It’s a helluva world when you doubt the veracity of the White House doctor, a Navy officer, who briefed the press for over an hour yesterday slotting the President into the “healthy” category with no major issues.
In watching that briefing and reading some doctors who analyzed Trump’s test results, I have a feeling the doctor wasn’t lying but certainly was spinning the results in their best light.
To be, at best, one pound from obesity, 71 years old and with some not great blood test results, my guess is if Trump were a “normal” patient the doc’s honest assessment would be: “Donald, you’re in pretty good shape for an obese guy who doesn’t exercise beyond riding around in a golf cart, stopping to take a swing for a few seconds , but you are at high risk for an event if you don’t change your lifestyle. You can’t change the stress that comes with the job you have but you can change other risk factors to improve your overall health. Cut out the fats and exercise more.”
I actually was surprised when the doctor said Trump was more willing to change his diet than to do some exercise. For someone who apparently has never exercised, beyond some tennis and a lot of golf, to say he’d rather give up well done steaks and the more than occasional Big Mac, and exercise, well, I’ll take book on how much exercise he winds up doing. And I have a feeling he wasn’t ordering the salad the next meal he had.
In any event, his health isn’t the main thing I focused on because who knows if the positive report released was as positive as it sounds. And I don’t doubt the doctor’s credentials or honesty – but I have to believe he was spinning to please Trump yesterday.
We’ve all seen how Trump repeats himself just in the clips we see on the news or watching him divert from his speech text. That could be just the way he talks but I heard him do some interviews some time ago and he wasn’t repeating like he is now. A speech problem or a neurological problem, hey, I couldn’t even play a doctor on TV so I don’t know.
Being a stroke patient, I also remember how in my therapy I was shown a picture of a camel, and, when asked to identify what animal it was, I couldn’t come up with the word. Didn’t mean my health was at risk, but meant I wasn’t yet over the effects of the stroke. I certainly wasn’t suffering from dementia or early Alzheimer’s but I wasn’t clicking on all cylinders either. And, even with that minor glitch in my health, I probably shouldn’t have been in charge of the nuclear codes either.
I give the President credit for allowing so much information to be released, I really do. It was a lot of numbers. And I don’t question the doctor’s reputation, he worked for two other presidents and, from all we know, gave honest evaluations of their health. But when Dr. Sanjay Gupta gives his view on CNN…well, Dr. Gupta has a lot of credibility. And when the major papers in the country quote docs who head cardiovascular clinics, their analysis affects my thinking.
I don’t think we know the whole truth about Trump's health, and that’s really the problem under Trump’s presidency. I’m even doubting a reputable doctor. And I'm thinking Trump just produced another good TV show to watch. Call it: "Doctors Trying Not to Lie."
That’s what he’s done to my way of thinking in just a year. And that is not a good thing.
While there are good things happening in the county—the stock market, corporations saying they’ll invest more in the United States than elsewhere, for example – what’s also happening is a diminution of trust in the country.
Not a good thing.
[BJC1]
In watching that briefing and reading some doctors who analyzed Trump’s test results, I have a feeling the doctor wasn’t lying but certainly was spinning the results in their best light.
To be, at best, one pound from obesity, 71 years old and with some not great blood test results, my guess is if Trump were a “normal” patient the doc’s honest assessment would be: “Donald, you’re in pretty good shape for an obese guy who doesn’t exercise beyond riding around in a golf cart, stopping to take a swing for a few seconds , but you are at high risk for an event if you don’t change your lifestyle. You can’t change the stress that comes with the job you have but you can change other risk factors to improve your overall health. Cut out the fats and exercise more.”
I actually was surprised when the doctor said Trump was more willing to change his diet than to do some exercise. For someone who apparently has never exercised, beyond some tennis and a lot of golf, to say he’d rather give up well done steaks and the more than occasional Big Mac, and exercise, well, I’ll take book on how much exercise he winds up doing. And I have a feeling he wasn’t ordering the salad the next meal he had.
In any event, his health isn’t the main thing I focused on because who knows if the positive report released was as positive as it sounds. And I don’t doubt the doctor’s credentials or honesty – but I have to believe he was spinning to please Trump yesterday.
We’ve all seen how Trump repeats himself just in the clips we see on the news or watching him divert from his speech text. That could be just the way he talks but I heard him do some interviews some time ago and he wasn’t repeating like he is now. A speech problem or a neurological problem, hey, I couldn’t even play a doctor on TV so I don’t know.
Being a stroke patient, I also remember how in my therapy I was shown a picture of a camel, and, when asked to identify what animal it was, I couldn’t come up with the word. Didn’t mean my health was at risk, but meant I wasn’t yet over the effects of the stroke. I certainly wasn’t suffering from dementia or early Alzheimer’s but I wasn’t clicking on all cylinders either. And, even with that minor glitch in my health, I probably shouldn’t have been in charge of the nuclear codes either.
I give the President credit for allowing so much information to be released, I really do. It was a lot of numbers. And I don’t question the doctor’s reputation, he worked for two other presidents and, from all we know, gave honest evaluations of their health. But when Dr. Sanjay Gupta gives his view on CNN…well, Dr. Gupta has a lot of credibility. And when the major papers in the country quote docs who head cardiovascular clinics, their analysis affects my thinking.
I don’t think we know the whole truth about Trump's health, and that’s really the problem under Trump’s presidency. I’m even doubting a reputable doctor. And I'm thinking Trump just produced another good TV show to watch. Call it: "Doctors Trying Not to Lie."
That’s what he’s done to my way of thinking in just a year. And that is not a good thing.
While there are good things happening in the county—the stock market, corporations saying they’ll invest more in the United States than elsewhere, for example – what’s also happening is a diminution of trust in the country.
Not a good thing.
[BJC1]
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