FDR, JFK, and St. Ronnie all did it. Is GWB doing it too?

Stinky The Clown

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Tue Aug-29-06 06:55 PM
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FDR, JFK, and St. Ronnie all did it. Is GWB doing it too?

The worst kept Washington secret during the Great Depression and World War II was FDR's physical difficulties. But he kept up appearances as best he could. Carefully controlled, physically assisted approaches to podia. Painful standing on leg braces. Ever seated in an open car, cheerily waving to the crowds. Much of the country knew of FDR's polio, but respectfully averted their eyes at the approriate time to keep alive the myth of the vital leader so beloved by the nation.

And so it was with JFK. Wracked with constant pain from Addison's Disease and chronic spine/back issues, his image of vital health was a large part of the myth of the man, even in life. Rumored from time to time, his health issues were never allowed to be more than quiet, whispered speculation. By sharp management of his daily rythyms of living, his real condition was kept from a public who adored the man almost as much as they adored the image of the man.

Later, in his second term, still seen as the vital woodchooper, the eternal optimisim of Ronald Reagan was skillfully made more real than the fact that his mind was wasting from the early onset effects of dementia. We may never know exactly how incapacitated he really was, given the fierce protectivess of the Lioness Nancy. She, more than anyone, worked diligently from the start to protect her husband from the knowledge of the nation. To her credit, she more than admirably stood at and by his side until his death, many years after leaving office.

Which brings me to our current president. Rumors of all manner of malady have swirled around him for quite some time. Some speculate it is the result of the first half of his life spent in a close relationship with all manner of intoxicants. Some speculate a series of minor strokes that, collectively, have given us the man we see today.

There's no doubt that he has always been inarticulate. But that's hardly the issue. One need only compare the many video clips of George the team owner or George the Governor, or even George the candidate, to the George we see today to know that he is much more seemingly inarticulate - if not outright brain addled - than he was just six scant years ago.

Just tonight, watching him in closeup doing an interview with NBC news anchor Brian Williams, there was a very obvious speech dysfunction. Not so much the pattern of a brain addled man, but of one who has, indeed, suffered some sort of stroke or is afflicted by some unnamed palsy. The decided droop to the left side of his mouth is the most obvious sign. This, in turn, seems to impact his ability to form and annunciate words. Is the toungue also involved? The jaw?

While Roosevelt and Kennedy hid, with various degrees of success, their maladies, the country was never in peril. Both men were able to lead with wisdom and sagacity.

With Reagan, it can be said fairly that we don't know for sure exactly who was making the decisions. We can't say with any certainty how safe was the country. The President was, indeed and in fact, incapacitated in the closing days of his presidency.

And what of George Bush? Questions need to be asked and answered. The man, it can be said, is suffering from something. And as a nation, we have every right to know.