Facts are Stubborn Things

"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." -- John Adams


Very early in this blog, I wrote a post about wading through the fake news and finding the truth. It's time to re-visit this issue.

Back then, just two weeks after the inauguration, I wrote how overwhelming the number of lies coming out of the Whitewash House. Here we are, two years later, and there have been more than 6,000 false or misleading claims from the Cheeto Mussolini since Inauguration Day. That's about 10 per day! That's championship stuff!

Truth and facts have been corrupted. To a very frightening degree.

Tom Toles

It's a common refrain from the right, at least in my experience, that the "mainstream media" (seeming to mean anything except FAUX News) is to be distrusted. Their Supreme Leader has dictated this attitude. The Apricot Pol Pot deems any unfavorable coverage as "fake news," and his base has bought into that propaganda. Lock, stock, and barrel. The new definition of the truth for the right is "what fits their mindset." Recently I wrote about an interaction with a right-leaning high school acquaintance on Facebook and the circular reasoning about finding the truth. Here are verbatim quotes from a recent Facebook exchange:

My friend said, "People keep saying he lies... I keep trying to pay attention but I haven't heard one yet."

I replied, "If you think he hasn't lied, you truly haven't been paying attention. Here's a report from a Least-biased, highly factual site.  https://www.politifact.com/.../statements/byruling/false/"

One of her friends replied (there are a lot of "(sic)" in here. This is cut and paste), "We don't use fact checking sites that are basically left-leaning propaganda. That is why you like them....but that does not make them "the truth", any more or less than the sources we rely on are "the truth". The truth is hard to determine, don't be so arrogant that you believe you have the truth and we don't. All media is biased. Until you realize that, you will remain unaware of legitimate ideas and idealogies of the right. Many, if not all liberals I talk with have NO IDEA what we believe or why. They don't listen to what we say, just put up smoke screens and phony "fact check" excuses to make our points "illegitamate".  I predict that this election AGAIN will baffle the left as the right wins on Nov 6." 

Well, there's a difference between bias and fact. Sure, all media is biased. Each journalist is human after all. News sources do have a bit of bias based on their editors, their publishers, and their readership. Some news sources have more bias to one political ideology or another, and they may use language that resonates with their readership or choose stories based on ideology.

BUT even a biased source can be factual.

And some sources are more factual than others. We are all very aware of the uprising of Fake News before the election, especially on social media. Much of it was planted by the Russians to skew our outlooks. The social media platforms worked to eliminate fake news and stopped selling data about their members. But there are still highly biased sources or sources with low levels of factual reporting out there. And there are watchdogs that judge these for us and report on them.

Here is a chart that is helpful to sort out the amount of bias and the amount of truthfulness among sources.

Marketwatch

The right likes to spit out the words, "Mainstream Media" as if it were a cancer. There is nothing wrong with the mainstream media, which is at the top center of that chart. The mainstream media is what reports in the most unbiased, factual way. The mainstream media is our friend! The reason those on the right don't like the mainstream media is precisely because of the fact that they report the truth, and the right does not want to believe the truth. Luckily, no matter how much they wish them away, facts are facts. Facts are stubborn things!

In the last two years, the orange scourge has perverted the term "fake news" so that it's no longer applicable to the real fake news. (Geez, look at how our language has become perverted. Real fake news! Holy cow! As opposed to the fake fake news, which is the legitimate news.) There really is fake news --non-factual claims-- on both the left and the right. When I come upon a meme or a sensational headline on social media, I check for the bias and factual reporting of the source before I even read it. I use Media Bias/Fact Check often. If the source is skewed right and is still highly factual, I'll read it. But if reporting is listed as "mixed" or less, I won't even open it. What's the point? We should all call out those who post questionable stories or memes, left or right.

So, what about the Fact-Checkers? Where does the right's concern that they are a leftist conspiracy group come from? Is there a legitimate concern that they are biased to the left? Who fact-checks the fact-checkers?

Snopes.com was called into question by The Daily Mail (a source that is right-leaning, mixed factual reporting) in 2016, and never quite recovered from it. This perhaps was the start of the right's distrust toward fact-checkers.

Here we get to the circular arguments again, which I find so maddening. The right has started to question fact-checkers' bias based on opinions on their own highly skewed, questionably factual sites. The Media Research Center (which, by the way, questions climate change as well as evolution) and its sister site Newsbusters, both highly-biased conservative sites with "mixed" factual reporting, will simply assert that fact-checkers are biased, and their readers will simply believe them. The Newsbusters site does its own version of fact-checking the fact-checkers, and cite some claims that they have fact-checked themselves. Let's just say that they are legitimately conducting fact-checks. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Well, they have 11 "checks" listed on their site from 06/18/18 to 11/11/18. That's an average of 2 per month. In contrast, Politifact has checked 111 claims so far this month, claims from both the left and the right.

What can we do? There are several fact-checkers and multiple sources of truthful information, and therein lies our solution. As I wrote before, what we can do is consume healthy media. Read. A lot. Be aware that there is "fake news" on both sides. Look for the broccoli and beans of the media sources. Reject the Doritos and Cheez-Whiz. That stuff ain't healthy. Use more than one fact-checking sites, such as:

Media Bias/Fact Check
Politifact
Snopes.com
Factcheck.org
AP Fact Check

Check the fact-checkers with RealClearPolitics, which is more factual than the other source I referenced.

Check for the general bias and factual rating before reading. Call out people for citing from questionable sources. Memes are not news sources. Skip them. Read multiple sources. Read from sources on the top center of that chart. Read more than just the headline, and call out others who didn't! Stubbornly search for the facts. Find the original source.

Which brings me back to Captain Outrageous and his lies. It astounds me that an intelligent citizen can say with a straight face, "People keep saying he lies... I keep trying to pay attention but I haven't heard one yet." You don't need "people" or "media" or "news" to tell you he lies. Just turn on the TV and listen to what comes out of his mouth. You only have to be a reasonably informed citizen to recognize the many lies and bizarre claims for yourself. There is no filter or interpretation needed; all of his bizarre behavior and outlandish claims are there in real time and in the raw for me and you and everyone to see. Use your brains, people!

Or, alternatively, go ahead. Continue your journey down the rabbit hole. Sit down to tea and discuss alternative facts with a madman. “If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?” -The Mad Hatter, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Thanks for reading, Sister and Brother Resisters!  Keep up the Resistance!

Little Sister Resister's Words Two Years Ago

Just putting them here. I wrote this just after the election, and before I started this blog. My Facebook post from November 13, 2016.  Link

Others have said it but I feel the need to say it in my words.

An open letter to those who support Trump. 

This isn’t about politics. Of course the country was built on differing views. Of course the pendulum swings back and forth. Many Republican ideas and ideals are worthy. Many Republican leaders are to be admired. I think we all agree that differing views and strong debate is healthy for our country, and should be embraced.

This election isn’t about that.

I, like most of us on the Left, don’t think that all of you on the Right are racist, homophobic, or misogynist as individuals. I don’t think you are a racist because you didn’t vote for Obama, nor do I think you are misogynist because you didn’t vote for Hillary. It’s simple: Your candidate ran on a platform of Hate. You endorsed the hate by voting for him. You have the responsibility for bringing into power the most dangerous man ever placed in the White House. Many Republican leaders agree with me and rebuked him, including Bush 41.

I protest not because of a “disappointment.” We’ve been disappointed before. The Presidency was also taken from Gore, who won the popular vote. We were disappointed then, but we persevered. We went on, encouraging our progressive leaders to continue to fight for our ideals. At that time, we didn’t feel the need to protest in the streets. That was disappointment. 

This is devastation. 

I and my fellow Liberals are truly and rightfully afraid for what will happen to our country. More than ever in our lifetimes, we are deeply afraid. I was concerned under Reagan and under the Bushes. But I was not fearful. Fearful for my friends’ and neighbors’ health and well-being. Yes, you’re right, the country will go on. We have for 240 years. As long as the President keeps his hands off the Red Button, it’ll go on for another 240. Around Facebook I’ve been told, “There, there, Karen, your life will not change much.” Yes, as a post-child-bearing, wealthy, white woman in a safe bubble in a wealthy town in Liberal California — yes! You are probably right. But my life does not stop at that bubble. My heart aches for people who are not me. As this affects them, it affects me. They are my family, my friends, my neighbors, my patients, and strangers, too, and I worry for them all. They are LGBQ, immigrants, Muslims, African Americans, Latin@s, all people of color, women. I can never know their struggles completely, but I hurt for their struggles. And I want to help. 

So, please don’t tell us to “stop whining.” You say that your angst was similar for the last eight years. If that is true, then you know not to trivialize another’s grief by saying “grow up,” “you should be ashamed,” and “stop whining.” If you expressed your grief to me, I can guarantee you didn’t hear those kinds of things from me. I respectfully submit, however, that this grief is not the same as yours. This goes far beyond. Still, If I’m wrong and your anger was as deep as ours, then you understand our strong need to protest, to motivate, and to work for change — and you will respect that.

If you reject the labels of racist, homophobic, misogynist, then speak up against those who are. Speak up when you hear or see bigoted words and behaviors. And ask your President-elect to do the same thing. 

We don’t endorse the violence that has arisen from the protests. Of course we repudiate it, just as much as you repudiate the violence and hate from the repugnant ones in your party, such as White Supremacists, abortion clinic bombers, or the Westboro folks. We are not those people who riot, who start fires and who break windows. If you think we are, then you don’t know us very well.

I shall continue to be a part of the majority of Americans who are empathetic, inclusive, and progressive. I care deeply and I will not “stop whining.” I invite you to join us to motivate for what we all want: the safest, strongest, most just country we can be.

The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave.

"The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave." --Thomas Jefferson

Well, my prediction of a Blue Tsunami did not come true exactly, but we sure had a nice Rainbow Wave! The Senate remains in the Republicans' hands. But the House was decisively taken over by the left, and a colorful group at that.

Going in, the Democrats needed to flip 23 seats to gain control of the House. They've won 27 seats so far and now have a decisive majority, 225 Democrats vs. 197 Republicans. There are still 13 seats to be determined, including five in California. The Senate held fast to the right, and the Republicans now have 51 seats to the Democrats' 44, with Florida and Arizona still not determined, and Mississippi heading for a run-off. Plus those rascally Independents, Bernie in Vermont and Angus King in Maine.

It was what most pundits expected.

We are happy that the House is now back on left ground. Our system worked; we again have a semblance of checks and balances.

But it's not the numbers that are exciting. It's the people. We just elected the most youngest, most diverse, most colorful group of representatives ever! It was a Rainbow Wave! Just look at all these firsts!

All 19 of the #Houston African American Female Judges up for election WON tonight!

Congratulations #Houston19 🙌🏾🍾 pic.twitter.com/JJMcEI76JF

— Isaac Hayes III (@IsaacHayes3) November 7, 2018

And my beloved home-state of New Mexico elected minorities as all three of their representatives. And two of the three are women! And Deb Haaland (D-1)  was one of the first two Native American women, along with Sharice Davids, to be elected to national office. About time.

There were many exciting wins for women, but read about this young immigrant woman in Texas, Lina Hidalgo, who pulled off a huge upset in deep red Texas. She beat the Republican incumbent for the job of County Judge in the Houston area, the third-largest county in the Country. The position is not a courtroom judge, but think if counties had mayors. Such a bright star for Texas!


Read more about the women of color who were elected and about all those firsts! And women in general. A record 34 new women won seats in the House, joining the 66 incumbents. Most of them replaced men. It's a wonderful trend. It's one of the biggest positives that has come from the newly-energized left. Someday the House will be half female, as it should be!

