Bloomberg – Trump Passes Cognitive Screen…
Once again Democrats/liberals saw another perfect pass for a win or strike out pitch. Couldn’t fathom that it would end up as interception and touchdown or grand slam homer. One that Trump will now endlessly crow about, a perfect score.
A perfect score that wouldn’t exist if armchair Democratic shrinks hadn’t gone on their flight of fancy and kept their mouths shut. Can’t even say that they weren’t forewarned. As usual, the messenger was trashed. (Yeah, I’m pissed.)
The anecdotal reports on Trump and impressions of some from viewing Trump on TV are suggestive but weak to very weak. For example, from the NYTimes interview Charles Pierce essentially declared that Trump was fully in the grip of a form of senile dementia. But he completely overlooked that Trump had displayed the acquisition of new names and words (government operations) over the past year and was fluid in using them. OTOH, the NYTimes only released a limited and edited transcript. So, is the Times covering up for Trump or misleading readers like Pierce?
In the early stages of dementia, only a trained clinician (free of bias and prejudices) and in a one-on-one session(s) with a patient can make a valid assessment. Difficult to imagine that Trump would voluntarily subject himself to a cognitive wellness exam. And unless or until he exhibits more florid indications of dementia, Pence isn’t going initiate or join (a requirement) an invocation of Section 4 (25th Amendment). For good reason — imagine a temporarily removed Trump returning with a valid assessment report of no evidence of dementia.
How many here that were totally convinced that Trump is in an easily detectable stage of dementia warranting his removal from office will be a big enough person to admit that she/he was wrong?
More importantly when will they get outside their groupthink tank and see that they are facilitating Trump’s wins? Almost as if they are the real Russia-Putin operatives.
>>How many here that were totally convinced that Trump is in an easily detectable stage of dementia warranting his removal from office will be a big enough person to admit that she/he was wrong?
did anyone here actually say that?
It’s very clear that they use a military doctor so that he can be ordered what to say and what not to say. Nobody on the net today believes the announced height and weight numbers, (6’3″ 239#) let alone anything else.
Diary: Wolff is Credible on Trump’s Diminished Capacity
Comments:
And angst in this one and an earlier one that Pence and Congress isn’t invoking the 25th amendment because Trump is so clearly senile.
So, yes, it was stated — and I was rubbished for pointing out the the evidence was weak.
On your other point:
Physician to the President – Dr. Ronny Jackson
Dr. Jackson did release that Trump is overweight (rather obvious) and takes anti-balding medication (apparently not that effective). Here’s all the gory details (Dr. Jackson could only release with Trump’s approval) for all the armchair physicians here to pick over.
None of us are in a position to opine on whether Dr. Jackson is a fully qualified primary care physician. We can only note that Obama approved him and this was one appointment that Trump didn’t dismiss.
OK. people did say what they said.
I never questioned whether Dr Jackson was “fully qualified”, I’m sure he has a license. I’m also sure that one of the most important qualifications for being the President’s doctor is keeping your mouth shut. I doubt that any qualified physician would want to be part of declaring the President unfit, as long as said President was upright and conscious.
Trump isn’t just overweight, and he’s very obviously shorter and heavier than announced. Unlike guesses about his mental condition, this is clear to any seeing eye. Whatever Dr Jackson found in Trump’s exam is VERY obviously not related to the released info.
What do you mean?
As Dr. Jackson could only release what Trump permitted him to do, it’s surprising to me that so much was released. Other than stating the Trump is overweight, mentally competent, and within the normal health range for a man of his age, he only released the quantitative results of the physical exam and tests. That leaves others free to assess and diagnose from all those numbers and the medications he takes. Doubt that anyone (real physicians and those that like to play opposition doctor) will find anything to make an issue out of.
Isn’t 75 inches equal to 6′ 3″? Isn’t that what he’s claimed?
Having a license to practice medicine and being fully qualified to do so are not necessarily congruent ideas. Yes, this doctor is a successful federal bureaucrat, so of course his information is questionable.
So what? Trump’s still in office. Gonna blame Russia for his election and some doctor for his continuance in office? Look in the fucking mirror!!!
The sheeple-like leftiness stampede…or maybe it’s more like lemmings…in every direction that the corporate-controlled media tell them to run has been disgusting to watch for decades. This Trumpamania is just the latest example.
And…so far, Trump has survived all of it.
Good work, lemmings and lemming masters.
Every day that Trump remans in office is a day closer to total Trumpist control.
