Something to think about

 

Has anyone else noticed that Bill seems a little...edgy...lately?

Yeah, a lot of people. Probably a month ago, I was talking to my Dad, and he said he's not sure what's up with the former President. Dad said, "I really think he might have Alzheimer's or something." I said Ken and I were talking about the same thing earlier! It seems like something is wrong.

I'm not going to bash the former Pres here. I think he's done enough damage to himself. I feel that the 8 years of his administration weren't all bad, and the country prospered (not entirely his administration's doing, but that's an argument for another day). My fundamental problem with him was his betrayal of the American people. I'll make no apologies for believing that there does need to be some accountability as to behavior--especially when someone is on the clock. For example, I once had a boss who was having an affair with another boss. They would disappear into the office and close the door. How much respect do you think we ended up having for this boss? Yeah...zero. When people are out there working hard--whether in my workplace or in the rest of the country--we don't want to put up with our leaders' dalliances on the clock. If you're not at work, I won't judge, but when you are at work, you aren't getting paid to play.

But I digress. That's in the past and I see no reason to rehash ancient history. It was painful enough at the time. I gained more respect for him after he and the former President Bush teamed up to raise money for those affected by the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, and I still think that was a good effort. However, it seems that President Clinton has become increasingly agitated, combative, and downright belligerent with reporters these days. He's been described as a "loose cannon" by folks on the campaign trail, including those in Hillary's camp. When the sniper fire brouhaha was calming down, he brought it up again. He's accusing the Obama campaign of "playing the race card" when he brought it up first. Watch the video:

Ken and I were constantly saying, "What is wrong with him?" And frankly, it was on the verge of amusing. Sort of, "Oh jeez, what has he said now?" It seemed pretty obvious that he was off his game, and that someone needed to rein him in. I recently read an article by Dr. John McDougall, who puts forth the probability that the former president is suffering from post-bypass surgery cognitive dysfunction, which is apparently a very real problem among cardiac surgery patients. I am not making light of this in any way. After I read the article, I agreed with Dr. McDougall that perhaps a little compassion is due to Bill. As I told Ken, no matter what you think of the guy, he's obviously brilliant, and to see him struggling to control his outbursts is actually sad to me. It's almost like Flowers for Algernon or The Terminal Man. His life was saved by bypass surgery, but at what cost to his mental functions? Perhaps this will help the public understand more about a serious complication of a serious--and life-saving--surgery. And maybe Bill should consider taking a break.

 

 

Tags: Bill Clinton, Dr. John McDougall, post-bypass surgery cognitive dysfuntion, Flowers for Algernon, The Terminal Man