Hillary: The pneumonia diagnosis doesn’t answer everything

Hillary Clinton has made it an integral part of her campaign strategy to suggest that her opponent Donald Trump is unfit to serve as President. She has suggested over and over in a variety of ways that Trump is incapable of discharging the duties of what is perhaps the world’s most demanding job.

Clinton has every right to raise the questions she has. She would do well, however, to begin by answering the increasingly serious questions about her own fitness to serve.

{mosads}Sunday morning, while attending a 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York City, Clinton became so “overheated” that she had depart abruptly and be rushed to her daughter’s nearby apartment. Video taken by an onlooker at the 9/11 ceremony shows Clinton struggling to steady herself, stumbling off a curb and then having to be helped into a van by two Secret Service agents.

All of this occurred at 9:30 am. The temperature was in the low 80’s. A large number of other attendees, including Donald Trump, were also present at the same event and showed no ill effects. Trump appears to have managed to remain for the duration of the event and move on to other campaign commitments. The campaign later issued a statement saying that Clinton had been diagnosed on Friday with pneumonia.

This is hardly the first time that Clinton’s health has become an issue. A week ago in Cleveland, fits of coughing almost forced her from the stage during a campaign rally.  

In 2012, while Secretary of State, Clinton fainted and struck her head so hard she suffered a concussion. She then had to cancel an appearance before the House Foreign Affairs Committee until she had recovered sufficiently. 

Clinton’s campaign, at first, went into full spin control mode, assuring all of us that her sudden departure from the 9/11 ceremony signified nothing, and that she was fine. She was simply overheated and went to her daughter’s apartment to rest and cool down.  

None of that explained why, on a relatively cool morning after a fairly brief period at an event, Clinton was rushed from the scene. None of that explained why she had to be half-carried into her vehicle, why reporters traveling with her were not allowed to follow her when she departed, or why it then took her campaign staff a full hour and a half to provide any update on her condition.

What all the facts suggested strongly is that this was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a minor incident. Clinton was rushed from the scene, because her condition was serious and so concerned her staff that they had no other option than to move her immediately. No press was allowed to follow, because what they would have seen would likely have killed Mrs. Clinton’s chance of ever being President.  She was taken to her daughter’s apartment, because taking her to a hospital would have meant public exposure of a serious health issue. No statement was made for 90 minutes, because it was that long before her staff knew what was happening.

It wasn’t until much later in the day that the pneumonia diagnosis was released by the campaign. But, even that information doesn’t completely answer all questions. Clinton and her supporters have dismissed such questions about her health and her stamina as the stuff of conspiracy theorists for years. That cover story may have just gone up in smoke.

In 58 days the American people are going to have to decide who they want to lead this nation. Our economy is in crisis. Our borders are unsecured. We are in the midst of a worldwide conflict with fanatical madmen. We cannot afford to hope that the man or woman we choose has the physical and mental ability to handle the pressure of being President under these circumstance.

We need to know. We need answers. We deserve answers.

Charles S. Faddis is a former CIA operations officer with 20 years of experience in intelligence operations. He is a senior editor for AND Magazine and a contributor to counterterrorism and homeland security journals. He is author of “Operation Hotel California.”

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