July 19, 2017

"Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, his office said Wednesday."

"The Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix said tests revealed 'a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma” associated with a blood clot above his left eye that was removed last week,'" The Washington Post reports.

It was just a few weeks ago, after the Comey hearing, that people were wondering at his "confusing" speech. For example, here, at Vox (on June 8th).

67 comments:

Michael K said...

I wondered if it was a melanoma metastasis but apparently a gliobastoma is the biopsy report.

Gene Siskel had one and tried to go back to the TV show. It was obvious he had speech problems and died about 6 months later.

McCain should retire now. I have a candidate to take his seat but don't know what will happen

Seal Of Lion said...

Oh crap... Gliobastomas are the nightmare tumors. Not matter what you do to treat them, they will come back. Just read the survival rate for people McCain's age is 4.7%

Ann Althouse said...

"McCain should retire now."

In Arizona, a vacant Senate seat is filled by the governor, and the governor's appointee holds the seat until the next regular election.

Birkel said...

The survival rate after birth is zero percent.

The five year survival rate is what doctors publish, I believe. (Right, Michael K?)

McCain will do whatever he wants. Were I in that spot, I would spend more time with my family. Legitimately, as opposed to most politicians.

The Vault Dweller said...

That is too bad. Apparently, his cancer is inoperable. They haven't announced what kind of time frame he is expecting, but that is understandable. He should retire and spend his remaining time with his family. Though understandably I think he will want to have input with the governor of Arizona on who will replace him. Apparently the Gov is a Republican, named Doug Ducey. I have no idea what his politics are like, but I'm sure he is currently being swamped with calls from all over, especially considering how tight this Health Care issue is.

maskirovka77 said...

I used to really admire John McCain and I voted for him in 2008. But I was progressively disenchanted by some of the things he did since then. But with all that being said, I'm very sorry to hear this news, and I'll pray for him and his family.

Comanche Voter said...

I'm not a fan of McCain, but I wouldn't wish that diagnosis on anybody.

McCain's grandfather, Admiral John "Slew" McCain wore himself out as a carrier admiral in the Pacific war. Halsey and Nimitz knew that Slew was too sick to stick around for the Japanese surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay. He was flown home to San Diego (actually the North Island Naval Air Station in Coronado) and dropped dead of a heart attack a day or two after he landed in San Diego.

John McCain might want to think about spending what time he has left with his family.

Michael The Magnificent said...

Vaya con Dios, Senator McCain. You and your family will be in my prayers.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

What sad news. Godspeed to the Maverick.

He was a decent man who expressed himself in ways more honorable than most in in his party care to do today. We need more like him, not less.

MaxedOutMama said...

I was very saddened by this news. It made me think about his whole life, rather than the recent erratic behavior. A brave man who suffered terribly for this country, who is now facing his end.

God bless and keep him and his family. They will be in my prayers.

mockturtle said...

Interesting that it wasn't melanoma. My mother always theorized that McCain's melanoma had metastasized to his brain. That happened to my father and was the cause of his death at 71.

Birches said...

Terrible news. Godspeed.

Apparently the Gov is a Republican, named Doug Ducey. I have no idea what his politics are like, but I'm sure he is currently being swamped with calls from all over, especially considering how tight this Health Care issue is.

Ducey will appoint someone to the right of McCain, depending on the issue, that person might be well to the right of McCain.

brylun said...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/surgery-radiation-and-chemo-didnt-stop-the-tumor-but-an-experimental-treatment-did/2013/09/23/1b8e8f92-0f4f-11e3-85b6-d27422650fd5_story.html?utm_term=.a427a313dc43

Birches said...

I have a candidate to take his seat but don't know what will happen

Who do you want, Michael K? I havne't lived in AZ in years, so I'm unfamiliar with the Republican bench.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

A metastasized melanoma? That's the second commenter to go there. I wasn't aware that primary glioblastomas were so rare as to not presume the cause was what has now been reported.

Birches said...

Meghan McCain's statement

Beautiful. But kind of awful if he goes before his mother. That's rough.

MadisonMan said...

@mockturtle, that was my brother's progression as well.

I hope McCain can enjoy the life he has left in front of him.

traditionalguy said...

He will be horribly ill, weak and unable to function normally as a Senator, until he dies next year. This would be pure 25th Amendment territory, were he the President.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

The Toothless Revolutionary said...

He was a decent man...

He still is.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Enjoy every sandwich.

gbarto said...

