ShazzieB
ShazzieB's JournalYes, Trump DOES have dementia.
Earlier today, Amaryllis posted about Trump's dementia and why it resembles FTD (frontotemporal dementia) rather than Alzheimer's here: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220878564
While reading the replies, I became aware that a number of people seemed to be rejecting the idea of Trump having dementia out of hand, which surprised me greatly. After replying to a couple of them, I've decided to make an op on the subject along with some supporting links laying out the evidence that Trump definitely does have some form of dementia.
The following links feature Dr. John Gartner, a clinical psychologist who has been particularly outspoken on the subject of Trump's mental health since the Orange Hellbeast's first term. Back in 2017, he warned people about Trump's personality disorders, including his severe narcissism and psychopathy, and why those issues made him unfit for office. When Trump started to show signs of cognitive decline, Gartner began talking about that as well, explaining how it interacts with and exacerbates his other mental disorders. Because Gartner does a much better job of explaining this stuff than I could, I'm going to let him do the talking.
I'm sure not everyone will want to look at all of these links, and that's fine. I do hope at least some of those who are convinced that there's nothing wrong with Trump other than being an asshole will check out at least one of these and hear what an expert has to say about it.
Trump’s Cognitive Decline More Obvious Every Day
Audio and transcript of an Interview with John Gartner, a prominent psychotherapist, author and founder of Duty to Warn, conducted by Scott Harris
Recent appearances on the DailyBeast Podcast:
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Shrinking Trump Podcast with Dr. Harry Segal and a variety of expert guests. Ran from May 2024 to October 2025. Available at YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts (Spotify, Apple podcasts, etc.)
https://m.youtube.com/playlist
Mary Trump on Jim Acosta: Donald is depraved
Mary Trump joins Jim Acosta to react to the shocking killings of filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner and to Donald's response, which Mary argues showed zero basic human decency.
In this recap, Mary calls Trump's behavior "depraved" and "evil" and say it's proof he is patient zero of the very derangement syndrome he accuses other of having.
US librarians tackle 'manufactured crisis' of book bans to protect LGBTQ+ rights
I knew it was bad but it's even worse than I realized. 
“There were books where they can find characters like them, and realize it’s okay to be who they are,” Young said. "There needs to be more places like that, not fewer."
*snip*
Books exploring race, sexual health and gender identity have faced an unprecedented level of challenges in recent years, as Republican-led states sought to codify censorship into law. Award-winning books such as Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer, Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me have all been caught in the crosshairs.
In public schools, the majority of banned books last year featured people of color, LGBTQ+ people and other demographics, according to a PEN America report. In Greenville county, South Carolina, a group of library patrons sued in March to block book restriction policies that purged at least 59 titles by or about LGBTQ+ people. The case is still pending in federal court.
Halpern said the surge in book bans is a “manufactured crisis” fueled by national conservative groups such as Moms for Liberty and the National Federation of Republican Women. Local chapters of both organizations have challenged dozens of books in public and school libraries.
“These organizations have fine-tuned the blueprint for ways to attack LGBTQ+ rights, to attack information on racial history, slavery and discrimination, all while outside funding local elections,” Halpern said.
More here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/15/us-librarianbook-bans-lgbtq-rights
I was gobsmacked when I read that whackos in Huntington Beach, CA tried to ban Once Upon a Potty due to so-called “sexual content." For anyone not familiar with it, it's a picture book for toddlers about using the potty that has been around for decades. My. husband and I read it to our now 40 year old daughter when we were potty training her. Evidently going to the bathroom is now a sexual act, according to some people! 😱
JB Pritzker Slams Republicans for Caving to Trump
I just posted a link to an excellent, long (over an hour), and in-depth JB Pritzker interview in General Discussion. If you have the interest and time, check this out: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220866828
JB Pritzker Slams Republicans for Caving to Trump - Pod Save America
Governor JB Pritzker visits the studio to talk to Lovett about Trump's Indiana redistricting fail, how Illinois is standing up to ICE's immigration raids, and how the governor's upbringing — a childhood of both privilege and tragedy — shaped his career in politics. Plus, Lovett asks the governor to defend his controversial Star Wars film rankings, quizzes him on some Blackjack hands, and asks what we're all thinking: Is he running for President?
Willow's trip to the vet (3rd attempt)
Sorry this update is so late, folks! For some reason, DU keeps eating this post every time I think I'm almost done. All I can say is it better work this time! 
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Willow's visit to the vet today went fine. She was already perkier than she was over the weekend, which was nice. She had a couple of blah days but seems to have reverted to being more of her usual self for now.
Fortunately, we are not going to have to make any difficult decisions for a while yet. There's no telling how long that "while" is going to be, but at thos point there are no signs that she is in any real pain or anything like that.
The bleeding from one of her lumps over the weekend is concerning, but not "hair on fire" concerning. The vet gave us some antibiotics to prevent infection, steroids to help with the inflammation, and a onesie for her to wear to keep her from licking the antibiotic ointment off.
I hate this feeling of not knowing what expect, how much more time she has left, etc., but I know good and well that this is one of those "one day at a time" situations, and I'm just going to have to find a way to deal with it. I need to focus on thinking of every good day we have with her from here on out as a gift and enjoy each one as much as I can. The future will take care of itself.
In closing, thank you all again for your words of support, sympathy, encouragement, etc. It means the world to me, and I love you all! 
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like F This -A Randy Rainbow Rainbow Song Parody
I feel like Randy read my mind, because he has perfectly captured how I feel these says. I'll bet he read a lot other people's minds, too!
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Name: SharonGender: Female
Hometown: Chicago area, IL
Home country: USA
Member since: Tue Mar 26, 2013, 03:18 AM
Number of posts: 22,131