Althouse: Hillary Clinton is "somewhat sheepishly concerned that it was my preventing one of my early spring allergic coughs."

May 5, 2011

Hillary Clinton is "somewhat sheepishly concerned that it was my preventing one of my early spring allergic coughs."

So that hand over her mouth in that famous photo in which her eyes look so intense "may have no great meaning whatsoever."

68 comments:

Anonymous said...: They never stop.

Ever.; 5/5/11, 9:35 AM
The Dude said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/5/11, 9:37 AM
Known Unknown said...: Just. Stop.; 5/5/11, 9:37 AM
Scott M said...: It's the same pose she struck whilst dodging sniper fire.

On a serious note, my first thought echoed NotYour's. They never stop. Sounds like one of Hillary's womyn advised her that playing up the concerned matron angle was making her look weak.

To be honest, I'm far more interested, at this point, in learning more about exactly how much influence Valarie Jerrett has over our well-rested President's decisions.; 5/5/11, 9:40 AM
jrberg3 said...: Unreal. Usually when I cough the other muscles in my face and neck tighten. Not so much when she does I guess.

And I thought there was a video blackout as the troops entered the compound and that those in the Situation Room were only looking at a video feed from a drone?; 5/5/11, 9:42 AM
Scott M said...: If you were the president, why in the world wouldn't you be sitting at the head of the table instead of stuffed back into a corner? I notice everyone else had papers and laptops in front of them. He's just sitting back there, like he's ready to dash off on an errand one of them gives him.

The stuff in front of Hillary, the paper, looks like something my 3-year-old finger painted yesterday.; 5/5/11, 9:44 AM
jrberg3 said...: Scott,

That's because he had just came in from the golf course!! I bet everyone rolled their eyes when he finally came in.; 5/5/11, 9:46 AM
Hagar said...: I think it is more like: "I don't believe this! I should not have come here!"; 5/5/11, 9:47 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Maybe she was yawning.; 5/5/11, 9:48 AM
AllenS said...: Bullshit.; 5/5/11, 9:52 AM
The Dude said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/5/11, 9:56 AM
YoungHegelian said...: In Hillary's defense, DC is a living hell for people with allergies. They don't call it the "City of Trees" for nuthin'.

Right now (and last Sunday), the trees are going bazoo trying to make little trees. One sees cars that have a yellowish-green sheen to them because of the pollen coating.; 5/5/11, 9:57 AM
Scott M said...: Right now (and last Sunday), the trees are going bazoo trying to make little trees. One sees cars that have a yellowish-green sheen to them because of the pollen coating.

Ugh...Augusta, GA was exact same way.; 5/5/11, 10:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Her visage in that picture actually gave her a big jump up in my estimation.

She looked connected to reality - filled with human emotion - vulnerable as we all would or should be at such a time.

So why does she need to explain it away?; 5/5/11, 10:00 AM
MadisonMan said...: Why not just say: That's kind of a weird question, but I don't really remember exactly when that picture was taken and looking at it now, I don't know why my hand is over my mouth.

Maybe it was an advance screening of the Judges' really lousy comments on Hayley's first song last night on American Idol.; 5/5/11, 10:03 AM
Col Mustard said...: ...I'm far more interested, at this point, in learning more about exactly how much influence Valarie Jerrett has over our well-rested President's decisions.

Didn't she play Sherry Palmer in early seasons of 24?; 5/5/11, 10:11 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: In Hillary's defense, DC is a living hell for people with allergies.

I don't live in DC but I find that I'm allergic to a lot of stuff that comes out of it.; 5/5/11, 10:14 AM
Fred4Pres said...: Hillary is a fool. That photo actually made her look human. It was real. Genuine. She is not sick or with allergies. Where is the tissue? None there.

She just wanted to look stoic like the rest of the boys. Okay. But she acutally looked better by showing some emotion.

Rather than just shutting up she has to lie about it. Pathetic.; 5/5/11, 10:24 AM
Patrick said...: Couldn't Chip Ahoy do something clever with that photo?; 5/5/11, 10:24 AM
Fred4Pres said...: Hoosier Daddy, very nice, very nice indeed. Bravo.; 5/5/11, 10:25 AM
Carol said...: God bless her...she's got more balls than Teh One.; 5/5/11, 10:33 AM
Phil 314 said...: those aren't "coughing" eyes; 5/5/11, 10:37 AM
edutcher said...: What Quayle said. There's real horror in her eyes at something she's seen or heard. It makes her more of a real woman, as opposed to a feminist. She's reacting with humanity, not putting up a front.

For once.

jrberg3 said...

That's because he had just came in from the golf course!! I bet everyone rolled their eyes when he finally came in.

Look at his body language in the full picture, as opposed to everybody else's. He does not want to be there, he's cringing almost.