Women were the ones to put all these women in power, too! As I predicted in an earlier post, exit polls showed a huge uptick in the number of Democrat women voting. Study those charts, seriously. The future of our country is blue with pink trim!

Bill Bramhall

I'm so proud of us, America!


Americans chose other positive paths.

Gerrymandering not only didn't work, but was decisively put down in four states. Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania all passed laws that cripple gerrymandering.

Californians voted to adopt year-round Daylight Savings Time. It's a long path to it being a reality, but we want it!

Three red states, Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah voted to expand Medicaid. This is big because, not only will more underprivileged citizens have medical coverage, but to my mind, it's a a small step toward universal healthcare. Healthcare showed itself to be the most important issue voters cited this election. We're finally turning the tide on healthcare!

There were some frustrating moments, though.

It was disappointing that Beto O'Rourke couldn't defeat Ted Cruz. He made a great try, though, and he energized progressive Texans. I can't wait to see what is next for Beto!

The Georgia Governor race between Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp was extremely maddening to watch, with the corrupt Secretary of State Kemp overseeing his own election and actively disenfranchising thousands of voters. The fight isn't over. Ms. Abrams has not yet conceded. I believe that a serious investigation should be done. There is evidence of major wrongdoing from Mr. Kemp, from his purging voter registrations, to keeping voting machines locked in warehouses, to delivering voting machines without power cords. If Abrams can gain a few more votes, the election is destined for a run-off. Otherwise it will go down as one of the most questionable elections in modern times.

Another tight race that may end in a manual recount is Florida's Senate race between Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson. Not only are the numbers tight enough to trigger a re-count, but the ballots of Broward County were suspicious for a having a high number of blanks on the Senate line while votes were cast on the Governor line. Ballot design or machine error may be to blame. Oh, Florida! Must you do it again?

In Arizona, the Senate race has not been called between Republican Martha McSally and Democrat Kyrsten Sinema. Nearly half a million votes statewide still need to be counted as of Thursday. Today, Sinema has pulled ahead. Here's hoping she holds on to the lead.

Some California House races that I mentioned in previous posts as being close battlegrounds are still not called. The five house seats still undecided include CA 10, 39, 45, and 48, which I wrote about before.


Now that our election is behind us, the Left has some decisions to make. Now, what?

There has been discussion out there about how far to take our ship to the left. One side says that we need to build bridges and reach out to build a consensus in the center. Nope. We need not do that. We should not do that. The time has come to make a hard left and keep our progressive momentum going. We on the left know that historically, progressive movements have done more to help our country than conservative policies. Our morals drive policy. Morally, we have to wrestle in the mud if we must. We can't stay on the hateful path. We need to strongly call out lies, reject hate and bigotry, and fight hard for what is right. Morally, there is no "center." The people who have felt emboldened to crawl out from their wormholes won't change their bigoted minds, but we can drive them back into the wormholes, and we should. Find your moral compass and let it direct you.

Those on the Right always want to bring up the "intolerance" of the "supposedly tolerant" left. As if intolerance for hate, greed, lies, and oppression were morally equal to their morally corrupt intolerance for groups of people. Yes, we're intolerant. Embrace that moral intolerance, and fight hard! My friend Katie shared this story, and I love it. There's Nothing Virtuous About Finding Common Ground by Tayari Jones. Read it, and read it again. And let it guide you as you reach out to your Members of Congress in the coming months and years.

As we consult our moral compasses, what specifics do we tell our Members of Congress to work on? These are some thoughts:

• Further the Russia Investigation. In March, 2018, the House Intelligence Committee's Russia investigation was suspended. The investigation is poised to re-open, and the House is ready to subpoena some verrryyyy interesting tax returns! 

• Protect Mueller's investigation and find out what is in the report. Which, by the way, is reportedly being finalized as I write!

• Protect the Affordable Care Act! We need to tell Congress to undo the damages already done, and to continue working to make this act the best it can be. We should work toward universal healthcare.

• Investigate the border atrocities and reunite the 500 or so children still without their parents.

