slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Is it surprising that Joe Biden is breaking with the 44th president and his former boss, Barack Obama?

Not even remotely. Barack Obama and Joe Biden were a great team. They worked together well, Biden filled a number of experience holes in Obama’s C.V., and they liked each other.

But make no mistake: Obama was the President. He set foreign policy, he set domestic policy, and Biden was a proper second to that agenda. But that didn’t necessarily make it fundamentally his agenda.

This is not even slightly a surprise. Whether it’s music, art, engineering, statesmanship, or national policy, you’re applying creative thinking to problem solving. Each artist, each craftsman does it a bit differently, based on their ideas, their life experience, their set of advisors, their knowledge of the subject, knowledge of the world, and anything else you’d like to factor in there.

And yes, I can hear a song, review a PCB layout, check out a treehouse, and simultaneously think “nice job!” and “I would have done it differently.” Leaders can be the same way, too. It’s a mistake to assume that Biden was 1/2 or even an identifiable fraction of the policies of the Obama Administration. He did what Obama asked him to do: he gave his experienced opinion on things, always when asked, certainly sometimes when unasked, but that and a thousand other factors lead to how Obama approached things as President.

As well and of course, sometimes those things were not successful. For example, Obama’s many attempts and making bipartisan deals with the republicans. If two parties honestly have solving a problem as a top priority, but have different beliefs about how to solve the problem, you can always reach some kind of compromise. But if one of the parties, as in the case of the republicans, has set their top priority at ensuring the other party’s failure, and uses the negotiation process simply to sabotage their working solutions as much as possible, then no deal can be possible. Obama was probably surprised the first time or two this happened, but kept trying.

And so just as Obama heeded Biden’s advice without becoming Biden, Biden has learned from his experiences in the Obama Administration without becoming Obama. This is expected behavior. We should expect our leaders to learn, grow, adapt to the present, and watch for the future.

And in one of those learnings, Biden hit the ground refusing to be Charlie Brown to Moscow Mitch McConnell’s Lucy and her football. That already means he’s headed in a different direction than much of Obama’s time in office. And of course, these are different times, and despite wishes pretending to be claims from the other side, Biden seems more than able to adapt to the times we’re in — I was uncertain about his ability here, too. But that is a big part of this — Biden has no interest in being Obama’s third term, or pretending it’s 2016 again. Which is a huge breath of fresh air after that intervening four years of a president intent on bringing us back to a mix of the 1920s and 1950s from an parallel earth that never existed.

It’s perhaps tempting to image that a vice-president elected to the presidency will resurrect his former running mate’s administration. This myth isn’t helped by the fact that vice-presidents, especially modern ones, often populate their administration with people from their previous one. I understand this — I’m working at a company today that hired a bunch of people I knew from previous companies, once I arrived. There’s always some risk in bringing in an unknown. If you have a person who’s proven trustworthy and adept in the past, why not bring them into your new thing? That doesn’t means you’re doing identical work.

By Dave Haynie

American Vet

Are you concerned about biden's pretty apparent descent into dementia?

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Not nearly so much as trump's previous and continuing descent into dementia.

American Vet

Deflection: Trump is no longer President. Sorry he is taking up so much space in your head.

Are you concerned about biden's pretty apparent descent into dementia?

Sonny Magoo Loc: Where pot pie is boiled in a kettle

See, now that's why you deserve my petty trash talk.
The last sentence pegs the ignorant fool tag right back at ya.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

No, but....the following pertains to The Donald's time in office.

https://www.yourtango.com/2017304489/videos-donald-trump-sundowning-dementia-alzheimers-videos-tweets-conspiracy

https://www.bing.com/search?q=examplesoftrumpsdementia&cvid=5bd0c5b8372c4eccb5895bd6f382cc3c&aqs=edge..69i57.7381j0j1&pglt=43&FORM=ANSPA1&PC=HCTS

dtucker300 Loc: Vista, CA

Who is David Haynie?

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Another American citizen with a view/opinion.

American Vet

So you still go back to President Trump; seems to be an obsession with you.

But you avoid answering my question: Are you concerned about biden's pretty apparent descent into dementia?

dtucker300 Loc: Vista, CA

Trump passed the Montreal cognitive test with flying colors. Biden won't on his best day regardless of what medications he is given. The Yale psychiatrist who tried to diagnose Trump from afar had to leave the school.


Can You Pass The 10-Minute Cognitive Test That Trump Took In His Medical Exam?

Can You Pass The 10-Minute Cognitive Test That Trump Took In His Medical Exam?

By James Felton
17 JAN 2018, 15:51

Donald Trump took a medical exam yesterday. It probably hasn't escaped your attention, given the coverage the test and subsequent press conference have received. Dr Ronny Jackson said that Trump is "fit for duty" and in excellent health, despite claims in Fire and Fury that the President spends a lot of time in bed eating Big Macs.