Everybody else, even Hillary, is upright, focused.; 5/5/11, 10:39 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: My guess is the reaction is when they found out one of the choppers went down/malfunctioned and she had memories of Operation Desert Claw.; 5/5/11, 10:43 AM
AllenS said...: Hillary! was stunned when she seen this on the screen:

Bin Laden cocktail

...2 shots and a splash of water.; 5/5/11, 10:46 AM
Scott M said...: ...salt water or it won't taste right.; 5/5/11, 10:49 AM
Superdad said...: I thought the picture was good. Hillary looked like a human being who was forced by the tasks of leadership to participate in making the horrible but correct decision to take a life. She understood the cost of what was being done. That is not weakness.; 5/5/11, 10:56 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: If you were the president, why in the world wouldn't you be sitting at the head of the table instead of stuffed back into a corner? I notice everyone else had papers and laptops in front of them. He's just sitting back there, like he's ready to dash off on an errand one of them gives him

You notice that he is still wearing his golf shirt under that jacket that probably someone threw on him at the last minute.

Other people have remarked at his body posture and that he looks like the 'smallest person in the room'.

If I were in the President's Press/Publicity office I would never allow a photo like that to be released.

Seriously, why is the President stuffed into the corner at such an important and historic moment.; 5/5/11, 11:03 AM
edutcher said...: Hoosier Daddy said...

My guess is the reaction is when they found out one of the choppers went down/malfunctioned and she had memories of Operation Desert Claw.

Wasn't she in Li'l Rock then?; 5/5/11, 11:04 AM
Palladian said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/5/11, 11:05 AM
Palladian said...: I agree with many others here; Hillary's expression was the most interesting, and most human, of all the people there. It's probably the first time I've actually seen her look genuine. Why, oh why, can't they just SHUT UP about it?

And it's my contention that they're NOT watching Leon Panetta on the screen. They're watching the live feed. As distasteful as Panetta might be, those expressions are not "Leon Panetta" expressions.

As I posted in a thread last night, the EXIF data embedded in the picture indicates it was taken on May 1, 2011 at 4:05:04 PM EST. I'd love to know when that was in the operation timeline.; 5/5/11, 11:06 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: The stuff in front of Hillary, the paper, looks like something my 3-year-old finger painted yesterday.

That part of the photo has been digitized to diguise the document. Probably an arial photograph of the compound or something.; 5/5/11, 11:11 AM
MadisonMan said...: Other people have remarked at his body posture and that he looks like the 'smallest person in the room'.

He had the most riding on the success of the mission.; 5/5/11, 11:17 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Wasn't she in Li'l Rock then?

Yeah but I assume she has the same memories of that fiasco that others had.; 5/5/11, 11:20 AM
Chennaul said...: Actually I might be the only person that liked the photo-of course the more they deny the less I like it.

First it looked like Hillary and Obama actually gave a damn.

Now it's a *cough*.

Secondly I think Obama was at the other end of the conference table or he gave his seat to the AF guy working the info.

So I actually like the way that looks-Obama looks engaged.

But now they are distancing themselves.

1) They weren't looking at the feed.

Why?

Oh I don't know someone told them that would be unseemly.

2) They lost video at the crucial moment.

I've got a feeling they are distancing themselves for posterity or their posteriors.....; 5/5/11, 11:21 AM
Banshee said...: Well, it was definitely a gesture of "I'm not going to make a noise, whatever shocking thing happens", so it's possssssible that she was worried about coughing. Not likely, though.

The real nastiness here was that a female politician was put on camera looking "girly". Personally, my feeling would be that Hillary could gasp and look horrified and still order bad stuff to happen to anyone in the world as much as she felt like, but some people think that covering your mouth makes you look weak.

Shrug. It's Obama that looks pitiful in that picture. If he thinks he should try to spike Hillary's election chances by making himself look powerless, fine.; 5/5/11, 11:22 AM
Chennaul said...: Palladian

Well the next photo in that White House flickr feed shows Leon Panetta in the room with them and the time in Tripoli-

2:03; 5/5/11, 11:25 AM
Chennaul said...: In that photo you can see the Vice Chairman of JCOS on the screen.

Marine General Cartwright-he's wearing a flightsuit.

He's an aviator.; 5/5/11, 11:30 AM
edutcher said...: MadisonMan said...

Other people have remarked at his body posture and that he looks like the 'smallest person in the room'.

He had the most riding on the success of the mission.

I think the SEALs did.

Followed by Panetta.; 5/5/11, 11:30 AM
Scott M said...: I've got a feeling they are distancing themselves for posterity or their posteriors.....

Anyone else think this will approach historian interest in the Cuban missile crisis? 10 to 20 years from now, I'm betting groupthink comparisons will be made and hashed out forever.

That will be about 9 to 19 years after NBC does a movie about it.; 5/5/11, 11:37 AM
Chennaul said...: He's forward leaning-which makes him look engaged and it looks like he gave his seat up to the AF guy which makes him look not too worried about dominance.

But for a bunch of reasons they want to distance themselves from it.

So be it.

Reap the whirlwind.

Distance yourselves from the SEALs-you know the guys you asked to invade the sovereignty of a nuclear power and who got their hands dirty.

They were too "clean" to even watch.; 5/5/11, 11:38 AM
traditionalguy said...: The Hill probably has not felt that bad about a necessary killing since Vince Foster went wobbly on her.; 5/5/11, 11:39 AM
Chennaul said...: Scott M

I actually think it might surpass it.

The Hunt for Osama was a ten year undertaking....

