By Colleen O’Connor
Super-forecasters study data, science, trends, history, social and economic conditions to foretell the future. Not really astrologers, but seers of a kind. You can do this yourself.
Just pay attention to the news and details around you. Then ask yourself what will be the most tumultuous and consequential event this summer and fall? Probably, the general election which will control the future of this country and many others.
What will be the defining issue? The impeachment? The protests? The stock market? Taxes, tapes, or “terrific” pardons? Possible.
Probably not, “the economy, stupid;” nor the COVID-19 second wave; a bad hurricane season; fires; floods, or even riots.
Arguably, the single most upending, calamitous, and dangerous condition during this election season could also be President Trump’s precarious health.
Seriously. The most recent incidence at his West Point virtual graduation ceremony was not his stilted reading from a teleprompter (that is common); nor his somewhat slurred pronunciation and out of tempo fist-bump in speaking of General MacArthur; but his inability to even lift a glass of water to his lips.
Watch the video on YouTube. It was an effort for the President of the United States to take a simple sip of water. He couldn’t do it one-handed. This sip (seen ‘round the world) stalled and needed his left hand to help tilt the glass of water successfully to his Trump’s lips.
Then, add a little more eyebrow-raising view of his exit-walk down a low-incline ramp that was unsteady at best.
Taken by themselves, these two recent encounters might pass unnoticed, but their other instances give rise to serious questions about Trump’s real health condition.
His struggling with the lyrics to God Bless America. His childlike-behavior at a Super Bowl Party, swinging hands and moving chairs during the national anthem. And his recent unstable swaying at Arlington memorial.
Think back to Pelosi’s remark after February’s State of the Union address. (She who is privy to highly classified intelligence and every politically sensitive nugget in the universe).
“He seemed sedated.”
Add on her comment that his speech, “had no contact with reality whatsoever;” that she worries about his health (taking hydroxychloroquine during the COVID-19 epidemic), because he is “morbidly obese” and thus, vulnerable. Then there is her insistence that she “prays for him and for the country” every night.
Some of this could be just “giving him a dose of his own medicine,” as she admits, but then there are other medical problems. His medication list (that is admitted to) includes statins for high cholesterol; daily aspirin for stroke prevention; Ambien for travel; Propecia for hair growth; and an antibiotic for rosacea.
Then there was Trump’s “mysterious, unscheduled Saturday visit” to Walter Reed hospital, several months ahead of his regular scheduled exam.
The White House explanation: Trump was “taking advantage of a free weekend” to “begin portions of his routine annual physical exam” early. Just needed some blood tests.
Odd that, given that Trump already had his annual exam in February and blood tests can be quickly done at the White House.
Then there are those “Apprentice Tapes,” currently in a courthouse black hole of multiple appeals. Comedian, Tom Arnold, insists they contain video evidence of Trump’s addiction to Adderall for ADHD.
“Adderall is a brain stimulant. In therapeutic doses its side effects can include increased blood pressure and heart rate, as well as trouble sleeping. Serious side effects of Adderall abuse include insomnia, mood swings, panic attacks, chest pain, sexual dysfunction, and even sudden cardiac death, according to a summary by the American Addiction Centers.”
Pretend you are a “super forecaster.” Imagine the worst. Trump has a stroke. Pence is “acting” President. Then what? Are all those pardons on hold? Flynn, Manafort, and Roger Stone.
The enablers? What happens to Barr, Pompeo, Ivanka and Jared, and Miller and DeVos?
Look again at the newly-minted Melania (her image refurbished in a new book, The Art of Her Deal). Melania renegotiated her pre-nuptial as a precondition to leaving New York for D.C. Part of the change “to make certain that Barron Trump, 14, would have a proper inheritance and a place in the Trump Organization; his dual American and Slovenian citizenship would allow him to work in Europe.”
Some did see that coming? Remember the hand slaps; the refusal to hold hands coming down Air-Force One? The freeze-face stares?
Could she duplicate the unseen power of President Woodrow Wilson’s second wife, during his incapacitation from a stroke, which left him bedridden and partially paralyzed?
Edith Wilson, nestled at his bedside, pre-screened and pre-approved all entries and entreaties regarding matters of state. While dispatching most business to the appropriate agencies, she virtually ran the Executive branch of government, for the remainder of Wilson’s second term.
It was a “stewardship,” as she labeled it, adding that the “doctors suggested it.” Others claim that Edith, who read all the dispatches, was privy to classified material, and attended Cabinet meetings, “was, essentially, the nation’s chief executive until her husband’s second term concluded in March of 1921.”
She did so quietly and so thoroughly that public knowledge of the serious decline in the health of the bedridden President was muted.
Will history repeat itself? Just a possible super-forecast. Pay attention.
Remember, you read it here first.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Melania is not a born-US citizen and, correct me if I’m wrong about this, cannot hold the office of the President. The same reason Arnie Schwarzenegger couldn’t run for President (though a lot of Republicans wanted him to) when he was another rightwing Gov of California.
So she’s out of the running. I would doubt she could pull an Edith with the fanatically powerful men that infest the White House.
