NEWS AND OPINION:
Hillary Clinton’s public moment of distress during the 9/11 commemoration ceremony in New York City on Sunday warrants some compassion — along with straightforward news coverage. Videos made by onlookers clearly revealed Mrs. Clinton in need of serious help; it was a significant moment for journalists who saw an authentic health challenge for themselves.
Much of the press deemed the event a “medical episode,” a phrase which became an instant Twitter hashtag, for better or worse. Mrs. Clinton was “feeling unwell”; she was “overheated,” “appeared to faint,” “fell ill” — all neutral terms employed when facts were few. Campaign handlers stepped in, advising that Mrs. Clinton had taken refuge in her daughter Chelsea Clinton’s apartment, and was “feeling better.”
Mrs. Clinton emerged later to face a wall of reporters. She walked unaided, confirming she had improved, prompting some factions in the social media realm to wonder if her campaign had sent out a “body double.” Mrs. Clinton then headed for her home in Chappaqua, New York, to join former President Bill Clinton, who had opted not to attend the 9/11 ceremony. That was followed by a statement from her personal physician indicating the candidate was under treatment for pneumonia.
Again, the “episode” warrants some compassion. But it should also prompt transparency from campaign operatives, and thoughtful attention from the press addressing the campaign and future implications for Mrs. Clinton.
“The episode this morning is raising more questions about her health,” noted a CNN report, deeming it a “day of drama” that could affect the candidate’s campaign plans — including a trip to the West Coast on Monday. GOP nominee Donald Trump visits both Maryland and North Carolina in the next 24 hours.
Mrs. Clinton’s authentic distress “will catapult questions about her health from the ranks of conservative conspiracy theory to perhaps the central debate in the presidential race over the coming days,” predicts Washington Post columnist Chris Cillizza.
TRUMP’S STARK REMINDER
“This will be the last election that the Republicans have a chance of winning. You’re going to have people flowing across the border; you’re going to have illegal immigrants coming in, and they’re going to be legalized — and they’re going to be able to vote. And once that all happens, you can forget it.”
— GOP nominee Donald Trump to Christian Broadcasting Network correspondent David Brody
WARY TRUMP VOTERS
“In a campaign marked by skepticism toward the political process, only about half of all registered voters (49 percent) are very confident that their vote will be accurately counted in the upcoming election,” reports a new Pew Research Center poll. “This view is particularly striking among supporters of Donald Trump and stands in contrast to the 2004 and 2008 elections, when substantial majorities of voters who backed George W. Bush and John McCain expressed confidence in the count of their votes.”
The findings reveal that 38 percent of registered Trump voters expect their personal votes to be counted accurately, compared to 67 percent of those who support Hillary Clinton.
THE LIBERTY BELL REVISITED
The Museum of the Bible — a 430,000-square-foot nonprofit museum set to open in the nation’s capital in just over a year — has added its first artifact: a full-scale, six-foot-tall replica of the original Liberty Bell weighing in at 3,200 pounds, with “a peal in E-flat, just like the original,” the museum advises. It is also engraved with an Old Testament phrase, exactly as the original bell: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” The words are from Leviticus 25:10.
“The Liberty Bell exemplifies how the Bible is interwoven into American history from the nation’s earliest years,” says museum president Cary Summers. “By quoting Leviticus, we literally see the Bible’s influence forged into one of America’s most enduring symbols of the founding ideals of freedom, equality and independence.”
The future museum, which has yet to receive much deserved notice from the press, is located about two blocks from the National Mall, housed in a historic building that has been under renovation since 2014. Find out more at MuseumoftheBible.org.
NEWS FROM NOME
An “otherworldly cluster” of Cold War-era communications antennae constructed to warn the U.S. of an incoming nuclear missile attack by the Soviet Union is set to become a tourist attraction in Nome, Alaska. The “White Alice Communications Systems” site — one of 71 similar stations around the state — has been dormant since 1979.
It remains a stark place, “a reminder — in case anyone needs reminding — that Nome is less than 150 miles from Russia, a major U.S. antagonist,” reports Jeannette Lee Falsey, a reporter with the always interesting Alaska Dispatch News.
“They’re still useful too. The assemblage of four antennae, which resembles a Stonehenge built by Martians, serves as a navigational aid for pilots, hunters, crabbers and many others in a region with few obvious landmarks,” she adds.
“The antennae would add historic interest and avant-garde flair to the city’s envisioned recreation area, one that officials say might include barbecue grills, informational signs, picnic tables, a boardwalk, parking and — on days when the coastal wind abates — volleyball nets,” says Ms. Falsey.
POLL DU JOUR
• 81 percent of Americans support continuing diplomatic efforts to persuade North Korea to suspend its nuclear program; 80 percent support tighter sanctions on the nation.
• 60 percent say North Korea’s nuclear program is a “critical threat” to the U.S.
• 53 percent support cyberattacks against North Korea.
• 35 percent support airstrikes against the nation’s nuclear production facilities.
• 25 percent support sending U.S. troops to “destroy those facilities.”
Source: A Chicago Council on Global Affairs/GfK survey of 2,061 U.S. adults conducted June 1 to 27 and released Friday.
• Murmurs and asides to jharper@washingtontimes.com
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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