From: "Todd Archer" <todda39 at hotmail.com>
Charles said:
>He also sort of thinks of himself as . . . purging the left of conspiracy
>theorism.
And this is a Bad Thing because . . . ?
Todd
PS: Always assuming Chip has "the power to purge"?
^^^^^
CB: I'd say, as I have before, that anti-conspiracy theorism on this list, assuming it is representative of the left, has gone bananas. It's like an LBO superstition. It's become knee jerk. Also, it's selective and inconsistent , in the sense, that nobody bats an eyelash when somebody asserts that , say 9/11, was a conspiracy by Al Q. For some reason, saying that is not conspiracy theorism. But if there is any discussion of U.S. government machinations, many people here feel compelled to point out that it's conspiracy theorism ohhhhh bad.
Some discussion of plots by the ruling class _should_ take place on the left, because it exposes them as "bad people", which is an elementary way of bringing some people to question the system , and thereby look bring them into the movement. Many people who joined the movement in the 60's and 70's had as part of their process of becoming disillusioned with the American Establishment the experience of"conspiracies": assassination of Kennedy, MLK and RFK, Hampton other Black Panthers, Cointelpro.
When I say Chip is trying to "purge" it, I don't mean he has the power to put anyone in prison , but rather he is trying, by the force of argument, to make it unpopular with leftists.