-Caveat Lector-
>From http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/2002/11/18_Credibility.html
BuzzFlash Reader Commentary
How 'Conspiracy Kooks' Became More Credible Than the
White House
A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
by Maureen Farrell
"In the next 5 to 10 years, we are all going to live in a global version of Nazi
Germany." -
David Icke
"Basically, all the conspiracy theories about secret societies wanting to take over
the world
are wrong." - Daniel Pipes
Anyone who's ever tuned into the History Channel's "Secret Societies" recognizes these
quotes from its opening segment. As part of the "History's Mysteries" series, "Secret
Societies" is a fun, often sensational journey inside the world of would-be cabals and
plots
for world domination. Featuring volleyed testimony from various experts, the program
mixes factual information and historical trivia with open speculation on the role
secret
societies may have played in these events. "Do shadowy and clandestine groups really
rule
the world?" host Arthur Kent campily inquires, before hinting at hidden subtext behind
historical moments.
During the 1980 presidential campaign, for example, the History Channel reports that
Ronald Reagan repeatedly expressed a distrust of secret societies and promised that
Skull
and Bonesman, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) member and Trilateral Commission
alumni George Bush would not be offered a position in his administration. Yet during
the
Republican Convention, Reagan broke tradition by making a late-night dash from his
hotel
room to the convention floor and declaring George Bush his running mate. The Iran
hostage
situation was miraculously resolved the day Reagan was sworn in.
Ever since Prescott Bush was penalized for trading with the Nazis during World War II
and
the words "George Bush of the CIA" surfaced on a 1963 FBI report on the JFK
assassination,
the Bush family has been tied to speculation. And certainly, October Surprises and
Iran/Contra add to the intrigue while links between the Bushes and the Hinkleys and
Bushes
and bin Ladens have not gone unnoticed. Regardless how entertaining this speculation
may
be, however, reasonable people have historically heard the word "conspiracy" and
rejected
theories outright -- even those theories that later proved to be true. And given a
choice
between the conspiracy theorists and debunkers, they've tended to take the road less
kooky.
In the History Channel-extracted exchange above, for example, CFR member Daniel Pipes
clearly asserts the more sensible view. Serving on three editorial boards and working
on
four presidential campaigns, this author of CONSPIRACY: How the Paranoid Style
Flourishes
and Where It Comes From once headed the Foreign Policy Research Institute, which is
funded, in large part, by conspiracy-monger Richard Mellon Scaife. Pipes is also known
for
his latest endeavor, Campus Watch, (http//www.campuswatch.org) wherein he actively
encourages "the paranoid style" by targeting professors who don't tow his politically
correct
line. Monitoring Middle East Studies professors, Pipes' group scours educators' work
for
bias and enlists students and academics who are "interested in promoting American
interests on campus" to spy and tattle. A professor who is concerned about Dick
Cheney's
$73 million in business transactions with Iraq (even as sanctions continued to kill
5,000 Iraqi
children monthly), for example, might be wise to keep his mouth shut, else possibly be
listed on Pipes' website and become besieged with hate mail and death threats. What was
Pipes saying about paranoia, again?
Now that debunkers like Pipes have been linked to conspiracies to squelch dissent and
Bush's official national security policy openly expresses a desire for dominance and
control,
is it any wonder conspiracy theories thrive? From the 2000 election to unanswered
Sept. 11
questions to outright fabrications over Iraq, the president has repeatedly proven that
he will
lie shamelessly in order to garner more power for himself and his cronies. The shroud
of
secrecy under which the administration operates only serves to fuel speculation, while
last
minute GOP sneakiness, like the maneuvers that ballooned the 32 page Homeland Security
Bill to nearly 500 pages virtually overnight, prove once again whose side theses folks
are
on.
One hastily added amendment to the Homeland Security bill, for example, which was
rumored to have been added at the White House's request, is the provision under which
pharmaceutical companies would be protected from lawsuits. Currently, 150 lawsuits have
been filed against vaccine manufacturers, alleging that mercury preservatives within
measles, mumps and rubella vaccines caused their children's autism (the New York Times
recently dubbed this "the not-so- crackpot autism theory"). This amendment, which has
nothing to do with Homeland Security, would limit compensation to $250,000.
