There are many issues I have with Hillary Clinton, but her actual physical health ranks low on my list. Do I believe a president should be generally healthy? Absolutely. The office demands much, and campaigning is just the start.
The actual illness which should disqualify Hillary from the presidency is liberalism, which is worse for the presidency than any physical problems she has. Could we possibly focus on legitimate reasons she should never hold the highest office in the land? There are plenty of these we could be discussing.
If there is anything this election cycle has exposed, it’s how ridiculous-prone we can be. Trump is the GOP nominee. Voters looked past actual conservatives with solid experience and platforms and chose Reality TV Show Boy instead. Sean Hannity and his kind have always been like this, whether FOX News devotees want to admit it or not. Ann Coulter’s brand of crass emotionalism hasn’t changed in any way. Mark Levin’s shrill back-and-forth is nothing new. Rush Limbaugh has often teetered between focusing on solid issues and preying upon his audience’s thirst for political theater, and I say this as a long-time Rush listener.
No, you are not going to convince liberals that Hillary is a bad choice for president. In fact, you won’t convince some registered Republicans, either. Trump’s absurd ascendancy has pushed some to consider voting for the other side for the first time in their lives. (I, for one, will vote for neither.) But in an election cycle that praises the superficial and unserious – Hillary’s gender and Trump’s charisma – we should be focusing upon the substantial.
Crowds of Trump supporters analyze her coughing spells and declare she’s unfit for office, but Hillary’s unelectability is not predicated upon her physical health. She is deplorable for nearly every other reason. If the GOP wanted to promote a serious contender against Hillary who would coherently call her out on stuff that actually matters, then Trump should not have been the nominee. Instead, Republicans continue to stoop to the side of their opponent and attempt to claim the moral high ground while Trump leads the way.
What does the drama surrounding Hillary’s physical health actually show? It is yet another glimpse of the secrecy so prevalent among the Clinton camp. Mrs. Clinton clearly wasn’t feeling well, but a fainting spell had to occur before the announcement that she was dealing with pneumonia. What else did it reveal? That no matter what, Hillary’s gender will always be used to excuse her or accuse others. Examples below.
Wait, so Hillary has PNEUMONIA and she’s still campaigning as hard as she is? You realize how badass that is, right?
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) September 11, 2016
To press lamenting @HillaryClinton‘s health/transparency: “powering through” illness is what women do: Stoically, every. single. day.
— Jennifer Granholm (@JenGranholm) September 12, 2016
Ambulatory pneumonia very exhausting. You would have to have an indomitable will & considerable strength just to keep upright. heroic.
— Joyce Carol Oates (@JoyceCarolOates) September 11, 2016
Hillary isn’t heroic. She isn’t “badass”. Having an illness and “powering through” your workday is a feat both regular men and women perform. Yet these are the things slobbering liberals associate with her health drama. Can’t we, on the right, shoot these and other “merits” down with actual substance?
More importantly, the Hillary Clinton playbook is not new to us. If we wanted to successfully and coherently fight back against it in a presidential campaign, then Trump should not have been the nominee. Period.
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