June 23, 2020

One Thing Leads to Another

The West Point staggering ramp exit led to a long, incoherent ramble in Tulsa, which led to the defeated body language on the walk across the White House lawn. This led me to think about a few recent conversation with some friends and associates about Trump's mental state and physical health. I can easily sum up his mental state: Trump is, by every definition, a sociopath, and he is currently in a bitter, angry mood.

In a recent conversation, a person I know well and trust in terms of accuracy and I focused on Trump's recent behaviors. I stated that I think it fits firmly in what is to be expected of a sociopath. My friend said that this is obviously part of it, but that there is increasing concern among those in the administration, and republicans in both houses of Congress, about Trump's physical health.

I had seen a few people had suggested the ramp walk indicated Parkinson's disease, which I did not agree with. My friend said that he agreed it wasn't indicated at this time. Instead, he said that the republicans in DC were concerned that Trump has been displaying -- and not merely in one awkward attempt to walk down a ramp -- symptoms of progressive supranuclear palsy, a type of dementia that involves the gradual deterioration of the same parts of the brain that sociopathy is rooted.

There had been a thing on facebook about this after that ramp walk. I told my friend that I assumed it was wishful thinking upon anti-Trump people's part. He said three things that I found important: first, that it was people within the administration that were whispering about PSP months before the ramp walk, that I should speak to some medical experts, and that if indeed it is PSP, things will be far worse between now and January.

In the past, I would have immediately contacted a cousin who was the head of neurology at Temple, but he is no longer living. Luckily, as a result of long-term damage from boxing, and shorter-term issues from a serious brain injury, I know other medical professionals who patiently answer my questions. Thus, I focused on the two that are most responsive to my calls. Both of them, I should add, are generally non-political, a factor that prevented me from being able to keep their focus off of my issues when I was in their care.

Both said that one could never diagnose PSP without seeing a patient in person. The ramp walk alone could be related to several other factors. Both said that no one would look at Trump and say he appears to be in good health. In fact, his reportedly poor diet would be of interest to a physician, including if one were concerned about other symptoms of PSP that Trump has displayed at various times. But, at this point, PSP would be one of several "rule outs" a doctor would have in mind.

I asked one of the two if it was likely that his behaviors were simply those of an aging , over-weight sociopath under severe stress? She said that while mental health issues are not her area of study, it is one of several possibilities. She noted that from what she has seen since he entered the 2016 republican primary, his range of moods appears to be limited to paranoid, furious, and pleasure when bullying a target of his fears and anger.

She added one thing that sticks with me. The combination of sociopathy and PSP would create a synergy that would be especially dangerous to this country if Trump thought he was going to lose the November election. PSP can progress rapidly once a cluster of symptoms appear. One thing leads to another.

June 9, 2020

Please Help!

On Saturday, June 6, there was a Black Lives Matter rally in Delihi, N.Y. Delhi is the seat of Delaware County, and the only town in the state's largest county to have a college. The rally was attended by over 200 people, and was orderly and peaceful.

However, during the rally, a men wearing a MAGA hat and carrying an offensive sign approached the rally. He was accompanied by a young girl, who appeared to be a grade school student. Almost immediately, this man was aggressively confronting the smallest black teenager he could find.

A group of older women got between the man and the teenager. They attempted to reason with him, which only resulted in his becoming enraged. He actually threatened to punch one old lady. This was clearly upsetting to his daughter (or granddaughter), and other children attending the rally.

Luckily for this fellow, a Delhi police officer intervened and removed him from the rally. When two newspaper reporters asked him his name, he refused to answer. However, some people at the rally recognized him. His name is Chris Cormier, who teaches introductory psychology at SUNY-Delhi.

There is a grass roots' effort to get the college's administration to evaluate Mr. Cormier's actions. This is not about free speech, bu rather about the synergy of hate speech and physical threats. The state's colleges and universities should not employ such a man.

Below is a petition from change.org asking the college to take action:
https://www.change.org/p/suny-delhi-professor-cormier-is-punished-for-his-unjust-behavior?recruiter=1113947083&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=share_petition&recruited_by_id=74026130-aa75-11ea-89a7-711bf497498c

SUNY-Delhi's president is George Spielman, who can be reached at 607-746-4090, or by e-mail at president@delhi.edu .Please consider signing the petition, and contacting the college's president.

June 8, 2020

Change

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Later today I will be posting an essay that asks for your help. On Saturday, there was a Black Lives Matter rally in Delhi, NY (Delaware County). My younger son and his lady were there, and enjoying the presentations by Good People. Suddenly, there was a confrontation. A freak donning a MAGA hat, carrying an insulting sign, began confronting people aggressively, and threatened to punch an elderly woman.

