What's the matter with Bill? (Maybe it's time for a little compassion)

[cali]

by Granny Doc
Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 04:46:00 PM PDT
Davidkc reports that Bill Clinton has, once again, stepped in it.

We have seen multiple examples during the past year and a half, of Big Dog seeming to be "off message", "angry", and occasionally deliberately "misstating" some fact or event to the imagined benefit of his wife's candidacy.

There is another possibility.

Granny Doc's diary :: ::
John McDougall, MD, would seem to be the first medical person to step up. In an article which appeared on his McDougall Wellness Center web site he lays out an issue that I have raised, and which a number of other's have confirmed on this site.

We Need to Understand and Show Some Compassion

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.
As the paragraph below shows, this is a genuine concern, and deeply felt anger at the failure of the profession to be honest with the public.

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.

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.

<snip>

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/15/192310/975/912/496395

[saigon68]

1. Nah , he's just having second thoughts for dodging the draft

[lisa58]

2. This confirms what someone on DU (don't remember who)

...posted weeks ago. If this is what is happening to Bill, they shouldn't put him through the stresses and strains of the campaign.

[cali]

3. It's certainly a possibility

and so is denial on the part of Bill and his family and friends.

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. dailykos knows better.

This is a new low. This is not worthy of them, or us. This is Crap Mudslinging 101.

[Spider Jerusalem]

5. What makes it 'mudslinging'?

It seems a plausible explanation for Bill's observed irritability and otherwise inexplicable fuckups (a misstatement, only happened once, it was 11pm, she was tired, she's 60 years old, etc). I don't see why the fact that it's Bill Clinton we're talking about makes him magically exempt from something that happens to a significant percentage of bypass patients.

[Independent-Voter]

6. Fuck 'em. I've had enough "Plausable deniabilty" the last 7 years to last a lifetime

[The Backlash Cometh]

19. My God. If you can't see what's wrong with this line of attack, well, that's sad.

If you think I'm a Clinton supporter, think again. I just don't believe in using slimy insinuations to question someone's state of mind based on a visual, fricken observation. That's like Frick-Frac on the Republican side claiming Terri Schiavio was alert and aware of her surroundings, based on a video-tape.

[Spider Jerusalem]

21. I haven't suggested that you're a Clinton supporter, just that it's plausible...

of course, plausible or not, it's foolish to try to make an armchair diagnosis; I agree with that (the only way something like this could be determined for sure whould be if Clinton's physicians gave him cognitive function tests, and even if there were any impairment it's not anyone's business, considering medical confidentiality).

[cali]

7. What??!!

I'm sorry, but that's completely nutty. I have no nefarious motives for posting this. I've long known that bypass surgery can cause deficits. And I see no reason to think that the kos writer was mudslinging in any way.

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. Dr. Cali, heal thyself.

See if you can find where I think you erred, based on the following:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48119-2005Mar18.html

[MannyGoldstein]

8. He's Not Acting Much Different Than Cigar-In-[deleted]-Gate

Red face, wagging finger, prevarication-o-rama...

And I don't recall any overt racial slurs - just carefully thought out phrases meant to convey race.

Clinton sees this as a referendum on his Presidency, and he's scared shitless that The People will give it a thumbs down.

FWIW, I think that we're looking at terrified narcissist syndrome, not pump head.

[Catherina]

22. terrified narcissist syndrome

Clinton sees this as a referendum on his Presidency, and he's scared shitless that The People will give it a thumbs down

I think you're right. And as a classic narcissist, he probably doesn't appreciate watching a younger version of himself get the adulation he thinks he deserves.

[Window]

9. I suggested weeks ago that it might be meds he's on. But, what's Hillary's excuse.

[lisa58]

10. True, they have certainly entered nastyland and...

...it's unbecoming a former first family.

[Stephanie]

17. Good question.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder?

[Tesha]

11. He's been cut off from his steady stream of honnies -- of course he's cranky! (NT)

[NDambi]

12. Billy needs those bags under his eyes drained..all his intelligence seemed to have traveled from

his brain to those exact spots.

[Skwmom]

13. I'll save my compassion for the workers who have had their jobs shipped overseas, for the

people who are losing their homes to foreclosure, and for the soldiers in Iraq. The "true" Bill Clinton is being exposed and it isn't pretty.

[JohnnyLib2]

14. I can consider this professionally, but won't discuss it on GD:P.

EOM

[MethuenProgressive]

15. Would a post suggesting Obama's cocaine snorting & pot smoking damaging his brain be allowed on DU?

Of course not.

[NDambi]

16. You sure you're not bitter. I kind of get that vibe from alot of your posts that you are..

[KittyWampus]

18. Sorry, he just hasn't gotten laid in a year. IMO, this is the real Bill when he's forced to go

cold turkey.