Conspiracy theories?

[Archae]

I just saw yet another person giving his pet conspiracy theory, about JFK's murder.
His view is that Lyndon Johnson's wife, Lady Bird, had hit men kill JFK. :crazy:

I look at conspiracy theorists this way, most of them fit into one (and a sometime, more) of these three categories.

1. Fortunately, the smallest group, those who are certifiably nuts. Crazy. Bonkers.
Paranoids.

2. Agenda pushers.
The only thing that matters to them is "the agenda."

3. The biggest group, those cashing in.
Selling books, movies, whatever.

[BattyDem]

1. Lady Bird?

Wow ... that's a new one! :crazy: :rofl:


edited: typo :blush:

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Archae]

6. Hello Freeper.

[BattyDem]

7. Let me guess ... some right-wing hit piece, right?

:eyes:

I didn't even have to click the link to figure that out! :P

[Archae]

9. "Tater salad" posts the same thing in multiple threads.

He's a Freeper...

[illinoisprogressive]

2. great catagories. I get so tired of them.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

4. Where's The Fourth Category Of Just 'Blatantly Stupid People'?

Some conspiracy theory premises can hold at least a little water. But then blatantly stupid morons get hold of em and inject the most idiotic of idiotic angles into them. It isn't about paranoia, psychosis, agenda or marketing, it is just about them being too blatantly friggin stupid to deduce even the slightest bit of logical reasoning. Literally, just sheer stupidity. To me that's quite a large group, such as those claiming 'pods' and lasers for 9/11 etc.

[Archae]

5. I think that would fit into the "agenda" group.

"It doesn't matter how stupid I sound, the agenda must prevail!"

[Adsos Letter]

8. Let me offer you all a very timely read on this very subject

of conspiracy theories. It is called "Selling Fear: Conspiracy Theories and End-Times Paranoia" by Gregory S. Camp.

It addresses exactly what you are talking about, in a very readable style.

:hi: :D

[Rex]

10. Hmm...no.

That just sounds crazy.

[RufusTFirefly]

11. Straw Man fallacy. Look it up. I'm not your librarian. n/t

[villager]

12. There's also the group of people "not buying the spoon-fed evidence,"

which I fit into, and which you discredit with the age-old trick --per the Bushies, in fact -- of finding an outlandish conspiracy theory then tethering all of us with legitimate questions to that group or theory

[Archae]

14. Bush and his goons are one group...

If they are said to be conspiring to do something, like get rid of more of the Constitution, it's believable.

It's the whacked-out groups and people, that I list.

Like Richard Hoagland, who STILL says there is a "face" on Mars.

Fred Phelps and his "church," who see "fag agenda" in just about anything.

Bill O'Reilly, who has George Soros as this "sinister plotter behind the liberals."

And so on...

[Maccagirl]

15. Thank you

In early 1973 I was at my best friends house and she told me of a dinner conversation from the previous evening in which her father's friend (a recently retired FBI agent) said "If you want to know what Watergate is all about-it's about November 22, 1963." He then explained the convulence of oil, banking and the intelligence community and (up to that point), they could not mesh the three into one politician/leader, but would be successful one day. Now what family sounds like who he was refering to??? Any guesses?

[orleans]

13. and the government's explanation about 9/11 fits right in with your definitions

the biggest conspiracy of all

the mother of all conspiracies