halfgeek.codes

Internet meme circulated in late 2017

I used the term "dumpster fire" to describe the end of 2016 into 2017. I was talking about our national political situation at the time, and about events mainly at the federal level of government, and social issues in our country that seem to have fueled them. And so I thought the image above, which I found posted to social media, was uniquely appropriate to describe my feelings about what we could be in for in the coming year. But enough about that. Let's talk politics.

On the Trump Administration

Recent events and media stories have openly questioned President Trump's cognitive state.

Charles P. Pierce, writing on behalf of Esquire, offered commentary on a recent New York Times interview of 45:  ¹

[In the interview, the President] talks in semi-sentences and is always groping for something that sounds familiar, even if it makes no sense whatsoever and even if it blatantly contradicts something he said two minutes earlier. To my ears, anyway, this is more than the president*’s well-known allergy to the truth. This is a classic coping mechanism employed when language skills are coming apart.

I understand Pierce's observation, because I have a father-in-law who used similar evasive techniques. When responding to questions he didn't understand, he'd merely chuckle or offer some brief exclamation ("Oh!").

Pierce points out why the notion of an incompetent president is so important:

In Ronald Reagan’s second term, we ducked a bullet. I’ve always suspected he was propped up by a lot of people who a) didn’t trust vice-president George H.W. Bush, b) found it convenient to have a forgetful president when the subpoenas began to fly, and c) found it helpful to have a “detached” president when they started running their own agendas — like, say, selling missiles to mullahs. You’re seeing much the same thing with the congressional Republicans. They’re operating an ongoing smash-and-grab on all the policy wishes they’ve fondly cultivated since 1981. Having a president* who may not be all there and, as such, is susceptible to flattery because it reassures him that he actually is makes the heist that much easier.

A friend, who posted the article on social media, had an interesting opinion -- he suggests mandatory testing and succession planning for national-level leaders susceptible to cognitive decline like Alzheimer's disease or dementia.

I'm not so certain we don't already have such planning in place. Additionally, I suspect an argument could successfully be made that any aspect of the President's health is a matter of national security. In other words, we can talk all we want about whether the President suffers from some sort of decline, but we'll likely never see any statement from the White House nor any other federal level agency offering any sort of confirmation.