Ted cant run as fast as he did either; that doesn't mean he's losing his mind.
The problem Uffda is you're analyzing the way Ted is speaking instead of WHAT he is saying. I'd suggest get 2 transcripts from today and 3 years ago and then tell me what the differences are.
Now McGeorge's comment that much more germane. Though a shift in temperament, eve if true, doesnt necessarily indicate someone is losing it.
Here's an example of one that has lost his mind, Trump:
He has no attention span: reports have to be cliff-noted and his name needs to be installed in every paragraph; because if his name is in it he'll pay more attention to it.
Defining things only with superlatives, "worst", "terrific," "great" "the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake you'd ever seen."
He blurted out classified info to Russians [Unless he was helping them]. Israel shared intel they received from a very high placed source in Syria's ISIS under the condition we tell NO ONE. Then for no reason at all a week later Trump for an unknown reason blurts it out that "I didn't say the intel came from Israel?" DOI! well now ya did, ya dope.
Makes countless moronic statements. Spoke about Andrew Jackson's opinions on the civil war though he died 15 years before it; thought Fredric Douglas was alive; said that Paveratti was a good friend and was unaware that he died a number of years ago; flew from Saudi Arabia to Israel and said, "its good to be back form the Middle east." Israel's ambassador to US did a face palm.
Loses the ability to keep tract of what he's saying; trump repeats himself over and over and he never did this when speaking 20-30 years ago.
Acts more impulsively! Someone says something bad about him; he has to attack them, usually on twitter. He openly supports Nazis in Charlottesville, because that is a large portion of his base and then was convinced to pull back. But then watches Fox News who are talking about how Washington and Jefferson have slaves and they're statues aren't coming down. Trump impulsively sets up a press conference convinced by what he just heard justifies his going back to his position of support for the alt right.
Developed a misplaced sense of what is important or what others find interesting. He carries a color coated electoral map of his election victory, showing it to everyone and he tak abot it all the time; he pulls it out for foreign diplomats and leaders. He speaks about it during phone conversations w/ other word leaders. He's like the crazy grandpa that tells that same old fish catching story over and over again.
Keeping tract of lies is an advanced mental behavior. Trump gets caught in and average of 5 lies per day. He and staff decide a strategy, Pence, Spicer, Huckleberry Frankensanders, etc all publicly express the strategy and bam with a tweet the next morning he makes them all look like liars.
Trump in equivocating over his increase in troops, which established another campaign lie to get us out of Afghanistan, said, "But all my life I've heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office; in other words, when you're President of the United States." He does this all the time, a speech writer uses nice flowery language and trump feels like he has to explain it, because has lost his ability to mentally distinguish what a normal person can or cannot understand.
Ted scouts like he always has, he doesn't need reports cliff-noted or embellished for his entertainment.
He doesn't show any of the severe metal impairments that Trump exhibits. I listened to his presser the other day and I saw no change whatsoever in WHAT he was saying.
When Ted is asked about cut downs and he says, "Nelson, Cobb and Adams are locks and Davis, Janis, Allison, Yancy and McCaffery are fighting for 3 roster spots and I appraise them right now in that order;" This is when we will know Ted has truly lost his mind!