Unmistakable Dementia

 

I have a rough-and-ready mental model of 3 stages of dementia:

  1. I once picked up a shift on a geriatric psych unit. Walking in the locked door, I ran into a couple of very sweet ladies who were having a conversation. “I don’t know why they keep this door locked,” said one. “I need to get to my dental appointment downtown,” said the other. I explained that the door needed to stay locked right now, and that the staff would help make sure they didn’t miss any important appointments. “Oh.” If you ignored the fact that the content of the conversation was not particularly connected to reality, they seemed perfectly normal. And, of course, I had exactly the same conversation with them again a couple of hours later. They didn’t remember talking to me.
  2. The person’s posture, gait, and facial expression are immediate giveaways, if you know what to look for. If you’ve worked with dementia patients, you just know, and almost immediately.
  3. The patient is non-verbal (or nearly so), incontinent, and unable to perform self-care.

Joe Biden is in stage 2:

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/06/biden-lurks-toward-baby-stage-hoping-get-sniff/

It baffles me that anyone can pretend otherwise.

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There are 16 comments.

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  1. Doctor Robert Member
    Doctor Robert
    @DoctorRobert

    He’s been in stage 1, or late pre-stage 1, since the beginning of the 2020 campaign.  Your bafflement is my bafflement.

    • #1
  2. Kevin Schulte Member
    Kevin Schulte
    @KevinSchulte

    The left and Trump haters don’t care . They no the prog’s in the administration will faithfully do what they want .

    The left operates like the Borg . They don’t really need to communicate . They all have the game plan . 

    • #2
  3. Dunstaple Coolidge
    Dunstaple
    @Dunstaple

    Kevin Schulte (View Comment):

    The left and Trump haters don’t care . They no the prog’s in the administration will faithfully do what they want .

    The left operates like the Borg . They don’t really need to communicate . They all have the game plan .

     

    Yeah, that seems to be the unmistakable conclusion to draw. What baffles me is how we got to that point, and how quickly. It’s patently un-American.

    • #3
  4. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Dunstaple (View Comment):
    Yeah, that seems to be the unmistakable conclusion to draw. What baffles me is how we got to that point, and how quickly. It’s patently un-American.

    It has not been that quickly. It has taken decades.

    • #4
  5. Dunstaple Coolidge
    Dunstaple
    @Dunstaple

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Dunstaple (View Comment):
    Yeah, that seems to be the unmistakable conclusion to draw. What baffles me is how we got to that point, and how quickly. It’s patently un-American.

    It has not been that quickly. It has taken decades.

    Well, that’s what I mean. It felt quick to me. Kind of a case of “slowly, then all of a sudden.”

    • #5
  6. namlliT noD Member
    namlliT noD
    @DonTillman

    Doctor Robert (View Comment):

    He’s been in stage 1, or late pre-stage 1, since the beginning of the 2020 campaign. Your bafflement is my bafflement.

    Indeed.  Both Biden and the press coverage have been pretty clear about this all along.

     

    Dunstaple (View Comment):

    Kevin Schulte (View Comment):

    The left and Trump haters don’t care . They no the prog’s in the administration will faithfully do what they want .

    Yeah, that seems to be the unmistakable conclusion to draw. What baffles me is how we got to that point, and how quickly. It’s patently un-American.

    The American system, as detailed in the Constitution, is based on checks and balances.  Three branches of government keep tabs on each other, and a “Functional Democracy” where the people can vote out leaders that disappoint, while providing an incentive for leaders to do a good job.

    Free market capitalism is also based on checks and balances.  If one company disappoints, others are free to do a better job, a company that overspends goes out of business, and so forth.

    I’ll claim that our current problem is due to a Democrat Party hellbent on political power by any means necessary, abetted by a Republican Party that has been asleep and failed to live up to its responsibility of checks and balances. 

    And this explanation is consistent with what we are witnessing.  As a clear example: every major US city.  

    • #6
  7. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Dunstaple (View Comment):
    Well, that’s what I mean. It felt quick to me. Kind of a case of “slowly, then all of a sudden.”

    Agreed. We have passed a tipping point.

    • #7
  8. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    There is some historical precedent for propping up a president. The Democrats reelected FDR even while the economy was worsening under his leadership (see Amity Shlaes, The Forgotten Man). And when they last reelected him, he died four months later (April 1945), even though it was very clear in the photographs of him at Yalta that he was seriously unwell.

    For the Democrats, it’s all about being a faithful party member.

    And I don’t think life in America under this Democratic Party administration would change one little bit if he were removed from office.

    • #8
  9. Dunstaple Coolidge
    Dunstaple
    @Dunstaple

    MarciN (View Comment):

    There is some historical precedence for propping up a president. The Democrats reelected FDR even while the economy was worsening under his leadership (see Amity Shlaes, The Forgotten Man). And when they last reelected him, he died four months later (April 1945), even though it was very clear in the photographs of him at Yalta that he was seriously unwell.

    For the Democrats, it’s all about being a faithful party member.

    And I don’t think life in America under this Democratic Party administration would change one little bit if he were removed from office.

