pmWhat John Kennedy said about government secrecy says it all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkryNyxlubY
jpopplewell
Patriotism is not about loving your government,
May 24th, 2008 at 5:44 pmit is about loving your country.
Aside from AP reporters, who else was given access to the files and what is the campaign stating as their reason for the short time period for viewing the files? The framing capabilities of the GOP is very interesting to me. It’s amazing how using the correct phrases in the media allows you to get away with so much.
Additionally, being critical and having hatred are two different things.
<3
May 26th, 2008 at 11:38 am