Nancy Pelosi, the House Minority Leader and former Speaker of the House, was once an influential politician. However, at the age of 77, she is starting to exhibit increasing signs of diminished cognitive capacity, seeming confused and lost during public events. The latest example took place during a recent press conference hours after Pelosi, ironically, called into question President Donald Trump’s sanity;
Pelosi is confused about who is president of the United States
Pelosi referred to President Trump as “President Bush” at the press conference and not for the first time.
A reporter tried to correct Pelosi on the matter, but she only snapped to what she had done when one of her aides passed her a note. Incidentally, Pelosi was also unsure of what day of the week it was.
For the record, George W. Bush is the guy from Texas with the well-exercised physique and the very calm, religious demeanor. Donald J. Trump is the orange haired, paunchy New Yorker who has a tendency to say and tweet alarming things. Bush has not been president of the United States for over eight years. Trump has been president for just a few months. Pelosi has hated both men with a passion that goes beyond politics.
The danger of diagnosing a politician from a distance
To be sure, no one, especially a pundit without a license to practice medicine, should diagnose someone from a distance.
Democrats did that a lot by suggesting that President Ronald Reagan had dementia when he was in office and then shouted “ah ha!” when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s years after leaving office. People on the right wondered whether Hillary Clinton had a brain disorder when she collapsed after a 9/11 ceremony during the campaign.
Everybody thinks that Bernie Sanders is crazy, but that is just self-evident.
Still, history is replete with politicians who hung on far longer than was sensible just out of love for power. Strom Thurmond likely should have retired 20 years before God called him home. Robert Byrd was in the same situation. Staying in office when one’s capacities have started to diminish is not a good thing, neither for the politician or his or her constituents.
Perhaps it is time for Nancy Pelosi to retire and to hand the reins of power to someone else. Then she can enjoy the pleasures of home and grandchildren before she too must shuffle off this mortal coil and then find out what party, if any, God belongs to. Pelosi can rest assure that she has been annoying to Republicans for long enough that she will be remembered for many years to come.
