Two Three Reasons Sarah Palin Should Not Be Vice President

No reasons so far why Sarah Palin would be qualified to be president--aside from a claim that she shares a hairdresser with Amy Winehouse. And a bunch of big negatives are flooding in. The biggest surround the fact that John McCain stands at least one chance in five of dying over the next four years and that she would then become president. Here are three:

Sarah Palin's Abuse-of-Power Scandal ("Will No One Rid Me of This Meddlesome State Trooper?" Department)

One of them is her firing of Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monega for no reason anybody can explain--except for the likelihood that Monega had not obeyed her staff's demand to fire State Trouper Mike Wooten, Palin's ex-brother-in-law.

Now Palin's story is that she had absolutely nothing to do with her aide Frank Bailey's demands that Monega fire Wooten.

That story didn't fly when Henry II Plantagenet tried it after the murder of Archbishop Thomas:

Palin's the One: So now we've learned that Sarah Palin is McCain's choice for nominee. I have to say. It's a daring pick but I think a very weak pick. I'm perfectly happy with it. Palin is in the midst of a reasonably serious scandal in her home state. Her brother-in-law is a state trooper who is in the midst of an ugly custody battle with her sister. And she's accused of getting the state police to fire him. Recently she was forced to admit that one of her aides had done this, though she insists she didn't know.... John McCain... a cancer survivor who turns 72 years old today, is picking a vice presidential nominee who has been governor of a small state for less than two years and prior to that was mayor of a town with roughly one-twenty-seventh of the citizens that Barack Obama represented when he was a state senator in Illinois...

Sarah Palin Lies in Her First Speech:

The second is the fact that she could not get through her first speech without telling a lie:

Anchorage Daily News, 10/5/06: Palin Said She Supported The So-Called "Bridge To Nowhere," But Was Concerned Money "Flow" Was "Going to Slow":

As for the infamous 'bridges to nowhere,' MacDonald asked if the candidates would forge ahead with the proposed Knik Arm crossing between Anchorage and Point MacKenzie and Ketchikan's Gravina Island bridge. Each has received more than $90 million in federal funding and drew nationwide attacks as being unnecessary and expensive. He also asked if they support building an access road from Juneau toward -- but not completely connecting to -- Skagway and Haines. 'I do support the infrastructure projects that are on tap here in the state of Alaska that our congressional delegations worked hard for,' Palin said. She said the projects link communities and create jobs. Still, Palin warned that the flow of federal money into the state for such projects is going to slow...

MSNBC, 8/29/08 Palin: "I Told Congress 'Thanks But No Thanks' On That Bridge To Nowhere":

During her speech in Dayton, Ohio, after being introduced as McCain's running mate, Palin said, "I told Congress 'thanks but no thanks' on that bridge to nowhere. If our state wanted a bridge, I said, 'we'd build it ourselves.'

Sarah Palin Believes Sarah Palin Is Unqualified

"Out of the realm of possibility" for her to be vice president, so she "doesn't have to worry about it":

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I'm still open to hear reasons why she would be likely to make a good president.

Not someone you want a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Comments

[Neal]

It's the original maverick's way of trangulating. The assumption is ovaries vote for ovaries. On the radio, they just said she "changes the entire biology" of the race.

Qualifications to be president don't matter one bit in this. Triangulation--not qualifications.

[Neal]

By the way, when has a tendency for petty revenge been a disqualification for a Republican politician?

But she is pro-oil, pro-drilling, pro ANWAR development, pro "drill our way out of this". What's not to love from the conventional energy suppliers?

[David Lloyd-Jones]

.


Obviously they're bought into the Republican machine story that there are hordes of Hillary's supporters to be picked up with an slight gesture.

I think they're nuts -- and I know Hillary's people pretty well. E.g. one of my greatest pleasures in life so far was walking, well no, strutting, through Washington National, now Ronald Reagan, and hearing the late and excellent Florence Kennedy scream across the rotunda "David Lloyd-Jones. There goes David Lloyd-JONES!!!" So I joined her and her lady-friend for a few drinks and she brought me up to date on what was happenning. At that time it was the Equal Rights Amendment.

My own *real* opinion is that everything in the ERA is already covered by the 13th and 14th Amendments, but in order to keep peace in the house with my then wife, the excellent Susie Schmidt, I helped out with their campaign to the small extent that I could.

Angry Hillary supporters are an almost null set: we know that she's more valuable in the Senate than she could possibly be as Vice-President, and she'll have another shot at the brass ring in four, or we hope eight, years.

Thus I think McCain's gambit -- which can easily be seen as condescending to women, like way to go tailhooker -- ain't gonna work out for him.



.

[anne]

"The assumption is ovaries vote for ovaries."

Remember, be very, very nasty. I get all tingly over this kind of nastiness.

[anne]

David Lloyd-Jones, thank you so much. I am just thrilled at the kindness. Such generosity is startling. My oh my.

[Neal]

Anne--

I'm not trying to be nasty, just reductive. I am reducing the apparently off-the-wall choice to it's most immediately apparent reason. The most apparent reason is her sex and McCain's desire to have former Clinton supporters vote for him because he has a woman as a running mate.

What is your assumption as to why McCain (Republican powers, actually) selected Palin?

Do you think it had to do with "changing the biology of the race", as was stated by a reporter on public radio a few minutes ago?

Or what?

I would really like to know.

[Sam Penrose]

This pick reminds me of George H.W. Bush's pick of Clarence Thomas.

[Michael Drake]

Jay Nordlinger provides another reason:

Sarah Palin: “It turns out that the women in America aren’t finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling.”

Jay Nordlinger: "Did Margaret Thatcher ever go on and on about how she was a woman? Or kvetch about glass ceilings? Did Indira Gandhi? Did Golda Meir? Didn’t they all just get on with it? I thought that [Palin's]* stress on her sex was unseemly — made her seem kind of affirmative-actiony, rather than a person who stands on her own two feet."

*Substitution salve veritate.

[Dirty Davey]

I don't know that it's simply a matter of going after the disaffected Hillary supporters. It's more about (a) keeping the social conservatives happy (they wouldn't have liked Lieberman or Ridge) while (b) getting the media excited and back on the "maverick" bandwagon (wouldn't have happened with Romney or Pawlenty).

Given the half-dozen or so final contenders, Palin is probably the one who helps the campaign the most.

Don't forget that the "experience" argument applied by the Republicans to Obama is a red herring--it isn't about his actual experience, it's about arguing that he's trying to get "above his station" and hoping to brand him as "uppity".

[bdbd]

it's double Teflon: can't "rough up" McCain (POW), can't "rough up" Palin (ovaries)

plus, over the past 8 years, McCain has seen what an experienced, informed, crafty and motivated VP can do to an administration, and wants to avoid chance of same.

[Anderson]

"Given the half-dozen or so final contenders, Palin is probably the one who helps the campaign the most."

Probably true. And remember, with the GOP, it's not about governing -- it's about campaigning.

That's why they win, do a terrible job, and then win again.

[nick]

serious question for Anne: can we not discuss the cynical deployment of gender by the Republicans without being in violation of feminist norms? One is of course free to find individual examples of such discussion to be in bad faith--but ruling out the possibility?

[esb]

This campaign and election will have nothing to do with the head and everything to do with the heart (or gut).

The mission of the McCain campaign proper will be to shift substantial numbers of white female votes. Due to the near sucess of HRC this is the perfect year for such a strategy.

The mission of the Republican leaning independent groups will be to enhance the Bradley effect. Frank Luntz is convinced that that effect in this election can be widened to five percent.

Spending by the independent groups in October (both D and R) will be so large that there will simply not be sufficient slots available to buy or mailbox space available to hold all of the hit pieces.

This election will have little or nothing to do with policy and everything to do with sex and race.

Frankly, I see this election as a maturity examination for the American people.

Pass or fail.

[anne]

I know, the problem is me, all me, only me, but I like the idea that John McCain would think a woman a sufficient help and well qualified to be Vice President. I thought McCain showed grace in the selection, but that is only me thinking about glass slippers or glass ladders or glass heads. Only me.

[anne]

Forgive me, I swear I will never ever again forever mention the word "glass." Not even if I forget the Windex. I will never ever mention glass again, and if I forget what Windex is, I will pantomime to buy some. I am so sorry.

Women are awful creatures and allowing them to vote was a mistake from the beginning. I know and am sorry. No transparent shiny hard brittle stuff being mentioned here. None. Forgive me.

[anne]

What I think would have been best was for Sarah Palin to have declined to run just because she is a woman. That would have shown a real manly character.

No transparent shiny hard brittle stuff being mentioned here. None. Forgive me. Don't look up.

