Should he go or should he stay?
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- čas přidán 7. 07. 2024
- The relatively recent debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump did little to quell concerns about whether Joe Biden should withdraw from the race. Here is my measured response to that debate and the aftermath.
#bidenvstrump
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I think it’s really useful that you’re talking about this Mike. I agree with you that Biden should step down and also that he should consider some sort of cognitive assessment.
However, I considered it from another perspective. I was reading about it on the Alzheimer’s UK website:
When an older politician is accused of having dementia, it’s often done to smear their character, question their policies, or seek to disqualify them from holding office. The tone tends to be negative, demeaning and often hateful; particularly on social media platforms. “Oh he’s demented, he’s senile”.
This reinforces outdated stereotypes of dementia being a condition that, of itself, disqualifies a person from participating in their community or having a voice that’s worth listening to.
Hearing dementia being weaponised in this way is both hurtful and unhelpful to people with dementia and their families, who live with the condition every day and often struggle to have their voices heard.
We want a society in which people living with dementia feel understood, valued, and able to play an active role in their community. This is not helped when people use unsubstantiated allegations of dementia or mental health conditions to belittle or humiliate politicians they don’t like or agree with.
I understand that people are scared about his perceived inability to run a country and make major decisions, but Trump is as a mad as a hatter so good luck America!
Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts. I totally agree with you. The word dementia is thrown around so much these days with little or no concern about how hurtful that can be, and how grim families and individuals living with dementia can find it. And often, despite the use of the word, what may be going on has nothing to do with dementia. Unfortunately that word is used as a catchall for behaviours that can range from being of no consequence, to something that is indeed quite serious.
I did in fact create a longer version of that video to address the dementia claims, suggesting that not only was it a tired old trope to use the word dementia just because someone is older, but also because I'm not sure that that is what is going on at all. I do suspect that Joe Biden is finding it harder to articulate what he means; but he is aware (most of the time) of what he is trying to say.
I would normally avoid commenting in situations like these, but because of the extremely negative ramifications of the speculation from the world's media, I think it is time for the White House to either explain what is going on in a way that refutes the suspicions of many, or admits that there is a problem.
In the interim, the search for an explanation will continue, whether the WH likes it or not. And so I will share my thoughts. My working hypothesis is that what are seeing is connected to dopamine dysregulation. It has been reported that Joe Biden used to have a stutter (or stammer). There is some research to suggest that an issue with the basal ganglia is in part at least implicated in those who stutter/stammer. The basal ganglia also has strong connectivity to the cerebellum (balance/movement) and stuttering or speech issues may be affected by a dysfunctional hyperdopaminergic condition in the thalamocortical pathways.
Initially I wondered whether dopamine dysregulation was exacerbating his earlier issues with speech. However, much as I don't like to mention it, there is no doubt that JB's movements and rigidity and at times his slightly 'mask like' expression have a hint of PD about them. As you will probably know, Parkinson's Disease is in part associated with low dopamine levels.
However, what might then explain the conjectured hyperdopaminergic condition? Well, one of the treatments for PD is dopamine replacement therapy. It is perhaps possible that in an attempt to help alleviate some of the symptoms of PD via increasing dopamine levels, his earlier speech issues have become negatively impacted.
Having said that, what we are seeing could be as a direct result of PD itself; rigidity, slowness, falls, facial masking, breathy voice, quiet, hoarse.
I do hope that is wrong. However if not, it would likely be far better for all concerned to make such a diagnosis (even if kept slightly vague) public. Or conversely, to at least in part, restore confidence with an official clean bill of health. I would normally advocate for respecting the privacy of an individual and their family. However, in this case, quite patently there is some sort of issue and it is in the glare of the world's media. And the speculation is becoming more and more damaging for all concerned.
I should also point out that I'm not a neuroscientist who specialises in this area, and I could be entirely incorrect, but I don't think the Dopamine/PD explanation is entirely outlandish. However, if the behaviours on display are solely as a result of tiredness/getting older, then that should be in some way be shown to be the case.
@@TimeInvitesDevelopment Thank You so much for your exceptionally detailed reply Mike.
The more I think about it with my kind of limited knowledge on the subject you might be onto something, so much so I wouldn’t be surprised if that diagnosis gets publicly announced in the not too distant future.
As I type this a feed just came in from CNN news, it was announced a few moments ago that ‘a top Parkinson’s disease specialist held a meeting with President Joe Biden’s physician at the White House earlier this year’
I know you had discussed your thoughts on this way before that announcement so you may be absolutely correct in your deductions.
I have changed my outlook somewhat on certain subjects since listening to your podcasts/videos.
Thanks as always for sharing your valuable knowledge and for being open to other points of view, it's much appreciated.
Thank you. I’ve just read the latest news from the White House, despite those visits by the specialist (which I also just read had been happening) is that he is not and has not been treated for PD. If that’s true, I am absolutely delighted for him and his family. However, the bigger challenge may be to actually convince people that nothing else untoward is going on, and that he is able to do the job to a standard that is required.
@@TimeInvitesDevelopment interesting…I too would not wish such a horrific disease on him. Time will tell as to whether he can serve his country in an effective way whatever medical issues he may or may not have.
As an aside I just read about Mad Hatters disease/mercury poisoning and the use of penicillamine; I didn’t realise it was a real thing!
@@StormJohnson99 That’s very kind of you. I think that the speculation around JB is unfortunately as predicted. And the latest rebuttal by the WH may quell things slightly. At least initially. However, now that he is under such scrutiny, any future ‘slip ups’ may well be front page news. They may have to go down the route of having an independent assessment. It is a sad state of affairs, and yet ultimately he does have to restore confidence.