Part of the exam that has drawn a lot of attention is his cognitive assessment. Several public figures, including Joe Scarborough and Michael Moore, have gone on record saying Trump is showing early signs of dementia, so the results were eagerly awaited by these critics. His mental health is the subject of a lot of online speculation too, even though he tweeted to confirm that he is, in fact, "a very stable genius".

In his cognitive test, however, he managed to score a perfect 30/30. So what was the test?

The assessment, carried out by his physician, was the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. It is designed to assist medical professionals in detecting cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease, and is a standard part of a full medical carried out on people of Trump's age.

The 10-minute test assesses short-term memory, attention, concentration, language, and visuospatial abilities, giving medical practitioners an indication of the subject's cognitive abilities. It isn't designed to diagnose Alzheimer's or impaired cognitive function by itself, but it can lead to further inquiries being carried out, should the subject get a low score.

Here is the test that Trump would have taken.

CLOCK FACE
In one area of the test, the subject is asked to draw a clock face, showing a time specified by the physician. The patient draws the clock, and is awarded one point each for:

Drawing the clock face as a circle (slight imperfections are allowed)
Getting the numbers correct and in the correct order
Getting the time right, with the hour hand being shorter than the minute hand

A subject with early Alzheimer's disease drew the clock more or less correctly, but had forgotten that the time requested was 2.30. Mattson M (2014)
ALTERNATIVE TRAIL MAKING
Subjects are asked to draw a trail from A to E. Each letter is matched with a number (A-1, B-2) and the subject must draw their trail in ascending order. The correct order would go 1-A-2-B-3-C-4-D-5-E.

One point is awarded for each successful pairing of a letter to its corresponding number. If a patient makes a mistake that isn't immediately corrected, zero points are awarded.


Trump must have gotten full marks on this, as he did in all sections. IFLScience
CUBE
Patients are shown a cube. They are asked to replicate it, and awarded a point if it matches the drawing on the page.
The patient must be able to correctly identify where they are taking the test, including the city they are in. For Trump that would be the White House in Washinton D.C., but yours is probably less exotic. One point is awarded for identifying your location correctly, no points are awarded if any part is incorrect.

IDENTIFY THE ANIMALS
Patients are asked to identify three animals from line drawings. One point is awarded per animal.


A mouse. One point if you guessed "mouse". Stewart JB, Freyer C, Elson JL, Wredenberg A, Cansu Z, et al
WORD LIST
The doctor asks the patient to remember a list of five words. They are then asked to remember a second list of five words. After that, the patient is asked to recite them back to the doctor.

At this stage, no points are given for remembering the words, instead, points are deducted from the total if words are wrong or incomplete.

Later on in the test, however, the doctor asks the patient to recite the list again. Here, a point is awarded for each word.

ABSTRACTION
The patient is given groups of two words and asked to describe the relationship between them. For example:

Bike and train – both are types of t***sport
Orange and banana – both are types of fruit
The patient is given a point for identifying the relationship between the two words.

VOCABULARY AND FLUENCY
The patient is given a letter. They must list as many words beginning with that letter as possible within a minute. Just like in Scrabble, you aren't allowed to use proper nouns.

One point is awarded for getting more than 11 words within the time limit.

RESULTS
The test is only designed to assist medical professionals in their work, and a low score on the test does not mean that you have Alzheimer's disease. However, it may mean that you are sent for further assessments.

Any score under or around 16 is consistent with someone diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Meanwhile, 16-25 indicates that the patient may have a mild cognitive impairment. Above 26 is a normal score for a healthy patient.

Trump was awarded 30 out of 30 – a perfect score. The kind of score you'd expect from a stable genius.

British school children are nolonger taught to read analog time pieces in school and can't read clocks

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Fellow Vet, slow down and re-read carefully my previous post to you, or work on your comprehension sk**ls.

American Vet

Done.

The question remains unanswered. Seems you are reluctant to answer.

Are you concerned about biden's pretty apparent descent into dementia?

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Not done very well, my friend, or, you are simply reluctant to accept my answer. Again, in bold letters...

"NO", but....the following pertains to The Donald's time in office.

https://www.yourtango.com/2017304489/videos-donald-trump-sundowning-dementia-alzheimers-videos-tweets-conspiracy

https://www.bing.com/search?q=examplesoftrumpsdementia&cvid=5bd0c5b8372c4eccb5895bd6f382cc3c&aqs=edge..69i57.7381j0j1&pglt=43&FORM=ANSPA1&PC=HCTS

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

What part of "Donald Trump is not in office" don't you understand? He's not in the WH anymore, you got what you wanted. Or, did you? Why don't you talk about the demented fool you did get instead?

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Is it that much trouble for the two of you to understand that I am making as clear as possible my answer to American Vet's question: "Are you concerned about Biden's pretty apparent descent into dementia"