Hillary Clinton is in the hospital with a blood clot in her brain after sustaining a fall and concussion a couple of weeks ago. I await serious conservative Charles Krauthammer’s explanation of how blood clots are a symptom of “acute Benghazi allergy which causes lightheadedness when she hears the word ‘Benghazi.'”
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Scratch
How long til the conspiracy theories start that Obama is trying to off Hillary just like he offed Breitbart?
ET
Actually I am waiting for all the talk of how this isn’t real just so she can get out of going before Congress to bubble up. Again.
srv
@Scratch: Hillary’s Black Helicopters and body-moving Ninja’s have been repurposed,
Wag
Biden is to blame, taking her out of contention for ’16.
JCT
Has it been confirmed that she has a subdural? Anticoagulation is not the standard therapy for that.
anibundel
It occurred to me last night when I saw the AP report, that if she dies, it will mark the first time in my life I will cry over the passing of a politician.
On the morbid side, Sec. Clinton passing *would* put an end to the endless will she/won’t she 2016 speculation for at least a week.
Anya
Charles Krauthammer, the psychiatrist who often violates professional ethics by diagnosing people who disagree with his twisted worldview with mental disorders. Fuck him!
Best wishes to HRC for a speedy recovery.
SenyorDave
The scary thing is that Krauthammer is an actual MD. He at one time might have seen patients. God help them if they went to Krauthammer for any sort of treatment.
I assume an apology from Krauthammer to Sec. Clinton will be forthcoming.
Baud
I respect the Russians. They don’t mess around with blood clots. They go straight to the polonium to clean up their messes.
debbie
Before the clot which they’re mocking, Althouse fans were mocking the fall as a way to get out of testifying. The more benign posters were claiming she was actually getting a face lift.
I hope these clowns mock themselves into permanent marginalization.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Scratch:
Check out the comments at World Net Daily, they are already saying that exact thing, apparently he was offed with some magical “ice bullet” and other neat tricks. The tin foil is strong over there.
Beeb
@JCT: Sanjay Gupta on CNN this morning suggested that it was a blood clot in one of her legs. It’s related to the concussion because of the enforced immobility. I think he said it had happened before in the late ’90s.
quannlace
How soon before Donald Trump demands to see her CT scans.
HinTN
[email protected]debbie<They cannot, there is proof in my office that well educated people are part of the 27% that will believe any batshot crazy statement that comes from their well paid fever dream.
Kathleen
But, but, Michael Moore and Move On and Dixie Chicks and both sides do it and it’s Obama’s fault that we all can’t get along and, and…
Why do the voices in my head sound like Davids Brooks and Gregory? Must. Change. Meds.
On a serious note, I’m saying prayers for Hilary Clinton and her family.
HinTN
@HinTN: Gotta be moar careful posting with the mobile…
quannlace
What? You mean they didn’t brain him with a frozen leg of lamb, and then cooked and ate the evidence? The Folks at World Net Daily need to start reading a better class of detective pot-boilers.
geg6
@anibundel:
You must be really young. I’ve cried over several and even over one Republican. Both Kennedys, of course, but especially Bobby because I was old enough to really understand what he could have meant to the country had he become president at that particular time. I also cried when Senator John Heinz was killed in a plane crash. He was the only Republican who I have ever really cared for or voted for with great enthusiasm. I cried for Teddy, too, but the shock was not as much a factor in that one.
gbear
I hope that one of the news shows schedules Bill Clinton and Krauthammer for the same day so that Big Dog can beat the crap out of Krauthammer in the waiting room.
Elie
I wish her a speedy recovery and good health going forward. Blood clots in legs are not a good thing and are not a “typical” result of a week of immobility in a healthy person. That Secy’ of State role may have taken quite a toll and I hope that she is able to rest up and get back into healthy shape. It is also a warning to her should she want to run in 2016… the campaign is bad enough but governing is also no picnic. Only Dick “Lon” Cheney seems to have the zombie gene.
Elie
@anibundel:
Can we not talk about that horrible possibility just yet? Lets focus our energy on her getting better — please.
Persia
@Elie: Honestly, I’ve been worried about her health ever since the fall and concussion, which also seemed a little atypical for a woman her age – though of course she works very hard so she might just have been exhausted/had a rotten virus.
