King Abdullah has passed

[vt]

Re: King Abdullah has passed

Possible he may have had it in the latter part of his 2nd term:

http://www.salon.com/2011/01/14/reagan_alzheimer_s/


Of course we've seen another type of illness with the current occupant:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-c...n/con-20025568

[jk]

Re: King Abdullah has passed

Possible he may have had it in the latter part of his 2nd term:

http://www.salon.com/2011/01/14/reagan_alzheimer_s/


Of course we've seen another type of illness with the current occupant:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-c...n/con-20025568

reagan's dementia is a matter of public record, although its course and onset are not. a lexical analysis of his speeches is a possible source of information - similar to the way that an analysis of agatha christie novels show increasingly impoverished vocabulary and syntax in her later works. a politician's product, however, is usually the product of many hands and unlikely to reveal as much. as for your "diagnosis" of obama, there is no reason to think you know a thing about psychiatric diagnosis - it is just political mud.* not that there's not a lot of political mud around here, but let's call it what it is.

* i suppose my mentioning reagan's dementia was also political mud, but it had a basis in fact and was meant to say that a political leader's supposed dementia might not be the handicap you think

[vt]

Re: King Abdullah has passed

No problem JK. You made a good point; it's just how you said it: "worked out Ok for Reagan" It sounded a bit political which is why I responded as I did in a joking manner.

I might have made the same observation you did but cite the article that Reagan may also have had the beginnings of dementia.

What's important is that both of them have a strong group of key people around them that have been delegated to handle important areas; which is critical when a health issue arises.

[verdo]

Re: King Abdullah has passed

This couldn't have come at worse time...right when the Saudis have ISIS knocking at their door.

[vt]

Re: King Abdullah has passed

Saudi Arabia is squeezed by ISIS in the north and Shi'ite Houthi from Yemen in the south. Iran is also in conflict with ISIS to the northwest. The prize is all the oil the Saudi's have.

[ProdigyofZen]

Re: King Abdullah has passed

Saudi Arabia is squeezed by ISIS in the north and Shi'ite Houthi from Yemen in the south. Iran is also in conflict with ISIS to the northwest. The prize is all the oil the Saudi's have.

ISIS nor the Houthi have a chance at affecting SA in any possible way.

A friend from SA is from a middle tribe, his tribe alone is a million strong loyal to the Royal Family, ISIS and Houthi do not have nearly that amount of militia members.

They could however cause problems in the oil fields with attacks.

[Raz]

Re: King Abdullah has passed

reagan's dementia is a matter of public record, although its course and onset are not. a lexical analysis of his speeches is a possible source of information - similar to the way that an analysis of agatha christie novels show increasingly impoverished vocabulary and syntax in her later works. a politician's product, however, is usually the product of many hands and unlikely to reveal as much. as for your "diagnosis" of obama, there is no reason to think you know a thing about psychiatric diagnosis - it is just political mud.* not that there's not a lot of political mud around here, but let's call it what it is.

I am personal friends with two practicing clinical psychiatrists who now live in Arizona. In 2010 they both told me that Barack Obama displayed numerous signs and symptoms of classic clinical narcissism. And they lean distinctly to the left of me politically. (They voted for him in 2008 - but mercifully did NOT repeat that mistake in 2012.)

* i suppose my mentioning reagan's dementia was also political mud, but it had a basis in fact and was meant to say that a political leader's supposed dementia might not be the handicap you think

I believe it was indeed political mud. But of course he deserves it because he was (a) Republican, (b) conservative, and (c) the source and fault for all of America's problems. And it stands to "reason" that no criticism of our Dear Leader Barack could have any real basis in fact.

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: King Abdullah has passed

I have seen well-considered opinion that Reagan's early dementia may have been a major factor in the success of the Reykjavík Summit in 1986.
Gorbachev, a master of politics, could detect that Reagan was not hiding elaborate agendas or engaging in tricky maneuvers.
Surprised by Reagan's plain sincerity, Gorbachev was willing to cooperate.

[sadsack]

Re: King Abdullah has passed

I believe it was indeed political mud. But of course he deserves it because he was (a) Republican, (b) conservative, and (c) the source and fault for all of America's problems. And it stands to "reason" that no criticism of our Dear Leader Barack could have any real basis in fact.

I remember when, later in Reagan's second term, Time magazine did the hit piece on him, publishing doodles purported to have been drawn during his cabinet meetings.

Absolutely despicable.

[vt]

Re: King Abdullah has passed

Don't inject political mud into a discussion having nothing to do with politics, then when replied to complain about political mud.

[Woodsman]

Re: King Abdullah has passed

I remember when, later in Reagan's second term, Time magazine did the hit piece on him, publishing doodles purported to have been drawn during his cabinet meetings.

Absolutely despicable.

