Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Speaking of tests


You knew it was going to come to this:

[Trump] blamed his three immediate predecessors, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, for failing to resolve the crisis [of North Korea] and, a day after his doctor gave him a perfect score on a cognitive test, suggested he had the mental acuity to solve it.

“I guess they all realized they were going to have to leave it to a president that scored the highest on tests,” he said.

He declined to comment when asked whether he had engaged in any communications at all with Kim, with whom he has exchanged public insults and threats, heightening tensions in the region.

Of course, North Korea is talking to South Korea, and they will have a joint team in the Olympics in South Korea.  I'm sure that's due to Trump's high score, too.  Give him time, you know he'll find a way to take credit for it.  He's a stable genius, after all.

And that cognitive test he took; not worth all that much:

“I think it’s important to understand what the MOCA does and doesn’t tell you,” Columbia University psychiatrist Dr. Paul Appelbaum told Newsweek. The test was developed as a simple screening tool for mild cognitive impairment—a condition that may or may not lead to dementia. “The fact that anybody gets a perfect score on the MOCA suggests that they are not having changes in cognitive function associated with early signs of dementia,” he said. “It can be very reassuring in that regard. But it’s important to recognize that that’s all it tells you.”

But you knew that, didn't you?

3 comments:

  1. I've been waiting for the transcript of the show to come out before I write about it but on the CBC last night, on As It Happens, they interviewed the Lebanese-immigrant doctor who created the test Trump took and he said it was not something that could evaluate his fitness for office. He expressed mild surprise (or was it skepticism?) that Trump was reported to have gotten a perfect score on the test, he said the best he was used to seeing was 27 of 30.

    It starts about 12:50 here:

    http://www.cbc.ca/radio/popup/audio/listen.html?autoPlay=true&clipIds=,,&mediaIds=1139329091966,1139331651908,1139335747636&contentarea=radio&subsection1=radio1&subsection2=currentaffairs&subsection3=as_it_happens&title=as-it-happens-wednesday-edition-&contentid=1.4491266&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbc.ca%2Fradio%2Fasithappens%2Fas-it-happens-wednesday-edition-1.4491266&publishedTime=1516208076553&originaltitle=as-it-happens-wednesday-edition-&contenttype=audio&updatedTime=1516235399359&authenticated=false

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  2. Josh Marshall pointed out Trump probably self-reported his height and weight, and no one wanted to argue with the POTUS. Waist measurement is apparently a standard element of BMI, and no waist measurement was reported. Probably Trump didn't allow it. I don't get the impression any of this examine was terribly rigorous, and much of it is subject to the usual Trumpian lies. I've even read he apparently gained an inch since the last time his height was reported.

    It's all subterfuge, and a single test, as any professional will tell you, is useless for judging mental ability/capacity/what-have-you.

    Then again, telling lies about the President's physical condition is as American as Woodrow Wilson.

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  3. As my brother put it, why should anyone believe a doctor who is Trumps subordinate in the chain of command.

    His more or less guarantee that Trump would stay "fit for duty" for the next seven years at his age in his condition is in no way credible. I doubt any doctor would claim such a thing in real life.

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