TheMightyTrowel
OT happy New year from down under. when they show clips of the Sydney fireworks on TV, look at the crowd and i will be there waving – i had a harbor side view between the opera house and the bridge.
anibundel
@geg6: Not that young, but I grew up inside the beltway, so I was raised cynical. The Kennedys were before my time, except for Teddy, and though I was sad to hear of his passing, it wasn’t a personal, visceral thing.
If I had been more tuned in at the time Wellstone died in the plane crash, I might’ve cried then. That’s the only one I can think of.
Brachiator
When I heard that Clinton went to the hospital, I recalled the late actress Natasha Richardson, who sustained what at first appeared to be a minor injury when she slipped and hurt her head while on a ski trip.
I hope that Hillary comes through this OK. I’m sure she is getting the best care possible.
I have no words for any of the conservative fools who implied that Hillary was faking it so that she could avoid appearing before Congress.
gene108
@gbear:
I’m personally surprised no one’s saying President Clinton broke out the death squads again, after a 20+ year hiatus, to whack Hillary because the Big Dog wanted to finally get his freak on with a genuinely* hot young thing and didn’t want his marriage to get in the way and didn’t want to pay alimony/lose his estate.
*I’m thinking SI Swimsuit model level hot here.
TS
The GOP never explain – they just move on to the next conspiracy theory – and yes – all over the inter tubes they are saying this is a fake blood clot – also, too.
dmsilev
@Scratch: No no, that’s not it at all. See, Hillary tried to order a hit on Obama, using the same team that she used to off Vince Foster. Obama found out about it and arranged this ‘accident’ as a warning.
JPL
@JCT: Except for the existence of a blood clot, nothing else has been confirmed.
IMO, it seems unusual to happen to see a doctor on a Sunday unless she had other symptoms. Hopefully she is up and about soon.
Face
That depends on what your definition of “is” is.
todd
@quannlace:
I always loved that story, the way she practiced what she was going to tell the grocer about the peas…
RSA
@SenyorDave:
From his WP bio:
Scary is right.
bk
Althouse is already on it with her usual panache. Or is that boxed grenache?
MattF
1) It sounds like that concussion was not just a lil’ bump on the head. 2) I’m sure that Clinton is insisting that she’ll be back on her feet in no time and is demanding that her staff say the same thing. 3) It’s just a fact that Clinton has endured tremendous stress in her life, and it’s just a fact that stress takes a toll, eventually.
jp7505a
There is a piece over on the Daily Beast from a NY doctor who thinks it is a clot in the leg for the reasons mentioned in earlier comments. Blood thinners are not used for clots on the brain, clots in the leg are common after prolonged bed rest and she apparently has a history of clots in the knee.
Kruat and his rightwing nut friends were wrong, as usual. They will not apologize, as they never do. And it’s a new day so there is a new ‘outrage’ to be outraged about.
Whatever income level is finally arrived at to ‘solve’ the fiscal cliff ‘crisis’ will not raise enough revenue to deal with the long term needs of the government. Therefore the debt ceiling crisis will be all about cuts, as will the continuing resolution to fund government operations when it comes up for a vote later in the spring.
THERE IS GOOD NEWS however. KIMMY and Kenya are pregnant as so is Jessica. Since the real world is so depressing this Monday morning maybe we should just obsess over these three totally vacuous non-entities.
Elie
@Persia:
I hear you — me too and I agree — its not typical for her age so lets just slow down here and take a deep breath with crossed fingers.
Todd
@TheMightyTrowel:
SMH has been reporting that 9 pm is the new midnight…
JCT
@JPL: Actually, for a high profile patient at a big city hospital like CPMC, a Sunday checkup is not that out of the ordinary for security/privacy reasons.
@Beeb: Yes, that was my assumption based on her treatment. But I’m a bit surprised at Gupta for speculating in public. A pet peeve of mine.
And hahahahaha re: Krauthammer. At most, he spent some time in the first year of his residency rotating through medical wards. About as facile at medicine as my beagle.
Elie
@RSA:
Oh I have a thought for Dr. Krauthammer… someone should wheel him to the top of a steep set of stairs and say that we know he can really walk and we are going to prove it by just giving his wheelchair a little push…
dr. bloor
@debbie:
Dream on. Those comments qualify them for commentator gigs on CNN and ABC.
