Hillary's Health

I've been asked by an avid reader why I haven't written anything about the Hillary health scare. I guess that's because, just like Kevin Drum, I figure this is just a pretty simple case of someone overworked and coming down with an illness that is very easily treated. Hillary is crisscrossing the country (and we all know how fresh and healthy airplane air is), meeting with thousands of people, shaking hands with hundreds, so it is hardly surprising that she got sick. Of course, anytime a President or a Presidential candidate gets ill, it is a source for concern. But this is not a serious, life threatening illness not is it a sign of chronic condition.

Now you can say that perhaps the Hillary campaign should have been slightly more forthcoming that she had pneumonia, but that diagnosis did not occur until Friday. And, if you know anything about Hillary Clinton from her time as Senator from New York, you know damn well she was not going to miss the 9/11 service on Sunday. In addition to honoring those lost, she has been relentless in her support of the first responders whose health was compromised by the lies from the Bush administration about the air quality at the WTC. In fact, I'm surprised that the campaign hasn't pointed that out more forcefully. Of course, the press would then accuse Hillary of trying to use 9/11 to cover for her health problems.

The overkill from the media on this story is simply mind-boggling. Today, the NY Times has four stories and two editorials related to Hillary's illness. And, of course, the cable news channels are all having a field day. About the only thing we haven't heard about her illness is that it just goes to prove a woman can't handle the job of being President, although I'm sure it's been said or written somewhere - we just haven't heard about it. Frankly, it is all a tempest in a teapot. Most every voter has felt the need to go to work when they were clearly not well and their will be another shiny object to catch the media's attention in another few days. Perhaps the most perceptive remark on this whole subject has come from Gabe Ortiz: