Muda69 Posted October 8, 2020 Posted October 8, 2020 https://www.cato.org/blog/long-history-official-lies-about-presidential-health Quote Let’s hope President Trump’s health is as sound as he says it is and he’s well on the road to recovery. He certainly seems… chipper, at any rate. Still, you’d be a fool to take such professions on faith—not just because of the non‐stop frenzy of dissembling and double talk we’ve seen since Friday, when the president revealed he was COVID-positive—but because of the long history of official lies about presidents’ health. When I saw the headline “Medical Spin in Past Undermines Trust” in Sunday’s New York Times, I thought they’d go into some of that history. But the article’s mostly about past dissembling by this president’s doctors about this president’s health. Fair enough, but a longer view gives us still more reason to verify, instead of trust, official pronouncements about the state of any president’s health. The best‐known story is probably Woodrow Wilson’s massive stroke in October 1919, which left him bedridden and almost wholly incapacitated for the remainder of his term. His wife Edith essentially served as acting president, “shield[ing] Woodrow from interlopers and embark[ing] on a bedside government that essentially excluded Wilson’s staff, the Cabinet and the Congress.” But, as historian Robert Dallek recounts in his 2010 article “Presidential Fitness and Presidential Lies,” examples are legion. FDR managed to keep the public mostly in the dark about his partial paralysis from polio, aided by camera‐snatching Secret Service agents who wouldn’t allow photos of the president in a wheelchair. While pursuing a fourth term in 1944, Roosevelt was “suffering from an enlarged heart and severe hypertension that threatened his life, [and] experienced significant weight loss, headaches, fatigue, and an inability to concentrate for sustained periods of time.” He died 82 days after inauguration. “In running for reelection under these circumstances,” Dallek writes, “FDR committed a terrible ethical breach.” John F. Kennedy’s aura of vitality and “vigah” depended on deliberate lies about his massive health problems, including the adrenal‐gland disorder Addison’s disease, for which he required regular steroid treatments. In 2013, after examining a raft of newly released Kennedy papers, Dallek reported that “during his presidency—and in particular during times of stress, such as the Bay of Pigs fiasco, in April of 1961, and the Cuban missile crisis, in October of 1962—Kennedy was taking an extraordinary variety of medications: steroids for his Addison’s disease; painkillers for his back; anti‐spasmodics for his colitis; antibiotics for urinary‐tract infections; antihistamines for allergies; and, on at least one occasion, an anti‐psychotic (though only for two days) for a severe mood change that Jackie Kennedy believed had been brought on by the antihistamines.” Kennedy’s regimen also included a potent cocktail of painkillers and amphetamines regularly administered by celebrity physician Max “Dr. Feelgood” Jacobson; “I don’t care if it’s horse piss, it works,” JFK said of the injections. One of the most brazen—and successful—health-related coverups in presidential history has to be Grover Cleveland’s cancer surgery in 1893, a story Cleveland and his loyalists managed to keep under wraps for over two decades. That summer, during the first year of Cleveland’s second (nonconsecutive) term—and after a lifetime of cigar‐smoking and tobacco chewing—the president needed an operation to remove a malignant tumor from the roof of his mouth. Using the cover story of a Long Island fishing trip, Cleveland had the surgery performed on a friend’s yacht. Under a single, swaying light bulb, a team of six doctors removed “five teeth, about a third of the upper palate, and a large piece of the upper left jawbone.” The press was told “nothing but dentistry” had been performed during the president’s four‐day voyage. One reporter for a Philadelphia paper got the scoop, but the administration damped down the rumors with a campaign to label the story “fake news.” And with a specially fitted rubber insert plugging the hole in his upper palate, Cleveland managed to look normal enough to pass (the fashion for bushy mustaches probably helped). Today, at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, you can take a look at “the jaw tumor of President Grover Cleveland” (and chunks of presidential assassin Charles Guiteau’s brain, if you’re so inclined). The public didn’t learn the full truth about Cleveland’s surgery until 1917, nearly a decade after his death, when one of the doctors published an account in the Saturday Evening Post. If today we have less reason to worry about such large‐scale deception, that’s not due to any moral improvement in the political leadership class. Rather, such schemes have become much harder to pull off: it’s now impossible for a president to keep a two‐hour hospital visit secret, let alone a multi‐day “fishing trip” for major surgery. And, were the president’s health to take a dramatic turn for