Matt Drudge talked about what the Benghazi Hearing showed about Hillary Clinton and her health issues — Hillary’s folks flipped-out; and, in effect, they flipped-off Drudge

The quick reaction and repeated articles by Hillary Clinton’s media bodyguards to Matt Drudge’s exclusive revelation about Hillary’s health issues being exposed at the Benghazi Hearing shows that somebody on Hillary’s side of things is taking Drudge’s observations and “Health Warning” for Mrs. Clinton very seriously

Thanks to Matt Drudge, his tweets and his iconic internet resource, “DRUDGE REPORT”  —   the Issue of Hillary Clinton’s  HEALTH was raised in the context of her appearance in front of the Benghazi Committee  —   Predictably, Hillary’s media bodyguards were quick to respond and pounce on Matt Drudge

And btw  —  WHERE ARE those medical and hospitalization records involving Hillary Clinton’s post-Benghazi circulatory event and serious cerebral accident

At 10:26 PM and at 10:57 PM both on October 22nd 2015, Matt Drudge sent a pair of Tweets that were the beginning of a war of words concerning health concerns about Hillary Clinton due to her appearance, speed of talking and certain physical responses at the Benghazi Hearing.  In those two tweets, Drudge said, “Hillary health was biggest revelation at hearing. Coughing fit. Slow-speaking, obviously induced by meds. Choose not to believe if yo must....   Last time she showed up with prism glasses from blood clot, vertigo. Today obvious anti-anxiety meds, hypothyroid issues. #BenghaziCommittee....”   Shortly, thereafter a headline in the “Drudge Report” proclaimed,  “HILLARY HEALTH WARNING: COUGHING FIT...”

TOP CLINTON SPOX AMONG FIRST TO REPLY TO THE DRUDGE’S TWEETS CONCERNING HRC’S BEHAVIORS AND PHYSICAL RESPONSES AT THE BENGHAZI HEARING OF 10/22

One of the earliest responses to the Drudge observations and interpretation of those observations was Hillary Clinton and Clinton Campaign spokesperson Nick Merrill. This very high-up Clinonista  replied by Twitter to what Drudge had Tweeted by contending that he considered Mrs Clinton’s only having a “little dry mouth” after such lengthy testimony to be a “good day.”  That Tweet was as follows: “Nick Merrill @NickMerrill ....   .@DRUDGE if a little dry mouth is all you've got after 10+ hours of testimony, that's what I would call a ‘good day.’...  cc:@KarlRove.... 11:48 PM - 22 Oct 2015 ”

NEXT, “MEDIA MATTERS” RESPONDED SEMI-OFFICIALLY FOR HILLARY & HER CAMPAIGN

Within hours, one of HRC’s most important media bodyguards, was among the first to launch a counterattack on behalf of former Secretary of State Clinton and her presidential campaign against Drudge’s Benghazi Hearing observations and “medical report.”

At about 10:00 AM on the morning following the Benghazi Hearing, Media Matters posted the following:  “Matt Drudge, proprietor of The Drudge Report, claimed the ‘biggest revelation’ from the October 22 House Select Committee on Benghazi hearing was Hillary Clinton's health because she had a ‘coughing fit.’...   After numerous hours of public testimony, Clinton coughed during the 8pm hour. That prompted Drudge to tweet from his account [as follows] : “ ...  ‘Hillary health was biggest revelation at hearing. Coughing fit. Slow-speaking, obviously induced by meds. Choose not to believe if yo must...  10:26 PM – 22 Oct 2015'  ....  ‘Last time she showed up with prism glasses from blood clot, vertigo. Today obvious anti-anxiety meds, hypothyroid issues. #BenghaziCommittee... 10:57 PM – 22 Oct 2015’....” ( See “Matt Drudge Pushes Hillary Clinton Health Conspiracy After Benghazi Hearing Coughing” by Media Matters Staff, 10/23/15,  Media Matters for America Blog [http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/10/23/matt-drudge-pushes-hillary-clinton-health-consp/206387]).

The Media Matters piece closed with this observation:  “....  Conservative media previously promoted the conspiracy theory that Clinton faked a concussion to avoid testifying on Benghazi in 2012.”  MM made no attempt to explain what significance that snarky remark might have in connection with the Drudge tweets about Hillary’s cough and slow speech at the 10/22 Benghazi hearing. Neither did Media Matters seem to note that Drudge apparently accepted the evidence of Hillary Clinton’s manifest disability during her earlier appearance.

SOON AFTER, THE LEFTISH “POLITICUS USA” TOOK IT’S OWN POLEMICAL SWIPE AT WHAT THEY THOUGHT WAS DRUDGE’S WAY-OFF-BASE HILLARY BENGHAZI HEALTH REPORT ON 10/22

There was more offal being tossed at Drudge by 2:43  PM on the afternoon of 10/23/15.   According to a post by Sarah Jones that appeared on Politicus USA, “Unable to deal with Hillary Clinton’s masterful dominance and unflappable poise, Matt Drudge announced to the world that the Benghazi hearings actually did something important by revealing that Clinton was on drugs due to a health issue, possibly anti-anxiety medication....  ‘Today obvious anti-anxiety meds, hypothyroid issues,’ the right winger concluded, completely missing the reality bus....”  (See “Unable to Deal with Hillary’s Dominance, Conservative Accuses Clinton of Being on Drugs” by: Sarah Jones, 10/23/15,  Politicus USA [http://www.politicususa.com/2015/10/23/unable-deal-hillarys-masterful-dominance-drudge-accuses-medication.html]).

