Trump's Drinking Problem

Donald Trump has a history of using the military as a prop for his political campaigns. He insisted on bringing West Point cadets back for a graduation ceremony in the middle of a major pandemic, forcing the cadets go through airports and fly on airplanes that are proven vectors for the coronavirus. Sixteen cadets tested positive upon returning for Trump's speech.

During this dangerous, stupid and useless stunt, it became obvious (again) that Trump is not a well man. He slurred words (again) during his rant, and clearly had difficulty drinking (again), needing two hands to raise a small glass of water to his lips.

Afterwards, Trump clearly had difficulty walking down a ramp, looking like some pathetic geezer who had had too much to drink.

All this would probably have gone ignored, as it has many times before, except that Trump himself had to tweet about it, whining that the gently inclined ramp was slippery (it wasn't -- the general beside him had no problems), and claiming that he ran the last three steps. Trump is the only person I know who thinks that a shambling stumble is "running."

For years now people have debated whether it's appropriate to diagnose Trump's mental and physical well-being from symptoms exhibited at public appearances. Others, like David Graham at The Atlantic, think his physical ailments are irrelevant -- it's the lies and Trump's abysmal performance in office that matter.

The fact is, your physical health has a direct impact on your mental health. Trump's difficulty drinking and walking are probably indicative of some kind of neurological deficit. He might have trouble raising his arm because his rotator cuff is trashed from years of swinging a golf club incorrectly. He might have trouble walking because his ACL was torn, like Tiger Woods. Or maybe Cadet Bone Spurs' bone spurs were acting up.

Or his neurological symptoms may be due to Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, both of which affect mobility, or because he had a stroke. Diabetes causes nerve damage, which could also explain his difficulty walking and drinking.

Trump is famous for bragging about how little he sleeps, as if it's a badge of honor. Sleep is how the body takes out the trash in your brain. Get too little sleep and the plaques and tangles of Alzheimer's start clogging up the brain. Sleeplessness is a classic sign of dementia, according to the Mayo Clinic.

We know Trump is lying about his health, because the summaries of the physicals he provided the media are just puff pieces written by him or his campaign. His personal physician admitted this two years ago.

Trump is 74 years old and is obese. Joe Biden is 77 and is not. Six years ago Biden was able to jog around the White House with Barack Obama for a puff piece for Michelle Obama's Let's Move campaign. At about the same age Trump was unable to walk up a hill in Sicily at a G7 summit.

Trump is constantly talking about strength, yet it is clear that he physically weak and clumsy, as demonstrated at West Point. More to the point, he is mentally weak and extremely erratic, as demonstrated by his constant kowtowing to dictators like Vladimir Putin and Kim ("We fell in love") Jong Un, his inability to take any kind of advice or criticism from advisors who know far more than he does about subjects critical to the future of the United States, and the chaotic state of the White House, where everyone is walking around in fear that Trump will lash out and blame them for his latest gaffe.

We have had presidents in the past who suffered strokes in office (Eisenhower and Wilson), had severe physical problems (FDR and JFK), and were even suffering from Alzheimer's (Reagan). But they didn't act impulsively, tweet blathering insults at everyone, and constantly display complete ignorance about every subject important to the presidency, from the nuclear triad strategy, to how long it takes to mount a mission to Mars, to injecting bleach to stop the coronavirus.

How can anyone think this clown should be president?