The Romney walk (gait).

[Ilsa]

I saw a video of him walking from a vehicle into a building. His gait is strange. It seems short and awkward and non-rhythmic. The footfall seems unnatural. Not like a Parkinsons Disease gait, though. He looked like he had abdominal or back problems. Has anyone else seen this?

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. Hard to walk without a spine.

[Avalux]

2. It's because his pants are pulled up too high - permanent wedgie from his magic underwear. n/t

[shraby]

3. I've noticed it too. Hard to describe...but almost like a kid in school who

doesn't want to get in front of the class to give a report..it's like he's embarrassed to walk in front of people.

[Ilsa]

4. To me, he looks like he's just been

Kicked in the solar plexus.

Something is OFF.

[OneGrassRoot]

5. I've wondered about his odd gait and odd mannerisms, too. Found this:

(EDIT: I created an OP regarding this DailyKos entry regarding possible TBI: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021308804)


My first thought was that he has a mild case of Asperger's. In researching that, I stumbled upon this post at DailyKos:


UPDATED: Romney - Residual Impairments from 1968 Brain Injury?

My background in neuropsychology affords me a somewhat unique perspective on Mitt Romney. I’m finding and accumulating evidence that he may show subtle but significant signs of mental impairments from a 1968 brain injury.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/17/1121150/-UPDATED-Romney-Residual-Impairments-from-1968-Brain-Injury

[OneGrassRoot]

8. Actually, this find is potentially a big friggin deal. Please read...

Last edited Sun Sep 9, 2012, 10:20 PM - Edit history (1)

EDIT: I created an OP regarding this DailyKos entry regarding possible TBI: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021308804

[cr8tvlde]

9. Anyone who has experienced MBTI with a family member...

and I have, can understand the real possibility. I had not heard of this event in Romney's life, but it certainly gives me more compassion for the man. It's a maddening disorder and like a computer that's been dropped and repaired...just a glitch every now and then that you can't pin down. The higher the native intelligence, the greater the ability to accommodate, but most people have no clue and call it just "an excuse". Thanks, OP.

(I'm still voting for Obama.)

[OneGrassRoot]

10. I'm sorry you've experienced this, cr8tvlde.

I can only imagine how difficult it is for all concerned.

[Ilsa]

16. It must be from the bad car accident in France.

The one that killed a passenger. I had not realized that Mitt might have a residual consequence of the accident.

I'm very sorry you and your loved ones are having to deal with residual effects of a trauma like this.

[cr8tvlde]

19. Thank you. It was my son. He was 19.

and a passenger...5 years ago. His head (no seatbelt ) was propelled just to the right into the frame ...not the glass ... of the windshield. We were all so relieved he had not gone through the windshield. He was not near death, he crawled out in a daze. He was seen and released by the ER. But the blunt trauma to his skull changed his life in ever-increasing ways forever.

[JustAnotherGen]

28. I'm still voting for Obama

But I have that empathy for Romney too. And it explains a great deal of the awkward behavior.

[marions ghost]

11. I know someone who had a TBI

and the characteristics are similar to Romney's behavior...

interesting.

[Ilsa]

17. I think it would be interesting to see if

the gait issue is a new symptom or if it has been a part of the constellation of symptoms of his TBI.

[sad sally]

18. For those of us who have watched and cared for loved ones with dementia/Alzheimer's, many will

recognize the signs; the spouse that "leads," the different walk, the sometimes vacant stare, claiming they didin't say something they'd just said, but sometimes sounding so "normal." America has had one president with Alzheimer's, but also haves short memories.

[Brickbat]

25. This is the first I've heard of the car accident. Why isn't there more talk about it? It seems like

this is something he could talk about to "reach" people with -- it's a sympathetic story.

[immoderate]

31. To be fair, the same accident could have given him chronic spinal problems...

And I haven't seen mental problems that can't be explained by sociopathic and stupid.

--imm

[Ilsa]

33. If he had a traumatic brain injury,

It could explain alot. Things like short temper, over-blown reactions, lack of empathy, personality changes. Soldiers with concussive TBIs have gotten some good treatment.

For a president, having a TBI could be horrible.

[Kurovski]

36. Jeez, you bet. I have noticed his unusual gate too.

very interesting stuff.

[patrice]

35. That's, uh . . . a pretty big deal, to say the least. nt

[loyalsister]

37. If someone chooses to go there

Expect a speech\impulse control to be blamed on Joe Biden's aneurysm. Pathologizing political enemies makes a mockery of people who are living with ongoing symptoms.

