If Trump has early dementia there is a good chance he will flame out during the first debate when he'd be sundowning, by Hal Brown, MSW

 

This was the top story on HUFFPOST this morning.

Here's my coment:

My takeaway is based on this excerpt:

″[They were] a bit questioning, I don’t want to say his mental fitness but questioning just how meandering. How, in some cases one said to me, he could not keep a thought straight,” Sorkin said.

“He would go in one direction and then go into another direction and that there wasn’t really necessarily a through line to the way he spoke and what even he was talking about.”

Andrew Ross Sorkin is a journalist with a CNBC show and with a BS degree and not a mental health expert and the CEOs present presumably don't have expertise in any area related to assessing dementia. But common sense ought to lead people to be able to differentiate between normal cognition and abnormal thought process.

This is a man who aspires to be president of the United States. If anyone has even been casually paying attention to the news they know abouthow he interjects unreleated comments into his remarks. For example his sharks and electric boats story and his "joke" about eating with Hannibel Lector. The man is not trying to make it as a stand-up comic.

As I have been writing I have seen more and more indications that my mental health colleagues and associates have been writing (and in the case of Drs. John Gartner and Harry Segal, talking about in podcasts) ... 

In the above podcast John Gartner reminds us that Trump's appearances are scheduled early in the day (on friendly media on weekends on "Fox and Friends" with the B team who won't ask tough questions and rather ask puffcake questions). 

I am sure that they and other Trump observers in our field will be watching the first debate which will be in prime time when Trump could very well exhibit paraphasia, progressive aphasia (read article), wandering thought process, paranoia (read article), and other signs of early and worsening dementia.

It must be recognized before it is too late and Trump is elected that if he does have dementia that this is a disease that while it's course is unpredictable it always gets worse and ultimately is fatal. What may be written off by his supporters that symptoms may just represent Trump being Trump they are really as serious as someone ignoring a large melanoma on someone's face. I'll spare you photos but it you see something that looks like this on yourself or others it needs immediate treatment as this is at life threatening skin cancer.

Unlike with melanoma there is no life saving treatment for dementia (and the form of dementia called Alzheimer's). There is no pill that can hide the symptoms entirely although there are medications a doctor may prescribe to slow down the progression of the disease read artcile).  There isn't a pill that can make you as with-in as the makers of Prevagen want people to believe with their sharper mind and sharper memory commercials (the product is a hoax but I wouldn't be surprised if the medically ignorant and gullible Trump takes it).

I wrote about Trump and sundowning here.

I also wrote about how the media is by and large avoiding covering this here.

Update.. and then there’s this:

Addendum: I took the photos during a weekend at Oregon's Cannon Beach when even local residents were marveling at how beautiful that sunset was. I never thought I use so many of them in blogs. The first debate will be in Atlanta. Fani Willis is the DA for Fulton County which includes most of that city. That won't be lost on Trump. The sundown on June 27th on June 27th in Atlanta is 8:57 PM just as the debate will be starting. It may not come with a beautful sunset, but whether it does or not Trump won't see it. The weather report predicts that conditions will be conducive for a lovely sunset. It doesn't say anything about how Trump will respond to it.

Featured photo:

.You can read this and previous blogs on two websites. One may look better than the other because of how the platforms present the page.

Read on the WordPress Stressline.org

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If you only see right-wing media you may think Biden wandered off to smell the roses at French event, by Hal Brown, MSW

 

This event is being depicted as proof that President Biden has lost his mental faculites. MSNBC viewers know the true story. He turned away for a a few seconds to walk towards some the the skydivers who were packing their gear behind him to give them the thumbs up. Videos of this were readily available.

MSNBC showed them:

You can see one of the parachutists looking directly at Biden as he gives them the thumbs-up.

This is the NY Post article:

While other kept watching the descending parachutists this photo in the NY Post makes it appear Biden is out of it...

In fact he has turned to engage with the parachutists who were already on the ground.

