Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Politics In General Ron Reagan: Alzheimer's seen during presidency

haha.

really, think about the coincidences. hinkley family, male prostitutes, bin laden family (that's all i will say about that subject). there was also a very interesting coincidence during the first gulf war. the vast majority of oil holdings in kuwait, after the royal family, were held by the bush family enterprises. there are too many coincidences surrounding this family. but i digress. this thread is about pres. reagan's setbacks, not the shortcomings of his vp and our subsequent presidential family dynasty.

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I have long thought that a good plot for a Hollywood-ish movie would be that Reagan was actually killed in the shooting, and that the CIA or whatever had a double ready to step into his shoes and do their bidding. No one would be easier to imitate than an actor: Reagan normally had his face plastered with a ton of make-up anyway, and his remarkably wooden and stereotyped behavior and speech would also be easy to fake. As long as his wife and maybe a doctor or two were in on the plot, I don't see why it couldn't succeed.

didn't someone point out earlier in the thread that the film you describe was done? it was called "dave." albeit it wasn't reagan.

There never was a close relationship.
Reagan adamantly refused to allow Bush as a running mate, specifically stating that he wasn't about to stack his presidency with CFR members. At the convention Reagan was given a come to Jesus moment where he was informed that his ship was as good as sunk for even securing the nomination if he continued along this path and it was either take Bush or pack it in.

I am struggling to remember the book this is all taken from (no no, don't start diagnosing me yet LOL), I read it a while ago, perhaps five or six years maybe, but this was all laid out.

Reagan did NOT LIKE GHWB.

Now a bit of personal recollection via satellite...

In the early days when having satellite meant having a backyard B.U.D. (BIG ugly dish) the network news feeds were loosely scheduled and unencrypted. For instance, if the networks were going to run a presidential news conference or speech, they just hooked the van to the uplink, turned on the cameras and viewers got treated to color bars and then a few minutes of unattended camera feeds until the event started.
Basically we were getting exactly what the local affiliates were getting in those days.

Well I DO remember a presser like that on satellite around '83 or so, and President Reagan was led to the podium while the crews got the rest of it ready, and while we waited for the affiliate time slot to open (this was not a breaking news story, but rather a scheduled conference).

Reagan stood there at the podium, staring off into space, even PICKING HIS NOSE, then staring off slack-jawed into space again.
His expression was so detached that you might think he was reminiscing about "Bedtime for Bonzo".

Then suddenly the AD piped up with "ten seconds Mister President" and it was like a SWITCH clicked on, his posture straightened, his face lit up and then we were in...

"Good evening my fellow Americans...."

When the speech was over, it was as if someone had pulled a plug and deflated him, he went back to the slack-jawed thorazine fueled thousand yard stare again, until he was led back off the podium...then color bars...end of stream.

I've worked at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, I've been a visitor to a few nursing homes and I had an in-law succumb to the disease, and Reagan's appearance and off into outer space behavior looked like a carbon copy of what I know to be Alzheimer's.

What ever else Reagan was, he was a performer. At early stages of the disease, Alzheimer patients are able to hold up a mask of normality... to do what they are expected to do, to perform as they have for many years. The problems arise when they are stressed, or tired, or when they are asked to do something new and different, when analysis or attention to detail is required.

The reason that early alzhiemers is so hard to diagnose is precisely because these patients become so very adept at covering up the problem.

I was researching this topics... and came across the testimony of the "four doctors" who said Reagan showed no signs of Alzhiemers. THey confirmed that he was never specifically tested for Alzheimers.... this despite having an extensive family history of other relatives that suffered and died from this disease.!





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But, all this said, I also agree that what ever problems Reagan MAY have had, they were likely sufficiently minor as not to justify a transfer of power,

Hmmmm...

...that's odd.

im just going to go out on a limb here say that the so-called leader of the free world could prolly get as many doctors to say whatever he wants them to say.

...especially when it comes to this topic. It would scare the beejebus out of people if they knew the truth.

Kinda like the 'Great Depression 2.0' being labeled 'Great Recession' - so as not to frighten people.

Kinda like the recent govt report which blames Anderson Cooper for all the public outrage over the BP oil spill.
In this day and age, nay in the LAST QUARTER CENTURY, those in power can get any word to mean what they want it to mean.

rick brings up a good point. my direct experience with government officials and bureaucrats tells me that it is SOP to downplay a bad situation with language that doesn't come across as "scary." perhaps it is more frightening to think that doublespeak is a way of life now. n'est pas?