Ms. Jones piece went on to say, “....  Detective Drudge has discovered that Hillary Clinton was coughing and speaking slowly, which means — if you will get out your right wing conspiracy chalk boards, please — that Hillary Clinton is on drugs....”

However, giving a better taste of the full flavor, of what an obvious Hillarybot Sarah Jones is, are these lines: “....   [What the Republicans] did instead of take her down was show the world that they were fools and she was presidential. Ironically, Republicans gave Hillary Clinton a chance to show voters that her temperament could be cool, measured and distantly superior....  But Hillary Clinton was obviously on drugs, y’all! Believe Matt Drudge, not your lying eyes and ears....”

PHILLIP BUMP’S ATTEMPT AT A “FIX” IN A WASHINGTON POST COLUMN  —   DOES HE QUESTION HRC'S DOCTOR ?  —  NO,  BUMP SPOKE TO HIS OWN DOCTOR

The next defense to Drudge’s 10/22 HILLARY HEARING HEALTH HIT was by Phillip Bump at the Washington Post, who had this to say: “The biggest story of Hillary Clinton's marathon testimony before the House Select Committee on Benghazi was not that there wasn't much of a story. At least not in the estimation of conservative blogger Matt Drudge....   For Drudge, the biggest story was Hillary Clinton's health....  ‘Hillary health was biggest revelation at hearing,’ Drudge tweeted shortly after the hearing ended. ‘Coughing fit. Slow-speaking, obviously induced by meds. Choose not to believe if you must.’...  He went on to issue his assessment of her illnesses.... [Bump then showed a capture of the screen of Matt Drudge’s Tweet, quoted above] (See “Which doctor is smarter about Hillary Clinton: Matt Drudge or a doctor?” by Phillip Bump, 10/23/15, Washington Post/ The Fix [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/10/23/an-actual-doctor-disagrees-with-matt-drudges-diagnosis-of-hillary-clinton/]).

So what did Phillip Bump do next ?  He called his OWN doctor and this is what he came up with to push back against the Drudge Report: “....  Matt Drudge is not a doctor. So I called my doctor to see how seriously we -- and Clinton -- should take Drudge's diagnoses. Philip Weintraub is an internist and cardiologist who has been practicing medicine for 35 years, since Matt Drudge was 14.  ‘I think he has an active imagination,’ Weintraub said of Drudge. ‘I think he's probably Googled and seen that there may be some overtones to this in other people.’  That’s the basis of Bump’s column for the WaPo.

Both Bump and his Doctor Weintraub went on to pretend that they had debunked Drudge’s observations and theory that Hillary Clinton exhibited symptoms of “[s]low-speaking, obviously induced by meds” and “hypothyroid issues.”

However, inconveniently, Hillary Clinton's own medical personnel have said that she does, in fact, suffer from hypothyroidism. Also, quite Interestingly, Phillip Bump had to add this quote from Doctor Weintraub: “I'm not saying that it's healthy [referring to Hillary’s slow-speaking throughout her testimony and her couching fit late in the proceedings]....  But certainly it should not under the circumstances be presumed as unhealthy....”

Some among the conservative media types took serious exception to what Mr. Bump and the Washington Post were trying to pull on Matt Drudge. One of the best rebuttals of Phillip Bump and Bump's personal doctor was a piece that appeared on the MRC Newsbusters blog (See “Wash Post's Bump: My Doctor Trumps Hillary's Doctor in Assessing Her Health” by Tom Blumer, 10/24/15 | October 24, 2015, MRC Newsbusters [http://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tom-blumer/2015/10/24/wash-posts-bump-my-doctor-trumps-hillarys-doctor-assessing-her-health#sthash.EeUirEtO.dpuf]).

Tom Blumer quoted from HRC's doctor's recent health report on Hillary Clinton that indicated Mrs. Clinton did suffer from hypothyroidism.

MANY IN THE CONSERVATIVE PRESS AND MEDIA TOOK THE DRUDGE-CLINTON HEALTH REPORT AT OR NEAR FACE VALUE

Typical of most of the right-wing press and media,  the Washington Examiner made the following observations in its report on the story that Drudge broke: “Matt Drudge, founder and editor of the influential Drudge Report, believes Hillary Clinton was hopped up on anti-anxiety medication during her testimony Thursday in front of the Republican-led House Benghazi Select Committee....    Clinton's doctor Lisa Bardack said publicly over the summer that the Democratic presidential frontrunner was in "excellent physical health," but did admit that she was taking blood thinning medication for her thyroid....  Drudge, along with some other conservatives, have suggested in the past that Clinton is hiding serious health issues. In his latest book, ‘Unlikeable: The Problem With Hillary,’ controversial author Ed Klein wrote that Clinton is facing ‘mounting health issues.’...” ( See “Clinton's voice was slowed down by meds, says Drudge” by Eddie Scarry, 10/23/15, The Washington Examiner [http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/clintons-voice-was-slowed-down-by-meds-says-drudge/article/2574791]).

