How To Deal With “Conspiracy Theorists” On The Right

“Jane’s Law: The devotees of the party in power are smug and arrogant. The devotees of the party out of power are insane.” — Megan McCardle

That is spot-on — although some people may take exception to that since we Republicans are out of power and are therefore, the ones who are supposed to be “insane.” In all fairness, not all of us are “insane.” The majority of Republicans certainly aren’t. Moreover, the Democrats are now smug, arrogant, AND insane. If you don’t believe that, look at the full throated defense of trutherism from the Left since Glenn Beck ran Van Jones out of the White House. That reminds me: A man who once embraced communism and the idea that George Bush was behind 9/11 was hired by the White House. This is the same White House run by the guy who hung out with American terrorist, Bill Ayers, and racist hatemonger, Jeremiah Wright. So, in our defense, the vein of “crazy” runs much deeper on the Left.

That being said, we do have our own radicals and our own “black helicopter crowd” that needs to be handled.

The Left did this by completely incorporating them into the mainstream of liberal thought. You’re a communist or think America is the most evil place on earth? Great, we could use you as a college professor. You think white people are “devils?” I think the NAACP has a job opening. You believe Bush had something to do with the bombing of the WTC and that he invaded Iraq for Oil? Great! Let’s put you next to Jimmy Carter at the Democratic National Convention. When you go that route, not only is it embarrassing, the crazies end up having way too much influence. See the Democratic Party for a perfect example of how that works.

For us, that’s not the way to go. Neither is a “purge” — as if we could purge all these people from the party at this point any way. In the internet age, there are no gatekeepers. This isn’t a William F. Buckley vs. the John Birchers situation where mainstream conservative publications could lock out conspiracy theorists and they were unable to get another large platform. Today, consumers decide what they want to read and if they want to read about the North American Union conspiracy theory or people endlessly (and incorrectly) speculating that Obama was born somewhere other than Hawaii, they can do it.

So, what do we do?

First off, mainstream conservatives shouldn’t remain neutral on conspiracy theories for the sake of traffic or out of fear of offending someone. If so many talk radio hosts didn’t allow conspiracies from guests to go unchallenged or worse yet, so many mainstream conservative mags didn’t knowingly run conspiracy columns they think are laughable, we wouldn’t have this problem.

Secondly, too many conservatives opt for silence. Because they don’t speak up, the conspiracists dominate the debate. Typically, if you want to get information on a conspiracy theory and you do a search, you’ll find forty articles explaining that it’s real before you’ll run into a skeptic.

* So, if you think the idea that Barack Obama was born in Kenya is ridiculous, say so. (This isn’t a conspiracy theory per se; it’s just wrong).

* If you believe the idea that the US is going to be merged with Canada and Mexico is ludicrous, then speak up.

* If you laugh at the idea that Obama is going to be herding Americans into camps, let people know that.

* If you don’t think Obama is another Hitler and don’t want him compared to Adolph on signs at tea parties, write it. (Again, not a conspiracy theory –: it’s just offensive).

There will always be kooks and radicals on both sides of the political divide, but their ideas can only leap the chasm to the mainstream when they’re not challenged. When the average person gets a balanced view –because there are credible people who speak out, instead of remaining silent –: they will overwhelmingly reject vulgar, radical, and loopy ideas.

Share this!

Enjoy reading? Share it with your friends!