As I wrote yesterday (here), the real test as to who's non compos mentis and who's compos mentis will come in the first debate which will be held in the evening when if either of the candidates have dementia they will be morel likely to demonstrate symptoms of this because they are sundowning.

Perhaps at some level of self-awareness Trump knows this and will find a way to rationalized a poor perfoance in the debate. Consider this:

'I'll lose the debate on purpose': Trump tries to lower expectations for Biden showdown in RawStory:

"They're going to feed him a lot of stuff, and we should do a drug test," he demanded. "I'd love to do a drug test beforehand."

Trump is basically saying that if Biden does better than the doddering senile old man he wants to say he is this is because he is using brain enhancing drugs. Perhaps Trump believes the Prevagen commercials. (I wrote about Prevagen and how gullible people may believe it really works here.)

More from RawStory:

"If he makes it through, no matter what, how bad, no matter how bad he is, they'll say he was great," he continued. 

Trump said he did not want Biden removed from the Democratic ticket even though he polls better than other contenders.

"Well, you know, interestingly, they've done polling, and I do better against almost everybody," he opined. "And so they don't — they don't want to take him off. It depends."

"Maybe I'm better off losing the debate," Trump added. "I'll make sure he stays. I'll lose the debate on purpose. Maybe I'll do something like that."

The first debate is must-see TV for me. I want to see whether I may have been engaging in wishful thinking when I interpreted Trump's word salad speaking and how he interjects off-topic comments into his remarks, for example Hannibel Lector jokes and wondering about sharks and electric boats, as suggestive of his having early dementia.

Even today it is being reported that during Trump's meeting with CEOs of major companies some of those in attendance were struck by how often he meandered onto unrelated sujects.

If Trump makes it through the debate with a few minor flubs, stays on topic, and manages to soft-pedal the fact that he aspires to turn the country into a dictatorship I will regretfully have to admit that this is rather compelling evidence he isn't suffering from early dementia.

Addendum:

The implications in Prevagin ads which avoid verbotten claims that it could improve dementia symptoms, this is what the ads indirectly suggest. The product is a hoax. See article below.

Read yesterday's blog here.

You can read this and previous blogs on two websites. One may look better than the other because of how the platforms present the page.

Read on the WordPress Stressline.org

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Read on the Google Blogger platform HalBrown.org This version has a Disquis comment section.

If Trump sundowns significantly during the debates his dementia diagnosis will be firmed up for me, By Hal Brown, MSW

 

President Biden and and former president Trump agreed to hold two campaign debates — the first on June 27 hosted by CNN and the second on Sept. 10 hosted by ABC. I don't think there is a graceful way he can back out of them. 

This will be a major test of the state of both candidate's cognitive condition. Trump has called Biden senile and he presents himself as not just smart, but genius …. and a very stable genius at that!". (Reference).

When Trump brags abiout his stable genius and attacks Biden as senile this is a case of the Trump pot calling the Biden stainless steel kettle black.

This is from the Mayo Clinic website on sundowning:

The term "sundowning" refers to a state of confusion that occurs in the late afternoon and lasts into the night. Sundowning can cause various behaviors, such as confusion, anxiety, aggression or ignoring directions. Sundowning also can lead to pacing or wandering.

Sundowning isn't a disease. It's a group of symptoms that occurs at a specific time of the day. These symptoms may affect people with Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia. The exact cause of sundowning is not known.

A sundown is often beautiful like the one I shared in this blog that even had locals talking about as partiucarly striking when we spent a weekend on the Pacific coast at Cannon Beach.

If, as many have speculated Donald Trump (see Google search here), is suffering from early dementia no amount of rehearsal will stop him from exhibiting signs of this during a prime time debate. If he doesn't have dementia all he will have to do to hold his own against Biden, who does not show indications of dementia, is to moderate his malignant narcissism and impulsiveness. 

