A reader writes:
I have been a classic migraine sufferer since I was a naive gay boy of eleven years old. I vividly remember my initial headaches – they were classic migraines with auras followed by mindblowing headaches that would send me to bed for up to two days at a crack. The pain was so intense that I would literally pound my skull against the headboard to try to somehow divert the agony I was experiencing. I was nauseous and also extremely sensitive to any light. I was, in other words, totally disabled.
So, leaving aside whether Michele Bachmann is actually qualified to be president (not to mention whether Marcus is qualified to be First Lady – sorry, I couldn't help myself!), the question remains: Could disabling migraines like those described above – especially resistant to today's prescribed medications – be enough to question any woman or man's ability to perform the duties of the Commander in Chief? The answer is, of course, yes.
Another writes:
My ex-wife suffered from migraines. Serious migraines. Severe, crippling, incapable-of-functioning-for-days-on-end migraines. We were either dating or married from 1981 to 1993 and I vividly remember the absolutely crippling effect they had on her. I remember walking along the shore in Virginia Beach, right after I'd taken the PA bar exam, and having to turn around and go back to the hotel room because of how sick she was. I remember being called out of a controversial zoning hearing for a municipality I was solicitor for (to a roomful of boos) because she was in agony and had to go to the hospital. I remember the look on her face – a kind of droopy look, as if one side of her face was just about to be the process of melting away – right before a migraine would start.
And I remember those hospital visits, cycling in and out, 5-6 hours after each other, for 2-3 days at a time, as the emergency room where we lived would try all manner of combination of drugs to bring her some peace, and how they would usually, eventually, just throw up their hands and IVs and blast away with Demerol (which cause rebound headaches of their own, not to mention the obvious addiction issues.)
Migraines are horrible things. At their worse, they make even the most rudimentary tasks horribly complex, and complex tasks all but impossible. It is absolutely, completely legitimate to press a presidential candidate on this issue, both due to the debilitating nature of the headaches themselves and the debilitating nature of the narcotics that may have to be used in their treatment when non-narcotic methods fail (and they sometimes do).
Finally, a word about the most famous migraine sufferer in the NBA – Scottie Pippen, of the Jordan-era Chicago Bills and one of the 50 greatest basketball players of all time. And he took himself out of a game 7 Eastern Conference Final because of a migraine. (The Bulls lost, by the way.) Think about that; a superstar professional basketball player can't play a Game 7 in a playoff series due to a migraine.
It isn't prying, it isn't being insensitive, and it definitely isn't some perceived MSM/liberal pile-on to ask about this. And asking about this means medical records. (Good luck with that.)
Another differs:
I am no fan of Bachmann and am waiting for her to flame out, but this migraine thing is ridiculous. We have historical data on presidents serving with daily intense pain, such as John Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt. While the American public was not as aware of their struggles with pain at the time, I think the fact that they did serve their country well and with great dignity is evidence enough that there are plenty of people that work and live with chronic pain.
(Photo by Scott Anderson)
The Dish 