[john]

Anne: The question isn't whether McCain would think a woman was sufficient help and well-qualified to be VP, the question is whether he thinks this particular woman is those things. And if not, then it's just a cynical ploy, as stated above. Given that Palin has been governor of a state with the population of Columbus, Ohio for 19 months, and before that mayor of a town of 9,000, it's hard to see why anyone would think she was well qualified to be VP, unless pretty much anyone with a few years of managerial experience in a typical medium-size company is also well qualified. So, either McCain doesn't really think she's well qualified, leading to the cynical ploy conclusion, or he thinks that there are hundreds of thousands of qualified people out there, the unimportant job conclusion, which seems to contradict the idea that any important glass ceiling is being broken here.

The latter is made more problematic by the very real probability, I've seen estimates from 15% to 30%, that McCain will die in office, in which case the VP becomes the P. So it's not just about qualified to be VP, it's also about qualified to be P, or he's just refusing to face the facts about his own age and health. And it's very hard to conclude from her resume, brief as it is, that she's well-qualified to be P. It would be great if McCain thought a woman was sufficient help and well qualified to be President, but it's simply not plausible that this particular woman is such a woman. So, either he's in denial about the real possibility that he's selecting someone who in two years will be president, or it's a cynical ploy.

Admittedly, after six years of being a VP, maybe she will be well-qualified, but maybe not too. 19 months as governor of Alaska is hardly enough for us to be able to judge her ability to learn and grow into a job that's a big step up from anything she's had before.

So, let's not confuse "a woman" with "this particular woman." I personally think Hillary was well-qualified to be President, and voted for her in the primary, but that does not mean I have to also think that Palin is well-qualified to be Vice-President.

[save_the_rustbelt]

I have to vote with Anne on this one, the left seems to have a resevoir of sexism held specially for GOP women. :))

Given that Obama was in the Senate about 6 minutes before he started to campaign sorta takes away that experience thing.

I'm not going to vote for McCain, but at least he made the race interesting.

[Brad DeLong]

Re: "What I think would have been best was for Sarah Palin to have declined to run just because she is a woman. That would have shown a real manly character. No transparent shiny hard brittle stuff being mentioned here. None. Forgive me. Don't look up..."

>NEWSWEEK's Karen Breslau shares a personal moment with the Alaska governor. Karen Breslau Newsweek Web Exclusive Updated: 2:11 PM ET Aug 29, 2008:
>
> When Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin arrived backstage for our NEWSWEEK Women & Leadership Event in Los Angeles last March.... Palin talked about... her feelings about Sen. Hillary Clinton. (She said she felt kind of bad she couldn't support a woman, but she didn't like Clinton's "whining.")...

[john]

Rockmelon - The Biden twice plagiarizing is a right-wing meme. What actually happened was he had a speech, which he gave quite a few times with slight variations, that had a quote from Neil Kinnock in it. In the written text as distributed Kinnock was cited as the source, and most of the time when Biden gave it he cited Kinnock as the source. Twice, he did not. As you may know, Biden, as do many other very good public speakers, almost always wanders some distance from the printed text of his speeches - he did so at the convention, for example - so failing to cite Kinnock on those two occasions seems more like an oversight while wandering from the prepared text than plagiarism.

The problem with Palin is not just that she (is suspected of having) tried to get the violent brother in law cop fired, it's that she (is suspected of) getting the supervisor fired because he wouldn't fire the cop without having some job-related reason to do so. That's, uh, not so good, if true. And what, may I ask, is "right" about that? You can go live in a dictatorship where the dictator hires and fires anyone in the government on the basis of who their family members like and dislike if you want, but the U.S.A. is not supposed to be such a place, and don't try to claim that it would be better if it were.

[bakho]

The 3 reasons why John McCain is not qualified to be president are more important.

1. Is clueless on economic policy and takes advice from social predators like Phil (Enron) Gramm. He is seemingly unaware of most domestic problems.
2. Has an anger problem, erupts inappropriately and makes emotional decisions that are often mistakes (VP choice). He is disliked by most of his senate colleagues, and people who have to work for him because on many, many occasions he has been disrespectful, belligerent, and vulgar to those who differ with him.
3. John McCain puts John McCain first. Republicans transparently choose Orwellian slogans (clear skies) that aim to obscure their shortcomings.

[Neal]

Reflexively supporting any and every female candidate is an example of....?

Reflexively opposing any and every female candidate is an example of...?

And the difference is....?

