As our Nation experiences the political cycle of yet another Presidential election, I am growing increasingly fascinated by what is unfolding in the Vice Presidential nomination of Sarah Palin.

While I maintain my own opinions, virtues, values and political passions, for the purpose of this essay, I will do my best to set aside politics (specifically issues and policies) in an effort to offer a less “political” analysis regarding the enormous significance of John McCain selecting Sarah Palin as his running mate.

To begin this analysis, let me first point out that I am both astonished and surprised that more people have not yet shed light on the growing possibility of Sarah Palin being President of the United States of America. To explain how easily this may come true, I will explore the age, health and mortality of John McCain. And while I must explicitly state that I sincerely wish no ill health or harm to John McCain, I believe we must give more attention to the fact that his health plays a major and prominent role in this election. Let me elaborate…

Maybe you’ve seen the comedically entertaining website, Things Younger Than John McCain, where they lightly poke fun at just how old John McCain really is. Yes, it’s true, John McCain is 72 years old. For the record, both of my Grandmothers are older than McCain, and all things considered (hip replacements, knee replacements, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, severe arthritis, hearing loss, minor heart trouble, occasional memory lapse and general slowing and fatigue), they’re doing relatively well.

As this silly website examines, here is a short list of things younger than John McCain:

• Duct Tape
• Penicillin
• The Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
• Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
• Cheerios
• The Zip Code
• Keith Richards
• Ronald Reagan (when he was elected President)
  
• The Grapes of Wrath (Classic Novel)

Yes, it’s true. Senator John McCain is older than this list of old things, and for a more entertaining exploration of such things, visit the website for yourself: www.thingsyoungerthanjohnmccain.com.

And that’s not all. John McCain is also older than all of the following countries:

• Ethiopia
• Kenya
• Libya
• Morocco
• Bahamas
• Belize
• Jamaica
• China (Yes, The People’s Republic of China gained sovereignty in 1949, ending the Chinese Civil War)
• India
• Iran
• Israel
• Korea, North
• Korea, South
• Kuwait
• Pakistan
• Philippines
• Singapore
• Syria
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Bosnia
• Iceland
• Italy
• Fiji
• Australia
• Russia

Note: This is a partial list, as there are just way too many countries to list them all. I tried to use the most recognizable ones. This list represents countries that became sovereign, independent nations as we know and acknowledge them today – ALL gaining their current sovereign and independent status AFTER John McCain was born in 1936. [Reference5]

Okay, okay… Enough fun and games about how incredibly old John McCain is. Now, let’s get serious and examine what this really means in terms of how his health and age will truly affect his potential Presidency.

For American men born in the 1930’s, the average life expectancy is about 58 years. [Reference2] Being that John McCain is 72 years-old, it’s important to take note that he is already 14 years past his own life expectancy.

Now remember, at age 69 (three years younger than McCain), Ronald Reagan is the oldest President to take office in our Nation’s history. And as I recall, he took a fair amount of criticism for being too old, aloof, and out of touch with the American people, especially in his second term. During the Iran-Contra Affair, Regan notoriously had “no recollection” on many key events and dates that could have increased his responsibility in the scandal.

Regarding John McCain’s age and the fact that he is significantly past his own average life expectancy, I would now like to examine his general health more in depth, in hopes of gaining a better perspective of other contributing factors that could adversely affect his mortality while in office.

Maybe most important, we should consider all of the extreme abuse (both physical and mental) that he has endured throughout his life. I assume we are all well aware of John McCain’s heroic, while miserable story as a Prisoner of War during the Vietnam War. Here are some highlights of the abuse and injury he experienced:

• Shot down by a missile over Hanoi. he fractured both arms and a leg, and then nearly drowned.
• After he regained consciousness, some North Vietnamese pulled him ashore, and an angry crowd crushed his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayoneted him twice, once in the ankle and once in the groin.
• Although McCain was badly wounded, his captors refused to treat his injuries, instead beating and interrogating him to get information.
• Eventually, McCain spent six weeks in a Vietnamese hospital, receiving marginal care.
• Having lost 50 pounds, in a chest cast, and with his hair suddenly turned white, McCain was sent to a different camp on the outskirts of Hanoi in December 1967, into a cell with two other Americans who did not expect him to live a week.
• Next, he was put into solitary confinement, where he would remain for two years, maintaining life in dirty, abusive, inhumane conditions.
• Next, a program of severe torture began, where he was subjected to rope bindings and repeated beatings every two hours, at the same time as he was suffering from dysentery.
• Further injuries led to a suicide attempt, which was stopped by guards.

