Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has had to weather much. She has gritted her teeth at the hysterical reaction to her use of private email server. She has smiled her way through the subtle, and not so subtle misogyny that permeates the political process. More recently, she’s been forced to endure desperate speculation regarding the state of her health.
Tired Old Tales
It grew tiresome some time ago.
Conspiracy theories relating to Clinton always do, but at least they come in different flavors. We have the absurd ones, such as the claim that the Clinton family decorated their Christmas tree with sex toys and drug paraphernalia. There are the insidious ones, like the widely held belief that Hillary timed her daughter’s pregnancy to coincide with her bid for the White House. And of course, there are simple, slanderous insinuations; to this day many believe that Clinton, and her longtime aide Huma Abedin are engaged in a secret lesbian affair.
Such ideas are deserving of our contempt, and the last one, even if it turned out to be true, would at any rate be something of a cause célèbre for many people on the left.
This health invective is different.
To begin with, it’s worth stating, again, Clinton has been given a clean bill of health by Dr. Lisa Bardack. She is a respected physician and as such, has taken the Hippocratic oath. Her word carries more weight than even the most high-profile of conspiracy nut can muster.
Or at least it should.
Circling Vultures
When Clinton left a Sept. 11 memorial service at Ground Zero in New York City early yesterday after feeling overheated, concern for a woman in distress was the last thing on the minds of some. That she was unwell was not in question; the video that surfaced showed her suffering from what certainly looked like overheating. Later it was confirmed that she had caught Pneumonia and had been put on antibiotics.
At this stage, there is no question that her health has become an issue in this campaign. Presidential nominees can fall victim to the sun as readily as us mere mortals. But to those who are aspiring to the top political office in the country, scrutiny over even the most mundane of occurrences is to be expected. And this was far from mundane.
However, the almost vulture-like glee with which her opponents have leaped on the opportunity to validate what they have been saying all along, once again highlighted the rot that sits at the heart of the American political system.
Et Tu Asange?
Even WikiLeaks, unabashed enemies of the Clintons, yet claiming to be on the side of the angels, weighed in on the matter. Earlier today, it tweeted what appears to be the start of a disturbing trend.
It has come to this. Multiple choice medical diagnosis, validated by the masses. That the site removed the tweet almost as soon it was posted is really beside the point. This wholesale abandonment of expert opinion in favor of mass speculation is not a blip on the radar. It’s the new zeitgeist.
Brexit, Benghazi or bulimia, the testimony of experts is of less import with each day that passes. The associated social media hashtag a controversy might generate on the other hand?
That carries far too much weight, and if we’re not careful, it will become the new currency of democratic policy.
Featured image from NBC News video.
