IS TRUMP'S BIZARRE SENSE OF SHAME PREVENTING HIM FROM TAKING POLITICAL ADVANTAGE OF A HEALTH SCARE?

You don't have to be conspiracy-minded to be skeptical of this official story.

President Trump underwent a two-hour doctor’s examination on Saturday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, which the White House said was part of a routine annual physical and included lab work.

The appointment was not on the president’s schedule, in contrast to a previous physical that Mr. Trump had in February, also at Walter Reed outside Washington.

In a statement, Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary, said Mr. Trump, 73, was taking advantage of a free weekend to begin portions of his annual physical, and was anticipating a busy schedule in 2020. She did not specify what types of tests Mr. Trump had.

To state the obvious, most of the president's weekends are free -- all he does is play golf, watch TV, and tweet -- and who gets a three-month head start on part of a physical?

The unofficial story makes much more sense. Here's Jonathan Wacrow, a sometime CNN analyst who used to work for the Secret Service:

This does not add up; the White House Medical Unit has very comprehensive facilities at the White House complex that could easily accommodate most of what is needed in an annual physical. As a fmr USSS Agent assigned POTUS, I have never seen the annual formality occur in stages. https://t.co/32KGdf8yXR

— Jonathan Wackrow (@JDWackrow) November 16, 2019

And there's this:

#BreakingNews Sources tell me from Walter Reed the President was being checked out for chest discomfort. No other information is available at this time.

— Andrew Vernon (@VernonAndrewJ) November 17, 2019

Heavy.com tells us,

According to an article on him by the University of Maine, Vernon used to work at the VA in the position of “coordinator and cardio-pulmonary rehabilitation therapist with the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service.”

So it's easy to imagine that Vernon has contacts at Walter Reed.

The White House is insisting that nothing is wrong, even though an NBC reporter tells us this:

The White House has called a "lid" for the day just after 9am which means no planned events or departures from the White House grounds for the president are expected.

— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) November 17, 2019

A different White House would acknowledge that last night's visit was for a health complaint. But Trump can't bear the thought that people might believe he is what he is: an overweight, inactive 73-year-old man who's not as healthy as he was when he was 35. He refuses to wear his glasses in front of people. He won't abandon that ridiculous sculpted combover and the fake tan. He clearly writes superlatives into the reports of his own medical check-ups.

But this is politically self-sabotaging. Bernie Sanders just had a heart attack and his poll numbers have actually improved in Iowa and New Hampshire. Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981 and his approval rating climbed by 11 points in the Washington Post/ABC poll.

Trump could play a cardiac scare for sympathy, but he can't bear the idea. He regularly insists that he has "good genes," and he apparently believes that people with "good genes" don't have health problems, even at 73. At the very least, he doesn't think he can be seen as having even ordinary, manageable health problems -- the public would regard him as weak.

For once in his life, Trump could allow himself to be seen as vulnerable. I think his poll numbers would go up. I think many Americans -- and not just Trump superfans -- would accept the argument that Trump's critics had hounded him to a state of poor health.

But he'd rather live in his eugenicist fantasy world. We won't learn about his health until something serious happens to him, and maybe not even then.