Over at Slate Eleanor Cummins recommends that the elderly in positions of public service submit to serial Mini-Mental State Exam testing. The first test establishes a baseline. Later tests can provide a diagnosis. Cummins: [INDENT]Trump is 71 years old. At his age, some 5 percent of Americans show signs of dementia. That’s a pretty small number, and even if a leader, especially the president, began to show marked mental decline, what to do about that would be a long and ethically complicated conversation. [/INDENT] Trump continues to be accused of dementia. Let’s administer the mini-mental state exam.
Discussions involving the 25th amendment can indeed be long and complicated. Presumably there’s an interval where a hypothetical President or Senator is declining but not yet unfit for public office.
That “interval” was my high school years (1985-88).
The evidence regarding Reagan is, unsurprisingly, mixed. That said, if he was a CEO he would have been replaced by someone in 1987 or earlier: [INDENT][INDENT] Even more chilling, Cannon told Mayer and McManus, was the portrait that White House aides drew of Reagan himself: “They told stories about how inattentive and inept the President was. He was lazy; he wasn’t interested in the job. They said he wouldn’t read the papers they gave him–even short position papers and documents. They said he wouldn’t come over to work–all he wanted to do was to watch movies and television at the residence.”
Cannon told The Times that he interviewed 15 to 20 White House officials, including senior aides, and “the overwhelming majority” painted that portrait of Reagan.
Removal of Reagan From Office Suggested to Baker : Report Said Aides Described President as Depressed, Inept in Wake of Iran-Contra Crisis [/INDENT][/INDENT] Setting aside important concerns about sentiment and political messaging, from a strict managerial standpoint it’s easy to say that George HW Bush was far more fit for office at the time than Ronald Reagan.
Other countries embrace a concept of “No confidence”, whereby wrong choices for the head of state can be corrected. Founding father Benjamin Franklin characterized impeachment as being gentler than assassination, suggesting that he grasped the underlying issues. (Pretty astute for an 80 year old man!)
Ezra Klein argues for a mechanism to replace a President who just happens to have the wrong sort of temperament. Impeach Donald Trump: The case for firing an unfit president - Vox
In business the Board of Directors can kick a bad CEO out the door, for any number of reasons. Even if they chose the guy themselves using their best judgment at the time. Modern conservatives tend to be pro- (authoritarian) government when their guy is in office though, so I expect them to reject capitalist processes on this narrow point.
I endorse this post strongly. There is so much to criticize; why the focus on trivia? :mad: (Especially since it didn’t resemble a neurological impairment, just … loose dentures?)
Stephen Colbert messes up a few words in each monologue. So do most of us.
As everyone has pointed out, it wasn’t just a few words. He seemed to lose his ability to say certain things. He honestly had that slight drunk tone to what he was saying, to me.
It could be benign. It could not be. But it is important.
It’s also cathartic.
Fear of operations? It’d be the same reason he wears a Tribble rather than getting hairplugs.
Today’s Li’l Donnie covers it well.
As a general admirer of yours I have to ask (respectfully), are you out of your mind!?
Trump is a juvenile, impetuous reactionary who has his finger on the god damned button. If he’s on drugs, we need to know. If he has dementia, we need to know. And calling him out on this type of thing is needed. And if he is on drugs or has failing mental capacities it’s not really the same thing as you flubbing a line or two at the Rotary Club is it?
I actually do wonder if he is on drugs. All that sniffing he did during the debates combined with his questionable performance reeked of being not clean. In your referenced speech he slurred (and it was more than just one word) and sniffed.
He’s surely hopped up on caffeine, what with drinking 12 Diet Cokes per day.
I’m hoping it’s covfefe that’s he’s snorting.
For my part, I hope this is all benign. Not because I am a supporter of Trump. I want him beaten, not wheeled out of the White House bravely waving to scenes of tears and regret, with his replacement promising to redouble efforts to fulfil Trump’s legacy and a huge sympathy vote for those who want to progress his “program” (if there is such a beast that can pass a meaningful test of coherence). I don’t want him spoken of in terms of what he would have been able to achieve if only his health hadn’t given out. If he left on such terms, his supporters would be under no obligation to point to actual achievements in order to idolise him. They can make up any shit they want about “what he would have been able to achieve if only he had been allowed to go on”.
I want him to demonstrably fail to deliver competent leadership.
I want him beaten at the ballot box. No excuses.
I want there to be no hint of Camelot, or of things that might have been (which can always be painted as rosily as imagination allows).
It gives me no pleasure to recognise that wishing him well is also the decent thing to do in the case of any human being whether you like them or not. That is not the reason I am wishing him well.
TIA was my first thought, as well. But it also reminded me of when Serene Branson had what people originally thought was a stroke on-air when she was reporting on the Grammy Awards in 2011. After medical testing, it was revealed that it was a migraine. Footage of the on-air incident can be seen here.
What’s fascinating is the way she maintains the perfect “TV reporter” cadence as she’s unable to form the words. It’s reminds me of Vanessa Bayer’s gibberish-talking meteorologist on SNL.
And the way that Selene keeps herself together during probably the scariest moment of her life, and you can see the fear and panic in her eyes, but she never lets it out. If that were me, I’d have probably shit myself while trying to scream “call 911!”
That’s professionalism. Those few seconds earned her a lifetime of respect from me.
He was crooked and crazy then too. He just was better able to hide it.
Not good enough. I want him to be impeached, and him, his family, and his Russia loving cronies facing charges and convictions and prison. I want them financially ruined. And after they are flat broke, I want them to get horribly sick and have NO HEALTH CARE. That would be justice.
You’re not alone on this. I’ve been carping about this ever since “covfefe”.
I remember when the anti-Obama crowd did this and it was a supremely awful and stupid look for them. “57 states! 57 states! Birth certificate! Hur de durr!” I try not to automatically assume that conservatives are brain damaged, but after watching this 8-year parade of petty booger-eating idiocy, it’s really hard. I know they didn’t all participate, but they were happy to chuckle and let it slide as long as it riled up the liberals.
Now my liberal friends are descending into this same vortex. One by one I’m tuning them out because it’s just nauseating to hear this pettiness taking up any oxygen while there are serious, existential threats to our democracy presented by Trump and his pirate crew. Guys and gals, I’m right there with you for serious, but please knock it off with the peanut gallery bullshit.