"Most good investigative reporters are conspiracy theorists, by the way."

[dixiegrrrrl]

Interesting take on the term "conspiracy theory".

"The label "conspiracy theory" is commonly used to try to discredit criticism of the powerful in government or business.

For example, just this week - after Tony Blair was confronted by the Iraq Inquiry with evidence that he had used lies to sell the Iraq war - Blair dismissed the entire Iraq Inquiry as simply being part of Britain's "obsession with conspiracy theories". (Not only did Blair know that Saddam possessed no WMDs, but the French this week accused Blair of using of ‘Soviet-style' propaganda in run-up to the Iraq war).

Of course, the American government has been busted in the last couple of years in numerous conspiracies. For example, William K. Black - professor of economics and law, and the senior regulator during the S & L crisis - says that that the government's entire strategy now - as during the S&L crisis - is to cover up how bad things are ("the entire strategy is to keep people from getting the facts").

Similarly , 7 out of the 8 giant, money center banks went bankrupt in the 1980's during the "Latin American Crisis", and the government's response was to cover up their insolvency.

And the government spied on American citizens (even before 9/11, while saying "we don't spy".
The government tortured prisoners in Iraq, but said "we don't torture".
In other words, high-level government officials have conspired to cover up the truth."

http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2010/02/ridicule-of-conspiracy-theories-focuses.html

[pipi_k]

1. I don't know why so many people are so down on conspiracies and conspiracy theories...

One of the reasons they use for not believing in conspiracy theories is that a whole bunch of people couldn't possibly have kept a secret for any length of time.

Yet, wasn't 9/11 committed by men who must have known beforehand what their missions would be? Men who learned how to fly an airliner, but not land it...etc.

Those 19 men...plus scores of others who must also have been involved at some level...they managed to keep it an extremely well guarded secret, apparently.


People can, and do, keep secrets.

Anyway, I do think that a good investigative reporter should be open to any and all options, including the ones that seem incredible or improbable.

[baldguy]

2. The generally accepted, official story of 9/11 is a "conspiracy theory".

The generally accepted, official story of how we got involved in Iraq is a "conspiracy theory".

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. I remember clearly that the idea of a Tri-lateral Commission

used to be a conspiracy theory. People poo poo'd it all the time.
Now you can read about it on Wiki which lists the members.
( by the way, of the 87 USA members, 11 are in the Obama administration)

Same with the Bilderberg group....no one would believe it existed.
Now the press covers the annual meeting arrival of the members.

Yet the evidence of Bush and Blair phonying up the reasons for Iraq war,
is being exposed as a TRUE conspiracy.
Many of us "theorized" about THAT years back.

Now whenever something is labled as a conspiracy theory, I take a hard look at who is throwing that
phrase around.:evilgrin:

[Peace Patriot]

4. Anyone who "doesn't believe in conspiracy theories" ought to read James Douglass' book,

"JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters."

--

"Most good investigative reporters are conspiracy theorists, by the way."

I agree. That is why I never dis "conspiracy theorists." It is a vital function of investigative reporters to look for and expose the conspiracies of the rich and the powerful against the rest of us. Indeed, our entire government was founded on the principle that there WILL BE such conspiracies, and that the combination of the Constitution's "balance of power" among the executive, legislative and judicial branches, a vigorous free press, freedom of speech and the vigilance of a free people, will militate against such conspiracies. You can look at the entire American Revolution, and certainly at the construction of its legal foundation, as a means of ripping the veils away from the types of powermongers who ruled England and Europe--the "nobility" and their cartels such as the British East India Company--a deep-seated conspiracy of the rich against the poor. They expected us to continue ripping those veils away, and hoped that they had set up sufficient mechanisms in law, rights and principles, for us to do so.

Conspiracies are, by their nature, secret, and involve groups who make secret agreements among themselves to do harm to others. The worst kind of conspiracies are among the rich and powerful involving the government, because the powers of government--granted to individuals by the people, in a democracy--can be used to cover the tracks of the conspiracy and to protect individuals who are doing harm. That's where investigative reporters come in. They must first suss out the conspiracy--understand how government involved conspiracy works, follow the difficult path of its covered up tracks, look for clues, formulate theories about it as a guide, and so on. They MUST think conspiratorially. To NOT think conspiratorially is to be stupid. Also, the presumption that the rich and the powerful are NOT conspiring against us is stupid. We should presume the opposite--because history supports it and because our Founders knew history and created a system to defeat just this: The misuse of government power by conspiracies of the rich and the powerful to loot and plunder the rest of us, to steal our money, to enslave us, to destroy the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and to use us as "cannon fodder" for their illegal imperial wars.

We really, really need to understand and respect the "conspiracy theorist" mind. It is our bulwark against tyranny. This doesn't mean we should disrespect evidence or believe every "conspiracy theory" that comes along. It means that it is wrong, anti-democratic and dangerous to dismiss ideas about how our very corrupt political/government/economic system is harming us, with the kneejerk phrase 'conspiracy theory." The harm is obvious. It is very great. And it cannot occur--in a democracy--without vast secretiveness, cabals of the powerful, conspiracies of the rich and government involvement. It takes the "conspiracy theorist" mind--the mind of the investigative reporter--to figure these things out. We should consider that kind of mind to be a precious commodity--as if it were gold--and value it and protect it, even if it is wrong. That quality of mind--suspicion of the powerful--will save our democracy, in the end, if it is salvageable. Our Founders knew this and built that suspicion--that "conspiracy theorist" mind--right into the Constitution. There WILL BE conspiracies of the rich and powerful to tyrannize over us all. Will "we the people"-- with the few remnants of the rights we have left--be able to expose and defeat them and restore open, transparent, democratic government? If the "conspiracy theorist" antagonists hold sway, we will not, and our democracy will go the way of the Roman Republic, into decline and fall.

[PDJane]

5. As the journalist and muckraker Claud Cockburn used to say....

Never believe anything until it's been officially denied.

I would point out that the new photos of the 'smoke' around the base of the twin towers certainly looks like proof of explosives......