• Reverse the tax breaks for the rich; support the middle and lower class.

• Investigate Justice Kavenaugh, as well as start impeachment proceedings.

• Start impeachment proceedings against SCROTUS. Some pundits say that probably won't happen, but others like Tom Steyer in this New York Times Op/Ed, say we must. Yes. We must!

We must not play nice. The stakes are too high. Not only must we push hard on a progressive agenda, we must push hard to stop this madman from damaging our country any more. And that means removing him from office. We've talked about impeachment literally from Day 1. Now, we have the power. I'm hopeful that if the Democrats in Congress wuss out on impeachment on what we already have (and we have a lot!), then the Mueller report will have something solid that can't be ignored.

So, fellow Sisters and Brother Resisters, the Senate reconvenes on Wednesday, January 3. The House will start working on Monday, January 8. Be ready to call your Members of Congress. Demand action from them. We have the voices. Use them strongly. They work for us!

The wave is only beginning to crest  Let's ride that baby in.

Dana Summers

Keep up the resistance! 

"People who boast about their I.Q. are losers." - Does Donald Trump have ALS?

"People who boast about their I.Q. are losers." -- Stephen Hawking

Several times on this blog, I've explored the possibilities of what may be impairing President Trump. Though he has boasted about his I.Q., we know that he is, in reality, quite impaired in his language and his cognition. I am a Speech-Language Pathologist, and as my profession deals with speech, language, and cognitive impairments of all kinds, I have looked at his unusual cognitive-communication patterns and have thrown out some hypotheses.

April 24, 2017:  A Case for Dementia. I looked at his language from a clinical perspective, how his language is full of "empty" words with a lot of nonsense and confabulation.

July 15, 2017:  The Language Butcher. I examined the simplicity of his language and also his butchering syntax, making him often unintelligible.

December 7, 2017: "God Bless the United Shashe." I analyze his slurred speech. It became concerning to me, as dysarthria is almost always due to a neurological issue.

December 26, 2017:  When the well is dry, they know the worth of water. I looked at his funny way of drinking water and analyzed it clinically. With this emerging motor symptom, I tried to couple it with his cognitive-linguistic symptoms to come up with a possible diagnosis.

January 7, 2018:  Concern should drive us into action and not into a depression. I noted Michael Wolff's writing, in his tell-all book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, about Trump's habits of perseveration of ideas. Wolff quotes staffers that say he tends to tell the same story several times over and over.

January 19, 2018:  Thinking: the talking of the soul with itself. I looked again at his cognitive abilities and the probable sham of his cognitive screening done as part of his physical exam by Dr. Ronny Jackson.

May 1, 2018:  Truth is stranger than fiction. I noted some more unintelligible ramblings.

I've continued to think about it, and this week I was hit by a couple of things. Please refer to my post of last December, When the well is dry, they know the worth of water. I'm sorry that the videos that I embedded are no longer available, but you'll recall his odd two-handed hold on his water bottle or water glass and the funny way he tipped his head down and up to drink water.

In that December post, I outlined a few possibilities of neurological problems that are characterized with both speech and language difficulties and with motor difficulties. One disease I considered and dismissed was Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. I wrote:

I'll consider ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease) only briefly. A horrible progressive motor neuron disease, ALS typically does not have a cognitive component. An in fact, over the years I have found, as have many in the medical community I have recently learned, that patients with ALS are the nicest people you ever hope to meet. "Niceness" in these patients is so prevalent that some physicians can practically use the characteristic as part of their differential diagnosis process! No, he decidedly does NOT have ALS. 

I was left in December believing that he suffers from Frontotemporal Dementia, saying, "I am liking the diagnosis Frontotemporal Dementia. It accounts for his lack of empathy, his forgetfulness, his inappropriate actions, his lack of judgment, his speech and language difficulties, his getting lost, his lack of insight into his difficulties, as well as his motor difficulties."

Well, today I believe I was too quick to dismiss ALS. My new theory is that Donald Trump indeed suffers from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

I was hit hard by something as I watched the news on Monday.