One of the first mentions of Drudge’s raising Hillary Clinton’s health issues as a result of her coughing and slow-talking before the Benghazi Committee was an article that appeared in Glenn Beck’s “The Blaze” at 12:01 AM, in the “morning” of 10/23/15 (See “Matt Drudge Reveals What He Thought Was ‘Biggest Revelation’ From Clinton Benghazi Testimony” by Oliver Darcy, 10/23/15  [http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/10/23/matt-drudge-reveals-what-he-thought-was-biggest-revelation-from-clinton-benghazi-testimony/]).

The article in “The Blaze” contained recaptured images of Drudge’s Tweets and a “Drudge Report” headline that said “HILLARY HEALTH WARNING: COUGHING FIT – DRUDGE REPORT.”   That Blaze item also reported on Hillary Clinton spokesperson Nick Merrill’s reply Tweet to Matt Drudge with the recaptured image of that Merrill Tweet.

DRUDGE TAKES THE PUSH-BACK BY THE PRO-CLINTON FORCES IN STRIDE — HE EVEN LINKS TO THEIR STORIES

Matt Drudge seems somewhat bemused by all of this attention from Hillary’s folks.  So when some clearly Hillary Clinton-supporting trolls blogged on the same theme five days after his initial Tweets on the night of the Benghazi Hearing, Drudge linked their negative coverage on his own iconic blog, the “Drudge Report” (See “DRUDGE REPORT –  Why is DRUDGE REPORT weirdly obsessed with Clinton health?” by Matt Drudge, 10/27/15, Drudge Report [http://www.drudgereport.com/] [with direct link to material quoted and cited directly below]).

THE BLOG POST ON POINT, PICKED-UP & LINKED BY DRUDGE  —  BY SUSAN  J. DEMAS ON A BLOG CALLED “MLIVE.COM” (“MICHIGAN  LIVE DOT-COM” ? ? ?)

The article selected by Matt Drudge started off like this:   “We need to talk about Drudge....   That's Matt Drudge, the king of conservative media, whose old-school site has 2 million daily unique visitors and roughly 700 million monthly page views....”; and it went on to make this important point: “.... The famously reclusive Drudge rarely talks to the media and usually lets [his Drudge Report]  site speak for itself. He's so paranoid that he routinely erases his own tweets....  [S]omething has changed. This month, he came out of hiding, doing an interview with wacky conspiracy theorist Alex Jones [ ]....  Drudge's motivation seems clear: He's utterly terrified at the prospect of President Clinton. He doesn't see anyone else sufficiently leading the charge, so he must speak out....   ‘She's old and she's sick,’ Drudge declared desperately, slamming the media for ‘propping’ her up....  A few weeks later, Clinton testified before the hostile, GOP-led Benghazi Committee without breaking a sweat — something noted even by conservative pundits. That would seem to lay to rest any fears about her health and stamina....  But Drudge wasn't buying it with this blaring headline: ‘Hillary Health Warning: Coughing Fit.’ And he tweeted: ‘Last time she showed up with prism glasses from blood clot, vertigo. Today obvious anti-anxiety meds, hypothyroid meds.’...”  (See “...Why is the Drudge Report weirdly obsessed with Clinton's health?” by Susan J. Demas, 10/27/15,  Mlive.com/ Political [http://www.mlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/10/matt_drudge_hillary_clinton_co.html#incart_river_home]).

So here’s how this Susan J. Demas tried to break Drudge’s bubble: “....  The Washington Post responded with an amusing fact-check: "Which doctor is smarter about Hillary Clinton: Matt Drudge or a doctor?" (Answer: The actual MD)....   It's hard to believe anyone still listens to Drudge after all this. He's like a drifter screaming at street corners about the government putting fillings in his teeth. The difference, though, is Drudge has a big megaphone....   So plenty of people in the mainstream media will continue to take him seriously.”

Too bad  –  that Ms. Demas didn’t have the benefit of either this post or the MRC Newsbusters article cited above that rebutted the so-called amusing “fact-check” by Phillip Bump in the WaPo, also cited above.....   Wait one minute, if Susan J.Demas did any real researching or did any meaningful“fact-check[ing]” of her own, she should have found Tom Blumer’s piece on MRC Newsbusters.....   HMMMM ! ! !

BTW, WHERE ARE HILLARY CLINTON’S MEDICAL AND HOSPITAL RECORDS DURING  HER TERM AS SECRETARY OF STATE ? ? ? 

In the six months following the attacks in Benghazi on 9/11/2012, Hillary Clinton suffered a serious circulatory event and cerebral accident that rendered her disabled and incommunicado.  That medical condition and the resulting period of recovery for the former Secretary of State interfered with the earlier Benghazi investigations.  To date, the official medical records for that time period have not been produced either to the Benghazi Committee or to the American public.

Where are Hillary Clinton’s medical and hospital records from that immediate post-Benghazi period; and when will they be produced ?