He will have to demonstrate a command of the issues and come up with plausible explanations why he has been calling for revenge against his enemies, most recent his using the phrase "haul out the guillotine" in a fund raisng email (read article).

He will have to clearly state his position on issues like abortion, IVF, and government provided health care so as not to alienate the majority of voters who favor these.

Likewise, he will have to state his position on aid to Ukraine and our membership in NATO.

Hopefully the moderators will ask him whether he still believes the election was stolen and the the people who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6th are patriots.

If the moderators want "to go there" they could ask him if he denies, as he has claimed, ever having had a sexual relationship with Stormy Daniels or even knowing her.

If they are doing their due diligence the moderators will look over Project 25 and ask him which of the plans laid out by this group he will implement. In particular he should be asked about this:

Project 2025 focuses on packing the next GOP administration with extreme loyalists to former President Donald Trump. 

The plan aims to reinstate Schedule F, a Trump-era executive order that makes federal employees fireable at-will, stripping tens of thousands of employees of civil service protections. Both Trump and others in the conservative movement have said they will clear out the federal government if he is reelected. The project has even set up online trainingsand loyalty tests to narrow down potential hires to those who will commit to follow Trump without question. As Project 2025 senior adviser John McEntee has said, “The number one thing you're looking for is people that are aligned with the agenda.”

If Trump has dementia and it is worse because of sundowning he will have trouble spouting memorized responses which address the quesiotns asked and the attacks likely to come from President Biden. If he has dementia he will probably veer from topic to topic and say things unrelated to the questions posed by the moderators.

Unlike John Gartner and Harry Segal who podcast about Trump's dementia (here) I am agnostic.

I want more evidence before I say that I am as certain than other mental health and dementia experts are that he has this devastating disease which is irreversible and always gets worse. The symptoms in the end stage are devastating to the patient and family. For two forms of dementia the life span is 6-8 years form onset (reference). 

While I am not absolutely certain Trump has dementia, I am certain that he meets every criteria for being a malignant narcissist and that the Dark Triad decribes him to a T.

(From Wikipedia) All three dark triad traits are conceptually distinct although empirical evidence shows them to be overlapping. They are associated with a callous–manipulative interpersonal style.

• Narcissism is characterized by grandiosity, pride, egotism, and a lack of empathy.^[10]
• Machiavellianism is characterized by the manipulation and exploitation of others, indifference to morality, lack of empathy, and a strategic focus on self-interest.^[11]
• Psychopathy is characterized by continuous antisocial behavior, impulsivity, selfishness, callous and unemotional traits(CU),^[12] and remorselessness.^[13]

As dementia worsens some people undergo no particular personality changes from their pre-illness self. Others who were mild mannered can become aggressive and others who were aggressive can become mild mannered. If Trump has dementia the only change I see from his prevous personality is that he has gotten more aggressive. If he has dementia and is sundowning during the debates he will present himself as someone who undecided voters hopefully will watch and decide that this is not the kind of person they want to be president.

While many of his cult members like how he behaves hopefully there are many voters who are on the fence who want their president to be "presidential", that is,  having a bearing or demeanor befitting a president which is dignified and confident without being arrogant.

I wrote about how with the exception of the progressive media most media outlets are not covering examples of Trump's behavior which suggest he has dementia here.

Addendum:

Trump against a background of Starry Night by van Gogh which I used in part because of the sigificance that he painted it from his  room where he spent one year in the mental hospital in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. It was actually painted just before dawn. There are no reports that van Gogh had dementia. There has been speculation that he had temporal lobe epilepsy and many other disorders.

You can read this and previous blogs on two websites. One may look better than the other because of how the platforms present the page.

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If you watch a Sinclair Broadcast Group owned local station you need to know just how right wing their reporting is. By Hal Brown, MSW

 

"Morning Joe" covered this today with clips of local Sinclair owned station anchors reading the exact same script about the Wall Street Journal article about President Biden's age and saying that his so-called cognitive deficits could possibly decide the election. They said the same words and then they cut to the same national reporter spouting anti-Biden lies.

