I've noticed, Politician Spock, that whenever you make any analysis of either Hillary Clinton or the people around her, your conclusion is always one that puts them in the worst possible light. You're not the only one that does this, of course, but it's always startling to read coming from you because, despite my various disagreements with you on a host of issues, I know that that you are both non-partisan (in terms of liberal vs. conservative) , and very intelligent.
Are the two options you provided (either devious lying or morons) possible? Of course. Does either one ring truthful? Not to me. What does ring truthful is close to what Axelrod was talking about- Hillary's excessive need for privacy, her (not unreasonable, but in this instance regrettable) fear that if her pneumonia was known, it would hurt her campaign. So what likely happened is that she was told on Friday that her cold was actually a bout of pneumonia, and she decided to "soldier on", hoping that it wouldn't get out to the public because of Trump's continual comments about her "stamina". That also means its very likely that few people in the Clinton campaign knew about the pneumonia, which accounts for the confusion immediately after the fainting spell. For me at least, the whole thing starts to make sense in a way which excludes both of your alternatives.
There's a scene in the last season of
The West Wing in which Senator Vinick (Alan Alda) breaks his hand, and is desperate to cover it up, because he does not want any contrast with his more energetic opponent. Earlier he has a cold and tries to cover that up as well, despite a doctor telling him he needs to take it easy or it could become pneumonia. I think we're witnessing some of that playing out in real life before our eyes.