While many are aware of McCain’s unfathomable plight of survival as a Prisoner of War, few are aware that he had experienced four other airplane accidents previously:

• Soon after graduating from the Naval Academy in 1958, McCain’s plane dove into the water near Texas. Knocked unconscious, he woke up as the aircraft settled on the bottom and he swam to the surface.
• McCain ejected from another plane near the Maryland coast in December 1965 when the engine died. McCain was also lucky to escape with his life on July 29, 1967.
• He was sitting in the cockpit of his A-4E Skyhawk on the deck of the USS Forrestal off Vietnam when a missile on another plane accidentally discharged, striking his plane. He dove out of the cockpit through flames. Fire engulfed the Forrestal, nearly sinking her, and killing 134 men. McCain was hit with shrapnel in the legs and chest, but recovered.
• Another documented accident involves snapping some power lines in Spain, while flying too low. [Reference3]

Equally as important when considering John McCain’s health and mortality, one should consider the real and undeniable fact that he’s battled melanoma cancer in recent years. In fact, John McCain had three of his four skin cancers removed (including malignant melanoma), as well as lymph nodes and part of a salivary gland. [Reference1]. With all due respect to Mr. McCain and his family, and as very unfortunate and terrifying as this may be, these are all facts that I would like to consider when electing the most powerful leader of the world.

So how healthy is John McCain? What role does his age and mortality play in this Presidential election?  Given his risky health and medical history, how much can one count on him surviving a full-term as President? Why should we care?

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Sarah Palin.

IF John McCain is elected President of the United States, and in the unfortunate scenario where he were to fall ill, become incapacitated or die… at a young age of only 44, Sarah Palin will instantaneously become the most powerful leader and decision maker in the world, sans no one.

Here is an abbreviated summary of her qualifications and life:

• 44 years old, born in Idaho, raised and resides in Alaska.
• Wife of Todd Palin – works for BP as an oil-field production operator and owns a commercial fishing business.
• Mother of five. Children: Oldest (son) recently deployed to Iraq; Next oldest (daughter, 17 years-old) is 5 months pregnant; youngest child has Down syndrome (born April 2008).
• In 1984, Palin won the Miss Wasilla Pageant, then finished third in the Miss Alaska pageant, at which she won a college scholarship and the “Miss Congeniality” award. Palin admits to smoking cannabis as a youth^, though she says she did not enjoy it.
• Palin graduated from the University of Idaho in 1987, earning a Bachelor of Science in communications-journalism.
• In 1988, she worked as a sports reporter for KTUU-TV in Anchorage, Alaska. Palin repeatedly applied for employment with television cable network, ESPN, but was not interviewed for any openings.
• In 1992, Palin was elected to the Wasilla, Alaska City Council and was reelected three years later.
• In 1996, she was elected mayor, and was reelected in 1999 with 73.6% of the vote. NOTE: The population of Wasilla, Alaska is 7,025. This is a little bigger than the size of the student body at my alma mater, Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon.
• In 2002, Palin ran for Lieutenant Governor of Alaska and lost in the Republican primary.
• Four years later, Palin ran for Governor of Alaska and won, garnering roughly 50% of the vote in the Republican primary. In the general election, she defeated Democratic nominee Tony Knowles, 48% to 41%.
• Sarah Palin has served as Governor of the State of Alaska, the 47th most populated State, boasting a population of 683,478. [Reference6] She’s been the Governor of Alaska for about 20 months. NOTE: My great city of Portland, Oregon has a population of 2,159,720 people living in the combined greater Portland metro area.
• Odds and ends: Sarah has apparently named her children for circumstances occurring in her life during the time of her pregnancies. For instance, a dedicated runner, she named her older son Track because he was born during that sport’s season 18 years ago. [Reference7]. Another interesting fact is that Palin returned to work only three days after giving birth to her youngest (now only 5 months old) child. [Reference8]

In summary, while I believe that Sarah Palin has accomplished a lot for a young woman and is certainly on a path to being a wonderful leader and politician, I simply cannot believe that she is in any way, shape or form ready, qualified or capable to lead the greatest and most powerful country in the world. In fact, if given some time and resources, I believe I could make a hearty list of more than 100 people that are more experienced, qualified and capable of leading this nation.

And, it’s important to note that the President of the U.S.A doesn’t need to die or be comatose to have the Vice President take over the Presidential powers. Did you know that Vice President George Bush Sr. assumed Presidential powers for Ronald Reagan when President Regan underwent surgery to have cancerous polyps removed from his colon in 1985? For more info on the power of a Vice President as the “Acting President”, go here: Wikipedia.

Moreover, with the high or relative risk of John McCain’s health and mortality (if elected President), I find the selection of Sarah Palin as a legitimate Vice Presidential nominee to be an embarassment and an insult to the people of the United States of America. At this point, I have not yet concluded if this is a more desperate move or a more psychologically political move, but in any event, I hope more people take note of both how ridiculously old John McCain is and how ridiculously inexperienced, under-qualified and incapable Sarah Palin to assume the role of President of the United States – which is a key component and responsibility of every Vice President in office.

And in an attempt to fool the American people, they’ve only given us about 8 weeks to examine and research who this “Sarah Palin” candidate really is – hoping to sneak her by as a legitimate replacement candidate for those feeling disenfranchised by the unsuccessful run of Hillary Clinton. Wow.

I recently found this short video clip of an interview where actor, Matt Damon, quite eloquently describes nearly EXACTLY how I feel about this issue:

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