Ugh. Never much liked him, but I wouldn't wish this on anyone. Prayers galore, because aside from some really experimental stuff, that's all there is.

gspencer said...

"It was just a few weeks ago, after the Comey hearing, that people were wondering at his "confusing" speech."

Boy, are they late to the game. I have been wondering about this guys' speech at least 25 years ago. From the land of Barry Goldwater too!

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Some of the Twitter tributes are nice. I suppose the current WH resident might add one of his own to the collection, probably after an early morning tirade tomorrow at 4 AM about how everyone's still out to get him.

cacimbo said...

I predict McCain's ego will keep him from resigning - despite how Republicans need every vote. Like Kennedy and Byrd you have to pry the seat from their cold dead bodies. He wants the full DC funeral - not some second tier AZ send off.

cacimbo said...

McCain turned over the fake Russian/British golden showers dossier to the FBI. Who knows to what lengths he will sink to now in an attempt to destroy Trump.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

There you go, Cacimbo. A frail 80 year old with a year to live and your worry is that he's going to to keep making sure that the checks and balances on unrestrained claims of questionably lawful executive privilege remain intact. How easily the republic falls! Maybe he will whip up a gang of nursing home residents to assist him in the effort.

Mattman26 said...

Gov. Ducey was endorsed in the primary by Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, so it seems a safe bet that if an appointment is in the offing, it will be someone to the right of McCain.

walter said...

Ah..ole TR, defender of the frail elder...taking a break from smothering Republican nursing home home residents where he works.

Michael K said...

Doctor Ritmo on the case.

You don't need me.

walter said...

He has a pillow with your name on it, Michael.

chickelit said...

Comanche Voter said...McCain's grandfather, Admiral John "Slew" McCain wore himself out as a carrier admiral in the Pacific war. Halsey and Nimitz knew that Slew was too sick to stick around for the Japanese surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay. He was flown home to San Diego (actually the North Island Naval Air Station in Coronado) and dropped dead of a heart attack a day or two after he landed in San Diego.

Admiral McCain is pictured here with Halsey aboard the USS Missouri. The photo is dated September 2, 1945. So McCain, Sr. missed the party but not the surrender ceremony. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Bad Lieutenant said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bad Lieutenant said...

I had a friend at work, a boss actually but I would say a friend, he was everybody's friend. He had a glioblastoma and I forget whether they cut or burned it both, but it came back, as expected, and he died. The funeral was like a Comedy Hour, he was that kind of guy, everybody loved John. 53, was he? Sigh.

I'm not glad that McCain is dying, as I was glad to hear that Molly Ivins had died. But, not being deep into the neurology or oncology, how long could this have been a-borning, and how long may it have been affecting his judgment?

walter said...

Bad Lieutenant said...how long could this have been a-borning
--
This is murky depending on the cancer, but perhaps somewhere around 7 yrs for many.

Paul said...

McCain's diagnosis may explain is erratic behavior in the last year.

I wish the man no ill. He did serve our country very well for many years.

Narayanan said...

Is there anything like ?e 25th Amnd? For senators?

Achilles said...

This sucks.

Birkel said...

One wonders why a person runs for office while that sick. Maybe he was asymptomatic. But he was sick all the same.

Mountain Maven said...

Prayers for the man and his family.

traditionalguy said...

McCain has been a well known mental case after the Hanoi Hilton broke him. But everybody cuts him slack because of his Grandfather.

Rance Fasoldt said...

I served under his dad, Junior McCain, when he was COMPHIBLANT. He was a leader of men.

Anonymous said...

This is doubly sad.

He has an incurable and nasty brain tumor, and he is being treated at Mayo in Arizona, which IMHO and recent experience is not your best option for care in AZ or the SW.

Etienne said...

He should have never been re-elected. Even without a killer cancer that he has (less than 5% survive 12 months), his age was a factor. Why people thought he could be a Senator for 6 more years is not facing reality.

walter said...

As in many races, see the opponent..and contingencies...

readering said...

Imagine McCain will retire after the Defense Budget passes and will look for sympathy vote to wring additional increases.

Clyde said...

I had a friend who died in May from glioblastoma at the age of 46. It's an awful thing and as others have noted, the prognosis is very bad. The toughest thing about when people are given a short-term terminal diagnosis like that is knowing what to say to them. You can't say "I hope you get well soon" because you know and they know that they won't. You can't make the normal small talk complaining about idiots at work, because they say, "I wish that I could still work." It casts into sharp relief the things that are important and the things that aren't. I hope that Senator McCain makes the best use of the time he has left, and spends as much of it as he can with his family and friends.