I was watching ABC Nightly News on November 5, 2018, and I caught something that possibly only a Speech-Language Pathologist would notice. Please look carefully at Trump speaking at about 2:03 and about 2:12.




Right after he says, "you can forget it" at about 2:03, his upper lip has a tiny tremor (also called a fasciculation). You may have to play it a couple times. It is quite subtle, but it was immediately obvious to me. Again at 2:12, while he is saying, "a lot of people, a lot of people <right here is a fasciculation of his lips> my opinion..." This one is a little easier to see. It looks like both lips tremor briefly.

Caveat: Fasciculation of the lips can be attributed to many things, including stress and fatigue. But coupled with all of his other speech, language, and cognitive symptoms, it really jumped out at me. Fasciculations of the lips or tongue are common in ALS patients, and can be the very first symptom.

I wanted to see if I could spot other incidents. I searched and reviewed several more clips of speeches. I found this news conference from today. I moved the slider to a random spot, and immediately I spotted a little twitch in his left chin/neck at about 1:44:20 after he said, "build the embassy." I've started the video below just before the moment.






Again, it's subtle, but it's there. I moved the slider to a couple other random spots and didn't see any more, but I'll continue to review his speeches to collect more data to refine my hypothesis.

In addition to these small fasciculations, we return to his speech problems. One shocking incident was his pronunciation of "anonymous" while talking about the New York Times Op/Ed that purported that there was a mutinous attitude within the White House.




And, earlier, his extremely concerning slurring of "United Shashe," which I discussed in my blog on December 7, 2017: God Bless the United Shashe.

Dysarthria (slurred speech) is a hallmark of ALS. Many times, speech problems are the presenting symptom of ALS, with symptoms extending out to the extremities over time.

The reason I had dismissed ALS as a cause of his difficulties was primarily that it was my belief that ALS rarely had a cognitive disorder component. I started exploring ALS diagnosis a bit more. I learned that, contrary to my previous belief and experience, within the last 10-15 years it has become understood that up to 50% of ALS patients have cognitive disorders, and up to 25% of patients develop a full-blown dementia. And further, the type of dementia that typically strikes ALS patients is Frontotemporal Dementia. Just as I had predicted in my post.

The ALS Association outlines cognitive-communication behaviors that are associated with this subset of ALS patients:

• Behavior becomes embarrassing, childlike, inappropriate, or uncharacteristic 

• Person seems to have lost “a filter” with regard to making comments or expressing opinions 

• Person begins eating sweets, or only one type of food to the exclusion of a more balanced diet 

• Person loses table manners and begins stuffing their mouth with food 

• Decreased attention to hygiene such as toileting, bathing, grooming, or changing clothes on a regular basis 

• Loss of judgment with regard to making decisions or making a decision that reflects a strong departure from views the person expressed in the past 

• Lack of concern for others, one’s own illness and symptoms, and/or no view of the future 

• Inability to concentrate or to shift focus from one activity to another 

• Fixation on a single idea or activity with a need to repeat the concern or repeat the activity 

• Increased aggression 

• Says “no” when means “yes,” or becomes less reliable with yes/no responses 

• Feels like there is a disconnect between having the thought to move and being able to move the intended body part 

• Writes or says words in the wrong order or without respect to grammar 

• Thinks of the word he/she wants to use but cannot get it out in conversation 

• Loss of spelling or loss of word meaning 

• Says sentences that convey little meaning 

• Cannot follow instructions to complete physical therapy/occupational therapy/speech therapy exercises, stretches, or guidelines such as swallowing precautions 

• Difficulty remembering what he/she intends to do 

The Mayo Clinic outlines these behavioral symptoms in patients with Frontotemporal Dementia:

• Increasingly inappropriate actions

• Loss of empathy and other interpersonal skills

• Lack of judgment and inhibition

• Apathy

• Repetitive compulsive behavior

• A decline in personal hygiene

• Changes in eating habits, predominantly overeating

• Oral exploration and consumption of inedible objects

• Lack of awareness of thinking or behavioral changes

We don't know all of his behaviors while off-camera, but we can easily observe many of these behaviors in Donald Trump.