Elie
@JCT:
The sad truth is that psychiatry attracts some of the worst students in medical school. Many are subpar pill pushers in a specialty that needs the most creative and hard working practitioners to help an increasing population of very very ill children and adults. Psychiatry is still in the dark ages compared to other specialties…
dr. bloor
@Elie: Meh. I think the worst possible fate for Krauthammer is to wake up each morning to the realization that he’s Krauthammer. Leave him be, and ignore him.
The Dangerman
@quannlace:
Is that from “Eating Raoul? Funny, funny movie.
dr. bloor
@Elie: Thanks for your sweeping and grossly inaccurate generalization. Happy New Year!
JPL
The GA contingent in the House of Representatives is made up of several doctors, Dr. Broun, Dr. Price and Dr. Gingrey. Just because you have Dr. before your name doesn’t mean you are well versed in other areas.
Maude
@TheMightyTrowel:
I’ll wave back. Happy New Year.
The information about the blood clot was vague. She did have a clot in her leg in the late 1990s.
There was a mention of other issues because of the concussion.
I don’t like her at all and I think, poor baby, it must be scary.
Elie
@dr. bloor:
You are right, of course. Still, I must confess to sadistic tendencies. It would make me smile to just for a moment, see his face – those thin floppy lips quiver with fear. Creeps like that never empathize or sympathize – hence no self examination and realistic moment of personal honesty to “wake up to” every morning. The core is a dark little piece of coal. The only emotion that resonates for those without empathy is fear and I would like him to have that experience.
Maude
@Persia:
She has fallen twice before that was known to the public. She broke her elbow and fell on the plane.
MomSense
The fright wing really are a vile bunch. Sec. Clinton had a tall order-to repair our reputation and rebuild State which was left in dismal shape in 2008. I hope she recovers fully and quickly and can get some much deserved rest.
jp7505a
@The Dangerman: The frozen leg of lamb story I rememeber was an Alfred Hitchcock presents episode in the 1950’s. The punch line at the end of the show was the cops, while eating the roasted leg of lamb, speculated that the key piece of evidence could be right under their noses.
Beeb
@JCT: I think you underestimate your beagle. Companion animals reduce stress and lower blood pressure. Krauthammer increases both. Ergo, your beagle is much better at medicine than he is.
Of course, I like beagles, and I avoid Krauthammer whenever possible, so I’m probably biased.
JCT
@Elie: Ouch — not in my experience. Not all pathologists were as insane as Kevorkian, either.
Krauthammer is just an asshole — not a representative of the psychiatric community (he doesn’t practice AFAIK).
Amir Khalid
@The Dangerman:
I seem to recall a short story — I think it was by Roald Dahl — about a housewife who kills her husband this way, then cooks the murder weapon and feeds to the cops.
Maude
@Elie:
Shrinks have gotten powerful because of insurance money and court testimony. Anyone who wants them to figure out who is dangerous is crazy.
Pseudonymous Bosch
@ET:
I’m staying with my wingnut mother-in-law this week, and that ship sailed as soon as the news was received.
Elie
@dr. bloor:
Sorry dr bloor. I do exagerrate some… but not unfortunately completely. I assume that you must be a psychiatrist. If so, you must have an inkling of how difficult it is for the average person to find a good doc who cares about them and with the interest in trying both talk therapy and medication. Never has the need been greater and yet its pretty tough..
Elie
@JCT: @Maude:
I acknowledge that finding out who is dangerous is pretty darned hard. I would be happy with just caring professionals who are flexible and willing to try different things.
Jay C
@Brachiator:
The unfortunately Natasha Richardson’s demise was caused, from what I have read, by an epidural hematoma; which is a different problem from what happened (apparently) to Sec’y Clinton: Natasha might have survived if she had been rushed immediately (i.e. right from the ski slopes) to a well-equipped hospital: the window for survivability for this injury is only a couple of hours. Unfortunately, in those hours, the victim usually feels fine, and often doesn’t (as Ms. Richardson didn’t) seek help. After which it’s too late.
On the bight side, Mrs. Clinton is still alive as of today: so it’s obviously something else.
But mistermix, you should really edit the OP: there’s still (as of now) no indication exactly where Hillary Clinton’s clot might be.
