This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was originally published at The Conversation.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1432727
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1432727
One wonders what JFK Jr. thinks about this assertion.
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Yes, conspiracy theories can be dangerous but, unfortunately, a certain percentage of the human population appears to be hard wired so as to be susceptible to such beliefs. Also, whether or not someone is susceptible doesn’t necessarily correlate with their intelligence.
Put another way, we’ll probably always be stuck with a good percentage of our population buying into ridiculous, unprovable beliefs no matter what. It one of the downsides of having a Democracy which, in the words of Churchill “…is the worst possible form of government, with the exception of all other forms.”
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Ah! Speaking of JFK Jr…
Do not forget what one Vince Fusco, Jr who QAssholes claim to be JFK Jr. did.
It was rather naughty…
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God answers prayers
MyPillow exec Lindell says he prayed for Warnock, Ossoff victories to prove ‘election crime’ | The Hill
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I will be the first to admit it, 2016 did not smell right. And it has only become more rank as time goes on.
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Call it credulity, call it psychosis, call it willful ignorance, nihilism, cynicism or whatever you like: it boils down to contrary laziness most of the time, an unwillingness to mark ones beliefs to market. A wrestling fan succumbing to kayfabe and throwing rotten fruit at a heel should be distinct from shooting a doctor or blowing up an FBI office, or voting for a clearly unfit leader if it comes to that, but some folks just won’t make that distinction and that is that.
To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle. …In private life most people are fairly realistic. When one is making out one’s weekly budget, two and two invariably make four. Politics, on the other hand, is a sort of sub-atomic or non-Euclidean world where it is quite easy for the part to be greater than the whole or for two objects to be in the same place simultaneously. …all finally traceable to a secret belief that one’s political opinions, unlike the weekly budget, will not have to be tested against solid reality.
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Are there conspiracies on the left that are embarrassing like there is on the right?
A liar like Trump is made for conspiracy theories. I signal those who profit from Trump’s talent as well as Trump.
Both Trump and the latter understand the social and psychological processes attendant to both the spread of such theories and the talents of their purveyors…Trump instinctually and the second group political acumen.
In a society like ours, it is the obligation of those who serve the public interest (especially elected officials) to keep this in mind.
The GOP went off the rails on this many months and years ago, short and long term
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There is another more popular Trump salute. It just uses a different finger.
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Trump has gone full QAnon now. But I doubt if most of the QAnon “believers” actually think Democrats eat babies in underground tunnels. What they like about QAnon is the idea that it might be possible to somehow round up Democrats and imprison or execute them. That is the meaning of polls that say 56% of Republicans think QAnon is true.
Trump asserted repeatedly that he could only lose re-election if there was cheating. His loss, therefore, is proof enough for his devoted followers that cheating occurred.
ETA: A part of the MAGAt mob believes Trump is a superhero who is letting Biden pretend to be President while he flies around vanquishing all the enemies of truth, justice, and the American way.
while he
Strange visitor from another planet
who came to Earth with
powers and abilities
far beyond those of mortal men.
Superman, who can change the
course of mighty rivers,
bend steel in his bare hands,
and who, disguised as Clark Kent,
mild mannered reporter for a
great metropolitan newspaper,
fights a never-ending battle
for truth, justice and the American way!
cover to is he is so smart and powerful that he could have stopped any cheating, but decided to let the public believe Biden won so that he could win so that he is actiasecretly still the President,
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There is an essay by Josh which links Trump’s fast-increasing legal liabilities to his intentions to invoke more of such theories to his most ardent followers.
GOP politicians have shown a willingness to ignore these actions or evince tacit approval.
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That political stance is the absolute worst public position of a candidate running for office can make to his/her followers.
Imagine if Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, Obama or Biden had done such a thing.
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So I remember when i first heard some conspiracy theories in college about how Israel had nuclear weapons, the CIA had overthrown the democratically elected socialist governments in Iran and Chile, that Tonkin Gulf was staged, the U.S government conducted medical experiments on black people, and the Catholic church was rife sex offenders. I am glad I never believed that shit. Outrageous what people believe. Fucking crazy.
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From Tom Sullivan via Hullabaloo
So this is a point I have been making frequently to my wife, who agrees with me, of course. I don’t believe most Trump supporters actually believe his garbage.
I submit that there’s a mythical “public opinion,” out there that nobody measures but rather consists of the sum total or assertions made in the public square. The media behave as if this “public opinion” is real, and some politicians declare it to be default, especially fascists, (and some stupid politicians meekly accept it) and from here street level fascists use this as their justification to commit crimes against democracy, up to and including murder.
It’s like a game where Republicans try to make as many self-serving, inflammatory and non-factual claims as they can get away with, and idiots former living under a rock now believe they can come out and commit mayhem.
It’s conspiracy theory as stochastic terrorism.
So it’s not important how many people actually believe it. The dangerous ones most likely don’t.
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How do you make sense out of the term “conspiracy theory” ? those used to be called fairy tales. How does conspiracy or theory fit into the Big Lie. That one names itself. It a lie. School shootings are a hoax? That’s not a theory. That’s bullshit.
What is this shit?