The Early Worm Catches the Bird

Years ago, I was back in Chicago having dinner with a friend, and at the time had a chronic cough, which my friend said might be pneumonia.  I knew it wasn't, just a periodic cough I'd get, but he was sure and kept on it.  Later that evening, I offhandedly brought the conversation up with my dad – who was a doctor with a half-a-century of experience.  Without even bothering to look up, he said, “You don’t have pneumonia.  If you had pneumonia, you’d have…” and listed half a dozen symptoms. 
 
As readers of these pages well-know, I’ve been writing for a long time that Trump has early dementia.  (“Early dementia” still being dementia, but the person is functioning.)  I don’t say that because I’m a doctor.  I’m not.  I say it because I’ve been reading from people who are doctors – psychologists and psychiatrists, experts in the field of dementia – who say that Trump has dementia and explain in detail why.  And have written articles and even books about Trump having dementia.  One who I’ve quoted from most is Dr. John Gartner, a former psychology professor at Johns Hopkins University.
 
(Dr. Gartner is the psychologist who’s said, “I tell people to look at Trump now because it’s the best you will ever see him,” because, as he explains, dementia is degenerative.  He’s also who said a year ago that he wouldn’t be surprised in three years to read about Trump wandering around the White House lawn in his pajamas and having to be taken inside by Secret Service agents.  And then a month or so back, there was Trump wandering around on the White House roof, surrounded by aides and the Secret Service.)
 
Occasionally when I bring this up online, people will reply that they don’t think so.  Which is their right, of course, not to think so.  But like me, they, too, are not psychologists or psychiatrists and have no expertise in the field.  So, they’re just going on unqualified opinion.  And that’s the issue.
 
Most people, myself included, look at a person and make a medical judgement without knowing what actual, underlying symptoms to look for.  Something that seems totally normal to most people is, in fact, a sign of a very real condition for something else. 
 
We see Trump repeat a story endlessly that isn’t true, that even has been debunked.  To us, that’s just Trump being Trump and lying.  To a psychologist, they write that that’s a sign of early dementia, and explain why and what it’s called.  Or we see Trump stumped on a word and make up a similar-sounding word to replace.  The press writes about that as just another “glitch,” but psychologists explain that, no, that’s actually something called paraphasia.  And is a sign of early dementia.  And…well, on and on.

By the way, just yesterday, at a press event in England he held with the British Prime Minister, convicted felon Trump referred to a conflict between "Aber...zijan and Albania."  It's actually Azerbaijan and Armenia.

And just yesterday, Fox ran a pre-taped interview with Trump.  Talking about drugs (which he was not on, as far as we know), he said, "You understand and we will be reducing drug costs over the next year, year-and-a-half, by not 50 or 60% but by 1000%.  Because if you think of a $10 pill -- it will be raised up from 10 to 20 because it's the world versus us, the world is the bigger place.  So it will go from 10 to 20 – it won’t go from 10 to 50 or 60 -- for them, which is bearable. And it will go from 10 to 20 for us."

This is not normal.  Just starting at something as basic as an adult actually thinking you can reduce any cost by "1,000%".  And it spirals to incomprehensible from there.  This can't be normalized.  This is like an eight-year-old trying to explain something to sound mature that he doesn't have a clue about.
 
So, lest one think, well, it's just a 79-year-old convicted felon being lost and confused while on parole, back in his work-release job as the most powerful man in the world, it was with great interest that I read an article three days ago in RawStory headlined, “'He's not doing well': Trump's last week has leading psychologists alarmed.”
 
It went on to describe how “A pair of prominent psychologists have reignited concerns about President Donald Trump's health, suggesting his recent displays of symptoms indicate more than typical age-related decline.” That came from a podcast, "Shrinking Trump," which the two doctors host and describe how they and "expert guests, conduct weekly sessions analyzing the psyche of Donald Trump."  It was on this particular episode that they argued that the 79-year-old president is exhibiting signs of "early dementia."  Those two doctors are Dr. Harry Segal and…Dr. John Gartner.
 
Gartner, the article noted, discussed a range of recent Trump behaviors that seemed normal, funny matters of ridicule to many, but were actually of notable issue.  Such as falling asleep at high-profile events.
 
"You're at the finals of the U.S. Open, a riveting performance... you're the center of attention," Dr. Gartner noted. "So how does Trump react? Oh, he's asleep again, just like he slept through most of the days of his criminal trial."
 
Dr. Segal pointed to Trump’s swollen ankles.  Not a matter of dementia, but as something concerning, nonetheless.  “"Congestive heart failure is what typically causes swelling, you know, largely swollen ankles," said Segal, a Cornell University psychology professor. "I think he's not, I mean, he's not doing well."
 
What also was alarming to Dr. Segal occurred during a 9/11 memorial event, where Trump appeared to have facial drooping. That brought about a lot of jokes.  But not to Dr. Segal.  He said, "When you see someone with half their face drooping like that, that's not just someone being tired, that's not a normal face. It's significant."

The article notes that the White House pushed back with a statement from Rep. Ronny Jackson, a former Navy Rear Admiral who was demoted to captain for reports of drinking and inappropriate behavior, but just reinstated two weeks ago now that Trump is back in office, who had once served as Trump's physician, but hasn’t treated him in years.  Yet he almost irresponsibly claimed "President Donald J. Trump is the healthiest president this nation has ever seen. He is mentally and physically sharper than ever before."
 
Reality says otherwise.
 
You can read the full article here.

The Shrinking Trump podcast can be found on Apple here, and on iHeart podcasts here.
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