There are language components to Frontotemporal Dementia, including Primary Progressive Aphasia or generalized difficulties with language expression or comprehension in both spoken and written modalities. We are all very aware of his speech and language difficulties, as I've outlined in previous posts, and we know he has difficulty reading, too, as I outlined in my post A Case for Dementia.

In addition, cognitive changes may precede the physical manifestations of ALS according to studies. In my original musings of his difficulties, I said that there weren't any physical symptoms, but now they are becoming more apparent.

The physical manifestations of ALS can start out very subtly. Now I wonder if his aversion to closing his umbrella -- and thus abandoning it on his way onto Air Force One -- was a hesitation on his part, knowing that the fine motor task would be difficult, and would demonstrate his motor difficulties to the world.




The main trouble, to my mind, with the ALS diagnosis is what I noted before: That the overwhelming majority of ALS patients are so extraordinarily nice that physicians can practically use "niceness" or "agreeableness" as a diagnostic trait. This study corroborates anecdotal observations, which I have also noticed in my own patients through the years. Trump is nothing like any of the ALS patients I've had. I've always been struck at how nice ALS patients are. However, as in any disorder, there are outliers. And if the dementia aspect is strong in this one, it could also account for his mean and hateful ways. Disagreeableness, paranoia, and other negative social behaviors are also a hallmark of dementia. I've read that in person Trump is quite charming, so perhaps his more public persona is more difficult to mask, or perhaps a mental health issue is overlaying a neurological issue.

Read more about ALS at the National Institutes of Health website or at Medscape.

I will continue my forensic detective ways as I watch his behaviors closely. The "pathologist" in me is always at work. If you see anything odd, send it my way. I'm sure I will continue to update my thoughts! It's also possible that Parkinson's disease or another neurological disease can account for his speech, language, cognitive, and motor symptoms. He should get a thorough neurological workup by an unbiased agency. His previous health exams by his gastroenterologist and by the White House physician were not legitimate and did not focus on his neurological health.

In the meantime, back to the greater political picture. I'll post my post-election thoughts soon.

Thanks for reading!

The Best Reality Show Ever!

We're conducting our powerful, peaceful United States midterm election in just a couple days. For Politics Geeks like you and me, it's like Christmas! And we get to watch it on TV!

I've outlined races before on this blog. Back on Independence Day, I looked at some House and Senate races in States near and dear to me. Last month I looked at how women have been entering politics in record numbers and how women's voting power will be a force to be reckoned with on Tuesday.

I wanted to just jot some notes about some of the upcoming decisions to see how they play out. On Tuesday night, we will all be glued to our TVs for the best reality show ever.

Now, we're ready.

Dave Granlund

The Senate

It's been long surmised that the Democrats have too many barriers to overcome to take majority in the Senate, but anything is possible. We found that out the hard way back in 2016. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the Senate will flip. I know I'm a Pollyanna, but the Blue Tsunami really seems like it's coming. Here are a few really exciting races to watch.

BETO! in Texas! Go Beto! His poll numbers against SCROTUS's favorite immigrant (other than two of his three wives), Ted Cruz, have been improving. Polls vary, but the latest Emerson poll has Cruz with just a 3-point lead, with 2% undecided. This is the most exciting race in the country. It's a race between one of the most intelligent and charismatic up-and-coming Democrats vs. a slab of 10-day-old Texas steak.

Arizona: the open Senate seat is now considered a toss-up, but it WILL be filled by a woman! Woooo! Democrat Kyrsten Sinema has been gaining momentum against Republican Martha McSally.

Nevada may flip blue, if Democrat Jacky Rosen can defeat incumbent Republican Dean Heller. At this point, polls point to her having a slight lead.