Maybe you spent more time looking at the pictures instead of reading the content? It is Time Magazine, after all. Here are some selected excerpts from said "hit piece":

Time Magazine. July 1986.

"Yankee Doodle Magic"

by Lance Morrow

"The 75-year-old man is hitting home runs. Winning a lopsided vote on a tax-reform plan that others had airily dismissed."

"Ronald Reagan has a genius for American occasions. He is a Prospero of American memories, a magician who carries a bright, ideal America like a holograph in his mind and projects its image in the air."

"The septuagenarian in the White House is not necessarily getting any younger. On the other hand, he does not seem to be getting any older. His suit size has been the same for years--42--and so have the ideological furnishings of his mind. His principles give him a certain serenity, and possibly the luck that comes to the optimist."

"The most obvious reason for Reagan's popularity is the relative success of his presidency and the grace with which he has accomplished it."

"Reagan likes success, but is wary of it. He accepts the praise, ducks his head, winks, and moves on. Reagan has reasserted the force of individual leadership. Americans heard for years that the presidency had grown too complex for one person to manage, that the office had been crippled. Reagan seems to slide through a presidential day with ease. Leadership is a mysterious business, of course, but Reagan seems to derive his strength from the fact that he does exactly what he says he will do."

"And yet something about Reagan soothes and unites--even though the effects of his programs may repel. He softens the meaner edges of conservatism with populist effusions, reaching outside the rigid framework of ideologies to the pool of shared American experience, to our dreamy nostalgias. Two landslides and six years on, the Gallup poll gives Reagan a 68% approval rating, the best he has done since May 1981, after he was shot and responded gallantly to the ordeal. Pollsters say Reagan has consistently higher ratings over a longer period than any other second-term President since polling began."

"Reagan's psychic weather is bright sunshine, and so far he has managed to keep the world from bucking him loose. It may be that his principal accomplishment has been to restore the prestige and plausibility of his office."

"The "Great Communicator" has come to communicate with the American people on a tribal level, a fascinating feat considering that the U.S. embraces so many different competing tribes."

"Reagan has wonderful theatrical instincts, but he could not feign the qualities of his character that came across when he honored the Challenger crew, for example, or when he and his wife hugged every one of the family members of the 101st Airborne Division soldiers killed last year in the crash in Newfoundland."

"Reagan's personal authenticity is one of his greatest strengths, one reason why people tend to trust him even if they utterly disagree with his principles."

"Reagan has turned out like nothing that his critics foretold, not the amiable dunce nor the dim-witted geriatric that they joked about, receding into befuddled twilight."

"The actor in old age is not King Lear. His poise and vigor are astonishing. If one were to look satirically at Reagan, it would be to see him not as a doddering old man but as a weird presidential version of one of the "action figures" with which children of the '80s play."

"Reagan's success results in part from his impressive basic consistency. He organized a clear set of goals. He kept his serious agenda relatively short and easy to understand: lower taxes, lower domestic spending, a bigger defense machine and a tougher foreign policy."

"Reagan's successes, both objective and subjective, outweigh his failures. He has presided over one of the longest economic recoveries in recent history, now in its 43rd month, which has been attended by an end to both inflation and the wage-price spiral. Some argue that it was Fed Chairman Paul Volcker's policies that conquered inflation. But Reagan was the catalyst for the recovery. Nine million new jobs have been created during the Reagan | Administration. It was Reagan who, in the aftermath of Jimmy Carter's "malaise" and all that had come before, revived some exuberance of purpose, of entrepreneurship, patriotism, self-pride."

"He has restored the authority of the American presidency. He has given Americans an optimism, a pride in themselves and in their country that they have not possessed since the death of John Kennedy. And he is the first President since F.D.R. to alter the debate over what the role of government should be. As one keeps score in the art of the possible, that is not bad at all."

If that's a hit piece, well hit me again, brother. Looks more to me like the sort of fawning, adulatory pieces convicted perjurer Mike Deaver used to commission.

Just a typical day in the right wing ideological snow globe - hermetically sealed, transparent, easily shaken up, simple in composition and low on detail.

[astonas]

Re: King Abdullah has passed

I remember when, later in Reagan's second term, Time magazine did the hit piece on him, publishing doodles purported to have been drawn during his cabinet meetings.

I haven't seen the piece you mention (and don't really care one way or the other about Reagan's legacy) but studies show that doodling is not a sign of a lack of attention, instead being an effective aid to attention. Even Time reported on them.

So if you want to attack a person, you'd point out that they DON'T doodle, but rather space out or perhaps fall asleep during meetings.

I'm not defending Time here, their reporting is often lacking, but instead making a minor factual correction on what constitutes a lack of attention. It isn't always what it seems.

(As an occasional doodler myself, I thought I'd rise to defend that practice.)