JPL
@Amir Khalid: The movie Fried Green Tomatoes had a similar scene.
shortstop
@Maude: Surely only a small number of psychiatrists actually testify in court? And how is insurance money different for this specialty than for other practitioners?
Joey Maloney
@dr. bloor: Those comments qualify them for commentator gigs on CNN and ABC.
Well, it’s no “goat-fucking child molester”, but it shows promise.
Personally, I’m waiting to hear that it’s Vince Foster’s REVENGE FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE!!!
danielx
@dr. bloor:
He must not be ignored; he’s a Very Serious Person!
Elie
@JCT:
Of course I agree with you… His “asshole” qualities have nothing to do with being a psychiatrist.
My apologies to dr bloor and others. I do not want to insult a whole specialty…
dr. bloor
@Elie: Psychologist, actually, so I don’t really have any skin in the game. But I’ve also worked with physiatrists, neurologists, cardiologists, internists and surgeons during my career, and I can assure you that psychiatry does not have the market cornered on blithering idiots and “ah, fuck, let’s try this next” approaches to treatment.
And, if you can possibly believe it, I’ve met a few psychologists who make Homer Simpson look like a nuclear physicist. :)
shortstop
@Joey Maloney: Took him long enough. But I think we all know how lazy Democrats are. He was probably waiting for some spirit-world government agency to do the work of revenge for him.
Marc McKenzie
@Scratch: “How long til the conspiracy theories start that Obama is trying to off Hillary just like he offed Breitbart?”
Not long. They’re probably ramping that up as we speak.
I wish a speedy recovery for Hillary. Despite the garbage she’s had thrown at her from the Right and the Left, she’s still one of the most respected women in the world and has been a fantastic SoS. However….where is the clot located? No reports have given its location.
shortstop
@dr. bloor: oh, you’ve met my aunt. I don’t hold it against the profession, though!
Elie
@dr. bloor:
I TOTALLY agree with you there!
I just know the need right now is off the charts and very difficult to get…Despite the mental health parity act, there is little “parity” — people have limited access to mental health care — even lousy mental health care…
I am hoping that mental health is an area that will undergo renaissance in the next decade. Its impact on our wellbeing is immense.
LAC
I hope kraken krauthammer suffers from “falli-into-bottomless-ravine” syndrome. Asshole…
Positive thoughts for Secretary Clinton.
Cassidy
Sounds like she was put on blood pressure medication.
Maude
@shortstop:
They get tons of insurance money. They can get someone of disability. They don’t use empirical evidence.
There are some good ones, but those are the ones that know they don’t know.
It is not a science, it is a guessing game.
Shrinks put people in categories. They make up those categories.
Prescribing is how they make money. They see a patient for 15 minutes and get a hefty fee.
Other specialties have to produce results or they don’t have patients.
Shrinks get paid very well for testimony in court. Any shrink can be asked to testify.
There are people like Jeffrey Dalmer who had been to at least one shrink.
SiubhanDuinne
@jp7505a:
Based on a 1953 short story by Roald Dahl, “Lamb to the Slaughter.”
Marc McKenzie
@Amir Khalid: You nailed it–the story was “Lamb to the slaughter” by Roald Dahl, which was adapted into the episode for Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
Great story, and the last few lines are classic.
dmbeaster
I guess they could say both sides do it if us libs went around and claimed Reagan never had Alzheimers – he was just naturally that way.
dr. bloor
@Maude: This is an impressive collection of logic fail and Fox-like folk wisdom you’ve put together here.
BTW, it’s “Dahmer,” not “Dalmer.”
shortstop
@Maude: reeling from the wildly ironic accusation of non-empiricism in this amalgam of unsupported rants.
Maude
@dr. bloor:
You don’t have to agree with me.
Edit, I mis spelled deliberately. Figured someone would use it as a put down.
SiubhanDuinne
@Marc McKenzie:
Once again, she polls as Most Admired Woman (and POTUS as Most Admired Man).
thalarctos
In my case, I was already being treated with an anti-coagulant for a previous history of clotting when I slipped and hit my head, and developed a subdural hematoma. They took me off the anti-coagulant medication while I recovered from the hematoma, and while off them, I promptly developed new clots that turned into their own emergency.
