Health is an issue that needs to be addressed and soon
By: Jim Williams – Washington Bureau Chief of News Talk Florida
WASHINGTON – Hillary Clinton’s stumbles as she left Sunday’s 9/11 memorial ceremony , due to a bout of “walking pneumonia,” put her health at the forefront of a presidential campaign. While Clinton has put out a far more detailed medical history than Donald Trump has, neither report was either detailed nor were they up to the standard of past candidates running for the most important job in the United States.
Truth is that both Trump and Clinton would be the oldest president we have ever elected to the position so that does warrant detailed health reports.
This morning Trump says he’s planning to release detailed health information from a new physical exam in the coming days. The Republican nominee told “Fox and Friends” that he had a physical examination last week. He said he expects a report this week and he’ll “be releasing very, very specific numbers.”
He said: “Hopefully they’re going to be good. I think they’re going to be good. I feel great.”
To date Trump has a letter from his doctor that is not as strong as the letter I needed to be cleared to go to summer camp. It wasn’t a report, and the final line that “Mr. Trump would be the healthiest president in history,” is something no real doctor would ever write.
The Clinton campaign also promised an update medical records release sometime soon. After Sunday’s dehydration issue it is only good politics to make the records clear.
It is understandable that Clinton, “felt overheated” and left the ground zero ceremony after about 90 minutes, her campaign said. A video of her departure show Clinton appearing to stumble as three staff members hold her up and help her into a van.
As someone who has had “walking pneumonia,” you are taking antibiotics and you need to drink a great deal of water. Being in extreme heat or cold is something you simply do not want be around. So, yesterday at the 9/11 memorial Clinton’s stumble was almost predictable. But you don’t share the details with the press till after the event happens you play catch up which is what happened.
While the former secretary of state later emerged from her daughter’s nearby apartment, saying she was “feeling great,” the episode focused attention on Clinton’s health with eight weeks remaining in a contentious election in which Republican rival Donald Trump has sought to sow doubt about her health and fitness to serve.
Trump has repeatedly questioned Clinton’s health, telling supporters last month she “lacks the mental and physical stamina” to serve as president and fight Islamic State militants. There is no truth to the allegation made by the Republican candidate but his goal is to plant the seed in the voter’s minds.
The billionaire businessman also attended Sunday’s memorial, and said “I don’t know anything” when asked about Clinton.
It’s an accusation that Clinton has sought to play off as a “wacky strategy” from Trump and evidence that he embraces an “alternative reality.” She poked fun of the idea during an appearance on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live last month, jokingly opening a pickle jar as proof of her vigour.
Despite the intense focus on the Clinton’s falling ill on Sunday, Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at New York University Langone Medical Center, said the moment told voters little about Clinton’s physical fitness.
“There are plenty of people who may stumble around on a hot humid day for lots of reasons,” Caplan said. “Without examining, without having the history … you don’t have a basis to say anything.”
While the health Clinton and Trump, may well be totally fine — and I certainly hope that is the case. But we are 58 days away from choosing the person who will lead the country for the next four years. So taking the word of either Clinton or Trump without some strong medical backing is unacceptable.