Sincliair is the second-largest television station operator in the United States by number of stations (after Nexstar Media Group), owning or operating a total of 193 stations across the country in over 100 markets (covering 40% of American households), and is the largest owner of stations affiliated with  Fox, NBC, CBS, ABC, MyNetworkTV, and The CW.  (Wikipedia)

Here's an article about this with a six minute video of examples.

Excerpt:

Local television news broadcasters are airing suspiciously similar attacks on Joe Biden’s mental acuity and how it will affect the coming election—and it appears to be part of a coordinated effort. 

The Sinclair Broadcast Group owns or operates 185 local television stations across the country, and dozens of their stations aired a segment from national correspondent Matthew Galka citing a Wall Street Journal articlethat makes dubious attacks on Biden’s age and mental awareness. The stations that aired the segment introduced it using startlingly similar, if not identical language, the Popular Information and Public Notice newsletters reported.

You can watch the video here.

Here's a different video on the same subject.

This is from the Wikipedia entry on Sinclair:

A 2019 study in the American Political Science Review found that "stations bought by Sinclair reduce coverage of local politics, increase national coverage and move the ideological tone of coverage in a conservative direction relative to other stations operating in the same market". The company has been criticized by journalists and media analysts for requiring its stations to broadcast packaged video segments and its news anchors to read prepared scripts that contain pro-Trump editorial content, including warnings about purported "fake news" in mainstream media, while Trump has tweeted support for watching Sinclair over CNN and NBC

Read more about their political views and how they are integated into their local news coverage here. Note that Sinclair often mandates its stations to air specific reports, segments, programs and editorials, referred to as "must-runs".

When people tune in to watch Fox News they know what to expect. When they tune in to a local Sinclair owned station they may not know that they will be watching segments that are as biased as those on Fox News.

I live in the Portland, Oregon suburbs and KATU is the Sinclair station here. Many people I know who are very liberal watch it for local news and weather without knowing that it is a far-right propaganda outlet.

I live where there are two other local stations, KOIN and KGW. I don't click on KATU (upper left below). The other stations have websites where I can check out local news. The local newspaper The Oregonian also has a website, Oregon Live.

The company wields a lot of influence considering it is headquartered in a five story building in a Baltimore suburb.

By comparison NBC is housed at 30 Rock (below left)and Fox News is located in the News Corp Building.

You can read my blog in either of these places:

Stressline.org

HaBrown.org

Nixon and Kennedy were evenly matched intellectually in their first debate. Nixon lost because of how he looked on TV. Trump may lose because he "loses it" on TV. By Hal Brown, MSW

 

Read:

Team Biden bets an unfiltered Trump at the debate can shake up the race

GOP pollster Frank Luntz said the June 27 faceoff will be "the most important debate since JFK-Richard Nixon."

This is from the History.com article on the Kennedy-Nixon debates.

• ... Nixon bashed his knee on a car door while campaigning in North Carolina and developed an infection that landed him in the hospital; he emerged two weeks later frail, sallow and 20 pounds underweight.
• Nixon’s streak of bad luck continued. Stepping out of the car, he banged his bad knee and exacerbated his earlier injury. The vice president had recently suffered a bout of the flu and was still running a low fever; he had nonetheless spent a grueling day on the campaign trail and looked drained. Kennedy, meanwhile, had been holed up in a hotel with his aides for an entire weekend, fielding practice questions and resting up for the first of four “Great Debates.”
• Despite Nixon’s exhaustion and Kennedy’s preparedness, the Republican and Democrat were more or less evenly matched when it came to substance. Each held forth skillfully and presented remarkably similar agendas. Both emphasized national security, the threat of communism, the need to strengthen the U.S. military and the importance of building a brighter future for America. Indeed, after Kennedy’s opening statement, Nixon said, “I subscribe completely to the spirit that Senator Kennedy has expressed tonight.” And yet, while most radio listeners called the first debate a draw or pronounced Nixon the victor, the senator from Massachusetts won over the 70 million television viewers by a broad margin.

