| debate medicine |
Bush's Presidential debates with John Kerry in 2004 provided an unexpected and rich set of potential medical observations of Bush, including eye blinking, jaw thrusting, mouth spittle, and jacket bulging The significance of these observations is currently unknown, but they are recorded here should something develop later (even decades later). |
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- In the third debate a bit of spittle was lodged in the right corner of
Bush's mouth for several minutes. There are potential medical causes for this,
but there is no other reason to believe Bush is so afflicted.
- Video frames extracted from the first debate unimstakably show something
underneath Bush's
jacket in his upper back. Dr. Zebra has seen second-hand reports of official
denials that it was a bullet-proof vest. Other possibilities include a medical
device (such as an orthopedic
brace [note history of back surgery in past] or defibrillator pad), a non-medical
device, or a bad shirt day.
The "Bush bulge" has been found in other pictures taken at other times.
- In the second debate Bush was blinking his eyes at a furious rate.
Rapid eye blinking has been associated in the medical literature [20] with mental tasks such as memory use and speech, as well as with
clinical states such as dry eyes, tardive dyskinesia, Tourette syndrome, schizophrenia,
autism, and combined depression and sleep deprivation [15]. (More generally, eye blinking has been described as a useful clinical sign
of central dopaminergic activity [20].)
Eye blinking can also increase when a person is lying or when in
uncomfortable or unpleasant situations [19]. (For further examples, see Richard Nixon and George H. W. Bush.) Eye blink "storms," which Bush certainly had, have been described as
"the mind's way of shutting out unpleasant stimuli" [19].
- Bush made repeated lateral to-and-fro movements of his jaw during the debate. Such movements
are also noticeable in video made on the campaign trail (e.g. 29 October 2004).
It is unclear whether this is just a [new?] habit or whether it results from an
underlying physiological condition.
At the time of the debates, Bush had decided to defer his 2004 annual
physical until after the election. Thus, these observations evoked a
level of concern and discussion larger than one would have expected. |