Meanwhile, back at the Muelller Ranch the lawyers, investigators and other leakers are having a field day.
Every day. And twice on Sundays as they prepare their latest anti-Trump hottest-thing-ever for the Monday news cycle, drip drip drip.
Nice…
Nero stays; Rome burns and the swamp survives….more and more likely under new and even more dangerous management
Great work.
AG
And here we go — what a doc sees — CNN – President Trump has common form of heart disease. “Common” is in line with Dr. Jackson’s statement that Trump’s physical health is average for a 71 year old.
Up the meds and eat more vegetables and fewer Big Macs and the projected moderate risk goes way down. So, he ain’t gonna die of ‘natural causes’ which means the opposition needs to find another way to get him out of the WH.
Maybe we should send him MacDonald’s coupons!
Snark from GG on that ‘perfect score./
GG serious note:
OTOH — varies forms of anti-social behavior are DSM clinical diagnoses that unfortunately have been normalized in our political culture and remaining silent makes us complicit in that normalization.
where did GG stand about all the diagnoses from afar of Hilary Clinton’s various deadly illnesses? I’m very surprised she’s still with us.
Do you mistake me for Greenwald’s archivist?
I know I began to follow Billmon’s twitter feed during the 2016 election, but don’t recall how early in the primary season that I began doing so. This was a first for me — following tweets — but reading whatever and wherever Billmon posts is a habit for me going back to November 2002 and it’s always a nice surprise when he pops back up from a long hiatus.
I would see GG tweets posted by Billmon and iirc Atrios and possibly a few others, but I’m sure I wasn’t following him during the election. It wasn’t until Billmon signed off when the elections results were posted that I gravitated to GG’s twitter feed.
I can speak for myself on this issue — on several occasions Clinton displayed behaviors that didn’t qualify as normal and healthy. Have no idea if it was acute, chronic, or slow healing from her concussion and blood clot (or whatever the hell that was). I put no more stock in the on-line diagnoses of whatever was ailing her than I did the Trump dementia diagnoses. However, that doesn’t mean that I dismissed either and didn’t observe, noting both seeming confirming and non-confirming suggestions/evidence. It’s the non-confirming that those invested in a certain hypothesis always dismiss or overlook. I put Clinton’s comparatively light travel and campaign schedule (that’s in comparison with Trump and the older Sanders) in the confirming category. Like Trump she’s overweight, but she does drink alcohol and doesn’t take any exercise (not that Trump gets much by playing golf).
I also looked closely at Sanders’ physical health or healthiness. The demands of the job of president exceed the physical and mental fitness of the average retiree. It was a legitimate question and concern despite the absence of evidence of any health issue. No-confirming was his campaign travel schedule while also continuing to perform his Senate job and being hand-on his campaign. Had all three spent the first few months holding down a job and traveling coach and making the same number of large and small campaign and TV appearances as Sanders did, there would have been only one survivor.
○ Embarrassment to GG, MW of The Intercept: Omidyar Co-funded Ukraine Revolt
GG’s response on the same day …
○ On the Meaning of Journalistic Independence | March 1, 2014 |
There are numerous images online of the Clintons and Trump at Trump’s daughter’s wedding. Given Clinton’s pompadour at the time, I would guess that they are about the same hight…6’2″, maybe 6’3′. Trump’s shoulders look about an inch or more higher than do Clinton’s, though.
Height seems to matter in presidential politics. Since FDR I do not think that we have had more than 4 presidents…Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon and Carter…who were under 6′ tall. There have been studies done that suggest height and executive success are related. The dominance effect, don’tcha know.
AG
the pics I’ve seen are Trump with Obama, I guess at the inauguration. They look very close to the same height, and Obama is listed as 6’1″. And in the pictures of the many Repub candidates, Trump can be compared to Jeb Bush; Jeb is listed as 6’3″ and he’s fully 2 inches taller than Trump.
and no way is he only 239#.
I don’t care if Trump’s standing on a box every time a camera appears.
I’ll say it again:
HE’S STILL IN OFFICE!!!
And he is still saying “Whadda you gonna do about it!!!”
Questioning his height and his sanity…perfect!!! Small hands and a small dick? Maybe. So the fuck what!!!??? Hitler only had one testicle, and he came damned near to conquering the entire world.
I repeat:
TRUMP IS STILL IN OFFICE!!!
SIigh…
The winners write history. If Trumps succeeds, he was “sane.” If not? Do you believe that Bill Clinton was “sane” when he took Monica Lewinsky the intern/secretary into the Oval Orifice and played sex games with her? With Secret Service people always knowing where he was and what he was doing? No, he was Dick Crazy!!!