Kirk Parker said...

I have nothing bad do say at this specific moment about that consummate RINO John McCain. Best wishes for his remaining years/months/weeks/days; as someone who recent lost both a father and a very appreciated father-in-law, I have great sympathy for both the Senator and his family.

But I would like to say a few words about the concept of holding on to one's elected seat until death: BLEAHHHH! Can't we please start a tradition that someone elected to office in their mid-to-late 60's starts to groom a successor so that when the term comes around in their mid-to-late 70's they can just pass the bloody torch already?

Swede said...

He paid an awful price for his service to his country.

I pray his last days are comfortable and peaceful.

Unknown said...

A true patriot, if only our current President were one.

rhhardin said...

There's a 5% chance of 12 months of fatal disease story in the news now. Ratings gold.

It's a Chandra Levy story.

Bruce Hayden said...

@Trad - the slack that Sen John McCain III gets is not from his grandfather (Adm John McCain, Sr), standing in the front row at the Japanese surrender (after having led Halsey's lead carrier force across the Pacific), but from his own stint as a POW in the Hanoi Hilton, where he was beaten and permanently disabled. And that he turned down early release from there that the N. Vietnamese offered because he was their highest profile prisoner, with his father (Adm John McCain, Jr) being (I believe) CINPAC at the time, and, thus in charge of fighting the war. After returning from being a POW, he rose through the ranks to Captain, married rich, and ultimately turned down flag rank (which would have made him the third generation) for a career in politics. The rest is history.

Bruce Hayden said...

I don't see Sen McCain so much as a RINO, but rather, as a maverick, who would go his own way. And, yes, enjoying the power that gave him. The low point in his career, in my view, was McCain-Fiengold, which he backed, I believe, as a result of being caught up in the Keating Five scandal. That somehow shamed his Navy honor. Keating was actually a constituent of his, and ran in the same country club circles back in Phoenix, and, arguably McCain did little, if anything for him that he wouldn't have done for other similarly placed constituents. Arguably, the only reason that he was dragged into the scandal was to make it bipartisan (the other 4 were, of course, Democrats, 3 from other states).

Ralph L said...

Why people thought he could be a Senator for 6 more years is not facing reality.
His mother is 105 and still on the loose.

George M. Spencer said...

So, where are the reporters regarding Nancy Pelosi's condition?

At least give us a 'there's nothing wrong' comment from her office.

MayBee said...

An amazing life he has led. I really hope he does well through this. It's really sad.

Anonymous said...

God's Speed, John. You are the only candidate I ever gave money to.

Hagar said...

Being John McCain, he won't retire, though he may not attend.

sunsong said...

Wishing McCain a full and speedy recovery...

Birkel said...

UnknownInga51 immediately retracts all her 2008 thoughts that McCain was Hitler, upon reading of McCain's illness.

Touching.

sunsong said...

“Not a fan of John McCain's politics; huge fan of his integrity, bravery, and sense of humor. Get better, Senator. Get better.”
~ Stephen King

Drago said...

Unknown: "A true patriot, if only our current President were one"

We were told by the left that McCain was literally Hitler and could not be trusted with the Presidency.

Precisely when did the left change their collective minds about McCain?

Drago said...

Here's some additional background on the lefts hypocrisy: http://thefederalist.com/2016/09/06/left-called-republicans-nazis-long-doesnt-work-trump/

Anonymous said...

Back to my question of a few days ago. Who gets to decide that McCain is incapable of performing his duties and should be replaced. He can not vote by proxy in the Senate as I understand the rules he must be physically present to vote. So what happens to the upcoming vote on ACA repeal?

Birkel said...

Khesahn 0802

Nobody can force McCain's resignation. It is his decision.

That is my understanding.

But I am not sure, honestly.

Jim at said...

At Ritmo:

You know, you could use this opportunity as a perfect time to shut the fuck up for once.

Jim at said...

"A true patriot, if only our current President were one."

Oh, spare me.
People like you beat the shit out of him when he ran in 2008.

Your words mean less than nothing now.

GrapeApe said...

Keating Five? Enough said. The man has been nothing but a fraud for thirty years. I don't wish him dead, but I dang sure hope this puts him out of congress.