MSM Reports Hillary's 'Concussion' Excuse Without Slightest Hint of Skepticism

December 17th, 2012 10:55 AM

The dog ate my homework.

Or, in the case of Hillary Clinton, a "concussion" which she didn't even have checked out at a hospital is keeping her from testifying about the Benghazi fiasco on Capitol Hill. Yes, we are expected to believe that a Secretary of State can suffer a concussion and not have it checked out at a hospital. Remember Natasha Richardson? That actress suffered what seemed to be a minor head injury while taking ski lessons and refused medical attention and passed away a couple of days later as a result. Various mainstream sources conveniently bought into Hillary's excuse for not testifying on Benghazi but the overwhelming majority of the readers commenting weren't buying it.

Here are several samples of the mainstream media disingenuously reporting the Hillary excuse for not testifying without the slightest bit of skepticism which contrasts sharply with the observations of their own readers.

First up on the gullibility dock is Dana Hughes of ABC News:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suffered a concussion earlier this week after she hit her head when she fainted because of dehydration from a stomach virus, a Clinton aide said today in a statement.

...No ambulance was called and she was not hospitalized, according to a state department official.

...She was expected to testify before Congress on Thursday at hearings on the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The Associated Press reported that her appearance has now been cancelled.

No ambulance was called and she was not hospitalized? Riiiight! Because when you're Secretary of State you somehow don't rate standard medical treatment. Of course, most of the ABC readers displayed the skepticism that Dana Hughes purposely lacked in the story:

SO Hillary suffers a head injury and she doesn’t go to the hospital to be checked out??? Strange wouldn’t you say???

Somehow–someway Hillary is trying to get out of testifying re. Benghazi. ‘Concussion’–really?

And she gets out of testifying, what a bunch of crap. I don’t belive for any of this for a second.

Another bit of similar reporting in this Los Angeles Times report by David S. Cloud with a "surprise" update:

[UPDATE, 1:40 p.m. Dec. 15: Clinton will not testify Thursday at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Benghazi, a committee spokesperson said. Instead Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and Thomas Nides, the deputy secretary of State for management and resources, are expected to testify before the Senate committee as well as the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Wasn't that "surprise" update the whole purpose of the conveniently untreated "concussion?" And, again, the readers are not nearly as gullible as the reporters assume they are:

I'm sure she will claim perfect health just in time to run for president.... go figure

This appears to be very convenient so she can avoid testifying about Benghazi, why can't she testify after she recovers?

So now Clinton cannot testify about Benghazi-gate? Coincidence? I think not...

This pattern repeats itself over and over again. All one needs do is Google "Hillary Concussion" to see the many news stories uncritically reporting Hillary's excuse for not testifying followed by the many comments of the readers which display the skepticism utterly lacking by the reporters.

One has to wonder if these same reporters would have lacked any skepticism if, say, H.R. Haldeman had claimed that a "concussion" for which he was not hospitalized prevented him from testifying about Watergate.