Bill Clinton's Out of Touch Economically -- and That's a Big Deal - HuffPo

[Divernan]

13. HRC: "We are not truly well off, like other wealthy people we know."

This report is from last June:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/06/hillary-clinton-stumbles-from-dead-broke-to-not-truly-well-off/

Hillary Clinton’s latest attempt to explain away her comment that she and Bill Clinton were “dead broke” when they left the White House has prompted her to possibly stumble into another verbal thicket, saying that they are not “truly well off.”

In an interview with the Guardian published Sunday, Hillary Clinton made a third attempt to tamp down the “dead broke” comment, made earlier this month to ABC’s Diane Sawyer. While defending the millions of dollars she and the ex-president have earned giving paid speeches and writing books, she insisted they are not “truly well off” like other wealthy people they know, fueling criticism that the potential presidential candidate does not relate to ordinary people.

Says it all doesn't it? Their joint wealth is now estimated at over $100 million, but in her mind they are not truly well off.

As to the comment that "Bill Clinton has worked tirelessly in the capacity of president and past president for the betterment of peoples lives. And he does so at the cost of his own health." I agree that his continued high level of activity is not beneficial to his health or to slowing his progressive heart disease. Plain and simple, the man cannot stop himself from pursuing wealth, status, public attention and political power, at every opportunity, even though he has jokingly referred to the risks his level of activity poses to his longevity.

But it also included making sure Hillary gets the benefit of the national spotlight that’s sure to burn hot on her if the inevitable happens to Bill Clinton before the 2016 primary season.

“Obviously, you have to have a big state funeral for me, with as much pomp and circumstance as possible,” Bill Clinton says in the excerpt. “I’m thinking maybe I should be buried at Arlington [National Cemetery] rather than at my library in Little Rock. After all, I was commander in chief for eight years and have every right to be buried at Arlington …”

“When I’m gone, people will think only of my good points and forgive, if not forget, the bad. I’ll be remembered in a positive light more in death than I was in life. That always happens. Everybody knows that. So you’ll have to take maximum advantage of my death …”

“It should be worth a couple of million votes.”

Some have referred to his mindset as "Bill Clinton's Madness".

https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/education/health-science/featured-articles/articles/bill-clintons-madness/

One of the savviest politicians of our generation, known for his wit, charm, and calm under extreme pressure, Bill Clinton appears out of character in the speeches and interviews televised since his bypass surgery September 6, 2004 and his mental deterioration may be accelerating. Remember, this is the president who withstood public impeachment before the entire world for his relationship with Monica Lewinski without once losing control. Now, he is easily angered by hecklers, and makes factual mistakes and racial slurs while aggressively defending his wife’s campaign for presidency. Everyone sees his mental and emotional decline, yet to date, no medical professionals have spoken out about the cause or offered help.

Not a single one — not one bypass surgeon, cardiologist or psychiatrist — has stepped forward in his defense; even though all of them are trained to recognize “post bypass surgery cognitive dysfunction.” One of the best-kept secrets in medicine is the brain damage caused during bypass surgery. During my 40 years of medical practice I have never heard a doctor warn a patient before bypass surgery that an expected complication is memory loss. After surgery when the family complains of dad’s fits of anger, I have never heard a doctor admit that personality change is a common consequence of surgery. Yet these well-recognized side effects have been reported in medical journals since 1969.1

Brain damage during bypass surgery is so common that hospital personnel refer to it as “pump head.” The primary cause is emboli produced during surgery from clamping the aorta and from the “heart-lung machine.” This machine pumps blood to keep the patient alive while the heart is stopped during the operation. Unfortunately, this pump also introduces toxic gases, fat globules, and bits of plastic debris into the bloodstream of the patient under anesthesia. Once they are in the bloodstream, these particles migrate to the brain where they can clog capillaries and prevent adequate amounts of blood and oxygen from flowing to the brain. Essentially, all patients experience brain emboli during surgery and for many the damage is permanent.

In 2001, an article in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that 5-years after bypass surgery 42% of patients showed decline in mental function of approximately 20 percent or more.2 A study published this year (2008) in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery using MRI testing just after bypass surgery found brain damage in 51% of patients.3 Three years after their time on the bypass pump, significant permanent reduction in mental capacity was identified in 31% of patients. I am not talking major stroke here; but these patients can’t remember names or numbers as they once did, experience sleep disturbances (including nightmares), suffer mood swings, and lose intellectual acuity. Approximately 30 percent of people suffer persistent depression and some even contemplate suicide

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1) Hill JD, Aguilar MJ, Baranco A, de Lanerolle P, Gerbode F. Neuropathological manifestations of cardiac surgery. Ann Thorac Surg. 1969 May;7(5):409-19.

2) Newman MF, Kirchner JL, Phillips-Bute B, Gaver V, Grocott H, Jones RH, Mark DB, Reves JG, Blumenthal JA; Longitudinal assessment of neurocognitive function after coronary-artery bypass surgery. N Engl J Med. 2001 Feb 8;344(6):395-402.9 Link » (pdf)

3) Knipp SC, Matatko N, Wilhelm H, Schlamann M, Thielmann M, Lösch C, Diener HC, Jakob H. Cognitive outcomes three years after coronary artery bypass surgery: relation to diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Ann Thorac Surg. 2008 Mar;85(3):872-9.