Dear Editor,
I’m getting older; I can’t do some things as well as I could when younger. It is not
because my mind is any less sharp, but because my body isn’t that of a twenty-one year old
anymore. It may not be noticeable yet, but in little ways I can tell I’m slowing down. I
cannot jog around the blocks like I use to be able to do. If I work too hard I have to stop and
catch my breath. I wonder if the honorable Sen. McCain, being the oldest candidate for US
President, notices such differences and what they might mean?
I can even notice little subtle changes. For example, when it comes to typing, my mind is
thinking faster than I can type, which may contribute to errors. For example, I know I’ve
seen the honorable Sen. McCain’s name in the media a thousand times over in the last year, but
somehow in an editorial I wrote recently, I typed it “McKane” instead of “McCain.”
Damn, if I keep doing that people are going to think I’m an idiot.
Aware of the fact that I’m not as young as I once was, and that my body is slowing down,
I wonder in
what ways McCain may not be as fit as he once was and how this might
effect
his being able to carry out the duties of President of the United
States? Would not we
really be better off with a younger person as our
President, as our Commander in Chief?
I blame my own typo of McCain’s
name on my fingers rather than my brain, for although I
touch type fast, my
brain is still speeding along much faster than I can possibly type.
I
wonder if McCain’s mind is still sharp? With me, it has always been
that way, that I could
think faster than I could type, yet, as I grow older,
my body just isn’t able to keep up.
When I catch myself making typos, I
sometimes wonder if the neural messages sent to my
fingers from my brain must
get tangled or scrambled in route. I’m just not the young man
I use to
be. Like in that popular song by Toby Keith which I love listening to on
the
Country/Western radio stations, “I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm
as good once as I
ever was.” (See lyrics at
http://www.links2love.com/lyrics_toby_keith_good_once.htm). I
wonder if
the same is true for John McCain?
Certainly I have seen the honorable
Sen. McCain’s name in print so much over the last
year that its correct
spelling must be ingrained in my subconscious. Perhaps that is
the
problem. Maybe “c” and “k” get transposed; maybe “cain” comes out
“kane” given their
similar sound without my even being aware of it, such that
although I may think
“McCain,” what gets typed is “McKane!” God, could
it be our minds don’t always send
the right signals to our bodies, that with
each year of age our bodies are starting to fail?
And if this is happening
with much younger men and women, what subtle changes like this
might be going
on with Sen. McCain that should disqualify him for office?
There are also
rumors going around that McCain is not qualified to be President, given
he
was born in the Panama Canal Zone and is therefore not a “natural born
citizen” as
required by the US Constitution. Is that true?
According to a review of his biography
published in Wikipedia, McCain, "was
born on August 29, 1936 at Coco Solo Naval Air
Station in Panama within
the then-American-controlled Panama Canal Zone.
(See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain). Article II, Section 1 of the
US Constitution
clearly states that, “No person except a natural born
citizen... shall be eligible to the office
of President .”
However, I
happen to know a bit about this as just like McCain, I’m from a military
family
whose parents were stationed abroad at the time of my birth. The
fact is, I could be
President of the United States even though I’m an Army
brat and was born in Germany
because Title 8 of the U.S. Code, Section 1401
defines the following as people who are
citizens of the United States at
birth: “(1) Anyone born inside the United States; (2) Any
Indian or Eskimo
born in the United States, provided being a citizen of the U.S. does
not
impair the person's status as a citizen of the tribe; (3) Any one born
outside the United
States, both of whose parents are citizens of the U.S., as
long as one parent has lived in
the U.S.; (4) Any one born outside the
United States, if one parent is a citizen and lived in
the U.S. for at least
one year and the other parent is a U.S. national; (5) Any one born in
a
U.S. possession, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least
one year; (6)
Any one found in the U.S. under the age of five, whose
parentage cannot be determined,
as long as proof of non-citizenship is not
provided by age 21 (7) Any one born outside the
United States, if one
parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the
U.S.
who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic
service
included in this time) and (8) A final, historical condition: a
person born before 5/24/1934
of an alien father and a U.S. citizen mother who
has lived in the U.S.”
