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Is there a doctor in the room?

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Last week, Sean Hannity put on his best Dr. House impersonation by calling together a team of doctors to do a differential diagnosis on Hillary Clinton.  He was feeding off the numerous images and reports on conservative blogs that were questioning Hillary's health, largely over a photograph from February when she slipped on some icy steps while campaigning in New Hampshire.

As the Washington Post reported, it was a pile of nonsense even if Dr. Hannity tried hard to make it sound like a serious medical investigation, "But watch the video," said Hannity, playing back the bobble-head clip, "it almost seems seizure-esque to me."  Media Matters offers a slightly different telling, along with a montage of clips that Hannity used to try to make his case that we need to see Hillary's medical records.  To her credit, Fiona Gupta, a neurologist, didn't play along, saying that Hillary's strange movements were probably mostly the result of stress.  But, Marc Siegel, a urologist, reinforced Hannity's opinion, playing Wilson in this case.

After years of drubbing Hillary on Benghazi and her missing e-mails, conservative pundits are now going after her health record.  I suppose this is a way to deflect attention away from Donald Trump not releasing his tax record.  After all, he did release a medical report last December, calling his health "extraordinary."  I'm not so sure that Trump's physician isn't Dr. Spaceman.

This type of medical speculation is certainly nothing new.  Any presidential candidate pushing 70 is cause for concern.  Just ask Dr. Ben.  But, the absurd level to which Dr. Hannity has made an issue of Hillary's health has led some to question Sean's mental health.

We all know he is nothing more than a shill for Trump. If Hannity wasn't making so much money, you would even think Donald was paying for all this.  But, Sean has a strange history of embracing fringe figures.  He gave Cliven Bundy an unprecedented amount of air time back in 2014, so little wonder he has devoted so much time to Donald this election cycle.  There is an obsessive-compulsive pattern to his behavior that maybe he should ask Dr. Gupta about.

It is doubtful Dr. Hannity will let Hillary's health go, especially now that the conservative blogosphere has kicked into overdrive on the story.  This is all part of the circle jerk the conservative news media has become.  Sean has been given free rein at Fox to promote such stories, dragging in so-called experts to lend them credibility.  Unfortunately, it doesn't make these stories true.


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