DISQUS

Mark in Florida · 1 year ago

OK....the threashold has been passed. I can't look at this, I will have nightmares. :-( Ick

MrsTarquinBiscuitbarrel · 1 year ago

Not good signs for the old guy.

downindixie · 1 year ago

I hate Mr.McGoo as much as the rest of you,but this article is really reaching.

mobius · 1 year ago

Yeah, I would have to agree with ya. There is plenty to go on regarding him hiding health issues without this. If it were a tic disorder, it wouldn't matter. There's no plausible evidence to suggest any type of infarct from either the photos or the video. Whatever did happen, it doesn't seem to have made his speech hesitant. He just kept on rambling crap...

Getting lost on stage isn't a big deal. Half the time I can't find my car in the parking lot.

truebluecoondog · 1 year ago

I agree with you, downindixie. That said, By refusing to disclose his medical records, Uncle Fester leaves us no choice but to self diagnose. Whatever he's hiding must be worse than what we are speculating.

Nigel Elliott · 1 year ago

I'm no expert, but I chalk it up to anger repression. McCain is a mean person and he's trying his best to appear likeable, which is unnatural for a prick. His facial muscles are stressed out, trying to mask some serious inner rage against Obama.

firebrand · 1 year ago

Blimey....its me old bud Nigel.

Nigel Elliott · 1 year ago

Hey old pal,

I thought about you when the new PA polls came out. Looks like PA is all blue for Obama. Nice one! :-)

bunnyjump · 1 year ago

Stroke and senility.

yesh · 1 year ago

drill, baby drill! drill, baby drill! pity vote, pity vote, pity vote, pity vote, pity vote, pity vote...

existenz · 1 year ago

I think you guys are over-analyzing it. McCain likes to wink with that left eye, kind of a little "right back at ya" moment. Plenty of people who aren't 72 years old make that same movement.

I don't think there is anything here. Even getting lost on stage -- we've seen other candidates do that as well.

Ginger_FL · 1 year ago

This is not the first time the left eye issue/confusion has been noticed however....

Outraged2 · 1 year ago

Like Bush in China? Reason enough to boot him now!

BTW, to me, it looks more like an issue with his right eye. It looks glassy and unreactive.

.

sullivan · 1 year ago

I don't understand what you are talking about!
Help me here....I have watched the video and see nothing unusual. I agree, this is being over-analyzed.

drswan · 1 year ago

If he had a wide excision of a melanoma on the left cheek, it seems possible that there could have been some surgical damage to the facial nerve with residual weakness, muscle twitchiness etc. of forehead and cheek.

Kansaskitty · 1 year ago

He wasn't winking at someone - he was reading off the teleprompter when this happened. To me, it looks totally involuntary.

Sugapea · 1 year ago

There's a blurb up on The Fix just now:

Independent Group Raises McCain Health Issue
In an attempt to intensify voter doubts about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's readiness for office in advance of Thursday's vice presidential debate, the California Nurses Association has launched an ad raising questions about John McCain's health.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/?hpid=top...

We need more of this!

barts · 1 year ago

I cannot get youtube at work - it's not permitted so all I see is a blank white space, dammit.

Since I cannot see the video I may be asking this rather naive question, don't people get facial ticks or muscle spasms during times of emotional stress? Did McCain get angry again?

Perhaps, what we're all witnessing is his slow death from age. My dad recently called and said his neighbor in her 80's fell on her kitchen floor and shattered her hip. Gosh, I am so not looking forward to getting old. I'd rather just take a pill and get it over with.

Ginger_FL · 1 year ago

There are photos of the sequences on the main page in the next thread down.

condew · 1 year ago

"emotional stress", like lying? I wonder what he was saying arounf the time of the spasam; this could be a "tell" that he's lying.

Bush_Bites · 1 year ago

It's like a Zapruder film of a stroke.

lynchie · 1 year ago

I agree with poster below it is like a nervous tick. I think the whole time bomb of his campaign is starting to explode. His interview with Des Moines Register and his gotcha with Couric. This little dude is coming unhinged. The pressure from Cindy Lou to be first drugged lady, the idiocy of having to provide cover for Palin and the fact that he has never worked a day in his life is draining what little remains of his 6 volt battery. I am expecting him to spin around like a dervish and run off yelling and pulling off his clothes.

Bush_Bites · 1 year ago

...while clucking like a chicken.

scooter in brooklyn · 1 year ago

calling dr frist. video diagnosis required.