If Hillary has a history of blood clots, such a scenario is plausible.
I wrote about the head injury here, if you’re interested in reading more.
And that unethical hack Krauthammer can kiss my ass.
Maude
@shortstop:
Happy New Year.
shortstop
@Maude: What?
shortstop
@Maude: and to you, too. May it bring happiness and health.
dr. bloor
@Maude:
Oh, of course. Are you laying the same trap with “mis spelled?”
redshirt
Ah, hilarious. We’ve reached the stage in our collective insanity where we can predict with near perfect accuracy how the insane wingnuts will react to any news story.
Sad.
Countme-In
“Lamb To The Slaughter” — Dahl.
Elie, I was thinking along the same “wheelchair down a flight of stairs” fate for the ghastly Krauthammer, but it’s always him in my cinematic imagery doing the pushing, as he did for Hillary.
He’s the cackling Tommy Udo (Richard Widmark) in “Kiss of Death”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oesSyvh76g
But then Hannibal Lechter, noted psychiatrist and cannibal comes to mind, especially in “Hannibal” wherein he wheels the Ray Liotta character to the table, lifts the top of his skull off, and makes a meal of his frontal lobe — the sweetbreads perhaps saved for later.
Again, I vacillate: Krauthammer’s face superimposed over Lechter’s, or the Liotta character? The first is accurate but the second is more satisfying. Maybe Roger Ailes standing over Krauthammer’s open brain pan, chopsticks poised, kvetching about the insufficiencies of Chinese food for the full-figured cannibal.
Dr. Strangelove?
Mr. Potter comes to mind, shifting irritably from one haunch to another in his wheelchair as his catheters leak bile and the envelope containing Uncle Billy’s Savings and Loan depositor money irritates his bedsores.
Down what stairs though?
I propose, for full cinematic effect, that Regan, of “The Exorcist” fame, finally do in someone who deserves it.
Out the window he goes head first and down those Georgetown University stone steps, chair clattering after.
Heads would spin.
Actually I’d like to see Hillary, as she recovers, visit the FOX set in her convalescent wheelchair next week, and kind of sidle up beside Krauthammer and arm wrestle the rancid get until his chair tips over and his sippy cup full of whiskey spills its contents.
Then perhaps a blowgun dart across the table into John Bolton’s carotid artery and the we’d go to commercial as a bevy of hot fascist blondes throw their talking point papers in the air and scurry from the set, one of them falling from her stiletto heels and taking a nasty spill.
Really, I hope Hillary is good to go.
ruemara
Having had one of those things the first month after I started birth control, I sincerely hope she recovers well and soon. I would hate to have a history of of them, once was enough and quite expensive to boot, with months of recovery so when she’s out, expect to see her having to walk with a cane.
Suffern ACE
@redshirt: hah. I was thinking that we now have reached the point where we can get preliminarily outraged.
Elie
@Maude:
Hmmm — I did not know she had fallen that often. Breaking things is indicative of a pretty hard fall. Especially since she is not that old — so brittle bones would not be expected in your early sixties. That kind of fall is not common this young unless you are blacking out and not taking any measures to “brake” the fall, such as extending your arms/hands to make contact with the ground first. Most people try to protect their heads and faces as a reflex if they are at all conscious. I think I am more concerned now learning of these other falls… Were they recent?
Elie
@ruemara:
My guess is that Hillary is post menopausal. The source of her clotting anomaly is probably not related to the clotting problems women may have either while on the pill or from their normal hormones during their reproductive years.
Elie
@ruemara:
My guess is that Hillary is post menopausal. The source of her clotting anomaly is probably not related to the clotting problems women may have either while on the pill or from their normal hormones during their reproductive years.
Maude
@dr. bloor:
It took you the second time. I can also argue the shrink points from the opposite point of view.
I was bored.
Elie
Sorry about the double posts! I didnt think it took my comments at all…
Maude
@Elie:
The news story on the elbow was that she was getting out of the limo and fell. That was a year and a half or two ago. The airplane fall was this past year. The press got a picture. She was flat on her face.
Comments is acting up.
Couldn’t get back in to answer.
When HRC was running for the Senate, she fainted. I think that was the first run.
Maude
@redshirt:
We could make a lot of money. Let’s put our heads together.