the worse, Melania Trump won’t be stepping in as a latter‐day Edith Wilson. To a far greater degree than in Cleveland’s, Wilson’s, or even Kennedy’s day, presidents are now under constant scrutiny from adversarial journalists, nonprofit watchdogs, and potential whistleblowers. In his 2012 book Power and Constraint, Jack Goldsmith coined the term “Presidential Synopticon” to describe “the gargantuan array of eyeballs gazing at the presidency, in secret and in public.” In Bentham’s Panopticon, the one watches the many; but in the Presidential Synopticon, the many watch the one. Modern technology has radically enhanced both forms of monitoring: presidents are now constantly on camera and at risk of being recorded even in situations of apparent privacy. Crowdsourced surveillance via social media makes even small‐scale deception harder to pass off, even if excitable internet sleuths often get things wrong. These social and technological changes aren’t an unmitigated blessing, but they do make official secrets much harder to keep. Mr. Trump is just another POTUS among many, and certainly not the most egregious.
swordfish Posted July 22, 2024 Posted July 22, 2024 SF has to think the Republican Party will not enjoy the same cover up operation as the Democrat Party has the last 4 years if Trump is re-elected.
swordfish Posted July 22, 2024 Posted July 22, 2024 Tin foil hat time.......Is the President still alive? Frank Biden told CBS that: 'I'm incredibly proud of my brother. Selfishly, I will have him back to enjoy whatever time we have left.' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13659637/president-joe-biden-rumor-ill-dead-dropped-race.html Political figures on both left and right have questioned whether Biden is seriously-ill or even dead over the way he announced his departure from the 2024 election race. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, 37, posted on X on Monday asking for 'proof of life' from the 81-year-old and even gave the president a deadline to do. The Republican firebrand posted: 'I demand proof of life from Joe Biden today by 5:00pm. 'He needs to get in front of some camera and discuss if he’s aware that he dropped out. Hiding is completely unacceptable.' While journalist Glenn Greenwald - an anti-Biden left-winger - also posted on the social media site deeming it 'strange and wrong' that Biden hadn't given a televised announcement. Greenwald posted: 'I don't endorse Biden conspiracies, but still: It's strange and wrong that Biden hasn't spoken given the historic magnitude of his announcement. 'Having a President drop out by tweet and then disappear is bizarre. If he's well enough to decide, then he's well enough to speak.' Alongside Boebert, her fellow GOP representative Marjorie Taylor Greene described Biden's decision to drop out in similar conspiratorial terms. She posted on X saying: 'There’s a soft civil war happening in the deep state and the elites in power. 'The Democrats, the IC, and their activists in the media have been lying to us saying there’s nothing wrong with Biden for years. 'Next, they start a coup against him demanding he drop out of the race when they couldn’t hide it anymore.' Biden's health was ultimately what ended his campaign after a disastrous debate against Donald Trump, 78, last month. Worries around his health have been exacerbated after his younger brother said that it had been a factor in him standing down. Frank Biden told CBS that: 'I'm incredibly proud of my brother. Selfishly, I will have him back to enjoy whatever time we have left.' That choice of phrase sparked speculation from people that Biden has a secret illness he has not disclosed. A top Parkinson's disease specialist visited the White House multiple times this year, although officials have insisted Biden is in good health. Biden made the announcement that he was backing out of the presidential race by sharing a letter to his social media on Sunday afternoon. The president has been isolating with Covid-19 at his holiday home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, when his team composed the letter. On Saturday evening, Biden summoned to his side two men who have been there since his political start, advisers Steve Ricchetti and Mike Donilon. It was Ricchetti and Donilon who brought with them devastating new data which would help to make up Biden's mind. They revealed the latest internal campaign polling, taken since the debate, which showed he could no longer beat Trump. After his announcement, Kamala Harris announced she was running for the Democratic presidential nomination. In her first public appearance since he exited the race, Harris lavished over Biden with praise after he endorsed her to be the Democratic nominee. She told those gathered at an event for National Collegiate Athletic Association championship teams at the White House that he was 'recovering well'. Harris said she first met him through his son Beau, who Harris worked beside will both attorney generals in Delaware and California. Harris told the crowd: 'We are deeply deeply grateful for his service to our nation.'
