Think about 81-year-old Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell freezing mid-speech multiple times, and the 90-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a key member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, being hospitalized and publicly exhibiting confusion and a "rapidly deteriorating” memory. Feinstein’s extended absence earlier this year delayed numerous judicial confirmations—she missed over fifty votes during her ten-week vacancy. A Pentagon-funded study released in April this year identified dementia among high-level US officials as a national security threat. RAND points out that many of the high security officers have military backgrounds with possible brain damage. RAND used to be a serious think tank.
The prevalence of dementia among people over 65 is 10%. People (like me) are working till they die so there must be a high prevalence of the disease among senior politicians. I think Ehud Barak may be suffering dementia. He was exposed to traumatic experiences in the military, and he is at increased risk to develop dementia. The RAND report focus is on federal employees in general, but also deals with the risks associated with elderly leaders. RAND uses the same risk evaluation matrix required by firefighters in Israel for permits, a standard form I am familiar with.
Watching the recent conservation between Bibi and President Biden, I noticed that Bibi was talking animatedly to an absent Biden. Biden slowly touched his left ear with his right hand and the dreamy movement ended by crossing himself in a way totally out of context. Maybe he heard the word Jerusalem and automatically crossed himself. He is 81 and candidate to another four years. His vice, a former ferocious attorney, is a mystery. Haris is half Iyer and half Jamaican mulatto. No children. She stands in line to be the next President or the one after.
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