Conspiracy theorists are having a grand ol' time trying to explain what was wrong with Hillary Clinton when she fainted/fell/collapsed/seized up during Sunday's 9/11 ceremony in New York. There's talk about the black van that she was hauled into being a disguised ambulance; conjecture about what appeared to be some mechanical part slipping out of her pants leg as she was being scooted across the sidewalk by helpers for boarding; and speculation that she's suffering from dementia or Parkinson's disease -- or possibly both.
But maybe the explanation is not so mysterious and is, in fact, hidden in plain sight.
In January 2013, aide Huma Abedin emailed Clinton a Fox News story headlined "Hillary Clinton's Blood Clot Treatment And The Need For Privacy." In that article, Dr. Marc Siegel discussed Clinton's condition -- right transverse sinus thrombosis.
It is, he wrote, "a fancy term for a blood clot forming in one of the main sinuses (a drain) of the brain." The clot, Siegel added, "can lead to brain swelling or a stroke, and it is certainly life threatening."
Symptoms that are associated with the condition, says the Johns Hopkins health library, include fainting or loss of consciousness, loss of control over movement in part of the body, and seizures. Anyone who has seen the video of Clinton collapsing Sunday would have to admit that they were watching the first two in that list. We don't know if she lost consciousness, but she sure appeared to faint. And she did lose some motor control -- that is beyond dispute.
As for the seizures, well, maybe this wasn't one. But it would have been, according to our media, if a Republican candidate looked as if he or she were having a convulsion.
More than three years ago, Siegel said that Clinton "can look forward to a full recovery with the help of her careful devoted physicians," so maybe Sunday's episode wasn't related to what he discussed in his article. But he also mentioned that she has a history of blood clots. Was her spell evidence of another? The clots can return. Once treated doesn't always mean healed.
Also consistent with Sunday's incident and Clinton's history was Abedin's admission four years ago that Clinton is "often confused." Clotconnect.org says sinus and cerebral vein clots "can lead to severe headaches, confusion and stroke-like symptoms." We can't see Clinton's face from the available videos, but from behind she did not look like someone who was acutely aware of her surroundings.
She appeared to be unresponsive, which is not the same as confused, but the empty gaze of a profoundly confused person can make them look as if they are not there.
It's not clear what happened to Clinton. But this much is obvious: Something out of the ordinary and quite alarming occurred, and her top aide expressed concern in the past about a life-threatening condition that shows symptoms much like those seen in the video. Maybe the media will now start trying to provide a public service and dig into her health problems.
If a reporter can move next door to Sarah Palin to try to get dirt on her, then the press corps can spare a few of its sycophants to do some real journalism.
