A semi-plausibe Biden theory that I doubt is true

As I mentioned in comments on my post on Saturday, even before last week's debate recent examples of Biden's facial expressions, and possibly his gait, have put me in mind of people I have met with Parkinson's Disease.   (Sadly, I also have an older sister who has it, diagnosed a few years ago now, although it is currently so well controlled that it would not be immediately noticeable to people who have just met her.)   

When I Googled it, I saw that some professor in England had turned up in the Daily Mail after the debate speculating about Parkinson's too.   And Googling today, there is brief mention of it in a piece in the New Yorker talking about the facial expressions.  [Update:  I just noticed a Washington Post article on anxiety and later Parkinson's - and a couple of people in comments question whether Biden's debate performance looked like early signs of the disease.]

So - while I am cautious about reading too much into mere facial expressions caught on video, especially on someone just tired or not feeling well - it's not just me.   

The list of other Parkinson's symptoms include some others which you could easily think are showing up in Biden:

    Muscle stiffness, where muscle remains contracted for a long time
    Slowness of movement
    Impaired balance and coordination, sometimes leading to falls

    Depression and other emotional changes
    Difficulty swallowing, chewing, and speaking
    Urinary problems or constipation
    Skin problems

There are quite a few reasons for doubting this is likely, though:

a.  most cases of Parkinsons will involve a tremor as an early sign.  But Googling today, I see that around 30% of sufferers may never get a tremor at all.   Of course, if Biden had a tremor, it would be impossible to hide from everyone, including the public.   

b. As I mentioned in comments, there seems to be no reason to question the bona fides of Biden's doctor's reports (unlike the very disreputable and extremely partisan Ronny Jackson chosen by Trump), and the recent reports on Biden make it clear that they have checked out his stiff gait, and put it down to arthritis in his spine.   Also, given that there are medications that can help, it would be very surprising for a doctor not to notice symptoms of Parkinson's and not recommend medications.

c.  Biden's continued bicycle riding can, I assume, be taken as a sign that he maintains good balance.  On the other hand, I see now that cycling is seen as a good exercise for someone with early Parkinson's.

d.  If it was clear to Biden, his family, and doctors that he had early Parkinsons, but it was being kept a secret, it would count as a pretty major scandal, and I very much doubt that his much vilified (by MAGA nuts) wife Jill could be so addicted to being adjacent to power that she would encourage the family to keep it secret.    As to why it would be a scandal - it wouldn't mean that he must have any significant cognitive impairment yet (and some people get by for years functioning well - see Michael J Fox); but it would still be a concern to hide in a candidate a condition that can bring on depression and other issues.   (Going back to my sister's example, it now seems that an early sign was the occasional feelings of dread that would come out of no where.   Not a good thing for someone with the nuclear codes to have.)

Anyway, given that Biden has been the subject of a thoroughly disreputable and dishonest propaganda campaign for years about his mental state, run with the power of deceptive editing of videos and promulgated by RW media figures with the ethics of Goebbels, I feel bad about pointing out anything that could be read as a concession that maybe there is a problem.   

For the reasons outlined above, I strongly doubt that this is a case of early Parkinson's, but would suggest that it would help him if his doctors could make a statement that they have checked him for it and ruled it out too. 

It's also useful to recall that the Right Wing has propagandised itself into ridiculous overblown health claims before for political reasons - they had Hillary Clinton on her deathbed for fainting once, yet she's still here, as vigorous as ever.