Hell make that fifteen.; 5/5/11, 11:40 AM
Chennaul said...: Brennan said he'd been chasing after Osama for fifteen-

I see a start date-of 1998.; 5/5/11, 11:43 AM
Jeanne Patterson said...: "Leon Panetta, director of the CIA, revealed there was a 25 minute blackout during which the live feed from cameras mounted on the helmets of the US special forces was cut off."

Why does it matter what expression was on her face since it was as staged as everything else that comes out of this administration. Even Shrillary realizes the jig is up.

You guys didn't really buy into this photo did you? Heck Little Barry wouldn't have been able to see the screen without his booster seat, not that he'd have cared.; 5/5/11, 11:44 AM
gk1 said...: can you even imagine the Bush crew spending one second worrying about how they appear doing their jobs? We have an administration full of f*cking divas; 5/5/11, 11:59 AM
Palladian said...: "Well the next photo in that White House flickr feed shows Leon Panetta in the room with them and the time in Tripoli-"

madawaskan, the EXIF data for the picture which shows Panetta in the room with them indicates that it was taken May 1, 2011 at 8:03:36 PM EST, 4 hours after the famous photo we've been discussing. Panetta came over from Langley after they iced Bin Laden.; 5/5/11, 12:00 PM
Steve said...: So she will never be President because of her allergies.; 5/5/11, 12:00 PM
Chennaul said...: Yep-that would correspond with the time in Tripoli and does that give you about a -

3(!) hour time difference?

Imagine what the fear in that room smelled like.

Oh what's that Serge Lutens perfume named after some son of a Hun?; 5/5/11, 12:05 PM
Chennaul said...: That's it Hillary is allergic to pheromones.

(wv:bootle); 5/5/11, 12:07 PM
BillyTalley said...: Don't you think that the situation room would have an HVAC system that might be able to scrub out allergens, if not nuclear fallout or chemical/biological warfare agents?

The problem with lying is that your mind has to run double narratives: one that is inscribed by experience and another that is sketched and revised to maintain the illusion of continuity and veracity.; 5/5/11, 12:08 PM
Chennaul said...: Wait....

4 hours-Hillary was in that room with all that man for that long!?

Oy.; 5/5/11, 12:08 PM
Chennaul said...: Crap I got my barbarians mixed up-I meant Son of a Mongol.; 5/5/11, 12:12 PM
Palladian said...: "Oh what's that Serge Lutens perfume named after some son of a Hun?"

Muscs Koublaï Khän, a wonderful fragrance.; 5/5/11, 12:13 PM
The Dude said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/5/11, 12:27 PM
windbag said...: It's the same picture in Webster's next to "aghast."; 5/5/11, 12:28 PM
Chennaul said...: Ah ha!

Palladian I've only read about it.

You should check out thenonblonde.blogspot.com.

She wrote about it -and no wonder I couldn't come up with the name....

It's weird all the different opinions of that scent and reviews-i guess it's an individual's chemistry.; 5/5/11, 12:35 PM
Chennaul said...: Oh and check out these reviews..

Ha! Filter for newest first if it doesn't load that way.

Link

****; 5/5/11, 12:41 PM
Titus said...: I liked Hillary in the photo.

She looked human.

She does need to work on her hips though.; 5/5/11, 1:57 PM
J said...: She looks mostly human (are those slightly reptilian eyes, though?) . Either way we needn't be overly concerned with Prez. Hillary--it's her boy Barack that's got issues.; 5/5/11, 2:00 PM
Peter Hoh said...: And now you know why I think Obama did a great service to the nation by ensuring that Clinton was not nominated.; 5/5/11, 3:17 PM
Fen said...: I'm not seeing the "shock" on Hillary's face that everyone else is. To me, she just looks intense.

Also, looking at the other staged photos the WH released, some not even taken on the day and place they are captioned to have been... I'm not even sure this photo is legit.; 5/5/11, 3:28 PM
Rabel said...: Since Althouse is into hidden meaning in photographs, maybe someone could point out the hidden message in the clock on the wall in the other situation room photo.
Number 0475 in the link below. The one with with "littlehead" Obama.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/; 5/5/11, 3:55 PM
Palladian said...: Distillation; 5/5/11, 4:24 PM
William said...: That look on Hillary's face animates the scene. That's the only expression that doesn't indicate everyone's watching a forty yard field goal kick. Now we learn that the expression owes more to pollen than to unbearable tension. Downer.....Kind of a passive aggressive comment. This is Obama's great moment, and she undercuts it. Every historian who wishes to illustrate the drama with this picture will have to include her allergy remark.; 5/5/11, 6:58 PM
Unknown said...: When is showing concern and humanity considered un-Secretary-of-State-like? I liked her better until she came up with the excuse.; 5/5/11, 7:39 PM
Nora said...: I bet many people look the same when they watch some thriller or action movie. Pitty she got provoced in explaining this. No explanation will ever be sufficient to 'gotcha' artists.; 5/5/11, 10:21 PM
Ralph L said...: The Bat Cape photo.

Who choses these photos? This isn't the first unflattering official photo to be released.; 5/6/11, 12:27 AM