Everyone’s A Conspiracy Theorist, Whether They Know It Or Not

by | Aug 13, 2019 | Headline News | 18 comments

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This article was originally published by Caitlin Johnstone at Activist Post. 

Plutocratic propaganda outlet MSNBC has just run a spin segment on the breaking news that the medical examiner’s determination of the cause of Jeffrey Epstein’s death is “pending further information”.

“Our sources are still saying that it looks like suicide, and this is going to set conspiracy theorists abuzz I fear,” said NBC correspondent Ken Dilanian. “NBC News has been hearing all day long that there are no indications of foul play, and that this looks like a suicide and that he hung himself in his cell.”

Dilanian, who stumbled over the phrase “conspiracy theorists” in his haste to get it in the first soundbyte, is a known asset of the Central Intelligence Agency. This is not a conspiracy theory, this is a well-documented fact. A 2014 article in The Intercept titled “The CIA’s Mop-Up Man” reveals email exchanges obtained via Freedom of Information Act request between Dilanian and CIA public affairs officers which “show that Dilanian enjoyed a closely collaborative relationship with the agency, explicitly promising positive news coverage and sometimes sending the press office entire story drafts for review prior to publication.” There is no reason to give Dilanian the benefit of the doubt that this cozy relationship has ended, so anything he puts forward can safely be dismissed as CIA public relations.

When I mentioned Dilanian’s CIA ties on MSNBC’s Twitter video, MSNBC deleted their tweet and then re-shared it without mentioning Dilanian’s name. Here is a screenshot of the first tweet followed by an embedded link to their current one (which I’ve archived just in case):

Up until the news broke that Epstein’s autopsy has been unable to readily confirm suicide, mass media headlines everywhere have been unquestioningly blaring that that was known to have been the cause of the accused sex trafficker’s death. This despite the fact that the FBI’s investigation has been explicitly labeling it an “apparent suicide”, and despite the fact that Epstein is credibly believed to have been involved in an intelligence-tied sexual blackmail operation involving many powerful people, any number of whom stood plenty to gain from his death.

So things are moving in a very weird way, and people are understandably weirded out. The response to this from mass media narrative managers has, of course, been to berate everyone as “conspiracy theorists”.

Jeffrey Epstein: How conspiracy theories spread after financier’s death” reads a BBC headline. “Epstein Suicide Conspiracies Show How Our Information System Is Poisoned” reads one from the New York Times. “Conspiracy Theories Fly Online in Wake of Epstein Death” warns The Wall Street Journal. “Financier Epstein’s Death Disappoints Victims, Launches Conspiracy Theories” reads the headline from US government-funded Voice of America.

These outlets generally match Dilanian’s tone in branding anyone who questions the official story about Epstein’s death as a raving lunatic. Meanwhile, normal human beings all across the political spectrum are expressing skepticism on social media about the “suicide” narrative we’re all being force-fed by the establishment narrative managers, many of them prefacing their skepticism with some variation on the phrase “I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but…”

“I’m not a conspiracy theorist but there are an awful lot of very powerful people who would like to see this Epstein thing go away. Is anyone investigating the guard on duty?” tweeted actor Patricia Heaton.

“I am not into conspiracy theories. But Epstein had destructive information on an extraordinary number of extraordinarily powerful people. It is not easy to commit suicide in prison. Especially after being placed on suicide watch. Especially after already allegedly trying,” tweeted public defender Scott Hechinger.

Journalist Abi Wilkinson summed up the silliness of this widespread preface very nicely, tweeting, “’I’m not a conspiracy theorist’ is such a weird assertion when you think about it, the idea there’s a binary between believing all conspiracies and flat out rejecting the very concept of conspiracy in all circumstances.”

Indeed, I think it’s fair to say that everyone is a conspiracy theorist if they’re really honest with themselves. Not everyone believes that the official stories about 9/11 and the JFK assassination are riddled with plot holes or what have you, but I doubt that anyone who really sat down and sincerely grappled with the question “Do powerful people conspire?” would honestly deny it. Some are just more self-aware than others about the self-evident reality that powerful people conspire all the time, and it’s only a question of how and with whom and to what extent.

The word “conspire” is defined by Merriam-Webster as “to join in a secret agreement to do an unlawful or wrongful act or an act which becomes unlawful as a result of the secret agreement”. No sane person would deny that this is a thing that happens, nor that this is likely a thing that happens to some extent among the powerful in their own nation. This by itself is a theory about conspiracy per definition, and it accurately applies to pretty much everyone. Since it applies to pretty much everyone, the label is essentially meaningless, either as a pejorative or as anything else.

The meaningless of the term has been clearly illustrated by Russiagate, whose adherents react with sputtering outrage whenever anyone points out that they’re engaged in a conspiracy theory, despite the self-evident fact that that’s exactly what it is: a theory about a band of powerful Russian conspirators conspiring with the highest levels of the US government. Their objection is not due to a belief that they’re not theorizing about a conspiracy, their objection is due to the fact that a highly stigmatized label that they’re accustomed to applying to other people has been applied to them. The label is rejected because its actual definition is ignored to the point of meaninglessness.

