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| Artwork by Tarek Chemaly |
When, on September 14 1982, an explosion rocked the Phalangist party headquarters in Achrafieh where president elect Bachir Gemayel was holding a meeting, news - which was not like today, a 24 hours wall to wall coverage - started to trickle that Gemayel survived the blast and dusted himself, rising from under the rubble and started to direct the cleaning and evacuation efforts. As the day progressed, the story was slightly modified that he was hurt but doing well. Then, once more, his injuries got more serious. Gemayel's disfigured body was later to be identified by his octagonal wedding band and an emotional (late) Arafat Hjazi announced his death on the evening news.
If am relating this story, it I because today one does not know who or what to believe about President Trump's health. Several variations are coming from different sources. Past indicators (sample: “If elected, Mr Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency”) do not set a good example as to what to believe. He tested positive for the virus, and he is at the Walter Reed hospital. But... Everything else keeps changing and morphing and getting corrected from one individual to another (some on, some off the record).
Born in 1974, am old enough to remember the tumult that resulted regarding Gemayel's death with the story being twisted and turned to be made more palatable. Already the credibility of the white house is at steak regarding too many details about the president's sickness and his current health. Some people are already launching their paranoid views claiming the president was never sick, and the list goes on.
The more I read about president's Trump heath, and its contradicting news, the more I see Gemayel rising from the rubble and dusting himself....