[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help] 

Status: Not Logged In; Sign In

Turn Dead Dirt Into Living Soil With IMO 4

Michael Knowles: Trump & Israel, Candace Owens, and Why Christianity Is Booming Despite the Attacks

Save Canada's Ostrich Farms! Protests Erupt Over Government Tyranny in Canada

Holy SH*T! Poland just admitted the TRUTH about Zelensky and it's not good

Very Alarming Earthquakes Strike As We Enter The Month Of September

Billionaire Airbnb Co-Founder Reveals Why He Abandoned Democrat Party For Trump

Monsoon floods devastate Punjab’s crops, (1.7 billion people) at risk of food crisis

List Of 18 Things That Are Going To Happen Within The Next 40 Days

Pentagon Taps 600 Military Lawyers To Serve As Temporary Immigration Judges For DOJ

81 Actors Who Have Passed Away So Far in 2025

High school is different now

Banks REMOVING CASH and nearing major DISASTER. Prof St Onge.

Did America Pick the Wrong Side in WWII?

Chicago in CHAOS – Mayor Tells Police to Stand Down as Trump Says ENOUGH Murder

Graham Linehan ARRESTED in UK for gender critical tweets - UK COLLAPSE IS IMMINENT

Cash Jordan: 400,000 Illegals ‘Forcibly Returned’ To Mexico… as NYC COLLAPSES

The ChatGPT CEO's Web Of Lies by Vanessa Wingardh

The Fall of the Israel Lobby Has Begun — And This Is Just the Start | Denzel Washington speech

'Statistically Almost Impossible' – 4 AfD Candidates Have Died 'Suddenly And Unexpectedly' Before Key State Election

Israel And The West Set The Stage For Next Round Of Warfare On Iran

Last night in Milan, an 18-year-old girl was beaten and raped while trying to catch a train home

Russia has developed a truly modern system of warfare.

Alberta's Independence and Finances

Daniela Cambone: 100% Loan Losses Loom as Fed Shrinks Balance Sheet-

Tucker Carlson

Cash Jordan: ICE HALTS 'Invasion Convoy'... ESCORTS 'Armada' of Illegals BACK to MEXICO

Cash Jordan: “We’re Coming In"... Migrant Mob ENTERS ICE HQ, Get ERASED By 'Deportation Unit'

Opioids More Likely To Kill Than Car Crashes Or Suicide

The association between COVID-19 “vaccines” and cognitive decline

Democrats Sink to Near Zero in New Gallup Poll, Theyre Just Not Satisfied


Editorial
See other Editorial Articles

Title: Stop Shooting Conspiracy Theory Messengers
Source: [None]
URL Source: http://www.opednews.com/articles/St ... -Dean-Hartwell-100126-807.html
Published: Jan 30, 2010
Author: Dean Hartwell
Post Date: 2010-01-30 10:05:49 by Ada
Keywords: None
Views: 337
Comments: 7

In the days of old, the king would kill someone who told him something he did not want to hear. But few people today would even contemplate that.

And bad news is all around us. We have wars that have dragged on for years, we have an economy that is sputtering at best and we are constantly reminded that many of our leaders have moral shortcomings.

No one shoots the messenger over anything like this.

But when the subject concerns facts about government involvement in criminal activities, the reaction of much of the public and the media is perhaps even worse: the messenger gets ridiculed.

Recently, Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Nation brought 9/11 Commission member John Farmer on his show to discuss his new book. Right away, Colbert asked in a facetious tone whether there are any conspiracy theories in the book, like "Dick Cheney as a flight attendant." Predictably, Farmer assured Colbert that there were no such theories.

Oliver Stone's 1991 movie JFK, which supports conspiracy theory in the John Kennedy assassination, was attacked by media critics before it even came out. This response contrasts sharply with the admiration the media gave the Warren Report and its support of the official lone gunman theory. Many of the critics did not actually read the report.

When I discuss the assassination of Robert Kennedy, I frequently mention facts such as an audiotape of the event that indicates that thirteen shots were fired, five more than the number of bullets in convicted assassin Sirhan Sirhan's gun. I also point out that Sirhan was never seen within two feet of Kennedy, whereas the coroner said the fatal shot was fired at point-blank range. Eyes start to roll and I am called a "conspiracy nut."

The typical response I get in giving factual support for conspiracy theory is for people to give the benefit of every possible doubt to the official (non-conspiracy) theory. "Sure, I hear what you say, but the audiotape and eyewitnesses could have been wrong."

There is nothing wrong with speculation and exploring alternate hypothesis. This is frequently how theories get started. But those who use speculation (such as thirteen mistaken eyewitnesses) to prove a theory only succeed in keeping their view viable in their own minds. If people could be convicted of crimes based on this way of thinking, we'd all be in jail!

Does anyone believe our government never does anything wrong? I doubt it. The blind eye that many turn as to the facts of events like 9/11 likely stems from the refusal to confront the horror of something that has power over us.

As one who supports certain conspiracy theories, I never recommend forming any conclusion until one has accounted for all relevant facts. And therein lies the problem: critics of anything that smacks of conspiracy decline to consider or counter the message. They shoot the messenger (and any chance of a reasonable discussion) instead.

http://www.deanhartwell.com Dean Hartwell has written the newly-released book "Dead Men Talking: Consequences of Government Lies" and previously wrote "Truth Matters: How the Voters Can Take Back Their Nation." Convinced that the government has no interest in telling us the (more...)

Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread  


TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest

#1. To: Ada (#0)

Oliver Stone's 1991 movie JFK, which supports conspiracy theory in the John Kennedy assassination

The conspiracy theory with JFK is the one that was pushed by Arlen Spector and the Warren commission. To the folks that think political assassinations can't happen here, think again. They have, and no doubt will continue.

Jethro Tull  posted on  2010-01-30   10:30:11 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: Ada (#0)

Conspiracy theories are often helpful in that they present new perspectives. Unfortunately they tend to cast attention away from the underlying causes of history, which are much harder to counter than mere conspiracies.

Deasy  posted on  2010-01-30   17:02:36 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: Deasy (#2)

Conspiracy theories reveal to us the deeds of the rotten class of cowards who hide behind men of iron whom they pay with the gold that they steal from us.

randge  posted on  2010-01-30   17:10:28 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#4. To: randge (#3)

But not how they get away with it, or what conditions made it possible for them to get away with it, or how we can avoid such in the future.

Deasy  posted on  2010-01-30   17:15:05 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#5. To: Deasy (#4)

A good deal of it is quite clear.

The people have been stupified with a false prosperity and a decrepit culture.

They will do nothing until the last crust of bread is taken from their mouths.

randge  posted on  2010-01-30   17:20:29 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#6. To: randge (#5)

"The people have been stupified with a false prosperity and a decrepit culture."

The culture is tax maximization. Political power has never been so highly concentrated, and the result is a "prosperity" that is actually just churn.

Peter Carswell  posted on  2010-01-30   22:57:37 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#7. To: Ada (#0)

When the masses aren't stupid enough to elect the chosen puppet ... those that instruct us to "work within the system" violate their own policy and call in contract killers that conduct an executive change in puppets, ie., Kennedy.

The people in general continue to play according to hoyle while their masters employ any and all evil to accomplish their ends.

Whoever would return government to the "will of the people" must first return the United States to the use of CONSTITUTIONAL COINAGE as a medium of exchange and through it return the Constitution as law in the United States.

noone222  posted on  2010-01-31   6:16:08 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest


[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help]