A Conspiracy of Conspiracy Theories

We are all familiar with many "conspiracy theories" of one kind or another. As a reminder, here are just a few:

* Bush/Cheney directed the 9/11 disaster
* The "Illuminati" were behind the 9/11 disaster
* The Freemasons were behind the 9/11 disaster
* The Israeli's were behind the 9/11 disaster
* The "second shooter" in the JFK assassination
* The government is behind the UFO's
* No human has ever walked on the moon - it was faked in a studio

Such theories go back throughout recorded history. And I think the whole "conspiracy theory" thing is another conspiracy, and aliens are behind them all!

On a more serious note, however, altogether too many people fall prey to these ridiculous theories. One might wonder how it is that any sane and reasonable person could possibly believe such foolishness.

Assuming some of the "believers" are, indeed, sane and reasonable (most, like Rosie, are not), there is a reason why some people could be fooled. In a words, it is FACTS!

Every conspiracy theorist can produce indisputable facts to back up their theory. And it is those facts, being indisputable, that are very convincing to people who do not take the time to stop and think.

Allow me to explain. The simple truth, known to those who propagate these theories, is that you can find facts to back up anything. Literally, anything. But what they do not tell you is that there are also facts that disprove their theory. Think about it - if their facts were the only facts, then there could only be one theory on any given event. But as shown above, there are several different theories on who orchestrated 9/11. There are certain "facts" behind each - but unless the entire population of the world was behind 9/11, they cannot all be true. Just common sense.

A conspiracy theorist will sift through all of the known facts concerning an event, then proceed to keep those that agree with his theory, and toss out all the rest. By using "selective facts", the theorist can present an almost iron-clad case for his theory.

Some people, seeing only those facts, would believe the theory. Most people, however, would ask more questions, look more deeply into it, and upon finding facts that dispute the theory, would then discount and dismiss it.

Let us look at an example.

Conspiracy theorists state the "fact" that in the entire history of Mankind, no other steel building ever melted in a fire. The fact they conveniently leave out is that in the history of man, no jet plane carrying 5000 gallons of jet fuel, flying at 600 miles per hour, ever hit a steel building. And they neglect the fact that fire can, indeed, melt steel (in fact, that is how steel is made).

They state the "fact" that "coincidentally", the Air Force was holding training exercises on 9/11, which explains the attack, or at least a knowledge that there would be one. However, the fact that such training exercises are a daily, normal event for the Air Force is not mentioned.

They mention the "fact" that Building #7, not hit by any planes, also collapsed, so it must have been sabotaged. What they fail to mention is that the extreme heat of a fire such as that of the Towers would severely damage nearby buildings (many had to be demolished later, due to damage), and that the falling of the Towers created an "earthquake" of sorts. Some buildings would not be able to survive that combination.

And their "theories" also conveniently neglect other facts that easily show how ridiculous their theories really are, or they rely upon "made up" facts, which they then corroborate on their own websites. One such "made up" fact centers on their claim that all the bodies were found, so why could they not find the planes? Of course, all of the bodies were not found - the ones nearest impact points were incinerated by the same superheat that incinerated most of the planes. But plane parts were, indeed, found nonetheless.

So, for those of you who give credence to such theories, I would only make one point, and ask you to do just one thing:

POINT: Anything can be proved with facts, provided other facts are not made available. Selective fact-finding can effectively prove the Earth is flat - and, for hundreds of years, did exactly that!

DO THIS: Research. If you can find even one fact that disputes the theory, then the theory is bogus. It is fine to accept facts presented by theorists. It is not fine to assume those are the only facts available.

Without any effort at all, I have been able to dig up facts that disprove the 9/11 theories, disprove the government is behind UFO's, and disprove the Global Warming theory. Sure, there are facts to back up those theories. But as I said - and this is common sense - if you can find even ONE fact that disputes a theory, then the theory is bogus. Period.

Just a small example:

Videos, ticket records, eyewitnesses and cellphone calls all verify that the people who hijacked the 9/11 planes were definitely Arab. If you can find 19 Arabs - or even one - who would work in concert with an Israeli, please let me know.

UFO's have been recorded since before the Bible was first written. Correct me if I am wrong, but that sort of predates the U.S. Government, and its ability to be behind the UFO phenomenon.

And as for global warming, please don't get me started! Suffice it to say that 1) the Earth "wobbles" in its travels, regularly putting the north pole closer to the sun while the south pole is further, 2) the Earth's orbit around the sun is elliptical, not round, which insures regular climatic changes that may last for a hundred years or more, and 3) the Earth regularly undergoes climate changes in both directions, and Mankind has little effect on that. Also, according to NASA's records, and contrary to what Al Gore says, the 5 warmest years in recorded history all occured prior to World War II.

The problem lies in the desire of some people to find conspiracies. They need them, like an addict needs his "fix". The Rosie O'Donnell's of the world fall into depression if they cannot find a conspiracy to cling to. And the Michael Moore's of the world are all to willing to pocket a ton of cash by providing the fodder for the theories.

Conspiracy theories will remain as long as their are profiteers to promote them, and fools to believe them. Unfortunately, that accounts for a pretty sizeable part of the population! The latest polls show that one person in six believes in at least one conspiracy theory.

But not me! I know the truth. It's ALL a conspiracy, and the aliens are behind it. Or maybe Bigfoot, (Actually, I have evidence that George W Bush is an alien Bigfoot) :o)