He was accompanied by a youngster who apparently was either his granddaughter or daughter. What a terrible experience for a child who appeared to be of grade school age. It might have become an even worse experience for the freak, if the police had not come and removed him.

As it turns out, this guy teaches psychology at SUNY-Delhi. I will be posting more information, including the phone number and e-mail address for the college's administration. They need to evaluate their employee's actions. I believe in free speech, but not hate speech that threatens the public's well-being.

Thank you for reading this. I appreciate any interest and support.
H2O Man

June 6, 2020

Braking News

(H2O News) 6-5-2020: The H2O News Network has just received the transcript of a top secret meeting between President Trump and Attorney Generally William Barr, in response to a Freedom from Trump's Information court filing.

Trump was furious after hearing reports on twitter that Tiffany Trump had participated in a recent Black Lives Matter rally. His mood became increasingly foul since White House staff reminded him that Tiffany is his daughter. Trump demands that White House spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany issue an immediate press release stated that he had never masterbated while thinking of Tiffany, as he only fantasizes about having sex with Ivanka.

The transcript of his conversation with A.G. Barr included Trump's anger that Tiffany told H2O News that she was disgusted by his uncoordinated attempt to hold up the bible at a photo opportunity. "It's fucking obscene," Tiffany said, "that he would hold up a book he's never read. He should start with the part of the gospels where a non-white man over-turned the tables of the money-changers in the temple."

On the transcript, Trump repeatedly asks Barr if this non-white man was Barack Obama? Each time Barr said no, Trump insisted that it was. According to McEnany, Trump ordered Barr to begin an investigation of the bible, with a goal of "prosecuting that black man to the fullest extent possible."

At this point, as Barr seeks to assure Trump that he's "on it," Donald calls for Stephan Miller to be ushered into the Oval Office. Trump says that Mike Pence is harming his chances for re-election, and asks Miller what steps he has taken to explore the possibility of dropping Pence from the 2020 ticket?

Miller says that he held a meeting with Sean Hannity and Alex Jones, to come up with a list of the strongest possible replacements. Miller begins reading the list: "James Holmes, Jared Lee Loughner, Eric Harris, John Wayne Gacy ...."

Trump immediately interrupts, "I always liked that Gacy guy's movies. Very patriotic." With that, the meeting ends.

June 4, 2020

Fire & Rain

I'm happy to be able to say that I am alive. Some slight discomfort, short of actual pain, in my face and sides. For when one reaches my advanced age, prolonged laughter has consequences. This has been on-going for a few days of my existence in a very republican section of upstate New York.

There was a "Black Lives Matter" rally in a public park in the largest town in the county. For days, on a facebook gossip group that too often channels the inner demons of Sean Hannity, rumors competed to reach the staus of "most delusional." George Soros was busing very dangerous black people to burn the town. Soros was encouraging Antifa to come by caravan to do unpeakable evils. Both men and women, perhaps intoxicated on liquor, chattered about the security that their gun collects provided them.

The rally, by the way, was both called for and organized by students attending the town's high school. They are all good young people who in most other times are known to make the community proud. The danger to the community was posed not by these students or there rally, but by the adults who seem incapable of listening to and understanding their message.

There are a number of good people who participate on the facebook group's page, but they are a tiny minority. I admire their calm determination to communicate sanely and rationally with the conspiracy theorists. But that can prove difficult in the face of imaginary non-white people who -- despite not existing anywhere but between the theorists' ears -- crowding reality out of the hearts and minds of the other side.

One man did post something about American Indians. He clearly did not want his land, located some thirty miles away from the rally, stolen from him. He also wanted to make it clear that he isn't a racist: he loves the Indians from the cowboy & western flicks he grew up on, and only hates black people. I know, dear reader, that like myself, you are thinking that the word "Noble" surely applies.

When family and friends ask me if things can possibly get worse, I assure them that they indeed will get worse within the next 24 hours. Frequently, one need not wait that long. Below that noble ode to open-mindedness referenced above was a response from one of his even more ignorant -- and fucking stupid -- buddies. "Fuck them! Indians kept declaring war on our country. They lost."

That stunned me. My mind was temporarily as foggy as if Sonny Liston had jabbed me. Is it humanly possible to be this dumb in 2020? I suppose about 25% of the voting public is. But wait! Could this be comic genius, making an uncomfortable yet hilarious joke at the racists' expense, like an Abbie Hoffman or a David Chappelle? If so, I was almost jealous.

Yet a quick check of this fool's FB status revealed that he was as stupid a human being as he appeared. I do not have the time, energy, or inclination to try to reason with him. Instead, I will sit out on my lawn, and enjoy the fact that there is absolutely no smoke rising on the horizen, darkening the sky above the town that didn't burn.

It must be a scary world the Trumpites inhabit.
H2O Man