[patrice]

38. ANY mockery in ANY situation should be strongly & publicly called out for what it is, shameful!! &

not to be tolerated amongst responsible adults considering the possibility of potentially serious circumstances through fair-minded objective discussion.

It's an important point that you make, loyalsister, especially in light of how some of what we see in this thread shows what big a task that is, but that doesn't mean that we should avoid that task. Some of what we see here is the status-quo level of ridicule that goes on around here, not related to this injury information.

I can't imagine that this piece of opposition research is unknown to the Obama campaign, people at that level just don't miss this sort of thing, so it may well be that we have not heard about this, until now, because they agree with you.

[FrenchieCat]

6. it's a bad case of Hemorrhoids and nothing more!

[jsr]

7. Dx: Underwear too tight

[Raine]

12. stick up ass? nt

[CMICHdave]

13. Could also be

That he's just an old man.

[Indpndnt]

22. Hardly.

He's 65.

[Brother Buzz]

14. Occam's razor: He wears Mom pants

[calico1]

15. Like he is squeezing his butt cheeks together n/t

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

27. One day his entire body will disappear up his butt into nothingness

and reappear on Kolob.

[seabeyond]

20. looks like a back issue walk to me. hubby says something stuck up his ass, walk.

it really bugs the shit out of him. he keeps trying to imitate it.

[Hoyt]

21. Tight ass.

[brush]

23. Romney gait

Just tell it like it is. He walks like he's got a stick up his a ss. And if you seen Condolessa Rice walk you would notice the same thing. She walks just like Romney.

[Liberal_in_LA]

24. he looks young, with his dyed hair and all, but his walk

is more like an elderly person who has an unsteady walk.

[Sanity Claws]

26. Maybe Refalco can teach him how to move and dance with grace

Refalco can use a crop on him.

[ashling]

29. Its his agriculture/farm policy

Monsanto Corncob up his ass

[Booster]

30. I don't care how he walks as long as he's walking away.

[madamesilverspurs]

32. Something about his walk seemed familiar,

and it had been in the back of my mind, just nagging a little each time I saw him walk. Finally, just this morning -- that tentative, somewhat awkward movement is very much like how I walked in my first pair of high heels. For me, it was the subtle shift in perspective that came from suddenly being a couple of inches taller, and the knowledge that I was being held up by something roughly the thickness of a pencil; the easy stride of loafers and saddle shoes simply was not possible with the heels. That said, I don't think Mitt's wearing pumps, but it's understandable that people notice the odd gait.

-

[grasswire]

39. I have thought that for weeks, but hesitated to say it

....because I didn't want to be thought bigoted against a man who would wear high heels.

But to me, he walks like he's wearing 5 inch stilletos. Sort of a mincing prance.

[Waiting For Everyman]

34. He walks like a Valley Girl.

And when he talks it's like a dog panting.

[Jennicut]

40. These posts are making me die of laughter. Poor Mittens.

This is why I call him Rombot.

[cr8tvlde]

41. If he were Mentally Retarded or Gay or Black this thread would be banned. See Post #9

(read, circumstances beyond his control)

Vote for him or don't vote for him, but this mockery is Junior High. The MBTI potential/references is not to make anyone "feel sorry" for him and surely will not encourage a vote for him. I've lived MBTI and it's devastating...high-functioning or not.

I'll never forget the first time I heard my junior high son say "That's so gay" as he had two gay cousins and liberal parents. I calmly explained it, in front of his friends. Once he got how it sounded, even his friends stopped saying it.

Ditto autism and MBTI. It's beneath all of us.

[Ilsa]

42. I hope you don't think that

That was my intention in the OP. I was sincerely wondering what was going on with him and whether it was a sign that he wasn't fit for leadership.

There have been some insensitive replies, but that wasn't what I was looking for, only serious replies.

What I didn't tell you before is that an in-law, younger than myself, suffered a major stroke as a 20 year old, and again later which killed her. In between, her family dealt with a changed personality, substance abuse, and finally criminal court before she got her life back on track.

My wish is that MR wouldn't require us to deal with it on a national level if he's prone to undiplomatic gaffes or an undisciplined temper.

[cr8tvlde]

43. No, I didn't. and I agree with you.

I am also sorry for your experience. I guess that I'm still dealing with it hit a nerve.

I really hadn't noticed definitively as I don't watch much TV, but then it made perfect sense and really explained a lot of possibilities. There was also a thread on another site, as well. Too easily, some mistake opposition for derision. As a school teacher, I've seen so much and I think that today's attention to bullying, in and out of school, is timely. (and that includes MR's bullying)

Thanks for the post.