Like intel on Iraq

John McCain will permit, kinda sorta, inspection of his medical records. But instead of a transparent process, he's putting all sorts of rules and restrictions on how the media can take a peek:

Only certain news networks and newspapers will be permitted to enter the room, and they will have only three hours to examine the papers.

No cell phones or Internet access will be allowed in the room, located in a resort outside Phoenix, Arizona. Copying the records is also prohibited.

Anyone who leaves the room for any reason except the bathroom will not be allowed back.

This sounds like the way the Bushists "presented" intelligence on Iraq to the Congress before ramming the AUMF through. In each case, the presenter appears to have something to hide. At least, you can say that the Bushists did in fact have a plausible national security case, even though it turned out to be bullshit.

I would expect from this charade:

• piles of paper impossible to analyze in the time allotted
• no indexing or organization
• dispersion of the data so that the natural competition of the news organizations will prevent discernment of the pattern they're trying to hide

The obvious conclusion is that McCain has cancer and his campaign is trying to hide it. The evidence is likely to be scant - some obscure chemotherapy, maybe an off-label use, prescribed under an uncommon name, maybe because it's experimental.

Granted, this is a wild and unsubstantiated guess. The real question for McCain is why he won't simply publish the records. It looks to me as though his campaign is taking a leaf from Duhbya's book.

Where Duhbya said that he was young and irresponsible when he was young and irresponsible - therefore admitting either that he did cocaine or that he did a whole lot of other stuff - McBush is admitting he's old and less than healthy because to go into more detail would require a worse admission.