SCLiberal · 1 year ago

LOL!

JustAnOldLady · 1 year ago

Not to worry.......Sarah Barracuda is ready to take over...........

Crablaw · 1 year ago

Not buying it yet. A nervous tic in an eye means nothing in itself. Need more evidence.

paige · 1 year ago

I don't think it's a health related tic or a "mini-stroke", I think he's just an ugly, old dude who is trying to use facial expressions to emphasize his words and it just comes off monumentally badly.

barts · 1 year ago

We can all attack McCain on his policies and RIGHTFULLY so and I understand that health is an important component to be commander-in-chief to USA, but knowing that we're ALL on that same train toward life's finality leaves me a little uncomfortable just sitting here discussing and dissecting his age and frailty.

As I said before, I don't like McCain but I sure don't want to see him suffer a stroke or more bouts of melanoma.

Besides if Obama is elected, I want to know it was on his own merits and not because McCain suddenly got sick.

lynchie · 1 year ago

On the other hand the republicans will use anything, skin color, sex, etc. McCain wants to get elected regardless of how he gets there. Lie, cheat, steal, bribe, are all the same to him.

barts · 1 year ago

True, repubs are slime and anyone who crosses the line on race, age, sex, etc should be called out on it and punished. Of course that would mean the dems need to grow a spine.

SwingVoter · 1 year ago

A little preview of what a mid-term McCain stroke will look like...

Do you know the Top 50 Swing Voters in 2008?

#50 - Hockey Moms
#47 - People with STDs
#44 - Women with Unfortunate Muffin Top Tattoos
#41 - Predatory Lenders
#40 - ???

http://swingvoters.wordpress.com

gwbrubaker · 1 year ago

I would suggest that he has a form of Dystonia or Parkinsons. How did I know this? Because I have it. It could also be some indication of Alzheimer's.

tomeg · 1 year ago

Dude, whatever you mean by "facial convulsion" the suggestion is soooo off the mark. Calm down.

Wesinoregon · 1 year ago

If this were a sporting event the game would stop and he would be carried off the field to be checked out.

Ginger_FL · 1 year ago

And everyone would be told what the test results were on many news cycles for the rest of the day....

lucky hussein · 1 year ago

I think this is mountain out of molehill. Could it just be a little trourette's? Could be he didn't see where the stairs were to get down, maybe he came on stage some other way?

Fireblazes(CheetohsandCatfood) · 1 year ago

My 23 year old son broke up with his girlfriend and had this weird ass whole body tic for weeks. It was freaky as hell, but he got over the stress and is fine now.

Fireblazes(CheetohsandCatfood) · 1 year ago

Mountain out of a mole hill. Put down the magnifying glass. If he drops face down on the podium then I will worry. Maybe he is just tired. People get lost on stage all the time. Haven't you ever seen the Oscars, them people never know where to go. I don't hear anyone raising Obama's stuttering as a big health issue. Oh yeah issues, I remember those like healthcare, taxes, the economy...

PsychoPink · 1 year ago

While it's impossible to know the cause of Senator McCain's left-sided facial motor dysfunction without more thorough access to his medical records, one very real possibility is that it's as a result of his previous and apparently extensive surgery in the area. The location of his melanoma and surgery is close to the distribution of his facial nerve, which, as you can see from the illustrations at the link below, is located just anterior to the ear. It's possible that he suffered an injury to the nerve either at the time of or after the surgery, due to scaring in the area. But, complete excision of the primary lesion, the melanoma, would have been the goal, with damage to the nerve considered an unpleasant, but acceptable side-effect, if it could not be avoided.

http://www.face-and-emotion.com/dataface/anatom...

NealB · 1 year ago

I think he's winking. He's been winking a lot recently in public appearances but these two winks look lazier, sloppier than I've seen from McCain on other occasions; I haven't paid attention to him in the past so I don't know if it's new or not. I'd guess it's likely that McCain is just plain exhausted and, perhaps, heartbroken because he's not doing very well right now in achieving his lifelong ambition to be elected Commander in Chief of the Cosmos.

Bush_Bites · 1 year ago

I suppose it could be his medications too.

HereinDC · 1 year ago

Winking? That's just silly.

People don't wink anymore
Yea, he's in that generation that people use to wink.....but...

I can't tell you the last time someone has every winked at me or I have ever winked at anybody.

People give thumbs up, they don't wink at people.

Mickey7 · 1 year ago

I was in the camp of "making a mountain out of a molehill" crowd until I saw the slo-mo. Involuntary assymetrical facial movement is not "winking" (a deliberat and voluntary act, which this clearly was not) and it is not a good sign. His left eye is out of sync with his right. This could be a sign of neurological problem and that iIS a mountain considering who he's saddled us with for a VP pick. I hope nothing is wrong with him and stress can do a lot of odd things to a body, but I don't agree any more that this is nothing and it needs to be addressed, preferably by McCain himself or his people.

AdrianBrowne · 1 year ago

It might be some sort of signal he's sending to
his terrorist-friends.

truebluecoondog · 1 year ago

Yeah, it's a terrorist wink twitch. That's the ticket.

fostert · 1 year ago

I'm really not seeing the twitch. This line of attack is really weak. How about attacking McCain on Social Security or Women's Rights? He's terrible on those. And even worse than terrible, his views are really unpopular. This line of attack would be bad enough it were simply ineffective. But it's unfair as well. I'd put the likeliness of either candidate dying in office about the same. McCain dying from medical problems, and Obama dying from a racist's gun. How would we feel if the Republicans were bringing up the assassination issue? Let's bury this issue and talk policy. We can win on policy.

Bush_Bites · 1 year ago

False analogy.

You can't encourage somebody to make a politician ill by talking about the possibility, whereas you can certainly encourage somebody to assassinate a politician by talking about the possibility.

fostert · 1 year ago

Maybe so, but I'm not sure the racists in this country need any encouragement at all. A black president is simply unacceptable to them whether we talk about it or not. They will try to kill him, the only question is whether they will succeed. Either way, Biden is just as likely to become president as Palin. But the real issue is this: every minute we spend talking about this is a minute we don't spend talking about how McCain's policies are a disaster. The opportunity cost is just too high, and there's not much return.

SCLiberal · 1 year ago

It's important because:
1. He won't allow any meaningful review of his medical records.
2. If he is elected and dies in office we get President Palin. That would be even worse than Bush.

bejammin075 · 1 year ago

There's not enough there for AmericaBlog to run wild with. The camera shot of the stage/podium is closeup on McCain, so we can't see what the stage looks like. Sure, McCain went this way and that a couple times, but we don't know the stage layout, or how many people might have been crowding around making it hard to see.

If there were some sort of televised medical scare for McCain though, the election would be over. Potentially the oldest President ever, with most unqualified vice-president ever. Just like the economic crisis got voters to really think hard, favoring Obama, a McCain medical crisis/problem would make voters think a lot harder about Palin.

SCLiberal · 1 year ago

He can't remember which direction he came in from?

hawkseye · 1 year ago

I am 72, and occasionally I get "turned around" in a building. Makes me hate getting old.

An_American_Karol · 1 year ago

It looks like a nervous twitch to me. This campaign has not been good for McCain's health - twitchy and confused.

woodroad34 · 1 year ago

I'm having a hard time seeing the twitch. But I do know that when people are angry, nervous, or otherwise dealing with strong emotions or fatigue they do tend to twitch, tic, or exhibit some other fasciculation symptom. And this campaign must be taking it's toll on the ol' fart...and let's not forget the infamous uncontrollable temper. This could be a case where he's simply trying to control himself and it's just coming out in another form. Think of Chief Insp. Charles Dreyfus from the Pink Panther movies.

sukabi1 · 1 year ago

Um John, when you get done calling attention to McLiar's facial twitches and his medical conditions, you might want to broadcast what McCain's plan is for the VA and veterans medical care... his plan calls for :

What McCain intends to do is to remove non-combat related injuries from the VA’s purview. There isn’t a veterans organization that supports this, and in effect, it will cut loose veterans and leave them on their own to find care for everything from symptoms of acute mental illness to life-threatening illnesses and injuries.

aquarius2 · 1 year ago

It is really hard to see exactly what everyone is commenting on when this is run in slow motion. Is there some place that has the clip at normal speed?

sukabi1 · 1 year ago

down in the thread below this are screen grabs of his "twitch", and in the thread below that is a short clip of his getting "lost" on stage... the start of the clip ;has his closing words with the "twitch" and confused wandering on the stage.

aquarius2 · 1 year ago

Thanks, I just saw it. I think we have bigger fish to fry than this.

SarainKC · 1 year ago

Agreed. The McCain camp would LOVE for us to distracted by crap like this.