temptation Posted July 22, 2024 Posted July 22, 2024 1 hour ago, swordfish said: Tin foil hat time.......Is the President still alive? Frank Biden told CBS that: 'I'm incredibly proud of my brother. Selfishly, I will have him back to enjoy whatever time we have left.' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13659637/president-joe-biden-rumor-ill-dead-dropped-race.html Political figures on both left and right have questioned whether Biden is seriously-ill or even dead over the way he announced his departure from the 2024 election race. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, 37, posted on X on Monday asking for 'proof of life' from the 81-year-old and even gave the president a deadline to do. The Republican firebrand posted: 'I demand proof of life from Joe Biden today by 5:00pm. 'He needs to get in front of some camera and discuss if he’s aware that he dropped out. Hiding is completely unacceptable.' While journalist Glenn Greenwald - an anti-Biden left-winger - also posted on the social media site deeming it 'strange and wrong' that Biden hadn't given a televised announcement. Greenwald posted: 'I don't endorse Biden conspiracies, but still: It's strange and wrong that Biden hasn't spoken given the historic magnitude of his announcement. 'Having a President drop out by tweet and then disappear is bizarre. If he's well enough to decide, then he's well enough to speak.' Alongside Boebert, her fellow GOP representative Marjorie Taylor Greene described Biden's decision to drop out in similar conspiratorial terms. She posted on X saying: 'There’s a soft civil war happening in the deep state and the elites in power. 'The Democrats, the IC, and their activists in the media have been lying to us saying there’s nothing wrong with Biden for years. 'Next, they start a coup against him demanding he drop out of the race when they couldn’t hide it anymore.' Biden's health was ultimately what ended his campaign after a disastrous debate against Donald Trump, 78, last month. Worries around his health have been exacerbated after his younger brother said that it had been a factor in him standing down. Frank Biden told CBS that: 'I'm incredibly proud of my brother. Selfishly, I will have him back to enjoy whatever time we have left.' That choice of phrase sparked speculation from people that Biden has a secret illness he has not disclosed. A top Parkinson's disease specialist visited the White House multiple times this year, although officials have insisted Biden is in good health. Biden made the announcement that he was backing out of the presidential race by sharing a letter to his social media on Sunday afternoon. The president has been isolating with Covid-19 at his holiday home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, when his team composed the letter. On Saturday evening, Biden summoned to his side two men who have been there since his political start, advisers Steve Ricchetti and Mike Donilon. It was Ricchetti and Donilon who brought with them devastating new data which would help to make up Biden's mind. They revealed the latest internal campaign polling, taken since the debate, which showed he could no longer beat Trump. After his announcement, Kamala Harris announced she was running for the Democratic presidential nomination. In her first public appearance since he exited the race, Harris lavished over Biden with praise after he endorsed her to be the Democratic nominee. She told those gathered at an event for National Collegiate Athletic Association championship teams at the White House that he was 'recovering well'. Harris said she first met him through his son Beau, who Harris worked beside will both attorney generals in Delaware and California. Harris told the crowd: 'We are deeply deeply grateful for his service to our nation.' C’mon…the carefully drafted letter yesterday on blank stationary from Staples didn’t convince you? ”Sharper than ever.”
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