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

Status: Not Logged In; Sign In

'Hit Us, Please' - America's Left Issues A 'Broken Arrow' Signal To Europe

Cash Jordan Trump Deports ‘Thousands of Migrants’ to Africa… on Purpose

Gunman Ambushes Border Patrol Agents In Texas Amid Anti-ICE Rhetoric From Democrats

Texas Flood

Why America Built A Forest From Canada To Texas

Tucker Carlson Interviews President of Iran Mosoud Pezeshkian

PROOF Netanyahu Wants US To Fight His Wars

RAPID CRUSTAL MOVEMENT DETECTED- Are the Unusual Earthquakes TRIGGER for MORE (in Japan and Italy) ?

Google Bets Big On Nuclear Fusion

Iran sets a world record by deporting 300,000 illegal refugees in 14 days

Brazilian Women Soccer Players (in Bikinis) Incredible Skills

Watch: Mexico City Protest Against American Ex-Pat 'Invasion' Turns Viole

Kazakhstan Just BETRAYED Russia - Takes gunpowder out of Putin’s Hands

Why CNN & Fareed Zakaria are Wrong About Iran and Trump

Something Is Going Deeply WRONG In Russia

329 Rivers in China Exceed Flood Warnings, With 75,000 Dams in Critical Condition

Command Of Russian Army 'Undermined' After 16 Of Putin's Generals Killed At War, UK Says

Rickards: Superintelligence Will Never Arrive

Which Countries Invest In The US The Most?

The History of Barbecue

‘Pathetic’: Joe Biden tells another ‘tall tale’ during rare public appearance

Lawsuit Reveals CDC Has ZERO Evidence Proving Vaccines Don't Cause Autism

Trumps DOJ Reportedly Quietly Looking Into Criminal Charges Against Election Officials

Volcanic Risk and Phreatic (Groundwater) eruptions at Campi Flegrei in Italy

Russia Upgrades AGS-17 Automatic Grenade Launcher!

They told us the chickenpox vaccine was no big deal—just a routine jab to “protect” kids from a mild childhood illness

Pentagon creates new military border zone in Arizona

For over 200 years neurological damage from vaccines has been noted and documented

The killing of cardiologist in Gaza must be Indonesia's wake-up call

Marandi: Israel Prepares Proxies for Next War with Iran?


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: 245
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

Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 7.

#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.

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


Replies to Comment # 7.

        There are no replies to Comment # 7.


End Trace Mode for Comment # 7.

TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest


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