Is it fair to question a presidential candidate’s mental fitness? (Salon):
“My heart sank as he floundered his way through his responses, fumbling with his notes, uncharacteristically lost for words. He looked tired and bewildered,” Ron Reagan, the son of President Ronald Reagan, wrote of his father’s performance during the first 1984 presidential debate.
At the time, there had long been rumors that Reagan was suffering from cognitive impairment — perhaps Alzheimer’s Disease — and as he struggled during the first debate against his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Walter Mondale, those concerns threatened his reelection campaign. He recovered during the second debate with a memorable quip, joking that he would not allow age to become an issue in the campaign because “I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.” The audience laughed, the nation moved on… and, a decade later, Reagan announced to the world that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s [Read more…] about Should heads of state and candidates to high office pass a cognitive/ mental fitness test?
You have been invited to a fundraising gala at your old college (via Zoom of course) and decide that this black-tie event demands a super white Italian shirt, like the one you bought years ago for your wedding.