For Trump to lose the debate he really doesn't have to "lose it" unless the "lose" that is meant is his true self. If he doesn't restrain his true self, the self we see at his rallies, in his interviews, and in his Truth Social Posts, and the self we saw in his NYC courthouse statements, he will lose. 

For him to win, or at least have pundits call the debate a tie with polls showing that the debate didn't change any votes, he has to demonstrate a command of the issues and express himself in an authoritative manner without appearing unhinged. If that word is used in the media to describe his debate performance he lost. 

If Trump really has early dementia (as experts and others have speculated - see Google search for Trump dementia) since the debate is in the evening he may be sundowning. If the much of the news coverage uses the word dementia with examples of showing signs of this disease Trump will have lost too.

Biden doesn't have to memorize responses to likely questions from moderators and to things Trump says. Although I expect he will practice he is capable of winging it. If anything he would do well to practice responding to Trump if he goes on an off the rails rant attacking him.

It's possible that Trump's narcissism will prevent him from having any debate preparation. He may view this as a waste of his time. It is better for Biden if Trump wings it because (as the MSNBC chyron says) the "unfiltered Trump will shake up the race." 

Back to the Kennedy Nixon debates from History.com:

Legacy of the Kennedy-Nixon Debates 

A month and a half later, Americans turned out to vote in record numbers. As predicted, it was a close election, with Kennedy winning the popular vote 49.7 percent to 49.5 percent. Polls revealed that more than half of all voters had been influenced by the Great Debates, while 6 percent claimed that the debates alone had decided their choice. 

Whether or not the debates cost Nixon the presidency, they were a major turning point in the 1960 race—and in the history of television. Televised debates have become a permanent feature of the American political landscape, helping to shape the outcomes of both primary and general elections. Along with distinguishing themselves from their opponents, candidates have the opportunity to showcase their oratory skills (or betray their inarticulateness), display their sense of humor (or reveal their lack thereof) and capitalize on their rivals’ gaffes (or seal their fate with a slip of the tongue). 

Two years after the Kennedy-Nixon debates, the man on the losing end acknowledged their importance—and his fatal misstep—in his 1962 memoir Six Crises: “I should have remembered that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’”

Trump doesn't have the personal insight to reflect on his own shortcomings the way Nixon did when he wrote “I should have remembered that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’” If Trump is trounced in the debate he won't be reflecting back that it was his arrogance and narcissism and that was the cause of this.

If narcissism and/or the inability to memorize answers to likely questions from moderators and attacks coming from Biden in a hinged (as opposed to unhinged) manner and a sensible rather than senile way he will lose the debate.

It may be difficult for headline writers not to title their articles as follows since the alliteration is so obvious:

Biden Trounces Trump

Read previous Stressline blogs here.

Blogs may be easier to read if you use my other website, HalBrown.org.

Does Trump really want to base his appeal on alleging that the testimony of this witness was prejudicially lurid? By Hal Brown, MSW

 

In a NY Times guest essay today, "I’m an Appellate Lawyer in Manhattan. If Trump Appeals His Conviction, He Faces Long Odds" attorney Robert L. Stavis writes:

To warrant reversal of a jury’s verdict on account of an error, the appellate court must find that an error of some kind led directly to the conviction. A technical error that does not rise to that level is called a “harmless error” and will not cause a reversal of a conviction.

He went on to give this example:

In Mr. Trump’s trial, perhaps the best example of harmless error occurred during the prosecutor’s direct examination of Stormy Daniels. The prosecutor elicited intimate details of the sexual encounter Ms. Daniels alleges she had with Mr. Trump and also her testimony that she felt physically threatened by the circumstances of their encounter. Mr. Trump’s defense counsel argued that by discussing the sexual details, which made Mr. Trump appear pathetic, and the statement that she felt intimidated, which made it appear as though the sex was not consensual, the prosecutor had greatly prejudiced Mr. Trump in the eyes of the jury. This was the subject of a mistrial motion, which Justice Juan Merchan denied.