I didn't like Clinton enough to support her in the primaries, but I would have voted for her as a presidential candidate.

I think it's just fine that McCain picked Palin. He could pick Jenna Bush if he wanted. In fact I preferred that he picked a lighter weight woman than a more formidable, experienced woman.

[Maynard Handley]

"I know, the problem is me, all me, only me, but I like the idea that John McCain would think a woman a sufficient help and well qualified to be Vice President. I thought McCain showed grace in the selection, but that is only me thinking about glass slippers or glass ladders or glass heads. Only me."

shorter anne: Sarah Palin is the best GOP politician in the country to be VP. All the other GOP politicians, male or female, are even more vapid, more corrupt, more anti-social.

That's one hell of a lot of faith you have in your sisters there, anne. And it might be this "my gender, right or wrong, even when it is very patently wrong, even when the woman involved is vapid, corrupt, and aggressively anti-abortion" that is what pisses off people about your politics, not the gynophobia you see lurking in every shadow.

[nick]

your rhetoric is tactically brilliant, Anne--I can't possibly criticize it because any terms I choose would certainly overlap with genuinely anti-feminist rhetoric....

so I'll say: McCain chooses a woman whose positions on feminist issues, such as abortion, are terrible: chooses a woman, apparently, entirely for symbolic political value (strong American mother). and we can't criticize that choice? or if we do so, we're just looking for bad-faith excuses to spew misogynist filth?

[nick]

to have this woman offered up as a substitute for Hillary Clinton--which, in the game of politics, is absolutely what is going on here; this is puma bait--one could surely argue that the tactic should be pro-fucking-foundly insulting to women of geniunely great accomplishment...

[anne]

OMG! Criticize away, because that is precisely what is happening and I am so sorry if I created the slightest doubt the criticism is fine as peach fuzz. Criticize away, and the meaner the better because being subtle is lost on me and I want to understand each and every criticism.

Please do not worry about me, I will not only not mention any sort of popularly names silicon derivative but I will not even whine a bit because I am so learning to be manly.

[Maynard Handley]

"I will not only not mention any sort of popularly names silicon derivative"

???

[anne]

http://shakespeare.mit.edu/Tragedy/hamlet/hamlet.3.1.html

1601

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
By William Shakespeare

Act III. Scene I.

Elsinore. A room in the castle.

HAMLET

Ha, ha! are you honest?

OPHELIA

My lord?

HAMLET

Are you fair?

OPHELIA

What means your lordship?

HAMLET

That if you be honest and fair, your honesty should
admit no discourse to your beauty.

OPHELIA

Could beauty, my lord, have better commerce than
with honesty?

HAMLET

Ay, truly; for the power of beauty will sooner
transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the
force of honesty can translate beauty into his
likeness: this was sometime a paradox, but now the
time gives it proof. I did love you once.

OPHELIA

Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so.

HAMLET

You should not have believed me; for virtue cannot
so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of
it: I loved you not.

OPHELIA

I was the more deceived.

HAMLET

Get thee to a nunnery: why wouldst thou be a
breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest;
but yet I could accuse me of such things that it
were better my mother had not borne me: I am very
proud, revengeful, ambitious, with more offences at
my beck than I have thoughts to put them in,
imagination to give them shape, or time to act them
in. What should such fellows as I do crawling
between earth and heaven? We are arrant knaves,
all; believe none of us. Go thy ways to a nunnery.
Where's your father?

[anne]

Oh thank you for reminding me of the difference in women's accomplishments.

"I will not only not mention any sort of popularly named silicon derivative," since I am forbidden to use the g-word especially the g-word that has been alluded to by some in looking up and seeing, well, you know.

[anne]

http://shakespeare.mit.edu/Tragedy/hamlet/hamlet.3.1.html

HAMLET

If thou dost marry, I'll give thee this plague for
thy dowry: be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as
snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a
nunnery, go: farewell. Or, if thou wilt needs
marry, marry a fool; for wise men know well enough
what monsters you make of them. To a nunnery, go,
and quickly too. Farewell.

OPHELIA

O heavenly powers, restore him!

HAMLET

I have heard of your paintings too, well enough; God
has given you one face, and you make yourselves
another: you jig, you amble, and you lisp, and
nick-name God's creatures, and make your wantonness
your ignorance. Go to, I'll no more on't; it hath
made me mad. I say, we will have no more marriages:
those that are married already, all but one, shall
live; the rest shall keep as they are. To a
nunnery, go.

