hummingwolf (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hummingwolf) wrote2011-01-25 11:21 pm
hummingwolf) wrote2011-01-25 11:21 pm
(no subject)
Relatively unexciting day. As a recovering child of the '80s, I had sort of hoped to be able to go downtown to see one of Ron Reagan's bookstore appearances; but to my complete lack of surprise, I really wasn't awake enough early enough to do anything requiring so much brainpower as riding Metro before noon. (Well, there was an evening appearance at another store I could have gone to, but that would have meant walking in an unfamiliar neighborhood after dark, which is something I am loath to do.) Besides, there's supposedly a snowstorm coming our way, so I had to think about buying the traditional bread, milk, and toilet paper, right? We had enough TP, so I went with bread, kefir, and pistachios instead. Somehow, despite the bad start to the day, I ended up going on enough short trips around the neighborhood that I walked about 5.5 miles by sunset.
Speaking of Reagan, I really do find it amazing that the former president's son can write a 228-page book about his father and have a bunch of people talking about nothing but the fact that he mentions the possibility that his father had early signs of Alzheimer's while in office. When you're talking about a disease that tends to begin many years before diagnosis, why is it so surprising that in one case it may have actually begun a few years before diagnosis? And why is saying that someone--someone who willingly came out in the '90s and told the public that he had Alzheimer's and had a family history of Alzheimer's--may have had signs of a disease while in office so often considered an attack on his character? Does someone out there honestly think that younger Ron is accusing elder Ronald of deliberately being ill while president? Is being sick an evil of which the sainted Republican icon should never be accused? Should we now deny his mortality as well? I... I'm losing the ability to be even remotely coherent about the topic, so I should probably shut up for now.
Anyway, rather than leave the house again, I stayed home this evening watching the PBS video The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's--not because of the Reagan thing, but because brain diseases in general fascinate me these days. If you're interested in learning more about Alzheimer's, I recommend the book that inspired the special, The Forgetting--Alzheimer's: Portrait of an Epidemic by David Shenk. It's more of a page-turner than you might expect.
Since my own brain disease tends to make me overly sensitive to sleep deprivation, I suppose I should get to bed soon. See you tomorrow!
Speaking of Reagan, I really do find it amazing that the former president's son can write a 228-page book about his father and have a bunch of people talking about nothing but the fact that he mentions the possibility that his father had early signs of Alzheimer's while in office. When you're talking about a disease that tends to begin many years before diagnosis, why is it so surprising that in one case it may have actually begun a few years before diagnosis? And why is saying that someone--someone who willingly came out in the '90s and told the public that he had Alzheimer's and had a family history of Alzheimer's--may have had signs of a disease while in office so often considered an attack on his character? Does someone out there honestly think that younger Ron is accusing elder Ronald of deliberately being ill while president? Is being sick an evil of which the sainted Republican icon should never be accused? Should we now deny his mortality as well? I... I'm losing the ability to be even remotely coherent about the topic, so I should probably shut up for now.
Anyway, rather than leave the house again, I stayed home this evening watching the PBS video The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's--not because of the Reagan thing, but because brain diseases in general fascinate me these days. If you're interested in learning more about Alzheimer's, I recommend the book that inspired the special, The Forgetting--Alzheimer's: Portrait of an Epidemic by David Shenk. It's more of a page-turner than you might expect.
Since my own brain disease tends to make me overly sensitive to sleep deprivation, I suppose I should get to bed soon. See you tomorrow!
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There's a certain sense of betrayal, too, in that we expect the President to always be sharp and wise and genius, and he "should" have stepped down if he couldn't govern. (Realistically, I know it's not that simple, and of course the diagnosis was after he left office anyway, but that's where some of the emotional response comes from.
Lastly, that he was suffering from Alzheimer's while in office seems in some ways to be an attack on his actions as president - that he was not, in fact, an able president and thus any good decisions clearly must have come from his staff rather than from him.
Now, to be clear: I am presenting what I believe to be motivations behind the controversy surrounding the issue. I was 8 years old when he left office. I also don't know what, if any, symptoms he had while in office, and make no judgments on that. I do not agree with many of the things he did, but that is for political and social reasons, and I do not suffer from the illusion that he might have made different decisions if he did not have this disease.
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woke up to snow, which bummed me out. they had said it'd be just rain at first, and i was going to run out to shop for fruit. oh well. looks like i'll get out on friday maybe!
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