Coming back from vacation without my finger on the pulse, it’s hard to know if this is already old hat to everybody. It’s certainly important and sensational enough that it bears repeating. “The late Richard Nixon was under the influence of psychotic drugs for at least part of his presidency, to the point where his defence

secretary warned military commanders not to take his orders without

endorsement from another senior minister. The claim, supported by

the doctor who prescribed the drugs, is made in a new Nixon

biography…” They’re talking about Dilantin (phenytoin), which, to be sure, is not a “psychotic” drug (nor, more properly, an “antipsychotic”, which is what I think they were driving at) but an anti-epileptic medication that some used for mood stabilization, even though there is little evidence it is good for that and it has serious side effects, sometimes mind-altering ones. the Independent