>I am just realizing that there are a whole bunch of people on this
>list who are energetically trying to squash thinking of the normal
>and regular operations of the U.S. government
Wait a second. "Conspiracy" suggests plans concocted by a handful of people in complete secrecy. The policies of the U.S. government are the product of elite machinations, partly constrained by quasi-democratic procedures - but an elite that consists of corporate executives, financiers, ruling class intellectuals, and assorted rich people, often with divergent interests. And lots of it happens relatively openly; you can get a good idea what the state is up to by reading the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Affairs. Conspiracy theory is a vastly oversimiplified version of class analysis - too seamless, too insular, too secretive, too neat.
Doug