I'm pulling for Heidi Heitkamp (D) to keep her seat in North Dakota. She courageously voted against the confirmation of Justice Kavenaugh, knowing that it would cost her politically in her deeply red home state. She's behind Republican Kevin Cramer in the polls, but never say never. Go, Heidi!

I talked before about Tennessee being an interesting Senate race, and indeed it looks like it has continued to tighten up. The candidates, Marsha Bredesen (R) and Phil Blackburn (D) are in a dead heat. Wouldn't it be exciting to flip a state like Tennessee?


The House

Pollyanna Schmollyanna. The House is going blue.

Here are exciting races in my home state of California.

CA - 10. Republican Jeff Denham vs. Dem Josh Harder. Denham is a TЯUMP supporter and handily won re-election in 2016 in this conservative district. It's an exciting race. Harder has been closing in.

CA - 39, 45, and 48. Orange County, California has long been solidly Republican, but the tide seems to be changing. In the 39th, it's a toss-up between Republican Young Kim and Democrat Gil Cisneros. The lead has traded back and forth several times. Right now, it looks like Cisneros has the lead. In CA 45, stalwart Republican incumbent Mimi Walters is fighting for her seat against unabashedly progressive Katie Porter. Republican Dana Rohrabacher hopes to hold on to his seat in the 48th, but faces a strong Democrat opponent in Harley Rouda. In my post in July, this seat was leaning Republican, but now it's a dead tie. Orange County! Talk of these kinds of tight races was unheard of in Orange County before now. This is why I think it's not just a blue wave, but a blue Tsunami coming!

CA - 22. I have to mention California's solid red District 22, home of Rep. Devin Nunes (R). He is projected to win handily, But I'm rooting for Andrew Janz to pull off the upsettiest of upsets in California history. I detest President Evil's lap-dog Devin Nunes.

I'll touch on just one non-California house race.

IA - 4  Republican Steve King vs. Democrat J.D. Scholten. I've referenced Rep. King a couple times on this blog. He is an unabashed racist and Neo-Nazi sympathizer. He has no place in our government, and I'm hoping that he will be booted. It's a tight race. 

I would love to write and geek out over more of these races, but I'll have to point you to a couple sources that can better summarize the battlegrounds than I.

The New York Times has really nice interactive guides to the battleground Senate races and House races.

The Boston Globe has an "Ultimate Cheat Sheet" of House and Senate races to watch.

Vox outlines some house races.

The Hill looks at some house seats ready to flip.

Business Insider looks at some key Senate races.

And we need The Onion to keep our perspective on Senate races in check.

If you really want to dive into the numbers, check out FiveThirtyEight.com, Ballotpedia, or RealClearPolitics. You can get lost for days in those sites!


Why do I think it will be a Blue Tsunami?  Because 750,000 women in Los Angeles and over 3 million around the country marched on January 22, 2017. Because airports around the country saw protesters of every size, shape, and color demanding action against the Muslim ban. Because the youth of Parkland, Florida, bravely rose up and brought the gun control conversation to new levels. Because intelligent, thinking citizens, which fill this country to the brim, find outrage in the War on Science. Because our citizens do not accept children being torn from their mothers and kept in cages. Because we are not a nation of hate and bigotry, and we are ready to show that. Because the Electoral College does not elect Members of Congress. Because the more SCROTUS fires up his base with his hateful rhetoric, the more he fires up the majority against him. Because the Left got a wake-up call that participation in our Democratic Republic cannot be taken for granted. Because we've been waiting for this day for two long years. Because, as Frederick Douglass once said, "Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will." We demand change. And we shall have it.

I'm pretty darn confident that Team Red is out of immunity tokens, and Team Blue will win the big prize. We need to get off of this freaking island. Let's steer our raft onto that big wave and ride!

Best Reality Show Ever! Tune in on Tuesday evening, November 6. And don't stop watching. Ever.

Edit to add: I've gotten some feedback that people are nervous. You aren't alone in your anxiety.  This just in from last night's episode of Saturday Night Live:



Resist! Vote Democrat!