Like the people behind them, President Biden’s supporters can be an energetic bunch.
Even as more high-profile supporters have dropped out — Hollywood high rollers George Clooney and Rob Reiner said it was time for Biden to step aside, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has given no indication she wants Biden to stay in the race — — but the true Bidenists persist.
And, of course, there’s California Governor Gavin Newsom, as well as members of the House and Senate who believe Biden should stay the course. But I heard directly from readers suggesting to my column that Biden undergo a full battery of neurological tests (based on the evaluations of doctors I interviewed) to reassure the public that he was OK, as he stubbornly insisted.
“You should get tested and have the results made public,” said Dan Cordova of Albuquerque. “You should also retire and go back under a rock.”
“Shame on you for the crazy media coverage of Biden,” Porter Ranch’s Marcy Rosenberg wrote. “There have been reports that President Biden has arthritis; his back is stiff, so he walks very Slow. He can still ride his bike. Can Donald? No, he can’t even walk across the golf course.
Even former state representative and Los Angeles County Commissioner Sheila Kuhl swung the stick at me.
“Perhaps you might not join the Echo News drumbeat of ignorance because [history professor and essayist] Heather Cox Richardson reveals this letter from the president’s real doctor, the president’s doctor. [Kevin] O’Connor underwent a neurological exam in late February. I hope you, like the thousands of people who read her every day, will reveal this in your column.
I understand and respect Biden’s loyalty. As I said before, he seems to be a decent, civilized man and a good president.
I also believe, and have said often, that former President Trump is a threat, and I don’t know who is more of a threat to the republic—him, or anyone else who is ready to hand over a second term to a lying, hateful lemming. , a vindictive, narcissistic felon who failed to deliver on almost all of his campaign promises (look it up if you don’t believe me).
Readers asked me how I could write a column saying that Biden should be tested instead of Trump because he has a unique set of behavioral issues of his own. I think it goes without saying that Trump should have his head checked. But of course, I would go through a full diagnostic exam with them.
I like Highland Park’s Terry Spencer’s suggestion that Biden and Trump should take a deliberately obfuscated California DMV license renewal test and whoever scores the highest wins the election.
Biden supporters appear to fall into one or more of three categories. Those who thought he was healthy enough for future work. Those who believe it is too late to turn to alternative candidates. And the people who would have voted for beans and cheese burritos before they voted for Trump.
“I’ve never been a big believer in polls, but Biden is still doing better than anyone else at standing up to Trump,” Kuhl said, adding that the chaos of “changing horses mid-stream” is “more damaging to the party than sticking with Joe.” The damage is greater.
It seems reasonable, but the stream is very deep and the horse’s head is just above the water.
A reader named Mark Richardson from Encinitas is banking on the passing of the torch, but now is not the time.
“We’ll see how the next few months unfold, and if he’s elected, he could resign a month after Inauguration Day (January 2025), [Vice President Kamala] Harris can take over,” Richardson said.
It makes sense, but the key word is “if he is elected.” I have serious doubts and said earlier this month that Biden should pass the baton and leave with pride, dignity and grace. Not because of his age (many seniors are fully functional), but because of his health.
During the June 27 debate, the president’s stiff gait, slack expression and stammering words did little to improve his chances. His judgment was also not sharp. Instead of getting into stupid arguments about which candidate is the best golfer, Biden should be saying that with the planet melting and women’s reproductive rights being stolen by Trump’s Supreme Court, he’d rather talk about saving the country than play golf.
Days later, in an ABC television interview, things didn’t get any better for Biden. As for the doctor’s report cited by Kuhl and countless others, based on Biden’s February physical, it leaves many unanswered questions.
“The extremely detailed neurological examination was again reassuring as there were no findings consistent with any cerebellar or other central nervous system disease such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease or ascending lateral sclerosis, nor any cervical spine disease. signs of illness,” Dr. Biden’s report said.
No matter who is in office, I will not accept any statement from the White House as truth, and I have my doubts.
When exactly is a neurological examination performed and by whom? What does “extremely detailed” mean? Given the progressive nature of the memory and movement disorders, is it possible that Biden’s condition has changed over the past six months and will continue to do so?
As Kuhl points out, there’s a big difference between the opinion of a doctor who diagnoses from a distance and the opinion of a doctor who actually sees the patient. I couldn’t agree more, in fact, I wrote a column denouncing those who think Biden’s dementia can be diagnosed by watching CNN. Dementia is not a blanket term for memory loss, which can occur for a variety of reasons.
But no matter how much you love Biden, hate Trump, or both, I don’t know how anyone can watch this debate and not worry about Biden’s health.
Neurologic movement disorders are often accompanied by specific symptoms that doctors can spot. After the debate, several people contacted me to say they had seen signs of Parkinson’s disease or related conditions. Two neurologists recorded Biden’s blink rate, facial expressions, stiffness and speech patterns.
One of them, Dr. Michael Mahler, a neurologist and UCLA faculty member, said he doubted something about the Parkinson’s disease paradigm.
Dr. Jack Florin, a former professor at the University of Southern California who held research fellowships at Stanford and Harvard, said he believes Biden has a variant of Parkinson’s disease called progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), The disease can cause cognitive impairment that worsens over time and affects mental processing speed, attention, and concentration.
The White House report on Biden’s health did not convince Mahler or Florin that we knew the whole story or that their own impressions of Biden’s condition were wrong. Florin suggested that an MRI, if not already available, would help support his theory that Biden suffers from PSP.
“Some diseases in the Parkinson’s field are variable in nature,” meaning they change over time, Mahler said. “If a person has a stroke or a series of mini-strokes in March, there’s no point in doing a normal neurological exam in February (or earlier).” But he’s cautious about making a specific diagnosis and says treatment Medications for certain diseases may produce Parkinson’s-like symptoms.
“One of the things Biden repeated was that being president is harder than asking him to draw a clock or recall five words, which may be true,” Mahler said. “However, neuroscientists across the country did in the debate Saw something other than being convinced the president was neurologically healthy.”
What I saw was a sad moment in American political history.
A tyrant counting on victory in November.
A weakened president trying to rise to the occasion.
Some of his supporters abandoned him, while others doubled down.
It may be that neither candidate has been tested, but come November, we all will be.
steve.lopez@latimes.com