Even more sinister, however, is that this provision reintroduces proposals which were
previously rejected by most states in last years' Model State Emergency Health Powers
Act
(MEHPA). Calling for mandatory vaccination, MEHPA allows for confiscation of real
estate,
food, medicine and other property; and outlines plans to herd afflicted citizens into
stadiums. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson urged state legislatures
to adopt the act, providing all the proof conspiracy theorists needed to prove that
the U.S
government was using 9/11 to impose a reign of tyranny. The mysterious deaths of 15
microbiologists following the attacks didn't help.
Yet according to the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons, under this
Homeland
Security provision, MEHPA would be all but reborn under section 304, subsection C of
the
bill. Tommy Thompson would be given sweeping powers to unilaterally declare an
emergency and order forced vaccinations, detainment and quarantines. Bemoaning that the
provision was "snuck into the bill at the last minute," Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) said, "It
is hard
to think of a more blatant violation of liberty than allowing government officials to
force
people to receive potentially dangerous vaccines based on hypothetical risks."
Some, like Dr. Len Horowitz, long ago speculated that the Bush administration might
use a
biological attack to suppress civil liberties. "This is standard Machiavellian theory
in
practice," he said. "These political and public health problems are created to effect
outcomes that have been prepared for in advance and are consistent with economic,
political and ideological orientations consistent with population control, better
known as
genocide. In summary, it is managed chaos and very deadly."
If that's too X-Filish, others merely point out how dangerous new vaccines might be,
given
the rise in the number of Americans suffering from neurological and autoimmune
disorders
since 1971, when smallpox vaccines were halted. Today, twice as many children and young
adults suffer from asthma and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), three
times
as many suffer from diabetes, and autism has increased 200 to 600 percent. As Barbara
Loe Fischer reported for the National Vaccine Information Center, a vaccine for
smallpox
"would be given to children already receiving 37 doses of 11 other live virus and
killed
bacterial vaccines, including diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus (DPT), polio, measles,
mumps,
rubella, (MMR) haemophilus influenzae B, hepatitis B, chicken pox, and pneumococcal
vaccines." Thirty years ago, most American children were only receiving immunizations
for
DPT, polio, measles and rubella.
Representative Paul also complained that Homeland Security Bill "expands the federal
police
state" and "gives the federal government new powers and increases federal
expenditures,"
while media watchdog groups reported that other provisions added would make requests
under the Freedom of Information Act easier to squelch. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT)
said
the disclosure rules represent "the most severe weakening of the Freedom of Information
Act in its 36-year history," adding they had been inserted in the bill "behind closed
doors."
Sen. Robert Byrd also voiced concerns that the amendments would "give the president
carte blanche to expand the culture of secrecy that now permeates this administration."
If passed, last minute changes to the bill would also give the federal government
permission to monitor citizens' internet use, e-mail, travel plans, credit-card
purchases and
other personal data. Headed by John Poindexter, in the Information Awareness Office,
Americans can rest assured that "bringing dignity to the White House" means hiring a
five-
time felon to keep an eye on them. The Information Awareness' logo, an all-seeing eye
hovering atop a pyramid contains the slogan "Scientia Est Potentia" ("Knowledge Is
Power")
and is eerily similar to the illuminati symbol on the dollar - which fuels conspiracy
theorists
all the more.
"What people are going to see is going to make their hair curl," David Icke promised
the
History Channel. "What's been going on, in front of their face and behind their back,
all their
lives, while they thought a completely different story was unfolding."
After the latest example of stealth legislation designed to take away liberties under
the
guise of national security, our hair is already Shirley Temple tight. Provisions snuck
into
Homeland Security legislation make mockery of "the land of the free," and it's hopeful
that
the good Senators who still consider themselves public servants will apply the brakes
to this
legislation.
But the very fact that these provisions have been considered, and have already been
snuck
through the House, is troubling in itself. At the moment, conspiracy theorists seem
far less
extreme than those hell-bent on ruining the America we love.
* * *
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