Could Hillary's double have signed on with the campaign?

by Mouser The King Cat

When I wrote about the upcoming presidential debates on Aug. 22, I mentioned that Hillary Clinton had health problems “the mainstream media go to great lengths to never mention.” That brought admonishment from a friend of the blog who brought up the term “conspiracy theory,” a term invented by the CIA decades ago to belittle people who question illogical statements from the government.

Well … then came Hillary’s early exit from a 9/11 commemoration in New York. While stepping into her van, she collapsed and lost a shoe. The campaign had banned news cameras from the area, and her wranglers would have whisked her off attracting little notice had it not been for one meddling man who captured video on his cellphone and posted it on Twitter. Rut-roh.

Then the denials and changed stories started coming in too thick to keep track of. When it comes to Democratic politicians and their operatives in the media, I have ADHD (as does Donald Trump, according to reports). But one aspect of affair caught my eye: Hillary has a lookalike. Could she have signed on with the campaign?

The woman who popped out of the apartment building a couple of hours after the 9/11 incident, waving and breathing pneumonia germs to a little girl for a photo op, looked from a distance like Hillary minus 30 pounds or so. She also carried a handbag over her right shoulder, the opposite of Hillary’s habit.

Will the media even ask questions? Of course not. But the Daily Mail of London carried a story in mid-July about Teresa Barnwell, 61, a former advertising executive from Palm Desert, California, who quit her job 23 years ago to become a Hillary imitator. From that story:

When Bill Clinton became the 42nd president in 1993, she was bombarded by people telling her she was the first lady’s doppelganger. Because they looked so much alike, she decided to … become a full-time Clinton impersonator. Since Clinton announced her plans to run for president last year, Barnwell has seen bookings skyrocket and in a month she can make up to $10,000 or even more. She’s been invited all over the world for photo shoots, TV commercials, music videos and corporate events, meeting the likes of comedian Jay Leno, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Clinton herself.

The Hillarys met in 1996 at a book signing. The Mail carried a picture of the two, and the real deal appears to be five or six inches taller. It is obvious from subsequent pictures of Ms. Barnwell that she worked hard to get some finer details down pat, including hairstyle. Aside from physical attributes that cannot be changed, she is almost an exact double. Was she the mystery woman?

After teasing followers on Twitter as speculation swirled, Ms. Barnwell came back the next day and posted this:

OK people, calm down. I was in LA today, all day. Was just messin' with your crazy conspiracy minded little heads. Go to bed.

— Teresa Barnwell (@teresa_barnwell) September 12, 2016

In an era when too many conspiracy theories become conspiracy facts, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel had the best assessment: “You know, these conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton’s health would be a lot harder to believe if they didn’t actually come true.”