2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumYou think Hillary would have avoided problems by disclosing on Fri or Sat? You’re wrong.
She would still have faced attacks from at least three directions:
One, from the people who would paint her as too weak and lacking the stamina to be able to handle the presidency.
Two, from people who claimed she was just faking illness to get sympathy and to draw attention away from her deplorable gaffe. (Like they said after she couldn't attend a Benghazi hearing because she'd had a concussion.)
And three, from people claiming that it WASNT PNEUMONIA AT ALL. It was something MUCH WORSE. Like epilepsy, or Parkinson's, or MS, or brain damage.
And the whole discussion would have continued for days and completely overshadowed the 9/11 memorial.
So she made the decision to try to tough it out without disclosing like John Kerry did while campaigning in 2004 -- and attend the memorial.
But you cant tell me that she wouldnt have been attacked if only she had come clean. That is just flat out untrue.
She is always and everywhere attacked -- no matter what she does. And she knows that and has to do her best anyway.
http://www.mediaite.com/online/i-believe-hillary-has-pneumonia-and-i-guess-that-makes-me-a-cuckservative/
I wrote last week about the bat-crap crazy conspiracy theories regarding Hillary Clinton which, thanks largely to Matt Drudge, have made their way in the mainstream of the conservative media. Even I thought that the magic invisible earpiece would be tough to top, but in the aftermath of Hillary Clintons embarrassing collapse at the 9/11 memorial service, the nutty conspiracies are even more mainstream than ever.
I dont support either major candidate, but I still, naively I guess, believe that the truth matters and that reality shouldnt be altered simply because it pleases partisan sensibilities (or mental illnesses). Because I have this weird and clearly antiquated (pre-Trump) devotion to facts and logic I dont subscribe to the nearly universal, knee-jerk reaction of conservatives on social media in response to this episode.
The general consensus seems to be that, because Hillary is a lying liar who lies, that her current story that she was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday, and that this illness help lead to her fainting on Sunday, just cannot possibly be true. Now conservatives wont tell you what they think REALLY is happening with Hillarys health (some are at least willing to claim, with no real evidence, that she is hiding Parkinsons disease), but they are positive that the story we are being told is a lie.
http://www.salon.com/2016/09/13/clintons-health-is-obamas-birth-certificate-all-over-again-a-barely-disguised-way-for-conservatives-to-wallow-in-bigotry/
Clintons health is Obamas birth certificate all over again: A barely disguised way for conservatives to wallow in bigotry
The Clinton health hysteria is about painting women as too fragile to be President.
Any other year, a presidential candidate who got wobbly at a 9/11 memorial service because he was battling a minor case of pneumonia would be regaled as a hero. How tough and patriotic he is to brave the summer heat while wearing a Kevlar vest, even though his doctor told him to stay in bed for a couple days!
democrattotheend
(11,605 posts)I have been critical of her in the past for not being transparent and I still am on some things, but not on this. She hid her pneumonia because she didn't want to feed into Trump's ridiculous conspiracy theories about her health. That's completely understandable. Most people applying for a job would not disclose an illness if they knew it would not hinder their ability to do the job. I don't see why the presidency is any different.
anamandujano
(7,004 posts)I sincerely believe she would have stayed home to rest for anything else. She has been over doing it so it's no surprise she would have succumbed to something.
She works too hard. She always has.
BlueStateLib
(937 posts)That's music to Trumps ears. I hope you do well under President Trump.
LisaL
(44,962 posts)MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)I think what you read was written by the author of the link she posted.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)should have said something about the situation on Friday.
pnwmom
(108,925 posts)like John Kerry did when he was campaigning with pneumonia, then no one had to know.
I don't think a new standard should be applied to Hillary that has never been applied in history. Presidential candidates have NEVER been expected to report every infection they had while running for office. And they shouldn't have to.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)But at least if Team Clinton self-reported it, it would have shown they were being proactive about the situation.
By not doing that, it's only their fault. They had to expect the reaction it got.
And I disagree. I think every infection should be reported while running for the highest office in the land, both then and now.
pnwmom
(108,925 posts)a candidate has?
Why should Hillary be subject to a new standard, when Trump hasn't even released real medical information? (Hillary released a 2 page letter, with lab results, similar to the letter released by Obama in 2008. Trump released a 4 paragraph joke.)
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)With Trump and Hillary.
They should both take the lead on this subject.
pnwmom
(108,925 posts)with the whole idea that we are entitled to know about every cough and sniffle and (in his case) STD.
There is no reason the public needs to know about every transitory infection.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)That's a good thing about America!
Have a great day. Great thread; I love lively discussions!
GO DEMS!
pnwmom
(108,925 posts)Mike Nelson
(9,903 posts)...and you don't see it discussed much. It doesn't matter when she announced it... they were going to complain. I think Hillary very likely handled it all the best way she could. I am certain following doctor's orders and canceling her 9/11 appearance would have been ridiculed at even more extreme levels.
R B Garr
(16,920 posts)and she probably got her antibiotics right away on Friday and might have been feeling better already. Then when Sunday came, it turned out to be too much. I'm sure everyone under the sun has fought through an illness to attend an anticipated event.
Yes, this is just hysteria. The fact that she was fully functioning up until her Friday diagnosis and then afterwards until Sunday shows the pneumonia wasn't that debilitating. The conspiracy theorists can go get lost!
tanyev
(42,362 posts)I know Michael J. Fox managed to keep it quiet for quite a while, but even he had nothing like the public and media scrutiny that Hillary has.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)Horrible affliction.
pnwmom
(108,925 posts)or pretends to be shocked, they say it's Parkinson's.
oasis
(49,152 posts)niyad
(112,440 posts)and rant and rave.
Bill USA
(6,436 posts)is what disclosure of health history means. IT doesn't mean candidates have to disclose, immediately on diagnosis, if the candidate gets a cold, or has a hang-nail.