[john]

Way to address the substance of the comments, Anne. You really like your victimhood, don't you? It serves as a very annoying shield, I must admit. However, for those of us who want some, shall we say, intellectual quality to our debate, it obviously does not suffice - even you must see that even dating back to your first post there's nothing there but nasty cracks. Troll.

[nick]

anne, I hereby promise never to blot this comment box again--by all means continue to fill it up with the greatest hits of misogyny--there's some nice, lesser-known stuff in "Cymbeline"; google a character named "Posthumus"....

[Maynard Handley]

"I will not only not mention any sort of popularly named silicon derivative," since I am forbidden to use the g-word "

I still don't have a clue what you are talking about.
silicon derivatives are what? silicon chips? quartz and glass?
the g-word is god? guns? ghosts? groping?

[Barkley Rosser]

There are some GOP women McCain could have chosen who would clearly be
qualified to be prez, even if I disagree with them. At the top of the list is Meg Whitman, although she clearly would not go over with the social conservatives as Palin does. Two others would be Liddy Dole, who actually ran for president once, if I am not mistaken, and Kay Bailey Hutchinson.

Besides her social conservativism, Palin has the rather ugly problem of getting her ex-brother-in-law fired as a state trooper. Ugh. I am less bothered by her lack of experience, although, as noted, there are clearly some alternatives who look a lot more qualified, given that McCain clearly wanted to play the gender card (and, ironically, the word is that Obama did not select much more qualified Kathleen Sebelius because the die-hard Hillarians would have had several cows).

[Jim V]

Silicon derivate = glass, I think.

I'm hearing some things about Ms. Palin which I don't like, such as Intelligent Design supporter, but will wait to hear how she responds to them. I will certainly give her this: she could not be any more unqualified than GWB, and we have survived him thus far.

[anne]

I was thinking of the unmentionable "glass ceiling."

Nick, that was kind of you, seriously. I do not know Cymbeline, but will read the play today. Please do blot on, seriously.

[anne]

"...ironically, the word is that Obama did not select much more qualified Kathleen Sebelius because the die-hard Hillarians would have had several cows...."

I just love the delicacy.

[anne]

"You really like your victimhood, don't you? It serves as a very annoying shield, I must admit. However, for those of us who want some, shall we say, intellectual quality to our debate, it obviously does not suffice - even you must see that even dating back to your first post there's nothing there but nasty cracks."

John McCain for whatever reason, no matter the policy positions to come, did a fine and surprising symbolic thing. I am grateful, being a victim and all.

[johne]

Anne, I think that if John McCain had picked, say, Kay Bailey Hutchison, or Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, you would still hear plenty of cynicism here, perhaps some misogyny, but not quite the same dismissiveness.

Possibly related: relatively new and minority candidate, seasoned veep, seasoned candidate, relatively new and minority veep, both veeps from tiny states. Am I odd in noticing the symmetry?

[Old Ari]

Glass is a silicate derivative, a silicon derivative is a silane, or polymerized, silicone oil, or rubber.

[peter]

The selection of Gov. Palin shows McCain is not serious about government.

[RW]

bugly and johne both make good points: a) Sarah Palin may be relatively inexperienced and a right-wingnut to boot (anti-abortion, creationism, drill ANWR, pretty much the whole 9 yards) but she is not a light weight and b) the reciprocity in the moves of the two camps is quite palpable; jab, counter-jab.

I would also add that John McCain loves a zinger and I suspect the thought of demonstrating his maverickness while also kicking Democratic strategists into a tizzy (re)building their dossiers really tickled his fancy; no liesurely barbecue this holiday weekend for them! Of course the same could almost certainly be said of Ms. Palin: McCain has gotten a pass on most of his fibs and gaffes so far but it is not clear his cozy relationship with the DC press-corps will extend to his running mate.

[lboyd]

I just have to say I look forward to this campaign. If you can manage to do a "trooper gate" style gaffe in your first twenty months in office, the possibility of further entertainment and unintended humor is so high it actually might get me to pay very careful attention to the Republican campaign. This will be fun, in a sort of sick, train wreck watching sort of way.

[bns]

Whether we think this was a wise or unwise choice on the part of McCain, the comment on Sarah Palin sharing a hairdresser with Amy Winehouse was uncalled for. It's irrelevant. Let's focus on more serious issues, folks.

[elizabeth]

Here's my theory:

John McCain choose her for three reasons.