CDJunior · 1 year ago

Liberals like to post garbage like this to try to direct focus away from Michelle Obama who is the real nightmare in terms of repressed hatred. McCain gets off a stage 10 times a day and usually there is a crowd on both sides. One crowd will have a small path through it that leads to another pool of reporters and photographers. Also there are usually at least 3 Senators and additional Governors and Congressman and former Police Commissioners and retired military and kids and moms and school teachers ALL on the stage with him. He follows the procession off the stage. This time it was a quick photo op and the exit to the next pool of photographers was no where in site. He was the most alert in the entire crowd and that is after he worked for 16 straight hours.

Marshabio · 1 year ago

LOL........smdh!

hawkseye · 1 year ago

McSame also got "lost" on stage when he introduced Sarah Palin to the world.
Speaking as a 72 year old, my sense of direction isn't what it used to be.

nicho · 1 year ago

You're right. We should be focusing on the fact that both McCain and Palin, in addition to being spectacularly unqualified to be president, espouse policies that have been proven dangerous -- even murderous.

ghosthead · 1 year ago

Check out Palin's left eye in this video...is she cross eyed? It looks like it's blinking on it's own too. Bizarre. Maybe it's some sort of secret code? Who knows?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/01/sarah-...

TXfemmom · 1 year ago

I've noticed that she appears cross eyed from the time that she was introduced, but this is the first time I have seen it mentioned.

ghosthead · 1 year ago

Here it again - http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/2314...

Mister_E · 1 year ago

It looked like McBush was experiencing some kind of a"mini stroke" .I'm not a doctor ,and,don't even play one on TV <lol>,but, something just wasn't right there.

McBush has been under alot of pressure lately and hasn't been too friendly with the media according to this latest article that I just received in my email ,just a few minutes ago.

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/mccain_sarca...

dad · 1 year ago

this is all too much for him.

jimpharo · 1 year ago

There's no question but that McCain had a little mini-stroke at this moment. My guess is that he has suffered many such mini-strokes, no one of which causes real stroke-like symptoms, but the cumulative effect of them is to cause forgetfulness (e.g.,he's turned to Palin "many times over the years"), impaired abstract reasoning, etc.

There is a reason why his medical records were provided in such an odd way. My guess is that there is a whole part of his history which is being concealed. The neurological part. What he and his wife are thinking is just beyond me. Shameful on the order of putting an Alzheimer's impaired Ronald Reagan up for re-election...

pmpmpm · 1 year ago

it's facial synkinesis -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synkinesis -- probably due to residual damage to the left facial nerve after his melanoma excision.

this is nothing like a stroke or a mini-stroke.

(neurology resident, 4th year)

hawkseye · 1 year ago

This sounds right on the mark to me. Thanks for sharing.

TXfemmom · 1 year ago

i have to wonder why a 4th year neurology resident would refer to wikipedia, instead of a medical source for their statement.

Irrespective of that, residual damage to the left facial nerve would have appeared from the time of the injury, and that surgery happened eight years ago, and it hasn't been prominent until lately.

Additionally, he was confused, looked feeble, and anything but sharp and ready to be President in the time that he left the podium. I have known individuals and patients who were sharp as can be at ninety, but I wouldn't use that term to describe John McCain.

pmpmpm · 1 year ago

why wikipedia? because the wiki description in this case is accurate and comprehensive and available to anyone free online? i could point you to a neurology text that i own and you don't, but what would that prove?

mccain's not demented, but he's angry and tired and he must know he's not going to win. his debate performance was pretty sharp, cognitively, but it was poor politics, because he's so unlikeable. he's a grouchy old man who's used to having everyone kiss up to him -- he can't understand why everyone is questioning his honesty and judgment. he'd be a disaster as a president, with or without any significant cognitive decline.

SirWinstonThriller · 1 year ago

Could be a cataract causing that eye thing. I had the same behavior before I got mine taken care of.

ErnestTee · 1 year ago

maybe his diapers are too tight.

davidinchelseama · 1 year ago

Bet he wears dentures. But without his medical records, who knows?

paulbe · 1 year ago

Not a TIA (mini stroke). Does look more like a nerve palsy or twitch, but the getting lost thing was a classic senior moment. Like he was looking for the toilet. Good thing they got him out of there before he "found" it on one of those flags.

medicis · 1 year ago

It could certainly be a lacunar infarct, or small set of same. Depends upon where it occurs with respect to effect. And the senior moment can be a senior moment ... cumulative effect of multiple small infarcts.

But regardless, the main interpretation is that Palin is only a heart beat ... or truly demented moment away....

How reassuring.