    You’re absolutely right about the Democrats.

    I think I agree with that last. Except I keep feeling like I catch hints that Biden actually has some say in policy. Another thing that baffles me, if true.

    • #9
  10. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    MarciN (View Comment):
    There is some historical precedence for propping up a president.

    And don’t forget the first female President of the United States, my cousin Edith.

    • #10
  11. Steve Fast Member
    Steve Fast
    @SteveFast

    Dunstaple (View Comment):

    MarciN (View Comment):

    There is some historical precedence for propping up a president. The Democrats reelected FDR even while the economy was worsening under his leadership (see Amity Shlaes, The Forgotten Man). And when they last reelected him, he died four months later (April 1945), even though it was very clear in the photographs of him at Yalta that he was seriously unwell.

    For the Democrats, it’s all about being a faithful party member.

    And I don’t think life in America under this Democratic Party administration would change one little bit if he were removed from office.

    You’re absolutely right about the Democrats.

    I think I agree with that last. Except I keep feeling like I catch hints that Biden actually has some say in policy. Another thing that baffles me, if true.

    If you took Biden out of the equation, the administration would collapse as the aides and deputies and assistants fell to fighting without anyone to referee. Biden is like the one block in Jenga that is holding up the tower.

    • #11
  12. CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill
    @CarolJoy

    Biden’s infirmity is used by the D Party as a way of communicating “Okay we who head the party goofed up. As soon as the next Presidential cycle rolls around, we will be able to vote for Gov Newsom or for  Michelle Obama and then everything will be alright again.”

    With Kamala the Cackle being next in line, few people would clamor  to see Biden gone.

    • #12
  13. Suspira Member
    Suspira
    @Suspira

    Kevin Schulte (View Comment):

    The left and Trump haters don’t care . They no the prog’s in the administration will faithfully do what they want .

    The left operates like the Borg . They don’t really need to communicate . They all have the game plan .

    Some of us care. How about giving us a choice that isn’t the execrable Trump? 

    • #13
  14. John Stanley Coolidge
    John Stanley
    @JohnStanley

    There is the question: Would someone run for a office, even knowing they are not able to finish the term, of even part of the term?
    I think a close example is the last year of FDR’s life.
    https://www.c-span.org/video/?429122-2/his-final-battle

    • #14
  15. Terence Smith Coolidge
    Terence Smith
    @TerrySmith

    Kevin Schulte (View Comment):

    The left and Trump haters don’t care . They no the prog’s in the administration will faithfully do what they want .

    Well, in seeking to  understand how the “special needs” senate candidate Fetterman beat the reasonably palatable Dr. Oz, I realized that if Fetterman was a solid conservative and he was running against my awful governor Gretchen Whitmer(MI) for senate I would have voted for Fetterman. Knowing his staff would be running the show is enough.  So its not hard to believe people on the other side do the same.

    As to the original post’s point 2:

    “The person’s posture, gait, and facial expression are immediate giveaways, if you know what to look for. If you’ve worked with dementia patients, you just know, and almost immediately”.

    While it is almost a cheap shot, I’ve often thought the same just looking at pictures of a slack jawed Biden. Something is not right there.

    I still think the odds are that Joe Biden is not the Democrat nominee in 2024. The Democrat convention follows the Republican convention by over a month and the Republican nominee will be obvious well before then. Plenty of time to push Joe out if it looks like he will lose. His age, infirmity and suppressed scandals are enough to force him to bow out.

    • #15
  16. Steve Fast Member
    Steve Fast
    @SteveFast

    Terence Smith (View Comment):

    Kevin Schulte (View Comment):

    The left and Trump haters don’t care . They no the prog’s in the administration will faithfully do what they want .

    Well, in seeking to understand how the “special needs” senate candidate Fetterman beat the reasonably palatable Dr. Oz, I realized that if Fetterman was a solid conservative and he was running against my awful governor Gretchen Whitmer(MI) for senate I would have voted for Fetterman. Knowing his staff would be running the show is enough. So its not hard to believe people on the other side do the same.

    As to the original post’s point 2:

    “The person’s posture, gait, and facial expression are immediate giveaways, if you know what to look for. If you’ve worked with dementia patients, you just know, and almost immediately”.

    While it is almost a cheap shot, I’ve often thought the same just looking at pictures of a slack jawed Biden. Something is not right there.

    I still think the odds are that Joe Biden is not the Democrat nominee in 2024. The Democrat convention follows the Republican convention by over a month and the Republican nominee will be obvious well before then. Plenty of time to push Joe out if it looks like he will lose. His age, infirmity and suppressed scandals are enough to force him to bow out.

    Totally agree. There 14 months between now and the Democratic convention, which is a lot of time for something bad to happen when you are 80 and not in great health. He could fall again and be seriously injured – falls tend to come in groups because there often is an underlying cause.

    If he doesn’t have a health event, my bet is that Kamala will be the kamikaze who will knock him out of the race (figuratively, of course). She will be intending to move up to the top slot on the ticket, but Gavin Newsome will the likely beneficiary.

    • #16
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