Broken Brain Syndrome
I've seen this before.
Though I don't think Donald Trump's latest rally mishap was a McConnell-like freeze, Trump is definitely having increasing dementia problems. As one of the doctors from the Duty to Warn Coalition has noted, Donald Trump's brain is broken. His mental capacity is a mere shadow of what it was in 2016 and his cognitive functions are seriously impaired.
My father went through this as did my sister. You can have plateaus during the early stages of the disease where function evens out and a patient has moments of clarity. But as the disease progresses (and it always progresses), those moments become infrequent, and then disappear altogether.
Trump is very close to the abyss.
Stress worsens the symptoms and I truly believe that's what we're witnessing. Falling asleep in the courtroom is a good example of advanced dementia-related behavior. My father would sleep a lot during the day, and then be on the prowl throughout the night.
Sound familiar?
All the language glitches and slurs, the language of violence and paranoia? It's all part of it as the brain damage worsens. Even his body movement--that forward tilt, the leg dragging could be attributed to his neurological decline.
I recall watching my father as he went through this process comparing him to a diver. In the early stages, he would dive beneath the water and resurface, sputtering, making excuses, citing reasons for a poor or unexpected dive. As time went on, his inability to resurface entirely or even make reasonable excuses/explanations became painfully clear. Weirdly enough, my youngest son was having his own struggles after a traumatic brain injury. He started deeply submerged beneath the water, then slowly--in fits and starts--resurfaced, sometimes briefly, then permanently (but with what the medical community refers to as 'deficits').
I watched the whole process in reverse.
Agent Orange is at the point where normal families would seek care and medical advice.
None of this is normal. Not the man, the family, not his frenzied supporters (who are willfully blind to the evidence) and certainly not his enablers, those eager to use Trump as their vehicle to raw power.
Trump's brain is broken. We see it every day and will continue to see it in evermore harrowing dimensions because this is who the GOP is pushing to occupy the Oval Office.
Donald Trump has thus far outrun accountability. But he cannot, will not outrun this disease process.
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Yup, it was pretty hairy during the late 90's. My father and son were both going through serious brain events. Then the further shock of my baby sister dying of premature Alzheimer's in 2020. That really rocked me. But . . .
Such is life.
As for the continued Trump support? The cult label is the only thing that makes any sense. Sort of.
A lot of people attribute it to advanced aging in the population. In my family, however, my father was the first member to be diagnosed. No one in the family could remember stories of dementia in the grands or great-grand relatives. And the family had a longevity factor; my father's grandfather lived to be 99 in an era when that was unusual.
My father was the first (although he lasted until the age of 86). Then it hit my generation--my sister first (dead at 67), and then at her funeral I was informed one of my first cousins had been diagnosed at age 60.
So, I don't know if the pattern is familial, environmental or combination of factors. Out of a lingering concern I had my DNA tested several years ago. The DNA markers were fortunately not there. My husband and kids all sighed with relief. But for me? There's always that niggling thought that it could happen, it might happen, etc.
If the goddesses are kind, they'll let me exit in some far gentler, quicker way. 