Accordingly, “Anyone falling into these categories
is considered natural-born, and is
eligible to run for President or Vice
President. These provisions allow the children of
military families to be
considered natural-born.” Delving a bit deeper into Sen.
McCain’s
case, additional constitutional law also comes into play, given he
was born in the Panama
Canal Zone. “In 8 USC 1403, the law states that
anyone born in the Canal Zone or in
Panama itself, on or after February 26,
1904, to a mother and/or father who is a United
States citizen, was
"declared" to be a United States citizen. McCain is a
natural-born
citizen under 8 USC 1401(c): "a person born outside of the
United States and its outlying
possessions of parents both of whom are
citizens of the United States and one of whom
has had a residence in the
United States or one of its outlying possessions, prior to the
birth of such
person." See http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_citi.html.
Hence
both me and John McCain qualify to run for President! I wonder if the
good
senator McCain’s mind is sharp enough to be able to quote US
constitutional law or if he
has already started to forget such vital
facts? That may indeed be the case. As we grow
older and approach
our senior years, our bodies and minds just don’t work as well as they
did
when we were younger. Though the rate of aging may be different for
everyone and
depend upon the individual, still, we all change as we grow
older. This is unfortunate, but
it is a fact of life. The senator
McCain that we see today is not the young man who fought
in Vietnam and
became a prisoner of war. I doubt the elder McCain could endure
such
hardship now, and certainly not torture. So I wonder how he could
endure a term as
president, given the extreme stress of the highest office in
the land; would McCain crack
under the pressure; would he run down and fall
apart?
I am always very saddened when I learn of an elderly member of our
society getting
Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, or of someone like the
Mayor’s wife passing away. My
own dear mother was diagnosed with
dementia in December of 2003. The way in which
many people responded to
this terrible illness was awful! It was like sharks circling a
helpless
victim to get whatever they could, financially raping and robbing my dear
elderly
mother, taking away everything to satisfy their own greed and
selfishness. What happens
if McCain becomes president and is diagnosed
with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease?
Shouldn’t he have to pass a test to
measure his cognitive response now, to insure the
American public he is fit
to run for office?
After I moved to Quitman I met my elderly neighbor,
Mrs. Haney, who has since gone to
the great beyond. She posted verses
from the Holy Bible on a sign in her front yard; I
never noticed any
misspelling in her postings, despite her age. On the several occasions
I
had the pleasure of speaking with her across the fence, she would always
enlighten me to
some bit of ancient Quitman history, that I feel God must
have sent me to be her neighbor
for the short time she had remaining on this
earth, because He knew I’d understand and
respect her, given what my own dear
mother had recently experienced.
It is difficult to appreciate what our
elderly parents and grandparents are experiencing as
they grow older and
their minds and bodies begin to fail them. The little tricks our
minds
begin to play as we grow older are, perhaps, subtle. We type a
“k” instead of a “c” or
can’t remember a word or its meaning. We might
be able to recall everything that
happened 50 years ago, but not what
happened yesterday or a week ago. That is how my
dear mother is.
She does not even understand how badly she was treated by the greedy
judges,
lawyers and nursing home administrators who acted to take power and
control
over her life and financially rape, rob and destroy her family!
What would it be like to
have a President who can’t even remember he is
President?
I wonder how many good years I might have left, my mind sharp
as a razor? Or is it
already starting to go in little, subtle
ways? I know I’m probably going to get carpal
tunnel syndrome as I
spend far too much time tap, tap, tapping at this damn keyboard,
pouring out
my heart to friends around the world, or quibbling to editors about this or
that
political issue after I read something in the newspaper that strikes a
cord in my heart.
Would I be better off just not saying anything, giving my
fingers and my mind a rest? Or
is what some people say true, that we
can delay the aging of our bodies and our minds by
exercising them
both? If that’s true and McCain is our next president, will it be too
much
a strain and cause him to age even faster, or will the challenge keep
him younger longer?
