Astronomers

The President of the United States is a puppet office. The President has no power of his/her own to do anything of his/her own accord unless he/she is ready to be killed by the super-rich banking families who put he/she into power and can take he/she out of power at any time. We shouldn't even be focusing on the Presidential election all that much. We should be stocking up on food, guns, and ammo so that we are prepared to defend ourselves when foreign mercenaries (and convicted felons in America who were given the option at sentencing of either years in prison, or JOINING THE NAVY), many of them hired criminals who have the option of either opening fire on U.S. citizens who don't want to give up their farms to the bankers, or going back to jail / being shot themselves, and are therefore willing to do anything. The bankers write the speeches, give the talking points, they set the policy, they control the media. Oh, and the Congress too. JOHN McCAIN'S WIFE IS A MAFIA PRINCESS AND HE TOOK PART IN THE KEATING FIVE INVESTMENT SCAM

As a former Coordinator for a large chapter of CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) I appreciate the balanced treatment given to ADHD and the speculation regarding John McCain.

However, while I'm not a physician or other professional with the ability to diagnose ADHD, I have to respectfully disagree with the analysis and conclusion that McCain might have ADHD. I'll leave it to neurologists (or additional psychiatrists) to better match McCain's behavior with possible diseases or conditions. However, let's consider whether it's ADHD.

Impulsivity? Yes, that can be a symptom. Many people with ADHD are weak in the "executive functioning" component.

Easily distracted? Yes, particularly for the inattentive variant of ADHD. Not so much for the hyperactive variant of ADHD.

Gets into fights? Yes, but. People with ADHD get into fights not because they're pugnatious or combative. Rather, they have difficulty picking up cues, especially non-verbal cues, from others. Very often, they're picked on; they sometimes come aross as clueless. They have more difficulty telling when people are getting frustrated with them. And that's where the problems arise with the McCain-ADHD linkage. McCain is hot-tempered. He doesn't have difficulty picking up social cues. So, in this case, I don't think his anger supports the diagnosis of ADHD.

Thomson writes: "he cancelled an appearance on David Letterman's CBS show Late Night and lied to Letterman about an immediate need to catch a plane to Washington. He then trots off to be interviewed by Katie Couric." People with ADHD aren't any less truthful than others. And if McCain lied, that indicates planning, not impulsivity. Not an ADHD trait.

The article continues: ""McCain frequently forgets key elements of policies, gets countries' names wrong, forgets things he's said only hours or days before, and is frequently just confused," writes Frank Rich August 17, in which he explains why the McCain campaign has stopped the press's previously unimpeded access to Senator McCain on the formerly free-wheeling "Straight Talk Express" campaign bus."

Umm... It's not an ADHD trait to be "just confused" or "forgets things he's said only hours...before." Let's just say that a nerologist might have a more accurate diagnosis of these symptoms. But they're not typical of ADHD.

The article notes: "In his acceptance speech at the Republican national convention, McCain said he liked to "pick a few fights for the fun of it." Michael Leahy's August 31 profile of Senator McCain's formative years in The Washington Post opens with an account of a McCain fight in a park near Georgetown." People with ADHD aren't particularly likely to be bullies. In fact, they're far more likely to be victims of bullies.

Actually, McCain's behavior may come closer to ODD-Oppositional Defiant Disorder. From the Mayo Clinic's Web site ( http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/oppositional-defiant-disorder/DS00630/D... ), people with ODD might show these symptoms:

Frequent temper tantrums
Argumentativeness with adults
Refusal to comply with adult requests or rules
Deliberate annoyance of other people
Blaming others for mistakes or misbehavior
Acting touchy and easily annoyed
Anger and resentment
Spiteful or vindictive behavior
Aggressiveness toward peers
Difficulty maintaining friendships
Academic problems

That fits McCain at least as well as a diagnosis of ADHD.

Nevertheless, congratulations again on a well-thought out and presented article

By that do you mean putting them in public schools to be trained by the government, giving them their 20 IQ point reduction shot so that they are allowed to enter the government indoctrination center (after all, it's the law - never mind that it's not - the media says it is - ahem), and letting them drink diluted hydrofluosilicic acid (pollution scrubbing toxic waste deliberately added to the public water supply to dumb down you and your kids for life so you and they will have to be slaves to the NWO bankers who hate you and want you and your progeny exterminated), and not listening to the Alex Jones show so that you can get better informed about how to fight the enemy that is attacking you and your children every day? Better strap that fluoride-and-mercury-and-t.v.-induced brain damage you inflicted right out of your kid before he/she realizes what you did to his/her mind and turns on you! Do it for Michael Savage!

OK, Bob. Duly noted! LOL!

The good ole days, I miss 'em. Even though I was on the receiving end of the leather belt once in a while. You can't discipline children nowadays. If you do, you find yourself sitting in jail awaiting a bond hearing at the next scheduled session of court. I'm not sure who created this problem, but we're all paying big time for it now.

WHAT TOOK SO LONG FOR SOMEONE TO SEE THIS ABOUT JOHN MCCAIN. DOESN'Y ANYONE ELSE SEE IT. HE IS ONE OF THE BEST EXAMPLES OF ADULT ADHD THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN.