Clinton: I Didn't Think Pneumonia 'Was Going To Be That Big Of A Deal'

[DonViejo]

Source: Talking Points Memo

By CAITLIN MACNEAL Published SEPTEMBER 13, 2016, 6:58 AM EDT

Hillary Clinton on Monday said that her campaign did not disclose her pneumonia diagnosis right away on Friday because she did not "think it was going to be that big of deal."

"It’s just the kind of thing that if it happens to you, and you’re a busy, active person, you keep moving forward," she told CNN's Anderson Cooper in a phone interview.

Cooper then pressed Clinton, "But doesn’t your handling of this, and your campaign’s refusal to acknowledge what happened until really after that video was circulated confirm the suspicion to some voters that you’re not transparent or trustworthy?"

"Oh my goodness, Anderson," Clinton replied. "Compare everything you know about me with my opponent. I think it's time he met the same level of disclosure that I have for years."

-snip-

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/clinton-cnn-pneumonia

[catbyte]

1. She needs to realize that, with her, EVERYTHING is a big fucking deal, even then it's not.

The press is dying to take her down, and she needs to realize that.

[CincyDem]

8. Everything ? I disagree.

Do we really want to start getting candidate statements like:

"This morning, likely as a result of the sauerkraut at yesterday's campaign stop in bumf*ckville, I was up early with the shits for a couple hours. I'm feeling fine now but a little dehydrated so you might see me drinking more water than usual. And because I'm a woman, and you like to focus on things like this for me vs. others, you might notice a little puffiness under my eyes since I didn't get my full 4 hours of sleep last night".

Net, I"m not a fan of "everything" and I think she realizes that the opposition's definition of everything is "until I find enough to create a debilitating scandal". I'm sure Grassley would love nothing more than to find out she's had corns removed so he can start running an ad in Iowa that she's against corn.

Asshats these Republicans are.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

10. The press IS dying to take her down

but I still think that there's a fine line between being transparent about obviously important things as a Presidential candidate and other more mundane things. Trump and the press seem to be pressing (pun intended) the idea that Hillary has some horrible illness that she isn't being transparent about, presumably for fear of being disqualified for being POTUS (they wish) and they seem hell bent on getting her to release tons of private health information that nobody should be entitled to just so that she can prove to everybody that she is healthy enough to be POTUS. Of course, what they will REALLY do with any information that she provides is leak it all over the place and comb over it for potentially embarrassing details. In many ways, this really reminds me of the Obama Birth Certificate (coincidentally pushed hard by Trump in 2012) where, despite repeated denials by President Obama and tons of elected officials, including Republicans whom would have had no interest in covering up for him, the press wouldn't let the issue die until President Obama released his long form Birth Certificate, despite the fact that no other President in the history of our country has been subjected to such scrutiny over the location of his birth. They tried a similar gambit with his college transcripts but that didn't go anywhere. Now, they are going after Hillary about her health, despite the lack of any substantive evidence that anything is seriously wrong. IMHO she should resist the impulse to give the vultures more to pick at unless she has a really seriously debilitating disease but, logically, if she did have something debilitating, do people believe that she is so craven and power hungry that she would be running for POTUS if she were dying instead of spending her remaining time with friends or family? Or, better yet, does it even matter? If she were to die in office, she has a Vice President to succeed her, so what's the big deal anyway? Is her (maybe) being seriously ill really a reason to vote for Trump- despite the questionable nature of HIS supplied doctor statement? TBH I would vote for her even if she came out and told us that she had a debilitating illness because, by all appearances, she still can do a lot of good, including keeping Trump out of the WH and I would feel plenty comfortable with Kaine as POTUS if need be.

[The Green Manalishi]

11. Sadly, trump 'gets' it more than Hillary

This is the age of tweeting (or instagraming) what you eat and every little stupid thing. He *IS* reality TV, incarnate, and that is a big part of his popularity. There is no detail too trivial for lots of people to care about... If I were Hilliary I'd have a person along JUST to tweet what I ate, why I wore what I wore today and an entire stream of mundane things; and I bet thousands of people would follow it, every tweet (or instagram) being reshared...

[Proud Liberal Dem]

12. It would be amusing to see that happen

But nobody really has the time or energy to do that, honestly. However, sometimes, the only way to make somebody sick of something is to expose it over and over again and really rub it in. Of course, if people didn't voraciously consume tabloid journalism, this would probably be a non-story.

[The Green Manalishi]

32. True, but

people have voraciously consumed tabloid journalism sine there WAS such a thing. And it sure seems like a lot of people DO have the time and energy to do that, unfortunately.

Trump gets it, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

[Snellius]

31. The Press doesn't care about real issues

It's all SHOW BIZ.

[ehrnst]

14. If she thought it was a big deal, then everyone who ever had walking pneumonia

would be talking about how it was no big deal, and what a frail old lady she is.

[pnwmom]

16. Right. Instead she tries to tough it out, like Kerry in 2004, and they blame her for that. n/t

[Chemisse]

28. Very true.

They would say how 'fragile' she is, for taking time off.

[elleng]

24. Right, no doubt about it,

and her staff MUST realize this. It's really not rocket science.

[tonyt53]

2. The last sentence says it all.

[CincyDem]

3. OMG - food for the next big Republican meme...

said in their exasperated, breathy OMG voice.

"That woman, she's unfit to serve because she's just...just...you know...she's just being human, you know, like a regular person. !"




Such asshats these Republicans are.

[cstanleytech]

7. Ya, I mean its not like she vomited on someone important like a former president did. nt

[chillfactor]

4. neither did I....

I have had walking pneumonia and with a bit or rest I did just fine.

[NaturalHigh]

5. Neither did I.

Then I spent two weeks in the hospital.

[beachbum bob]

6. anything that can be twisted to make hillary look bad...will be twisted. The media needs viewers

and doing their best to make this election look close....

even with nothing but anti-hillary reporting....pro-trump reporting and trump's lies going unchallenged daily....hillary's lead not going away....


and to me, the media is helping hillary and democrats as we all see their game for what its is and will help motivate our voters to vote

[Old Vet]

9. How about the headline "Risking collapse Clinton attends 9-11 ceremonies"

[pnwmom]

18. She probably figured that if she'd announced the diagnosis and stayed home from the

memorial, the hubbub that ensued would overshadow everything else.

And she probably figured she could continue to power through it -- like Kerry did in 2004.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512413575

[riversedge]

21. This issue proves the saying: She is damned if she does and damned if she doesn't as far as the

media is concerned. The hitting her on 'transparency" --over and over and over is disgusting.

[NHDEMFORLIFE]

30. Bingo!

Six years ago I had a persistent dry cough for a month. Didn't think a thing of it until I woke up one morning drenched in sweat and shivering. Went to an immediate care place, they saw I had a temperature of 103 and called an ambulance.
Hillary is under a hot lamp that hasn't even cast Trump's shadow, and she got the diagnosis before Sunday, and blah, blah, blah.
But if she had gone home to rest she'd have been torched for being too frail. She tried to tough it out and is "guilty" of hiding her illness.
The whole focus on this so-called story is beyond absurd.

[Sunlei]

13. On this AM 'Today show' both commentators said they had pneumonia this year. Seems very common.

[pnwmom]

17. Kerry had it while running in 2004 -- and didn't disclose it till after the election.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512413575

[liberal N proud]

15. If she had a hangnail, the media and Trump would turn it into a circus

[marble falls]

19. It wouldn't have been a big deal if Clinton weren't a woman or a Democrat....

Rachael Maddow did a very good and long piece on it last night.

[riversedge]

20. Anderson was being a prick last night. Thank you Hillary for taking the high ground.

[malthaussen]

22. Oh, Mrs Clinton.

You're such a kidder.

-- Mal

[DarthDem]

23. "Oh my goodness, Anderson"

"Oh my goodness, Anderson," Clinton replied. "Compare everything you know about me with my opponent. I think it's time he met the same level of disclosure that I have for years."


Yes!!!!!!!!!!! Absolutely perfect response to a typical "probing" question from the MSM. Go, Hillary!

[leftyladyfrommo]

25. One day she went out without makeup on.

The news went crazy. Everything from being horribly ill to being crazy.

[librarylu]

26. Breaking news: Hillary goes to the bathroom

What is she hiding? Does she have diabetes? Is she transgendered? Did she move her foot under the stall wall?

[nolabels]

27. The hyenas wouldn't give her break, moreover they probably try to attack her at this time

This also might show what news source might is trustworthy (my guess, none)

When in my early teens, I once also learn how one of my better friends father died of the stuff. I also have had twice myself. It doesn't matter if you are very healthy and strong as an ox, when the stuff takes over, you got to shut it down. She is either exceptionally lucky not to have had it before and or didn't get good counsel when it might of been diagnosed. The last explanation might be something to do with hubris and not understanding one's actual position when it comes to one's physical body.

If you want to find a good doctor then try think like one yourself and then go see an actual one to serves the less endowed that has plenty of patients, you get the best results that way

[Snellius]

29. She should have her own reality TV show. On camera/open mic 24/7

Wherever she goes. Whatever she does. Every email she sents or reads. Every word recorded. Her phone tapped and broadcast into the street. Complete and total coverage. (And people would still think she's hiding something. "Did you see? She passed a note behind her back. What was that she whispered?&quot Women are by nature devious and deceptive, right? They will always find something. Better to just Garbo: "Fuck off. Leave me alone."

[loyalsister]

33. The secrecy really is a problem

We have a candidate who decided to run for office at an age where people begin to have increased physical vulnerabilities. There is a reason that the pneumococcal vaccine is recommended for people 65 and over.

So what.

I think it would be healthy if she would have disclosed, answered questions while protecting personal details, and just get over the fact that physical decline is a natural part of aging.

In this context, the last part goes for us too. Denying that our candidate is actually likely to encounter health issues that simply reflect the basic fact of aging is not helpful.

I hope the campaign will shrug them off as not unexpected and not necessarily problematic unless she tells us otherwise.

[madokie]

34. F anderson cooper

what a turkey he turned out to be

[TipTok]

35. The most depressing thing about this election season...

... is the constant "Interesting question but look at terrible thing X my opponent does".

Ugh...

[Snellius]

36. That's true

It's on the level of "I know you are but what am I?" or "Takes one to know one."

[TipTok]

37. I'm not naïve enough to think that this is the first time....

... but this election and these candidates seem to have taken it to a whole new level.