I use a computer daily to conduct correspondence and
manage other tasks which I hope is
exercising my mind. It certainly is
exercising my fingers as they tap, tap, tap rapidly upon
the keyboard.
Half the time I don’t even pay attention to see if what I typed is what
ends
up upon the monitor screen. I perfected my touch typing skills in
college by taking
courses generally taught to women aiming to be
secretaries. As I wanted to be able to
publish my poetry and other
writing, I challenged myself to learn to touch type, which
proved to be a
great skill, especially with the advent of personal computers and
word
processing programs. Now I can just close my eyes, let them rest
and type rapidly. If I’m
not careful and press the “send” button too
soon, all my mistakes and errors get sent.
That’s what happened when I typed
“McKane” instead of “McCain.” I did not proof read
my work. Plus
I’ve noticed that on several occasions spell check programs introduce
errors
that one may not catch unless they go back and read entire manuscripts. If
McCain
becomes President what’s to stop him from pushing the button too soon
and starting a
nuclear war? How does all that button pushing work,
anyway?
Computers give us enormous power to reach out and touch
others. I am sure there are
people I’ve never met who have been touched
by one of my editorial letters. I hope most
people like what they read,
or at least gain some insight or knowledge from the sharing.
These editorial
letters are in a way much like my talking with Mrs. Haney over the
backyard
fence; only the fence extends throughout the community, indeed across the
land
and around the world when letters are posted upon the Internet. I
wonder if my concerns
about McCain are shared by other? Am I the only
one who wonders if he is mentally
capable and if so, how long he will remain
sharp as a tack?
Indeed, computers give us great power to reach out, to
make connections, to foster
friendships and relationships. I am
therefore posting my letters upon the Internet that
others far and wide might
gain from them some bits of whit or wisdom. Also in this
manner I may
go back and correct the spelling errors or make hyper links to
other
information or educational sites. Maybe someone out there will
read this and bring these
matters to the attention of the Republican
party. How can they possibly nominate
McCain; without his mental
abilities be being fully tested by a neurologist? Indeed, has
McCain
voluntarily gone to see a neurologist to have his cognition checked, and if
not,
why not? Could it be his failure to do this itself indicates the
first failings of his mental
abilities to make sound and proper
judgments?
I would like to invite others to read my work at http://www.byteland.org/quitman.
I’veposted
a bunch of my writings there along with other muse and will try to update
it
regularly. It’s my way of trying to give back a little to the
community and all the good
people of Quitman and Clarke County. Please,
feel free to cite and correct any errors you
find. Just remember, my
fingers don’t work as well as they once did and that “I ain't as
good as I
once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was.”
McCain may be just
as good as he every was too, but I’d just like to know for sure.
The
only way to tell that is for him to go see a neurologist like I had done
for my dear mother
when I knew something was wrong with her. No one
else wanted her to get tested. I had
to fight to get that appointment
made. Then when she was diagnosed to have dementia
the sharks rushed in
for the kill! It was terrible!
Although we have no reason to
question if McCain is even eligible for the office of
President, given
legally he is a natural-born and naturalized citizen, we certainly
have
reason to question his soundness of body and mind. Hence I
question McCain’s mental
abilities since, to my knowledge, he has not
realized the need to have this determined and
made public, that this very
fact indicates McCain’s mind may already be going.
A bunch of
clever lawyers should not be allowed to get McCain around having to prove
he
is mentally competent by screwing everyone over. This is a serious matter,
and the fact
this has not already been done makes me think McCain is already
losing his marbles. So I
think McCain should withdraw from the race or
that the Republics should kick him out
and pick someone who is genuinely
qualified for office and sound of mind. Unless this is
done we might
find ourselves in a big mess should McCain be on the ticket in November
--
even worse if he is elected President and then starts to show signs of
dementia. “I ain't
as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I
ever was.” And I know one thing,
McCain, all his marbles or not, ain’t
someone I’d ever vote for President!
Sincerely,
Terry
Lynch
terrylynch@aol.com
April 14, 2008
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