But then wouldn’t we get to experience the dead-faced corporate neoliberal/neocon Republican robotman Pence, the Christian Dominionist waiting-for-the-Rapture (along with SecofState ex-CIA director “they taught me to lie” Pompous Maximus) religious extremist who, based on his publicly professed beliefs, will immediately introduce Inquisition II while ‘creating’ a Theocratic State? He’s pushed this his entire career! And most certainly he would have no problem continuing every public policy whether foreign or domestic that this Regime has put in place. LOOK UP his political record, who he hangs with, and then there’s those speeches of his to read that send shivers up the spine to any history reader who understands deductive logic…
Or, if we’re at all ‘lucky,’ we’ll get to experience a dementia-ridden neoliberal corporate Wall St. Bank-owned warmonger liar sack of s**t ex-VP and accessory to war crimes (Iraq, Syria, Libya) Democrat President who will pretty much carry on exactly the same policies of the last 40 freaking neoliberal years. But maybe polished up a little and sprayed with perfume because that’s what Democrats do… Just look at the crap DINO N. Pelosi has continued to support. But of course there will be a few ‘identity politics’ crumbs thrown to the workers to keep them pacified.
But not to many. Wouldn’t want to disturb the comfort of the wealthy who buy…ummmm, contribute to their political campaigns in the privately-owned corporations named RNC and DNC…
Ain’t lesser EVIL voting a peach? And we have the very real expectations of never having the choice of anyone better that evil or evil?
This system sucks, and it’s working perfectly. Exactly as it was set up to do.
Maybe it’s time we go back to the original meaning of the Constitution. Only white male property owners can vote. Wouldn’t that quickly solve all problems?
S/!!
sealintheSelkirks
Yeah, its an ugh all round, Seal. Frankly I don’t care if the POTUS can walk or not. Much ado about nothing, and I even hate to waste 7 character spaces on Melania. Anyone over 60 watches where they step, so what? Most are on statins of one sort or another; so, uh, let’s focus on his BRAIN not his body.
And the Biden brain, if gentler, isn’t much better. The idea that we’re going to cure this country with Biden and a democratic Senate, is a showcase for dementia. Sorry, not sorry.
Trump’s mental and physical health are in decline visibly and audibly. Lately news has shown some of his earliest whining about black males getting the benefit of affirmative action. That was in the late ’70’s or early ’80’s when he actually used complete sentences without weird movements, etc. My fear is his health will get bad enough for Pence to take over before the election. Trump’s followers who just don’t like his Twitter and excessive verbal abuse and erratic behavior will look at Pence as acceptable and vote for him though they might not have been willing to give Trump another four years or might not have bothered voting. I don’t know how that works but I do recall Pence did sign up to run for the ’20 election probably with such an outcome in mind: Trump dying or finally convincing powers to try 25th amendment.
Why does the “Watch the Video on YouTube” link to Fox6? And the link would not work from this computer.
Because that’s where the vids are. Try this: https://fox6now.com/2020/06/15/videos-of-president-trump-walking-on-ramp-lifting-glass-with-two-hands-put-him-on-the-defensive/
Thank you. They worked.
Well, maybe tomorrow’s giant Tulsa Oklahoma Trump rally will solve a few of the problems that beset this country along with perhaps Trump’s growing and obvious increasing physical problems. You can be sure that there won’t be masks being worn by Trump and Pence or the huge crowd that is supposedly going to show up (after they sign RELEASES saying they can’t sue if they get sick and die to be allowed in!!!) much less any ‘social distancing’ of any sort. And you can also bet in Covid 19-spiking Oklahoma that those micro-droplets full of virus that are now known to swish around in the air for more than an hour after being expelled by breathing, especially since the infectious disease specialists are now saying IT HAS MUTATED INTO A MORE CONTAGIOUS STRAIN in this second half of the 1st Wave of this Pandemic, will be layering the atmosphere ceiling to floor in those indoor buildings full of shoulder-to-shoulder screaming ranting stomping spit-spewing packed crowds of anti-antiFascists (which means proFascists, correct?).
I don’t ‘believe’ in Karma, not from my reading and understanding of human history since too many of the worst of our species live long lives full of wealth and power, but I do understand the science behind cause and effect. This may be one of those moments?
Hey, it worked for the Republicans on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in the last election, got a lot of voters sick (don’t know about deaths) and almost all of them I saw in photos were in masks and 6 feet apart. Of course the Judges voted absentee…they don’t need to stand in no stinking lines!
The irony of this moment could possibly bring George Carlin, who professed a love of black and seriously diseased Irony, back from the grave just to experience it. He’s been sorely missed the last few years by millions of intelligent people…
sealintheSelkirks
There ya go saying the quiet part out loud. Shhhh! Trump is hazarding his own base. Makes sense if you subscribe to the theory that not only did he not want to win the 2016 election (just building the brand, man . . . then I start my own foxian news) but he does not want to be stuck for another 4 years.
Unfortunately, this is going to turn out very badly, with the attendees scattering to the surrounding States afterwards.
I miss George, too. “Drink up, Shriners!”
Fire marshal in Tulsa reports that Trump’s crowd was a bit less than 7000.
Officials from the San Diego Zoo estimate approximately 6,000 guests showed up Saturday for the zoo’s reopening.
Oh, a chuckle from you and Debbie – good to start Monday off with a chuckle – thanks Peter and Debbie.
HA!
Keep the zoos visitor count a secret otherwise the next rally might have lions, tigers and bears to increase attendance!