John McCain has led a colorful life. The son of a Navy admiral, he served in Vietnam (a hell of a lot longer than John Kerry) and spent 4 years as a POW in the Hanoi Hilton. What actually happened while he was a captive will never be known. Whether he suffered torture or got special treatment in exchange for cooperating with his enemies is for other people to say.
What is known is that when he returned to civilian life he married a wealthy beer heiress, was elected to the House of Representatives, and later became a senator. He became one of the democrats’ best allies, nearly always siding with them on any important legislation. He handed the presidency to Barack Obama in 2008 and delights in going on television to trash his own party.
Although he has continually angered and frustrated conservatives, he now faces the fight of his life against a formidable foe. It’s a form of cancer called glioblastoma. It was discovered during a minor surgical procedure.
About 20,000 people in the U.S. each year are diagnosed with a glioblastoma. The American Cancer Society puts the five-year survival rate for patients over 55 at about 4 percent.
Because glioblastomas can grow rapidly, the most common symptoms are usually caused by increased pressure in the brain. These symptoms can include headache, nausea, vomiting, and drowsiness.
Glioblastoma can be difficult to treat because the tumors contain so many different types of cells, the association says.
As expected, the tributes have poured in for the senator from all over. Fortunately, he has the best healthcare on the planet, but cancer does not discriminate when it comes to its victims. My grandson Tyler is eight years old and has been doing battle with it for almost two years.
Sen. John McCain diagnosed with malignant brain tumor
In a statement, McConnell said: “John McCain is a hero to our Conference and a hero to our country. He has never shied from a fight and I know that he will face this challenge with the same extraordinary courage that has characterized his life. The entire Senate family’s prayers are with John, Cindy and his family, his staff, and the people of Arizona he represents so well.”
http://tucson.com/news/local/sen-john-mccain-diagnosed-with-malignant-brain-tumor/article_e8277172-6cde-11e7-baba-3bd459ef9b97.html
I MENTIONED THE “MAINE PAIN” YESTERDAY
ONCE A POLITICIAN HAS SERVED A COUPLE TERMS HIS POSITION IS PRETTY MUCH GUARANTEED IN PERPETUITY. BOTH PARTIES HAVE DEPENDED ON THEIR VOTERS’ LOYALTY FOR DECADES. (THEY WOULDN’T DARE NOT VOTE FOR US, WOULD THEY?)
A homeowner in rural Glenoma in Lewis County got a big shock Monday morning when he awoke and found a stranger sitting at his kitchen table calmly eating a bowl of cereal. A few minutes later, the stranger found himself hog-tied along the roadside after he tried to flee.
Mitch McConnell no doubt breathed a sigh of relief when John McCain’s surgery gave him an excuse to postpone a vote on the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA). Now that Senators Rand Paul and Susan Collins have made it abundantly clear that no concession or reasonable argument will persuade them to do the right thing on Obamacare, every remaining GOP Senator has to support BCRA in order to get the bill passed. And it was by no means certain that McConnell had enough votes to accomplish that even with McCain present. Why? The GOP has become the party of poltroons.
GOP leadership hoped to vote on the bill this week, but Republicans need McCain to gain a majority as two GOP lawmakers have already come out against the revised draft. Moderate Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and conservative Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky both oppose the bill and have said they would not vote to even begin debate on the legislation. Six other Senators remain undecided.
The current path of the Senate bill has plenty of obstacles, including the sheer inertia of the ObamaCare status quo and the fact that no one has made the public case for the Republican legislation. But the effort also suffers from a mismatch between the longtime public posture of Republicans (ObamaCare must and will be fully repealed) and their private misgivings (do we really have to do this, even partially?).
ONE CONSTANT IN EVERY EFFORT TO REPLACE OR REPEAL THE HEALTHCARE ACT IS THE MAINE PAIN,FLOOZY SUSY COLLINS,WHO ONCE FORMED THE DYNAMIC DUO WITH OLYMPIA SNOWE.NOW SHE’S JUST THE BIGGEST RINO PAIN-IN-THE-ASS IN WASHINGTON.SHE HAS NEVER,TO MY KNOWLEDGE,VOTED WITH THE REPUBLICANS IF THERE WAS THE SLIGHTEST POLITICAL RISK INVOLVED.
President Donald J. Trump is calling on congressional Republicans to drop their failed efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare in one fell swoop and instead pass a clean repeal of the failed health care overhaul from the previous administration now and push through a bipartisan replacement plan later.
polination.blog 