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The promotion of false conspiracy theories is not harmless. In the past, what one historian dubbed as the "paranoid style of American politics" has led to fear
by hacknat 13y ago
The promotion of false conspiracy theories is not harmless. In the past, what one historian dubbed as the "paranoid style of American politics" has led to fear of and antipathy toward certain religions and social and political movements.
This is a stretch in my opinion. This article is thinly veiled legacy defending. Not admitting to any of the Warren Commission's flaws just plays into the hands of the conspiracy theorists. Frankly there is a lot to be suspicious about. I'm not saying there is a conspiracy, but the Warren Commission deserves to be criticized.
For example:
Seth Kantor's testimony of encountering Ruby at Parkland hospital after JFKs assassination remains a baffling thread that the Warren Commission dismissed out of hand. Kantor had a very normal and somewhat productive journalistic career up until the assassination. During the Warren Commission he wasn't even suggesting any ideas for what his encounter with Ruby might have meant, he just wanted it out there that it happened. Later he became a little conspiratorial (from what I've heard), but who could blame him after watching the President get shot and running into the assassin's killer soon thereafter (if he was telling the truth)?
If I had to be I'd say there is probably no conspiracy, but I think it's very safe to say that the Warren Commission is not even close to the entire story. People can't be blamed for filling in the details with their own imagination.
- DanBC 13y ago> This is a stretch in my opinion. How do things like "Obama is a Muslim!!" fit in? Or the bizarre conspiracy theories around the "crescent of embrace" having coded pro-Muslim signals? Or the ever popular "THE JEWS DID IT"? They feel like they've created ill-will towards Jewish people, and Muslim people, and anyone who looks a bit like a Muslim.
- VLM 13y agoI would disagree strongly in that they've been ineffective at accomplishing anything. OK I've heard from every distant acquaintance and social media connection since 2007 who's even vaguely neo-con that 'bama is absolutely positively a verified practicing Muslim. OK so lets say he is for the sake of an inductive proof. He's been in power quite awhile, and my kids haven't been forced to attend Mosque school, Sunday school has not been made illegal, the rapture hasn't happened, we haven't nuked Israel, Sharia law hasn't replaced our local laws, OK you clowns, if he is in fact a Muslim, aside from the thought experiment above, give me one reason, just one, why I should care? Because it obviously doesn't seem to matter. And next election, if an out of the closet Muslim was on the ballot, I'd vote for him, after all nothing relevant happened with "'Bama the Muslim" in charge, so the next Muslim president isn't going to be any more of a problem, right? Ditto the jew thing, where people who hate jews to a ridiculous level seem quite competent at making themselves look like idiots, which seems fairly effective at discrediting their position. Their position may or may not be correct, but if the only people pushing it are morons, then ... at least from the "victims" point of view, that's a good thing? If the only people who hate you are widely viewed as morons, that's probably a good situation to be in?
- DanBC 13y agoI guess that position is easier to hold if you're not the brown person being given extra attention every time you enter the US. This happens even to Olympic athletes. (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/mo-farah-reveals-he-was-detained-in-terror-bungle-at-us-airport-8433440.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/mo-farah-reve...) > Farah moved to America last year, but despite his international fame he says he frequently gets stopped at customs because of his Somali origin. > He told the Sun on Sunday: "I couldn't believe it. Because of my Somali origin I get detained every time I come through US customs. This time I even got my medals out to show who I am, but they wouldn't have it." (http://www.channel4.com/news/mo-farah-stopped-at-customs-hes-not-alone http://www.channel4.com/news/mo-farah-stopped-at-customs-hes...)
- VLM 13y agoI think our discussions are diverging in that I was specifically commenting on the "Obama is a Muslim" conspiracy theory as being pretty much irrelevant, and you're referring to our countries long tradition of making life hard for brown people since 1500 or so, which is not new or a conspiracy or a new result of a conspiracy. Or rephrasing it we've never historically needed a conspiracy to mistreat non-whites.
- hacknat 13y agoThis is a fair enough concern, but I fail to see how it applies in this situation.
- phelmig 13y agoI can remember a time where conspiracy theorists told everybody that the NSA is watching everybody. Crazy, huh? Even if in the case of JFK's assassination conspiracy theories have proven wrong that is not always the case. Think of Watergate, Irak invasion because of WMD, Secret off-border CIA torture prisons and of corse the massive NSA surveillance scandal (Thanks Snowden!)...