Ditto JFK.
Where is the #MeToo brigade with these two idiots!!!???
Leftinesses.
Whadda buncha maroons you are!!!
AG
Hitler’s testicle is a matter of historical debate.
What appears safe enough knowledge is that the story started as British propaganda – Hitler only got one ball – with historians later trying to prove or disprove the common knowledge. Which I guess illustrates the point, he has (to the general public) one ball because he lost the war, not the other way around.
Fjallstrom…you write:
Hmmmmmm…
This sounds kinda familiar.
Like this:
Right now?
The whole thing resides in virtual Schroedinger’s catbox…errr, ahhh, I meant Schroedinger’s cat box. I think that’s what I meant but judging from the smell, it could go both ways.
Whatever.
The indeterminacy principle applies because we cannot open the Deep State/Trumpist catboxes of lies and counter-lies to see what’s really happening. Schroedinger’s was a thought experiment, thus there was no real danger to the participants. This situation is a different story. If the Trump cat is still in power at the end of the experiment the entire system is at risk, and if the various poisons being used by the Deep State to rid itself of this dangerous man actually work…by impeachment, resignation, 25th amendment or less legal methods…they threaten to poison the poisoners as well as the entire country.
May you be born(e) into interesting times.
Over and out…
AG
To quote a well known person, “What difference does it make?” (Note — that’s one thing that I not only never criticized Clinton got stating but also stated that it was completely appropriate.)
Perception of relative heights of people in photos or videos is almost never accurate. Ascertaining weight is even more perilous. I’ve never appeared to be as slim as a friend is. Yet, she’s a couple inches shorter than me and weighs almost twenty pounds more than I did at my rock bottom weight and was described as slim.
Bone, muscle, and joint mass declines with age. Fat isn’t dense and by size weighs less than muscle. Trump is old and fat and due to statins not a walking heart attack ready to happen. (Cheney was but emergency med for him was never more than seconds away and the best surgeons were available within minutes; so, nine years out of office, he has yet to exit.)
Didn’t Cheney get another heart?
I find it almost silly to argue over Trump’s height and weight . I’ll accept what the doctor said until there is a good reason not to.
For a time I thought Trump was stupider than a bag of rocks and a little insane. No more, or at least it is not so obvious to me anymore. He may be an evil man who conspired with Putin but the impeachment continues to seem a long way off. So we better get our act together to beat him next time around.
Yes he did. But he made it through eight years as VP with the old one that had given him multiple and very serious heart attacks over a few decades.
No, you weren’t wrong if by stupid you mean average intelligence and average level of ignorance. Being or appearing to be clever isn’t a function of intelligence or cognizance, but it stumps smart people and average people mistake it for smarts. Deviousness is another function. Then there’s amorality.
Politicians tend to be in that one SD above average tier in intelligence. Mostly at the mid to high end. (One reason for that is that a much higher percentage of those above average vote.) Doubt that this research/study listing of presidents has merit but I can see some flaws. Some estimates appear close enough but many appear inflated, some wildly inflated (ie JFK and GWB). Why set the estimate for at age 18-26? Too many above 145 (three SD above average) and 130 (two SDs) and none below 120 (average is 100 +/- 15 and 116 to 119 would be in the + one SD along with 120-130). I would agree that John Q is in that genius category (145+) and Carter is at/near that cusp. (Both one-termers.)
Trump hasn’t exhibited anything that would place him above average. Language skills too rudimentary and lacks complex thought processes (that increases along with measured IQ scores). He’s devious and amoral but not particularly clever. (GWB is more clever but near Trump in smarts.)
It’s his carny barker style combined with an exceptional ability to lie and to seamlessly stake out two contradictory positions that flummoxes opponents. It’s a simplified application of Rove’s prescription:
I create reality. And while you’re studying how to respond to me, I create other new realities which you have to figure out how to respond to. Rinse-repeat.
Reality ultimately does in fakers promising the world, but that’s a complacent and cruel way to skin a cat.
In the interest of accuracy and not repeating misinformation (regardless of how seemingly minor): Pics of the Clintons at Trump’s third wedding reception. Also pics of Bill and Donald playing golf (don’t know if it was once or more than once). No Clintons at Ivanka’s wedding and/or reception and no Trumps at Chelsea’s. (Chelsea and Ivanka only became friends after they became young, NYC society matrons. Such is the life of those that never had to get and hold a job on their own.)