Hooray for Hillary! She battled a coughing fit for almost three minutes and she emerged victorious!
That was pretty much the tone of how New York Magazine writer Rembert Browne handled the long coughing fit in an article about her speech yesterday in Harlem that comes off a paean chock full of adoration for Hillary Clinton. His ode to Hillary got so syrupy it is surprising she did not swallow some of it to ease her coughing. First let us read Browne's love letter to Hillary which sounds like he is applying to be a PR flack for her campaign before we see how he handles the coughing that would not stop for an embrassingly long time.
... I looked down my row, and multiple people had that same goddamn face etched on their faces. She was making points about privilege that minorities always make, but it packed such a different punch — even if President Obama had said it — because she was chastising her own privilege, putting the privilege of whiteness front and center.
...I genuinely couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The tiptoeing had vanished. She wasn’t trying to win everyone’s vote by flying as close to the middle as possible. And even though the room was markedly black, these thoughts were now on her permanent electoral record for all to see. The use of “imagine” was powerful, because it comes with an almost implied, You can’t imagine it, because that shit wouldn’t fly. She was finally just saying it, bluntly. Hearing this, in February, was so much more powerful than any policy plan. Because before many people want to know your plan — or before people will ever truly consider believing in your plan — they want to know that you understand their world.
Yes, it was such a blessed moment. So impressive that the earth briefly stopped rotating as Hillary's impressive speech caused a rip in the space/time continuum. And then ugly reality intruded in the form of a coughing fit. However, have no fear. Mr. Browne will somehow incorporate it into his Legend of Hillary:
And then, out of nowhere, as she was really peaking, and the increasingly loud cheers in the room suggested that these points were not only felt but appreciated, she had one of those Hillary coughing fits.
It’s like watching someone with the hiccups; you don’t really know when they’re going to end. But herein lies the beauty of the goodwill Hillary had built up in the room — the beauty of black people being an expressive bunch: The room started clapping loudly, almost to mask her coughs until she was done, to get her through this stretch. People were acting like it was church, when some member of the congregation gets up to speak but suddenly gets emotional or nervous. Shouts of “Take your time, Hill” and “You’re okay” rang from all corners of the room. After a few coughs, Hillary squeaked out, “I’ve got too much to say,” which was met with laughter. When some of the coughing halted, Hillary softly said a few sentences with her voice at about 10 percent strength, and after every few sentences, people cheered her on. There were even some “HILLARY, HILLARY” chants. I couldn’t believe it.
Will Hillary ever pull out of it? We now bring you the final part of this cliff-hanging serial:
This was followed by a second wave of coughs, more cheers and supportive messages from the crowd, which ended with Hillary saying, “Thank you, you’re a great amen chorus.” And a few minutes later, her voice was at full strength again. She was back.
This was Hillary’s Flu Game. She’d just won Harlem.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Hillary defeated the coughing fit and won not only Harlem but hopefully the presidency! Get it? And if you haven't, you can count on Rembert Browne to provide the requisite Hillary hype.