1) He liked her personally. He's big on that.
2) She appeases the right. She put her money where her mouth is and chose "life" .[ Personally I have some issues with the decision to have down's baby knowing you will be going back to work when baby is 3 days old...but that is another discussion]
3) She won't make him feel inadequate. He's big on that.

She is totally and utterly unqualified to be VP and certainly not ready for primetime.

I think this is very revealing about John McCain's character. Enough ambition to understand need to pander but not enough self-restraint to think before he acts (aka "maverick"), even when he should.

[Tuco]

I think Peter nails it. Obama demonstrated good leadership skills in selecting Biden with the thought of surrounding himself with people with the right experience with the thought of, you know, governing.

McCain's decision on the other hand is pure politics.

Project outward from here as to what their respective cabinets will look like and you get the picture.

[Jim]

After a morning and afternoon of mostly negatives about Palin, I turned on the radio and listened to Shields and Brooks on PBS Newshour discuss the choice. It was nothing like I had heard before. Shields (who I thought was a moderate to liberal Catholic Democrat but has always cut McCain alot of slack [”yes, he made that decision but you could tell he didn’t like having to do it because of his integrity and honor”] said that it was a great move because Palin as well as her husband are come from working class stock, he is Native American and works for BP in the north oil fields; women, particularly working class women, in the 35 to 54 age group will identify with her; re pro life Evangelicals, she has not just talked the talk about her stand against abortion, but chose to give birth at age 44 to a Down Syndrome baby, so she has walked the walk and evangelicals who were not thrilled with McCain will be thrilled with her. All and all, a “brilliant” Rovian move which makes me wonder if she would have been chosen if Hillary had been chosen to be Obama’s running mate? In the end the “masters of campaign strategy” picked someone (McCain had hardly met Palin at the time he chose her) for their ability to get the votes of the white working class women 35-54 without giving a whit about whether she is qualified to govern if McCain does not make it through his term. This is consistent with the Republicans ability to run great campaigns and govern horribly.

[PeterE]

An alternative hypothesis: The Republican establishment wants to lose the Presidential election, but perversely McCain continues to gain ground. They chose Palin, not because she'll win the votes of working class women, but because they want to guarantee McCain's defeat. But, alas, the Rovian strategies have succeeded. The working class could care less about its economic interests.

Maybe a hurricane will save the day. If FEMA makes a complete mess of disaster recovery, maybe enough of the working class will vote for Obama.

[Jerry]

"I just love the delicacy."

I agree. Some of this displays the same level of sensitivity as my platoon sergeant in basic training many years ago.

[Dilbert]

"So, Palin LIED while Biden, uh, exaggerated? Misspoke? Had a mental lapse?" - Mark

Palin is an unknown and her lie is fresh; Biden's so-called plagerism was simply a verbal oversight 20 years ago and he's since been re-elected several times, which speaks to the triviality of the trumped-up charge.

[RW]

"Palin is an unknown and her lie is fresh..."

And the Washington Post has already contacted the Safety Commissioner she fired who has confirmed both she and her husband attempted to influence him regarding the former brother in law (http://tinyurl.com/5ldjjy), she by emails which the former commission kept and the husband in person with the former brother in law's file in hand.

I don't believe the small world of Alaskan politics has prepared the Palin family for the kind of scrutiny and pressure they are about to experience in the big outside; e.g. http://tinyurl.com/6l6346

[DOWeber]

For what it's worth, the life expectancy of a 72-year-old male in the U.S. -- 2004 data -- is 12.01 years, and the probability of death in the year ahead is .032978, according to the Social Security Administration.

[grim_reaper]

But the 3% probability is for the *average* 72 year old. Despite having had a treatable form of cancer, a 'Real Age' doctor estimated from McCain's stats that his 'real age' is 63.

For all the talk about not getting mixed up with averages on this blog with respect to income, here is another case where it should be heavily downplayed.

[albrt]

Anne, I used to really appreciate your comments, but you have lost it. My rule: when one finds oneself responding to one's own posts repeatedly, one should consider a little time away form the forum.

[Arun]

But the 3% probability is for the *average* 72 year old. Despite having had a treatable form of cancer, a 'Real Age' doctor estimated from McCain's stats that his 'real age' is 63.

BS. The form of melanoma that McCain has can reappear any time; McCain has actually beaten the odds so far; but no guarantee of future performance. Talk to any oncologist if you don't believe me.