Dr. Jackson Is An Honorable Man? - Updated

Is he? It certainly appeared so in the lead-up to Trump's physical. Even Obama people, including David Axelrod, were praising Dr. Ronny Jackson. Then came that weird, gushing press conference and ever since, even before all the stuff that came out this week, I've been wondering what could have turned Dr. Jackson, a medical doctor and admiral in the Navy, into a gushing Trump sycophant. Now, of course, there's the possibility that Dr. Jackson had a secret life, one that was effectively concealed from almost everyone above him at the White House. (I read a quote that said he "kissed up and kicked down.") Whether or not any of the accusations are true is still to be determined, but that didn't stop Joe Scarborough from sending out some epic shade last night:

Friends, Republicans, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to praise President Trump, not to place him in an elder-care home. Any concerns regarding my old friend’s mental health are as distant a memory as the Mooch’s reign as communications director. That’s because earlier this year, Americans received blessed assurance — from no less an authority than the White House physician — that their president is of sound mind and herculean body.

Dr. Ronny L. Jackson is an honorable man, and just more than three months ago, he declared to a watchful world that the Manhattan billionaire’s ability to draw boxes, tell time and identify giraffes in pictures was all the proof he needed that our commander in chief’s mental health was strong. For good measure, Jackson deduced that Trump is so genetically superior to mere mortals, the Queens native could live 200 years if he just stopped supersizing his Big Mac value meals.

And why should we doubt his word? Dr. Ronny L. Jackson is an honorable man.

… It goes without saying, but still bears repeating, that any chief executive who surrendered so many statements against interest [during his unhinged call into Fox News] would immediately be removed. And any man who used a television interview to make such damaging legal admissions would be fired by his lawyers and put to bed by anxious family members. But Jackson has told us Trump is in peak mental health — and the good doctor is an honorable man.

… And let us not forget that, a few days later, the genetically superior former reality star also confessed to Russia’s foreign minister and ambassador that he had fired Comey to end the Russian investigation and relieve “pressure” that had been building from the inquiry. These self-destructive admissions by Trump helped to launch the special counsel’s exploration of possible obstruction of justice.

But despite a multitude of mental lapses, I am no longer concerned by the president’s troublesome behavior, or his Olympian ability to self-incriminate whenever he talks on live TV. Jackson has assured me that Trump is a mentally fit specimen, and Dr. Ronny is an honorable man.

This is from Joe's Opinion piece at the Washington Post and his main target is, of course, the president, but wow, he gets in a few shots at the doctor too. Read the article here. See my previous post about Dr. Jackson, written before the January press conference, here.

Saturday afternoon update: In an article titled "Isolation of White House Medical Unit Hid Ronny Jackson From Scrutiny," the New York Times provides some details about how Dr. Jackson may have been able to fool some of the people most of the time about who he really is:

To senior White House aides serving the last three presidents, Dr. Ronny L. Jackson was the war-tested doctor who served in Iraq, helped them cope with their high-pressure jobs and ran his medical staff with the rigor befitting his rank of rear admiral in the Navy.

But inside the White House medical unit, a military-run office with a few dozen doctors and nurses, Dr. Jackson was viewed as a bully and someone who kept sloppy medical records, drank too much and loosely dispensed strong drugs to curry favor with the powerful politicians and political aides he admired. Three current and former colleagues said that Dr. Jackson was sometimes intoxicated during overseas trips and that staff members were often ordered to leave a bottle of run and a Diet Coke in his hotel room.

… But in a White House where everybody appears to be in everyone else’s business, a picture has emerged of a medical unit oddly disconnected from the larger executive offices of the president, where a small team of military medical professionals reports up a narrow chain of command out of view from the political realm. Witnesses to Dr. Jackson’s behavior spoke on the condition of anonymity because they continue to serve in the military.

Dr. Jackson’s medical unit operates inside the White House, not far from the West Wing, where the president and his aides work. But an isolated managerial bubble allowed Dr. Jackson to serve three presidents for a decade while escaping scrutiny of alleged abuses of power and position. Dr. Jackson’s employees were not subordinates of the White House chief of staff or the president’s lawyer. Instead, the medical unit reported through a military chain of command to the little known White House Military Office.

… In interviews with more than 24 people — including some of Dr. Jackson’s former subordinates and a dozen White House political aides in the Trump and Obama administrations — officials said members of the medical and political staffs hardly came into contact with one another outside of routine medical treatment. They operated under different rules of behavior and rarely socialized together, even on long trips to foreign countries.

The entire article is fascinating; read it here. 

Monday morning, update #2: Politico is reporting that Dr. Jackson will no longer be the president's personal physician, although apparently he will continue to work as part of the White House medical unit. It'll be interesting to see if his promotion to two-star admiral goes through. Read the Politico story here. 

Monday afternoon, update #3: The Jackson story isn't over. CNN is now reporting the following:

Vice President Mike Pence's physician privately raised alarms within the White House last fall that President Donald Trump's doctor may have violated federal privacy protections for a key patient -- Pence's wife, Karen -- and intimidated the vice president's doctor during angry confrontations over the episode.

The previously unreported incident is the first sign that serious concerns about Ronny Jackson's conduct had reached the highest levels of the White House as far back as September -- months before White House aides furiously defended Jackson's professionalism, insisted he had been thoroughly vetted and argued allegations of misconduct amounted to unsubstantiated rumors.

The episode -- detailed in three memos by Pence's physician -- is also the first documentation that has surfaced involving a specific allegation of medical misconduct by Jackson. It adds to a series of significant allegations leveled by unidentified current and former colleagues, including that he casually dispensed prescription drugs.

…According to copies of internal documents obtained by CNN, Pence's doctor accused Jackson of overstepping his authority and inappropriately intervening in a medical situation involving the second lady as well as potentially violating federal privacy rights by briefing White House staff and disclosing details to other medical providers -- but not appropriately consulting with the vice president's physician.

The vice president's physician later wrote in a memo of feeling intimidated by an irate Jackson during a confrontation over the physician's concerns. The physician informed White House officials of being treated unprofessionally, describing a pattern of behavior from Jackson that made the physician "uncomfortable" and even consider resigning from the position.

After Mrs. Pence's physician briefed her about the episode, she "also expressed concerns over the potential breach of privacy of her medical condition," the memo said. Karen Pence asked her physician to direct the vice president's top aide, Nick Ayers, to inform White House chief of staff John Kelly about the matter. Subsequent memos from Pence's doctor suggested Kelly was aware of the episode. Read the entire story here.