Predictions are us.
Gretchen
@Elie: 65 isn’t young for osteoporosis, and a broken bone isn’t an indication that she did’t try to break her fall. I’m 59 and have broken my arm, twice, and my wrist once, trying to catch myself while falling. But the time she was flat on her face, she probably didn’t get to break her fall. I wish her a speedy recovery.
debbie
@ jp7505a:
If Clinton’s had a clot in her leg before, I’d bet she has routinely taken anti-coagulants since that time. Maybe the blow to the head was worse than the actual fall due to her blood being thinner. This would explain her secluding herself away. And then maybe compensating by dropping the dosage (or stopping it altogether) caused a clot.
I’ve been on Coumadin for a number of years, and in that time, I’ve fallen and I’ve also had the flu. Both can screw up the balance in clotting factor and it’s not so easy to reestablish the balance.
I find this a whole lot more plausible than thinking she’s getting a face lift or avoiding testifying.
CaseyL
My hopes and wishes go to the Secretary of State for a complete recovery.
I think Hillary routinely drives herself beyond her physical limits, and doesn’t pay attention to early warning signs. Since this has happened before, she’s likely to get some stern warnings from her doctors and family that she has to slow down. And I think that will mean no Presidential run in 2016 – not only because her health might not be up to it, but also because her health will be an issue in and of itself.
Elie
@Gretchen:
Not to get personal, Gretchen, but did you realize that you were falling? I guess I always want to go back to the reason for the fall — a misstep versus a blackout or dizzy spell, etc…
Robert
The idiots over at Fox Nation had to wait until this morning to accuse Barack Obama of putting a hit out on Hillary to ensure his third term as president. I was very disappointed to see the article only posted on Fox News yesterday, which doesn’t allow for comments.
And remember, it’s okay to wish for the Secretary of State to die of a blood clot because both sides do it and liberals are godless idiots.
Elie
@debbie:
Oh I definitely think she is ill and is in no way “faking it”. I also appreciate that there are many conditions that can result in individuals taking various medicines or having certain events over their healthcare lives. As said before, please get well, Hillary. That is my wish for her.
ulee
As someone remarked somewhere here on the Internets, we now have the Clot Truthers.
Joel
Christ, I hope she’s okay.
Patricia Kayden
Hope Secretary Clinton gets well. Was really bummed to hear this yesterday. She would make a wonderful President. Better than anyone the Rethugs could ever come up with.
And I’m not expecting an apology from the Rightwingers at all. They’re not decent enough to know when they’re being jerks.
ulee
or perhaps, Clotters.
karen
I had a Deep Vein Thrombosis in my leg in 2001 and after hospitalizing me on bed rest with Heparin for five days, I was on Coumadin for 8 months until the clot thinned enough to not be a problem. I had to learn how to walk again. DVT or any other kind of blood clot is not something you mess around with because if that clot breaks it can travel to the lung or brain. I wish her a healthy recovery but I’d think that a blood clot in the leg is better than one in the brain.
karen
@Robert: Fox nation, do you mean Fox News?
Mnemosyne
@karen:
Fox Nation is the official Fox News fansite. Seriously.
I will not link, but you can Google them.
Bob h
A cripple in body and mind.
Ilia
@Elie: Hi Elie, I’m not a psychiatrist but I am a doc, and the main problem is insurance doesn’t want to pay psychiatrists for psychotherapy, it prefers sending the patient to psychologists as the bill is generally less that way. So we end up with this effed up system where people have a psychiatrist for their pills and a psychologist for therapy (or master’s level therapists for therapy, which doesn’t seem like the best way to go to me for serious mood or addiction disorders). Maybe Dr. Bloor can correct me on that.
Bobby Thomson
Scott Brown got his do-over. Repubics can stop pretending they care about this nothingburger and just STFU already.
Oh, and best wishes to the Clintons. It sucks being in the hospital at this time of year.
Robert
@karen: Basically, Fox News discovered they couldn’t be taken as seriously as they are if their idiotic followers took racist dumps all over their news stories. So, they repost the story at Fox Nation and let them fling feces at each other. It’s not the fault of Fox News they do this. It’s a fan site. They can’t control a fan site.
Julia Grey
You forgot the consequent concussion and brain clot.