If this supposedly prejudicial testimony is put to the judges on the appellate court, they would ask if the lurid portions of Ms. Daniels’s testimony caused the jury to convict Mr. Trump. The answer here is a clear no.

Since his conviction Donald Trump has persistently raged against Judge Merchan and D.A. Alvin Bragg. Absent from his attack list is the woman without whom there would have been no trial. A gag order prevents him from attacking witnesses though if he could I doubt he would win a social media battle with Daniels who tweeted “Real men respond to testimony by being sworn in and taking the stand in court. Oh...wait. Nevermind.” (Read article about this.)

This is from Politico: An angry Trump gathers allies to push against Stormy Daniels.

Excerpts:

• When Stormy Daniels testified in Donald Trump’s hush-money trial, the former president huffed in his seat. He shook his head at times. His anger was so visible and distracting that the judge asked his lawyers to tell him to cool off

• Trump’s two days in court were clearly frustrating and excruciating for the former president, who was visibly angry during her testimony, which included intimate details of their alleged sexual encounter — including the type of underwear the former president was wearing.

• “Her testimony makes [clear] what we already know about Trump — essentially that he’s a sleazy, narcissistic, cheater,” said Horn (a Lincoln Project so-founder), who said Daniels’ testimony was specific and detailed, lending her credibility. “Did she sound angry? Was she eager to see him held accountable? Yes, of course ... she speaks of experiences and fears that most women can relate to.”

I can't imagine that Trump wants to have Stormy's testimony which was decidedly unflattering to him to be part of his basis for an appeal. We know how much of his self-image is based on how he thinks he is God's gift to women: "I can grab them by the...." etc.

If he won his appeal based even in part on the testimony of Stormy Daniels it wouldn't be because she committed perjury and that there were untruthful elements in what she described, or that the encounter didn't happen, as he has claimed. It wouldn't be that the details were embellished to seem lurid. It would be because her testimony was prejudicially lurid and, as the Stavis essay says, made him appear pathetic.

There are psychological reasons Trump may aovid publicizing the Daniels description of what happened between them. He is highly invested in believing that he possesses extraordinary prowess with women. From his professional wrestling performances to the images he has on his electronic trading cards you can see how he wants people to see him as hyper-masculine. It had to sting to have an adult movie star undermine this image beginning with mocking him once she went public (see article about her book "Full Disclosure" from The Guardian) about the encounter and culminating in the NYC court where what she described was widely reported.

RawStory has a brief summary of the NY Times essay here.

If NATO goes to war with Russia and Trump is president Europe might not be as lucky as they were when FDR was president and the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, by Hal Brown, MSW

 

At campaign rally Trump said he wouldn’t come to the aid of NATO members if Russia attacked them, which was the whole point of the alliance in the first place. Trump said, “No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.” (From the CNN article below)

Click to read above article.

If you've been following the news on MSNBC as I have you've seen coverage of Presdent Biden's trip to Europe to commerate the aniversary of D Day. He spoke of the existential threat to democracy presented by Russia without alluding to Donald Trump. Is is a convention for American presidents not speak about their political rivalries at home when they are overseas. Ali Velshi said Biden made it clear that "Democracy is a fight for the ages and that fight doesn't end" without mentioning Trump's name.

History tells us when and particularly why the United States entered World War II (read article).

World War II began in Europe on September 1, 1939 with the German invasion of Poland and the United Kingdom and France‘s declaration of war on Germany two days later on 3 September 1939. The United States remained neutral and didn’t enter the war until after the Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Had the United States remained neutral for much longer I don’t think you have to be an historian to speculate about who the ultimate winners might have been.

FDR stayed out of the war because of pressure in Congress and the public rather than because he had a cozy relationship with Adolph Hitler.

..