Courtesy of google.com
On a visit to an ophthalmologist, I noticed my medical chart said I was mobility impaired. Having climbed 3 flights of stairs to get to his office, I was non-plussed. “What does this mean?” I said, stabbing an accusing finger at the chart. The doctor took a moment to read the entry and then explained. My primary physician had entered a code so that my insurance company would pay for a test she’d wanted me to have. “That’s the trouble with medical coding,” the man in the white coat sighed. “It can be misleading.”
“Great,” I huffed. “So, in some future emergency, the ambulance crew will waste time looking for a walker I don’t have.” The doctor laughed, but I hadn’t meant to be funny.
Anyone who has read this blog with regularity knows I hate ageism. I’ve bristled over attacks on Joe Biden’s slow speech and his poor performance in his debate with Donald Trump. Anybody could have a bad day, I once wrote, especially if he or she had taken a cold medication that produced drowsiness.
At age 78, Donald Trump has had several bad days in the two weeks since he took office. He started a trade war with Canada and Mexico and then had to rescind it. His freeze on Federal Funding also had to be rescinded when a court said “no.” His first pick for Secretary of State, Matt Gaetz, he abandoned to avoid the Senate’s wrath. A few days later, he thought taking over Gaza would be nice, but he seems to be waffling again. Well, for anyone at any age, politics is a tulgy wood.
Besides, politics isn’t all Trump has to worry about. He wants to expunge from government regulations those pesky references to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. (DEI). Even Rachael Maddow, a Trump critic, had to admit that was a thorny job. To prove it, she recounted a costly snafu that occurred at the IRS when they tried. Turns out, the revised filing instructions had omitted the words, taxpayer identification numbers need to be included. Oops!
No matter his advanced years, a President can’t know everything, even though Trump thinks he does. So, enough with the nitpicking. What gives New York Times columnist, David Brooks or Maddow the right to call our president stupid?
I admit, he doesn’t understand the word illegal, plowing ahead with his edicts despite his lawyer’s advice. A normal person would pause in those circumstances. But Trump isn’t normal! Didn’t the U. S. Supreme Court say he is above the law–a monarch unto himself? Unfortunately, the Supreme Court isn’t too sharp with words either. They think a business is a person.
If Trump’s incessant lying reveals his contempt for verbiage, I don’t hold that against him. My father held the same opinion. Asked his name, he’d make one up. Lying doesn’t mean an individual is stupid. If I had to describe Trump and my father, I’d say they were canny. I realize being canny isn’t the same as being smart. But it does mean being clear-eyed about self-interest. Even a toad knows to jump to the side of the road when a car is coming.
No, I’d never say Trump was stupid or crazy or too old to be President. He behaves like a man with one empty trouser pocket who’s discovered a barrel of gold coins. He keeps stumbling into himself because he can’t wrap his hands around enough treasure to be happy. I’d call his condition mind-numbing greed. On the other hand, my doctor might call it being mobility impaired.
(Note this blog was written before Trump abandoned Ukraine and NATO)
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