The problem has never been with the actual term “conspiracy theory”; the problem has been with its deliberate and completely meaningless use as a pejorative. The best way to address this would be a populist move to de-stigmatize the label by taking ownership of it. Last month Cornell University professor Dave Callum tweeted, “I am a ‘conspiracy theorist’. I believe men and women of wealth and power conspire. If you don’t think so, then you are what is called ‘an idiot’. If you believe stuff but fear the label, you are what is called ‘a coward’.” This is what we all must do. The debate must be forcibly moved from the absurd question of whether or not conspiracies are a thing to the important question of which conspiracy theories are valid and to what degree.

And we should probably hurry. Yahoo News reported earlier this month that the FBI recently published an intelligence bulletin describing “conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists” as a growing threat, and this was before the recent spate of US shootings got establishment narrative-makers pushing for new domestic terrorism laws. This combined with the fact that we can’t even ask questions about extremely suspicious events like Jeffrey Epstein’s death without being tarred with this meaningless pejorative by the mass media thought police means we’re at extreme risk of being shoved into something far more Orwellian in the near future.

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    18 Comments

    1. Archivist

      I guess most of the people I know are “conspiracy theorists.” They all know something is funny about this whole Epstein situation. A lot of them are posting to the effect that “just for the record, I know nothing about the Clintons.” They are assuming that if Epstein is really dead, the Clintons are behind it. They are also onto the reports that Epstein may have been switched out, as the photos of him on the stretcher don’t match photos of the living Epstein.

      So, yes, there are conspiracies, and yes, most people I know are informed of them and are seriously considering them.

      Hopefully this won’t slow down the investigations into pedogate, etc.

    2. cranerigger

      “Conspiracy Theorist” – guilty. Folks that think draw their own conclusions; we don’t necessarily believe the BS supplied by the Main Stream Media. As an example: a lifetime of observation has demonstrated to me that the Demonrats want to make this a socialist (failed economic system) region (cannot say country because they don’t believe in sovereign borders.)

    3. Clown World

      Can can you judge these people, based on what is known about them, openly, notoriously, and demonstrably, already.

      Also, what are the proper channels.

      I have a rich fantasy life, I can assure you.

      But, conspiracy theorists are just crazy-making, when they want to dazzle with you b/s and never follow anything through to the very end, ever — let’s say, in a constructive and lovely way, with sugar on top — until they have followed through, and the issue is settled once and for all. Who actually does that.

      100 more news items will be in a cycle, lasting only a short hour or two. They never tell you how, how to fix just one thing, and concentrate on that, until you get the job finished. Nothing constructive. Nothing final. Forever undecided.

      They are the costumed, arch villain’s best friend. Hold them to one thing — on a nice greeting card. It smells like perfume.

      If it affects you directly, it is newsworthy to you. If you’re cutting deals, personally, you are participating in politics. Why must it be a passive, spectator sport. What can you make happen.

      • Genius

        Hmmmmm, looks like an LSD-25 kinda day. Ya got any for sale Clown? lol.

        • Clown World

          Occasional, medical issue, that would make interesting photos, is all.

    4. Clown World

      There is a saying about having a mind you so open, that your brain falls out. This is how a conspiracy theorist helps you.

      Think anything you like. What is measurable is the truth. Measure the conspiracy theorist, the politician, and yourself.

      Put a conspiracy theory in one hand, and crap in the other.

      • Archivist

        So, not being in the conspiracy hand, you’re in the crap hand?

        There are conspiracies. That has been proven repeatedly.

        “Conspiracy theory” was a term made up by the CIA to denigrate people who don’t believe the “official story.”

        Go do some research.

        • Clown World

          What is commonly known about most of these people should be socially-unacceptable.

    5. aljamo

      People who don’t question the JFK murder or 9-11 are conspiracy brainless after two of the most obvious inside job incidents. Conspiracy theorists translates to conspiracy truthers in factual reality. The truth is a major threat to the hideous monsters who maintain a stranglehold on the American peoples lives.

    6. Old Guy

      Heck I think that there is a cold was being waged on the white race. folks of other races and some white race traitors have conspired to demonize any white person just because of their skin color. the bandy around terms like white privlage. that in itself is racist however they assert only a white skinned human can be racist. Now they assert that a red MAGA hat is the equal of a KKK white hood! I once thought that a persons soul does not have a color. Now I question if those loonie lefties and their ringmasters even have a soul. They certainly cannot determine the difference between right and wrong or good and evil.

    7. Seminole Wind

      Libertarian kooks and nut jobs= SHTF Plan

      • rellik

        SW,
        You forgot to mention the farmers, engineers, tradesmen,
        first responders, woodsmen, sailors, soldiers,
        economists, financial advisors, and a few others
        I’ve missed as nut cases in your equation.

        • Seminole Wind

          Yes there are many people with Paranoid Delusions in all of the professions that you mentioned. I believe it has to do with the Pot that many Libertarians are so fond of. As the slogan says, ” Potheads For Paul”.

          • Genius

            Looks like yer havin’ an LSD-25 kinda day SW!

            • Clown World

              Watch out for the brown blotters…

    8. The Deplorable Renegade

      To me it’s conspiracy FACT, not theory.

    9. jakartaman

      Way too many mistakes – It’s an inside job for sure.
      Where were the “supervisors”?
      Moved cellmate out
      Camera not working.
      Placed off the suicide watch – given things he could kill himself with
      Guards did not check on him for hours.

      All very very convenient

    10. desertspeaks

      Soo, you don’t believe you’re a conspiracy theorist?
      Lets test that.. search for a video with the following title.. “the myth of authority”
      Watch the video, then try to pretend you don’t buy into conspiracies!

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